I don't think I like cars anymore

[SuperBuickGuy]

Yesterday, I drove my Chevy pickup despite it needing to be washed. It may have an oil leak, but I just don't care.

this is a real conversation at my house, yesterday.
wife - "Let's go out to dinner"
me - "okay"
wife - "what car should we take?"
me ' "hmm, the H3 needs a headlight and it's apart, the VW needs a seat belt, the Jeep has puke in it (from her dog, earlier in the day), you don't like the Corvette (and it's a good way to broil on a 100 degree day), I guess we'll take the truck. It's all that's left."

Honestly, I think I'm getting to the point that I just want to drive them... I did get the headlight swapped, so there is that.

[TheSilverBuick]

I'm there too. I'm not even sure when I'll get around to "testing" the Firebird's fuel system again. I'm driving it to work and back (in the rain today..) but that's it. I'm going to dial down the work I'm doing quite a bit now that I don't have any car event deadlines to try and make.

I'm going to slowly re-build the 8.5" rear end that came out of the Skylark with the 3.42 gears and limited slip carrier, then eventually stick it in the Firebird. I did buy new front shocks and sway bar bushing for the Firebird, not sure when those will go in. Thinking about going to an exhaust scavenging crank case evacuation like Squirrel and others have done, who knows. Bought shorter spring spacers for the Skylark, as well as some alignment shims, not sure when I'll get around to that either. I want to put the regular rear shocks back in the Skylark and install the air ride airbags as well. Want to swap tires around and put the stock 14" rallye rims on the Firebird too. Need to paint them first...

I'm just going to drive them until the snow sets in then get around to the work over winter.

[mike343sharpstick]

I'm with that. For me it goes in waves. Occasionally I have the desire to change something, I get serious about it but when the change is done, or close 'nuf. that's IT - time to drive it.

Some guys love the constant tinkering, NOT ME.
I build them to drive them (or buy them to drive them LOL). I know it sounds clichéd but for me it's completely true.

[squirrel]

Son was visiting over the weekend...we ended up driving his brother's 99 chevy pickup out to dinner. Were going to drive the 55, then remembered I had the hood up and the air cleaner off, playing with the carb. The others won't seat 3 people. We would have taken the Dart, but Janet said the driver door striker is getting really loose and the door won't shut right and rattles a lot. I guess I need to get to work.

[Barry Donovan]

I needed a break, natural gas and earthquaking parking spot on the side of the road for 7 years...snow plows, walkers, birds shit with a stench only bangor could make. Dumps restaurants, drug addicts.. the car ionized it in all day. Fast food, even had taco bell stuck in it..

I had welds so densely stubborn, transformers popped nearby my sube in the city..with the 1 foot of lawn section grounding 400 houses.

I still don't hate cars.

A cooldown in the woods, just as I needed. A real grounding. The slick of crap removed in some heavy rains, the smell of foliage..an intake that stays too cold at 89F. The window actually squeaked rolling it down. Brought me back to when I was 15 in this same place with a 1974 ford truck. Everything was squeaky old and clean.

Keep going, it only gets tougher.. ambiguous. Up to you.

Realizing the coil springs on the way are just going to make it faster... looking forward to the alton woods ride.

[38P]

The good thing about owning at least one reliable late-model high-performance vehicle is that when you get sick and tired of wrenching on old junk (which is inevitable IMHO), you can almost always hop in your "storebought" whip and remember the joys of motoring. That'll recharge you for another junk thrash.

[BigAL]

Yap that's what I'm doing, I had to come to a hard realization that I just don't have time to work on my cars as much as I'd like to, so the engine building and body work is going to get farmed out. I should have done this years ago and be enjoying driving my cars now, instead of still building them.

[Thumpin455]

Needs a headlight, door striker loose, little annoying crap here and there. Are you guys tired of little crap or just getting old? I don't even have a shop to work in and I brought the 65 in to finish it then maybe sell it. The 70 is parked at my cabin until later, its running good and just needs a few small things, so its good enough. I'm not tired of building, tuning, learning, exploring, maintaining, and fixing the little shit.

Man up nancies, its insignificant crap. :-) it isn't like you rolled it in the lights after grenading the bottom end. Its not like you have a bare shell sitting there waiting for everything to get put back in.

I can't build a shop, can't build cars, but does it make me want to quit? Hell no.

[SuperBuickGuy]

what's worse, at least for me, is the Corvette really wasn't ready to be driven. I swapped out the jets and think I'm close, got the timing mark back on it... but have I thrown a timing light on it? no, that means I'd have to spend 5 minutes warming it up.... it needs a bath too.

[nesabo]

rebuilt carb, trying to get idle correct. Realized the fan is not working. 220 degrees. now to figure out why. At least it sounds like misery attracts company.

[Russell]

I took a vacation day today and went to the junk yard with a coworker and helped pull a transmission out of a 93 Capri. I would enjoy working on cars if I had the time and money. But work, wife, baby, house all seem to come before cars. Maybe I will blow a dollar on a lotto ticket

[mike343sharpstick]

... But my '13 F150 is so quiet and comfy with it's AC and nice radio, and if I open the window I can hear cool turbo sounds. LOL. do I get to keep a few man points for that?

True story, wife and I were going out to dinner Saturday night (without the little people that ask lots of questions), she says, "We ARE taking the Javelin, right!!", well... um YES.
I do like having both ends of the spectrum. This has been a cooler than average summer, so it's been a great year to drive the old rambler and enjoy it, and lately the old junk has been very reliable to boot, even without a choke

[fast Ed]

This is precisely why I sold the 66 T-Bird a few weeks ago, and have a deposit on the 89 Mustang project ... just don't like wrenching on them much any more. The T-Bird was needing a tranny refresh to start, and a bunch of small stuff. Liked the car, didn't love it, so away it went. The 89 as a project had stalled out, nothing doing on it for several months, and no ambition to get back at it. Once my friend offered his modded 07 Mustang for a crazy low price, the answer was obvious, go with a low-maintenance late model toy.


cheers
Ed

[Deaf Bob]

I find it hard to crawl around under cars any more.. Suburban needs an axle seal, I'd rather squeeze half a bottle every 2 weeks! Guess I better fix it before It's too late?

[DanStokes]

I've gone thru periods where I just didn't feel like it. This isn't one of them. But I do get to take my time and work when the spirit moves me - and the parts are gathered in the shop. Have I ever mentioned that I love being retired? (I mean, more than 1,000 times.....)

Dan