Helping out stricken neighbours - An AFF tale

[grandpa_spec_F6]

Hi all,

I would like to offer publicly, my deepest thanks and gratitude to a few members of AFF who, as you will find out below, have been the most amazing and supportive people anyone could ever come across.

As many of you know I am an active member of the Ford Forums community, not as big as some, but I am truly grateful to be a part of it. I was reminded of why this past weekend, which can best be described as a whirlwind of goodwill and as far as I am concerned, a demonstration of the true Australian spirit.

Last Friday my neighbors down the road had the wheels stolen off their late model Commodore, this occurred in Geebung at around 4:30am. They were alerted to a loud crash around this time, accompanied by a car speeding off up the road… below is what greeted them.





Now to add insult to injury, not only did the buggers put it up on bricks, stolen from the fence our neighbor had recently taken down, but they somehow managed to drop it off the bricks on one side, sliding it a good 15cm towards the gutter on its brakes.

They didn’t take the covers or wheel nuts, only the wheels, which we are told means they were either going to be “skid rims”, trailer tyres or sold as originals for doing up early model commodores.





After talking with my neighbors and seeing how distressed they were, our whole neighborhood pitched in and assisted police with enquires and what little they could offer, then it was my turn.

After putting a post up in the donating member’s area, I was flooded with support and utter disgust at what had happened, then not 3 hours later, Fiery posted following message:



“I think I might be able to help out.. What size rim /tyres?

I will ask a guy I know that has a stock of rims / tyres from and see if he would donate them or maybe our club will be able to pay him…..

….. if we can help we will try to have them on the road by Saturday night (maybe Sunday morning at the latest)..

Ohh just realised you may not be in Brisbane area so would be able to possibly organise transporting the tyres to you if you still need them!!

Cheers
Fiery”



After a few quick messages were exchanged, not 24 hours after I had posted up a plea for help not expecting anything major to happen, this is the message we only dreamed of getting:



“Well I am pleased to say that this is all arranged.
Couldn't get stock rims for them, but they are getting 4 mags with tread of about 50%.

Dropping them off after some of the clubbies have attended the Jimboomba car show tomorrow.

We as a club offered to pay our guy who supplies us with all sorts of bits n pieces when we need them including tyres. But he has generously said it is a donation to the club to give to these people.

All I ask in return is that if anyone in the Brisbane & north Brisbane area needs a tow truck or bits n pieces for cars to ring one of the AFCQ members and buy them from John (he is a clubbie).

Cheers
Fiery”



I would like to give a huge thank you to “Scrappy John” who donated the mags and tyres, and as Fiery mentioned I also would like to encourage anyone who needs any car parts they can think of, or a tow truck at a very good rate (which was also offered very cheaply to get them to a mechanic might I add) to get in contact with a member of AFCQ as they can put you on to John .

Now this alone was more than we could have ever wished for, however we had another surprise coming. The car was in pretty bad shape as you can tell from the photos, and was in an absolute pain of a position, right next to the gutter, so simply putting the wheels on wasn’t going to happen.

What amazed me was after not only organizing mags for the car, then driving them all the way down to us (In her awesome GT-P! ), Fiery saw that it was going to be a troublesome job after some of the boys and I had issues with the car sliding when trying to put the wheels on.

A true testament to the quality of people on the forums, and the AFCQ that she is president of, she and her son gave up their Sunday night to make sure the job was done, and worked tirelessly until the car was back on the road. I have never seen someone jack up a car using only a screwdriver with such determination in my life!

A diff jack, three scissor jacks, two jack stands and lots of swearing and innuendo’s later, the job was finished. Many memorable moments, such as a friend giving Fiery cheek about wheel clearance, resulted in him finding out excitably why she wears the nick name, no guesses as to what imprint his back wore just after this photo below was taken :P (joking, it was a hand print!)





Here are a few piccies from the night:











And finally, the finished product!







Both Tony and his wife extend a big thank you to everyone in the community involved, and especially Fiery and Scrappy John who were nothing short of fantastic. I think Tony nearly had a heart attack when I told him what had been organized for them!

I urge anyone who is contemplating it to become a member of AFCQ, they are a fantastic bunch of people! As before, anyone who needs car bits and pieces or a tow truck at a great rate, contact one of the AFCQ and they can get you on to John.

To top it all off, a final message from Fiery:



“I can't remember your mates name that did cop a couple of slaps on the back and a threat of hitting him with his own belt till realising it wasn't a great idea but he made the night quite fun.

I think the most special part was when Tony & his wife spoke of her dad as it was his car before passing away (sounded like it wasn't that long ago too) and how pleased he would have been to have 'mags'. She had a few tears in her eyes I am sure ”



Once again, my personal thanks to everyone involved and the kind comments offered by all, it has been a truly heartwarming experience. It truly goes to show that community spirit, common decency and a shared love for cars transcends even the most bitter of rivalries.

Regards,

Grandpa_Spec_AU