Please pray for Texas.

Having been through Katrina, and having to deal with the aftermath. Not to mention dealing with my in-laws flood last August in Baton Rouge, I say please pray.

Their journey is just starting and its not a fun or pleasant journey. They will need financial support. They will need emotional support. They will need a kind word and a shoulder to cry on.

I have friends who live in the Houston area, I hope they are well and a lucky one. If you need anything let me know.

Help if you can. Support your police, fire, and ems folks. Also, I am sure that the military will deploy to provide assistance.

So please pray for them and the emergency service folks for support and safety!

Salvage 2013 Focus Introduction

I have uploaded another video of the start of the 2013 Ford Focus Revival. Please take a look and subscribe to my YouTube channel.

Have a great Sunday!

Salvage to Reconstructed Title in Louisiana

Following how to fix salvage vehicles and get them titled as reconstructed.

How to convert a salvage title to reconstructed title in Louisiana

ON AUGUST 13, 2017 BY GENO'S GARAGEIN SALVAGE VEHICLESLEAVE A COMMENT

Buying salvage cars and legally rebuilding them in the State of Louisiana.

To start with a little disclaimer, I am not an attorney and this is my understanding of the process. This article and the associated video

are both for entertainment purposes only. If the article helps you great, and it should help you but I make no guarantees.

I decided that I needed a reliable, economic and inexpensive commuter car at the beginning of the year. I drive about 400 miles a week back and forth to work. This gets expensive when your Ford F150 gets around 14 MPG.

I had a limited amount of money that I wanted to spend, and I wanted something that I could put a bunch of miles on and not have any issue.

I am somewhat mechanically inclined I decided to purchase a salvage title vehicle and then refurbish it and get a rebuilt title so that I could legally drive it.

In the state of Louisiana you do not need a dealer’s license to purchase salvage vehicles at auction, so I decided to keep an eye out on the local Copart auctions. I will write a blog on that process, but I wanted to first write this to help folks in Louisiana since I could find almost no information on the internet that explained the process of converting a salvage title to a rebuilt title.

I purchased a 2013 Ford Focus at Copart with 60,000 miles. It was beat up but not wrecked. It was in a tornado and was totaled because of cosmetic damage. It ran and was able to be driven onto the trailer to get it home. It was beat up and smelled terrible but the price was right.

When I paid for the vehicle and picked it up I was given a Title that was branded as a salvage title. Which means it was not able to be registered for use on the road. I could have filed for a dismantling permit which would have allowed me to part the car out, or I could fix it and then apply to get a rebuilt title. The rebuilt title allows you to register and insure the vehicle in the state of Louisiana.

The first step was to fix the car so that it could pass a DOT safety inspection, or “Brake Tag” as they are called. In my case this required me to replace a damage fender, replace a cracked windshield and replace a broken taillight.

Once the car can pass a safety inspection; it needs to be inspected by a commissioned law enforcement personnel who have successfully completed the Physical Inspection Certification training course.  Which in my case, I took the car to the State Trooper Detachment near my home. To have this inspection I took my salvage title, bill of sale, a list of all parts that were replaced and all receipts for those parts. The Trooper then compared the VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) in multiple spots on the vehicle and the VIN on the title and bill of sale. Once that all passes he provided me with an “Affidavit of Physical Inspection”, which required to register the vehicle.

The next item you need is insurance for the vehicle. Since my vehicle was so inexpensive I only have liability on the vehicle. Geico however would have provided full coverage if I would have wanted it.

You then need to take the salvage title, the bill of sale, the “Affidavit of Physical Inspection”, and your receipts and the list of purchased parts to the DMV. And fill out an application for title.

There they will help you file all the paperwork required to get a reconstructed Title. I however went to a local car title company and they assisted me with all the additional paperwork. Since I had all my ducks in order, I could leave the title office with the car registered for road use and with a plate.

I went home, put the plate on the car and drove it to get a safety inspection or Brake Tag. This was an easy step and I received my two year brake tag.

I now drive the vehicle daily and to date I have put 3000 miles on it without any issues.

1991 Ford F250 Rebuild

Well a couple of years ago I decided I wanted a ford diesel truck. As an eternal cheapskate and somewhat of gear head I found an extremely cheap truck in the paper.

It was an ex-glass company truck. It had been maintained by a local glazier, but it looked as though they had drug it through hell backwards. It ran, but barely, the worst issue it had was bad brakes and body, and the interior. Plus the bed sides were ripped loose from the movement of the aluminum glass rack that had been installed in the truck. So I guess the entire truck was a piece of shit, but it was a bargain at $800.

I started by getting it running, and got the brakes fixed. Then I went and found a parts truck that had a bad motor but the body and interior were excellent. I was able to purchase that for $500.

The rest they say is history. I had the original cab stripped and painted, then we moved all of the parts onto the diesel chassis. With that I had a running, decent looking truck for right at $2000.

I drove the truck for 6 months, and it averaged around 20 miles per gallon. The air conditioning work, and the radio worked. So it was a fine commuter vehicle.

Unfortunately it made the mistake of breaking down with my wife and daughter in the truck. It actually was the fuel pick up, which is a typical failure on these trucks, but it was impossible to explain to my wife. Here is me begging for forgiveness during the wait for road side assistance.

It didn't work and the old girl was sold to a plumbing company to tow their excavator.

All said I made a few dollars, like $100. I drove it for six months, and I saved a truck and kept it on the road for a few more years. I sort of looked at it like recycling. It may be a polluter, but I have read that it still produces less green house gases then the process of building a new truck.