Shop girl and I went all “Die, Motherfucker, Die” Office Space style and removed the broken window!

Title Problems: A-Z

We didn't pass the VIN inspection and until today I felt like ripping my hair out. I must admit that this title business has been unnerving me to no end. Although for the first time I have made a mistake in the process, the rest of the blame has been on the backs of others. When I first looked at her it was mentioned that there was a VIN typo, and somehow that got transferred onto the new paperwork. I feel like a total prat but apparently, as I found out today that I just have to see the judge again with an amendment for her to sign. And to ease my worry: no fees for this. I was rather annoyed when I was misinformed I had to redo the process and shell out another $ 125.70. All of this to turn an 'A' in a VIN number to 'Z'.

Just a lovely sunny day of cleaning and cruising.

Breaking the Mold.

Original Condition of Interior Pt. 2

Original Condition of Interior

Candid taken by our friend Fletcher; a picture of the founders (Eddie and Vera... in the hearse) of the Skirts and 'Staches car club and their cars (Persephone and Rattlin' Rachel - the 1952 Chevy 1/2 ton down the street.)

Home.

Well, good morning, Gorgeous!
It's good to have her home.

Long Road Home.

Well, I got the call I had been waiting for this morning from the Oklahoma Tax Commission clerk that helped me yesterday. I immediately got the hearse insured with our State Farm agent and printed out the temporary insurance cards.

I headed down to the OTC building and the title was clean, as I was told and we proceeded with some finalizing details on some paperwork, and very pleasantly Jamie finished all but giving me my title. I didn't bring the car, so the title is on hold... I have to go to a tag agency to do a VIN inspection. So, I got my new license plate and tags and left feeling so glad I was so close to being done!

I did this all during a work day, so TOO excitedly I headed to work and asked the seller if I could get the car at that point. Well, the car was in between where I was and work, so it seemed perfect. I showed up only moments later and began getting her ready. Fluids were dumped in and we let her sit and run a while to charge up the battery.Not long after we were on the road! I was going to take her to the tag agency and then return to work. I took the service roads to be safe, but only a couple miles later, she broke down. Checked the radiator and sure enough it was cold: the thermostat went out. A good Sumerian stopped and kept me company, even after the seller and his brother came out to help me with water and tools. Whoever you are, dude, thanks a lot!!!!!! <3 I won't lie, I cannot stand when people see a hearse (similar body style to the Ecto-1 or not) and people bring it up or tell me I should convert my coach... but I couldn't help myself from thinking of Slimer when the antifreeze started leaking out from under it. Suppose it's just that pretty slimey looking green.

Got the thermostat out but doing so broke the gasket, so the drive to the shop was slow and required a lot of stops, but the seller followed me all the way there. The radiator was heating up, but because the lack of thermostat got overheated, and because of that broken gasket, the water was quickly turned to white, billowing steam that filled the cab to the point of no visibility. At one point a fire engine was sent out to us because someone thought that the car was rolling down the road on fire! I honestly must commend Truck E-16 for an AMAZING response time! We had barely broken down and they were out there! I just feel bad it was a false alarm and we wasted their time. They were very kind about it, though. <3

We finally got enough water in her from a gas station sink and made the last stretch to the shop without any further incident. My bestie Joe was kind enough to give me a ride to the nearest parts store. My best friend met us at the shop and took me to Auto Zone for the parts. Just a few minutes in the store and $35 later we had oil, antifreeze, and the brand new replacement thermostat and the gasket in tow.

As most of you know, the problem was minor and takes almost no effort. She was fixed in a matter of minutes and we had fun going over different components to make sure she could get home.
With some time we thought to put more gas in and she made it home just fine from our first adventure, save for the exhaust leak. The fumes billowed and my bestie that followed me home said that she looked like a beautiful beast that had just crawled out of hell. Fantastic. At least Persephone is living up to her name. I backed her up into our "alley" and called it a night.

Title Progress Pt. 1.

This week has been busy. Finally made some headway in the titling/tagging of my hearse. The guy that sold it to me planned on title 42’ing it because of the complications the title had:
The title was a “non highway” title from Kansas dated 1985 and the last transfer of ownership was in 2008, but not notarized so it didn’t even count.
This being my first on my own car purchase(bought it with no loan, borrowing or help, and taking care of the paperwork with my money and in my name.), I had no idea what I was getting into. I went to the local tag agency and was immediately blown off, the clerk had no idea what to do so she told me to go to the Oklahoma Tax Commission (OTC) building. Already annoyed I headed over and Jamie was incredibly helpful, but told me what I didn’t want to hear. She said that I needed to go to the Cleveland County courthouse and file for a court order to request a title in my name… for $125 bucks. I had not insured her, and was at a dead end, so as a last attempt I went to the tag agency near by work, the next town over.

This lady seemed at a loss but instead of writing me off, or telling me I’m outta luck she went and talked to her superior in the back for a good 10 minutes and came back with a packet for a ‘Title 42’ and told me it required getting records of the last owner from Kansas, and there were lots of “same day” and “notarized” instructions and specifications so I took the packet and stopped considering it only a few pages into it. Waaaay too difficult for the time I had left to get it titled without late fees.
So, the next day I woke up early and headed to the Cleveland County Courthouse and to my delight I was helped at the door and immediately given the proper paperwork. I filled all the necessary fields and when done and notarized I was told I could see the judge at 1:30PM, only 45 minutes of waiting to finally get this done? Yes please!

The judge was young, and very pretty and pleasant. I explained all I knew to the best of my ability (which wasn’t much), told her about the run around I received and told of the research and efforts I made, and when I showed her the “Non Highway” title she signed off on my form. An elevator ride and $125.70 later and I had a legal permission slip.. er, court order stating the OTC should give me a title.

Thrilled that it cost a bit of money, not more time or effort I head back to the OTC and Jamie helps me out, but there’s a snag; the system is down and will be down for the day. She took my number and sent me back to work.

So now you know, if you have a title no one will touch, at least in Oklahoma, the most painless route would be giving the Cleveland County courthouse a visit. This is one big learning experience for me, so if anyone can learn from my experience, the better!
I’m supposed to get the call tomorrow so I will update then.

Protection Plan.

 So, when I paid her off a couple weeks ago I was given the title, and an owner's manual. She is a 1964, but this is a 1967's manual. I had a bit of a Half-Blood Prince moment when I started to go through the manual. Starting with the cover a previous owner had scribbled notes throughout the book. As you can see on the scans I have these mention a sale date in 1967, different locations and maintenance procedures are noted (often accompanied by the mileage at the time of the procedure). I thought it was fascinating.

 The Protect-O-Plate printing information flipped and reversed.

I cannot say whether this information actually pertains to my car or a later one that this Protection Plate manual was taken from but it was fun for me to dive into the scribbles of scraps of information regardless.

She's Mine.

Well, due to unexpected circumstances I ended up paying off the hearse today. The good is that I can get her going sooner… but I was paying minimum payments and saving the rest for the exhaust and extensive glass replacement it would require. I don’t have much of an income at the moment, so I virtually have to start the saving over. Aye, but she is mine!