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Your opinion. Have people lost sight of the fun in old cars?

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  • Your opinion. Have people lost sight of the fun in old cars?

    Saw a 71 Firebird someone posted, asked if it was worth it to go get it. It looks straight and rust free, desert south west car, and people are saying save the gas, don't bother, it's not worth it.. What the hell? Because its not a Trans Am or a Formula it isn't worth anything now? If I could get it, that thing would be running in a month, with a 400, painted satin black and a spare set of wheels thrown under it. They'd think it was a steal to buy it for $5k-$8k. If I don't rebuild the engine, just use the extra parts I have laying around, I could make it a decent driver for all of $2000, most of that is tires and little stuff. You guys saw what I did with my 68, scrounged stuff, built a 400 for it, made it presentable despite not pulling many dents out, and now its a driver if I need it to be.

    Are people jaded? Do they want it nice right off? Are they afraid of getting dirty? Are they simply passing car guys who aren't into actually working on themso they just want garage art? I realize few people have my skills, shop, tools, experience, and big freaking pile of parts, but I have been doing this for decades when I didn't have all those things. How do ya think I got all of them?

    I get that people get excited, buy an old car, then lose interest when they discover it takes up too much TV watching time, those guys end up selling to someone like me or having it rot into dust in the yard. What happened to ingenuity? Job satisfaction? I don't expect them to build some killer 56 Chevy with a 409, or an Anglia gasser they can cruise daily, but why discount a clean vehicle because it is shiny? In my opinion, some people should stay the hell out of this hobby, if they discourage someone with a vision and a dream from following it. We could miss out on the next Chip Foose or Lil Jack. We can always miss out on the next Xibit.

    The car in question.


  • #2
    If it is truly a rust free car, I'd go get it, as finding a rust free, or one with little rust around here is not going to happen..
    wild card is if it has no title.. as it can be hell to put on the road without one here..

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    • #3
      Um, I'll take that & the Chevelle. Toss me a link & if the price is right I'll so you how its done.

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      • #4
        Lots of people are scared of the hard work. They'd rather pay to get it done...and in my opinion, quite a bit don't even comprehend the work that is required to make it function properly.
        Editor-at-Large at...well, here, of course!

        "Remy-Z, you've outdone yourself again, I thought a Mirada was the icing on the cake of rodding, but this Imperial is the spread of little 99-cent candy letters spelling out "EAT ME" on top of that cake."

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        • #5
          seems not many guys have any gumption these days. I had fun today, driving my 59 edsel up to Tucson and back to see how it does in record heat. It made the trip. I have a little over 2k in the car, and a few weeks work. It's ugly, but a lot of folks smiled when they saw it.

          My fabulous web page

          "If it don't go, chrome it!" --Stroker McGurk

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          • #6
            Yeah, my Formula doesn't exactly fit in at car shows But when I trailered it out to Kingman last night I'm pretty sure a few people got a kick out of it. Inspiring the younger motorheads.

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            • #7
              You know, the kids that are actually out there street racing & having fun.

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              • #8
                it is the work.
                the 70s killed mechanics, right into the last egr nightmare and narrow band of 1987.
                the catalysts eye watering, roadkill did other things besides stay roadkill.
                no alternator controls, lighting up bowels, ethanol chomping rubber diaghram pumps..

                come on.
                even real workers walked away.

                how bout that r12.

                these old cars are for the factual.
                72 is magic cutoff for simple high compression, tiny pointy cams that did not pump much anyway, no cats, emissions...

                They did not recover until just 20 years ago, with obd2.
                that is a big gap to lose the world of fun...
                73-87...and then had to wait for 96.

                just needs education, like bangshift.
                I guess I am getting old, I even lose my father in conversation.

                add economy to all that.
                Most of us here would latch onto that good deal.. the rest of the world not so much.
                Last edited by Barry Donovan; June 19, 2016, 07:21 PM.
                Previously boxer3main
                the death rate and fairy tales cannot kill the nature left behind.

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                • #9
                  Nobody knows how..
                  Kid was looking at my 57 today.. No USB port, no place to charge a phone, no power windows, no key fob, no stereo,no power steering (not needed) just disc brakes 327, 4 speed.. No back seat (sedan delivery)
                  Thought it should not be on the road untill he got his Honda Civic's doors blown off. And I ran away..

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by squirrel View Post
                    seems not many guys have any gumption these days. I had fun today, driving my 59 edsel up to Tucson and back to see how it does in record heat. It made the trip. I have a little over 2k in the car, and a few weeks work. It's ugly, but a lot of folks smiled when they saw it.
                    I've read some of your project car builds, I don't know how you do it, getting them done so fast after working a full time job..

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                    • #11
                      who's working a full time job? Not me

                      My fabulous web page

                      "If it don't go, chrome it!" --Stroker McGurk

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                      • #12
                        Probably depends. My friends and even their kids have not lost it

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                        • #13
                          Originally posted by squirrel View Post
                          seems not many guys have any gumption these days. I had fun today, driving my 59 edsel up to Tucson and back to see how it does in record heat. It made the trip. I have a little over 2k in the car, and a few weeks work. It's ugly, but a lot of folks smiled when they saw it.
                          That's just it! It doesn't HAVE to be minty nice for it to be enjoyable. I get the joy from working on and driving the cars. Some cars, like the Edsel, or in my case a large '72 convertible Centurion get attention regardless of their condition. I plan on dusting off the Centurion tomorrow and may drive it out to a festival going on at a lake near by on Saturday. I haven't really driven the Centurion much for the last few years, yet in a two day training class I went to last week, in a group exercise where you write down something you know about a co-worker, some guy in a department far away removed from me wrote "Drives old cars" and when asked more about it he specifically brought up a giant blue convertible, lol.



                          Originally posted by squirrel View Post
                          who's working a full time job? Not me
                          Escaped on a technicality.

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                          • #14
                            It seems for me at the show i went to on sunday, alot of guys just bring them out park them and then drive them back home to sit in the garage.They spend more time cleaning and dusting them then driving them.

                            I'd say go for it, it sat enough get it running and drive it.
                            "I live for myself and I answer to nobody."

                            -Steve McQueen

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                            • #15
                              I don't know. I think I see far more old cars out on the road on a regular basis than I did 10 or even 5 years ago. A lot of stuff like mine...Just beaters and drivers...it's pretty awesome...I get so many thumbs up and looky-loos its crazy...

                              If you can leave two black stripes from the exit of one corner to the braking zone of the next, you have enough horsepower. - Mark Donohue

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