Van

[Susan Kline]

Dear Ed,

Thanks! When it comes to arranging a vehicle, our minds obviously follow
the same track. I'm leaving the rear seats permanently folded all the way
down, with the bottom cushions slung forward so the seats will lie flat.
There's a pleasant nook under the bottom cushions, where I put things like
a pinblock jack and boards, a drift, and my steel pipe (to bend action
brackets.) I plan to put very innocuous, unappealing stuff in the visible
part (behind the driver's seat), while covering most tools with either the
board or the rear cargo cover. I'll keep my basic kit (which is in a
shoulder bag) under the board platform, next to the right, rear door. That
way I won't have to lift the back hatch or open a street side door in
traffic all the time. 

Could you tell me the brand of your German handtruck, and where I might buy
it? I have a domestic cheapie that I use to get the action from the car to
the workbench, but at a customer's I usually ask for help. It would be very
pleasant indeed to carry a handtruck instead, and the Corolla, being bigger
than the Tercel, would have room to accommodate it. 

Regards,

Susan

P.S. Timing belts and lots of oil: YES. TLC of all varieties, in a timely
manner.

****************************************************************************
At 12:18 PM 5/31/98 EDT, you wrote:
>Susan writes: 
>> I traded the extremely faithful but aging ('87, 163k) Toyota Tercel
>>5-door hatchback in on a newer ('93, 55k) Corolla wagon!
>
>    I have one of these. For me, it is the perfect car/action carrier.   I
>have built a platform in the back compartment that is about 8 inches high. It
>is divided into two compartments, one for the back-up tools, and another for
>the stringing equipment.  On the front of this compartment, I have a lip that
>holds a sliding board. This board stores on the top of the platform, and has
>two "legs" on the front of the same height.  When I need to carry an
action, I
>lower the left back seat and the sliding board moves forward to form an "L"
>shaped platform upon which to place the action.  I then clamp the action to
>the platform with two wooden cam clamps.  
>    I did this because I no longer carry actions around by hand, but rather,
>have a lightweight, folding, German-built hand-truck, ( It folds down to
about
>1 1/2" thick).  I can roll the action up to the back of the car with the
>handtruck facing the platform, rest the handle on the bumper, pick up the
>bottom end of the action, and slide it in.  This allows me to never have to
>lift more than half of the action at a time.  
>     I can't believe how long I wrestled actions in and out of an older
Datsun
>B-210.  (well, actually, I can. That little car went 158K miles!) 
>    If you keep fresh oil in that Toyota, and make sure the timing belt is
>changed at 65K intervals, it will last many years. 
>Regards, 
>Ed Foote
>
>

Susan Kline
P.O. Box 1651
Philomath, OR 97370
skline@proaxis.com

"Getting there is only half as far as getting there and back."
			-- Ashleigh Brilliant