When You Don't Have Jumper Cables

[dibbons]

Went to the body shop here in La Paz, Mexico, to pick-up the '92 Jeep Cherokee we just had painted (they painted it the wrong color so we bargained for $100 discount). The battery was dead.

The four guys in the shop walk over carrying a car battery (I'm still sitting in the driver's seat). They say go ahead and start it. No contact (just clicking) but I can see sparks flying by looking through the crack under the now open hood. Evidently together they are somehow jumping the battery with a couple of huge combination wrenches instead of using the customary jumper cables. On the fourth or fifth try, it finally made contact enough to get started and drive home.

 

[67Dart273]

Doing that kind of stuff on a modern electronics/ EFI equipped "rig" is askin for BIG trouble!!!

 

[Dana67Dart]

It might be the wrong color but it sure is purdy!

I thought you were going to say they turned one battery upside down and went post to post!

 

[ChrisRomello]

Looks good!

 

[dartfreak75]

Wow that's nice. I love seeing them that old and that clean

 

[ocdart]

Looks good in red!
What color was it supposed to be painted?

 

[dibbons]

Original factory color was "Colorado Red" (in photo below). Shop painted it "Flame Red" which is super bright in comparison and not an option in 1992.

 

[diymirage]

So after the discount, how much did they charge ya?

 

[dibbons]

We paid $400.00 USD for the re-paint (first ever in the life of the vehicle-we purchased it from original owner in 2000). There was a small dent in passenger door (from a volleyball), nothing else major to repair. It took four or five days.

Oh, windshield was removed to repair a small rust spot in the external cowl area.

 

[RustyRatRod]

I've done stuff like that before. Sometimes it's "all you got". I've bumped car bumpers together for the ground and used two tire irons to connect the positive side. I've taken one battery out of one car, flipped it upside down and stuck its terminals on the dead one in the dead car. .......and THAT'S really dangerous.....but again, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

 

[Biff]

I’m taking my car to Mexico 400$ WOW !

 

[dibbons]

They painted our '72 Satellite Sebring Plus in 13 working days for about $1,400.00 USD

 

[dibbons]

They painted '65 Barracuda Formula S for about $2,500.00 USD (it took a few years and additional some expenses for outside work, i.e. towing, sandblasting, welding panels, etc.).

 

[dibbons]

Our '65 Valiant Signet Convertible is probably too far gone to spend any time/money on (a rust bucket from the Pacific Northwest).

 

[C-body Rosco]

Hey Dibbons,
Classic case of a Mex-i-CAN!!
I love it!!!
There's no way those guys would leave you hanging without figuring out a way to jump the battery.
My wife was in Todos Santos once when she popped into a store for a minute and left our 3 year old sleeping in her car seat. Somehow the door got locked with our daughter inside!!
Well, there were instantly like 10 guys at her aide. There was no doubt they would get in. It was more of a matter of how will they do it. Within about a minute a guy had it open. Apparently, used a rope down into the door below the windshield and pulled the lock mechanism. Mexican magic. All in a days work.

 

[SpeedThrills]

“Resale Red”. It’s probably worth more in a bright red. At least that was the theory a friend of mine had.

 

[dirty white boy]

ive flipped battery's and jumped cars a many time! used wrenches too, what ever it takes to get a redneck threw...you do!