Hello Dolly and Goodbye Hassels When Moving Around A Non-operable Corvette

Many of us have project cars, beloved possessions that we swear we’ll get working one of these days, (or years).  Meanwhile, that non-running project takes up space and worse yet, is damn near impossible to move around should you need to get at something above, behind, whatever, that dead Vette.

I doubt that I’m the only one amongst us who has struggled to move a non-operable car.  Pushing it back and forth, even with some help, is near impossibility.  I’ve done the floor jack routine many times, raising one end of a dead car, tugging and cursing up a storm while semi-vainly trying to reposition the old hulk, then repeating the process at the other end-and sometimes doing the one-end-then-the-other steps a coupe more times.  It ain’t fun, it’s aggravating, and at least in my case, the only real beneficiary of my labors has been my chiropractor.

Hey, ya know what?  There is an easier way- a set of car dollies.  I’ve seen several various types of ‘em- everything from hard wood frames with heavy-duty rollers attached to the movable car jacks that some auto body and paint shops use.  Until recently, I have never owned a set of car dollies.  But when I was offered a set of aluminum dollies from Car-Dolly, LLC for evaluation purposes, I figured “why not?”

The "Standard" and "Upgrade" models are 100 % made in the USA.  The base (the part the tires rests in or on) is formed of heavy aluminum, about ¼ to 5/16-inch thick, flat at both ends, and dipped in the center to form a well for the tire.  The upper surface has a series of closely spaced grooves that, I assume provide traction or grip to hold the tire in place, and the casters are heavy-duty, high-durometer (hard) composite ball bearing swivel units, with one locking caster for each dolly.  The standard dolly measures a full 10-inchs wide, so there’s room for a pretty wide tire.

I was pleasantly surprised by how reasonable the price seemed.  Model 1016 (the 10-inch wide aluminum set) lists for $179 plus shipping; with the optional caster upgrade, which is what I ordered, the price for a set of four is $269.  For comparison a air (two, not a set of four) of the heavy-duty directional car jacks like my friend Loy uses in his shop, Auto Perfections, cost between $300 and $450.

One Saturday afternoon a few weeks ago, toted the unassembled dollies over to auto perfections, bolted them together (took all of about 10 minutes total), then tried ‘em out on a Boyd Coddington-built; 59 Corvette that was in the shop for some paint work.  The car was at a hoist so I raised it a few inches, slid the dollies in position, then dropped the hoist and swung the arms out of the way.  Here’s a”do as I say, not as I do” caveat- you’re pushing a ton-and-a-half of car around, so have a second person to help you, just for control purposes.  I did it solo, just to see how hard or easy it would be to maneuver a car around on the dollies.

I rolled the ’59 back from the hoist then into the central, open area on the shop.  Easy, so far.  Then with my trusty old 35mm Canon close by, I proceeded to rotate the car 360 degrees, stopping roughly every 90 degrees to snap a couple photos.  It was actually quite easy; control would’ve been better with an extra body helping direct, but I only ended up with a couple feet out of the original arc when I ‘d finished.  With Loy’s help, just to be certain, we got the ’59 back in the right spot at the hoist by rolling it.  It was clean, simple, and about as easy as anything I’ve ever experienced. 

A couple weeks later, my “new” toy arrived (the tube-chassis’d, wide bodied late 70’s Corvette race car that I introduced in last month’s Driver Seat) and we plopped the ratty old racer onto the dollies before unloading it from the transporter at Loy’s shop.  Although we’d be better off with wider dollies beneath the old beast’s ancient 15-to 18 inch wide racing tires (Car-Dolly, LLC does offer an ultra wide “pro street/drag car” dolly, PN 2020) it rolls around and out of the way quite nicely.  The quality is excellent, the work well, and the price seems quite reasonable.  If you have a non-running project car or several cars stored in a relatively small space, these dollies will prove to be extremely handy.  My set is going to get a lot of use.

Vette Magazine, January 2003