I am almost done the body work on my 74. This week I purchased a sand blaster and made some work much easier. Now I am thinking Gas tank, bumper brackets, bumper bracing (big bumper car), hey, while I have the gas tank out why not the whole underside? This is going to be a daily driver and all these things would be nice but this is already almost a 4 year project. I can see another year (with my schedule) hitting all these "extras" So where do you stop? what is good enough for a daily driver? When does the need to get it done out weigh the extra time needed for "just this one more thing" Yet if I do everything I can think of it would end up being a show piece I would be afraid to drive. I need a beer and a reality check
I have 1 drive on the street, 1 I race, 1 I'm restoring to be a daily driver, and another complete car for parts. The only way they are all going to be finished is if I pay someone to do it.
There is no end,I have had my car for 23 yrs,it isnt done either.Granted 22 of them were spent driving it,then storing it for winter.Now its in peices and I miss driving it.Gotta have a plan and stick to it.Thats my story and I'm stickin to it.Good luck.
ahhhh..... it ended last year!!!! hmmm may have inspection problems.. windows, seat, seat belt.... hey if no seats is it still a seat belt violation?
You think you see the light at the end of the tunnel and then you see another one, or two or three more that you must have, too. So, you buy them, too. Then you spend the next several years trying to dig yourself out of the hole you just dug. It's all part of what I call "The Madness", an incurable sickness of old car people. You are never finished. Jim
Till death do us part buddy. For me it'll never end as long as I'm able to transform oxygen into carbon dioxide.
Amen... I like that. I used to spend weekends drinking coffee and/or beer and playing computer games and housecleaning and errands for the kids. Now I spend weekends drinking coffee and/or beer and working on my car and it so-o-o feels like I've accomplished something when the car looks or runs just a wee bit better in some way... (I'm letting the kids figure out housework on their own... heh). I ran out of steam when I drove a new Honda... too expensive, too complicated, and too boring to modify. I suddenly got a whole lotta energy when I bought this Comet a few months ago... can't wait to blow the remains of every 2nd paycheque on what parts I can afford to buy. I feel like I'm 40 (ok... I *am* 40) when I drive the lady and our 2 kids to the grocery store in the 4 door Honda and they want to listen to rap and bebop... this weekend on the big cruise it was just me, Led Zeppelin, and my Comet and I hope it never ends... like when I was in high school. I WAS just going to tune up a daily driver and leave the Comet all stock... but after this weekend in Colby I suddenly have HUGE plans for my car... hope that keeps my weekends occupied 'till I'm 60. I am however leaving the paint original and not fixing the door dings... just working on the rust. For a daily driver like mine... in a hospital parking lot... I'm only doing bodywork so the car looks good 20 feet away... I was about to murder a guy once, who deliberately took a chunk of paint off my Buick convertible right after after a new paint job... it just ain't worth it. I am however leaving the paint original and not fixing the door dings... just working on the rust. For a daily driver like mine... in a hospital parking lot... I'm only doing bodywork so the car looks good 20 feet away... I was about to murder a guy once, who deliberately took a chunk of paint off my Buick convertible right after a new paint job... it just ain't worth it. After that, I put up with the door dinks who make door dings. Most of the comments, 2nd looks, and thumbs up I get are from people who notice my car across an intersection and wave as we pass. If everything on my car has a nick, a tear, or a scratch, I don't worry about getting a second one.
It's like you start one project on your car and it spawns four additional things that you feel that you need to do at that time while you're in there. We are all motivated by reward, and I think one of the best rewards is if you can keep the car in driving condition and get to take it out for a spin on a regular basis. Mine has been hibernating for too long, and as it sits in pieces, you get to be OK with that. That is about to change... First, I am going to swap in the new set of gears I got. Then I need to get the gas tank flushed. While I am at it, I want to install the flip-up Mach 1 gas filler I got a few months ago. Gee ... while that is apart, I might as well paint the rear panel black to see if I am going to like it. While the tank is out, I really should do POR 15 on the back part of the chassis... OK ... it might be a while yet...
It doesn't end, it's in your DNA. People will talk about you and make fun of you for sinking money in a bottomless pit but you will go to bed at night thinking of something else you want to do to your Pride and Joy. You will find yourself going to car shows and cruise in's like it was a AA meeting. You will know what buttons to push on the remote control for the Speed Channel. All of you Favorites on your Internet browser will be car related sites. The only reading material in the house is Summit catalogs or car magazines. You will love the smell of orange flavored GoJo. The list goes on and on...
But when you find more money, it just begins again. I have owned my own Maverick for 19 years now and it also isn't finished.
