I was gonna write a story about how i struggled today changing car parts i used to do easily. I struggled today. TOTALY. What i had in past manhandled, i couldn't do it anymore. The brain still says 16-18, the body says you crazy as hell!! Reality's a bitch. I'll shut up.
I hear ya! Any small job knocked off the list is considered progress these days. I have the attitude today that there is nothing that needs to get done. My time in the shop is just "time well spent" doing things I enjoy with no deadlines. I gave up my status of being the "go to guy" shortly after retiring in 2001. Retirement was great but I soon found out everyone thought my time was best spent working on their stuff with little to no reciprocation. A few health issues and injuries nipped that problem in the bud but slowed me down more so than age. I still manage to get things done but not as easily or as quickly. It is what it is. The enjoyment of a job well done is still there, no matter how long it takes. Funny thing about how the brain stays young. I can plan a project out with no effort at all. Sourcing the parts is a fun challenge as well but the actual work takes more time than expected guaranteed. I'm OK with that, as long as it is still enjoyable.
I still cruse the HAMB every night however I only manage to get my hotrod on the street 5-6 times a year now . The Lord help me if it breaks down. I will have to have someone else fix it. Thought I would last a little longer. LOL
My dog has so much energy I have no choice but to walk him which is better for me than the dog. For my upper body workout I ride my Harley.
I resemble that taking more time to change parts. My hands are rather beat up from years of doing mechanic work and a few stupid stunts along the way. I'm left handed and my left index finger doesn't work like it should as I smashed the crap out of it a few years ago and I don't even type with it. Then we won't discuss my damned knees. We Met my daughter and her hubby at the first local car show of the year Sunday and got there a little late but one walk through and I was about done in and I used to walk the show about three times through. No Hamb Friendly cars that I hadn't shown before in one of my threads on local events so I'll probably sluff that bit this time. I changed a front hub on my Ot front wheel drive Chebby Monte the other day and found out that am not as strong as I used to be by a long shot. I had to use the handle off my 1-1/2 ton HF aluminum jack as a cheater pipe. Now I have to change the other hub and do a four wheel brake job on that bugger. No lack of enthusiasm for going to events but I would have a lot more fun if I had something fun to drive there even though the Monte is old enough for classic plates.
Yessir, I need to block sand my Morris woody and shoot the color on it. I’ve always hated sanding but now at this advanced age it’s a real workout. So I decided that I needed to set up a set of 3.25 gears for my red coupe. When did 9” Ford third members get so heavy? They say getting old ain’t for the weak, so far I’d have to agree….
I was just thinking the same... head says 20 body says every minute of 66... getting up and down kneeling is getting harder and a couple of days ago started digging out a tree stump... spent yesterday recovering haha...still tinker with the car but no major work on it these days. When I think of all the hours I spent over the years in the garage in the evenings and weekends after doing a days work and not really feeling it.... what happened??? Many years ago me and my brother went to the scrapyard and bought a V8 motor and auto trans... alright it was an aluminium Rover( Buick 215) .. but it had all ancillaries and the box was still attached.... we picked it up by the exhaust manifolds and put it in the back of the van manually... be happy if I could carry the two manifolds at once these days
Take heart in the fact that you're not the only one , I'm right they're with ya ... Life is wasted on the young !
BUT at LEAST we lived long enough to be old! Sure is difficult to do things under the car, like bleed and adjust brakes. Need a lift. No, not for the car, although that would be nice. To get ME up from the ground. Enjoy, folks Ben
Being a car guy is a state of mind. I dug it for so long but with the passage of time, friends and places to go my interest has waned, and I really hate that. I've had cars that many "straight" guys say they wish they could have had. I was lucky in the fact that I was growing up in the '60s and '70s when things were relatively inexpensive and I could always run across someone with the same gearhead mindset. My only complaint was that I had to sell one kool car to get the next. Auto auctions, so-called "cruise nights" and the absolute lust for money when it comes to buying cars or parts make me want to puke. Right now, I believe my time as a musclecar owner has passed.
Yup. I'm carless right now & debating ....... get another & pay someone else to do what I can't any more. Or, get a puppy .......... Just a walk'n the dog ........
If I’d have known I was going to live this long I’d have taken better care of myself!! Got a puppy last summer it was easier to teach him to stay in the yard. Walking is hell on my back. Boxer/Jack Russel mix, sure is a hyper little shit.
Getting up and down from the shop floor is the most challenging part of car work for me. Other than that I am still pretty active and able to do my own work. At 72 my strength is not nearly what it was even 5 years ago. That is the part that annoys me the most. However one learns to adapt and improvise to accomplish what is required. As an Ironworker I am no stranger to strenuous physical tasks. I really feel all those years of robust physical and mentally intense work has faired well for me in these later years. I do have a recliner in my shops work area and use it for contemplation! It often invokes smiles from visitors to the shop.
Hello, As we all get older daily, looking back to those early times is a great way to keep the "Big A" from slowly creeping into the current aging process. We had fun, looked to new adventures and did what most young kids did for daily activities. Hot rods, drag racing, surfing, motorcycle racing, and of all things sandlot football, a thing called Rugby. "early to bed, early to rise, makes the body healthy, wealthy and wise." (as well as beat to sh!##) Well, the teenage mantra was not early to bed. We had no idea that those late hours and activities did wear down our growing brains in more ways that we could imagine. But, the body just kept going to new adventures and ways to add to the overall image. Teenagers in So Cal was something else and we had to enjoy what we had and looked forward to the next adventure or trail that led somewhere. As 20 somethings, the whole world changed and we started to learn how to get along and do what we still wanted to do for activity and fun. But, the society was starting to clamp down on most everything during those wild 1966 to 1976 time frame in our lives as well as others in the same situation. But, for us, newly married, highly active in all things, open to suggestions from the world and looking to continue the times of being happy together played the biggest part. We did not know that what we did would be felt plenty of years later. Jnaki The first step for us was that what we did as hot rod/drag race teens/20 somethings was a great time to learn and experiment. But, as the society changed, we all moved along with what we thought was leading our lives. The future loomed and we had to get ready. Retirement? Not even close to thinking about it unless we won the So Cal lottery in its infancy. But, thinking back, if we did, what was next? At our young 1968 wedding day, our 80 year old grandparents were in attendance. They were well educated, kept a good presence going and had a healthy lifestyle. They just seemed way out there for us young 20 somethings to even contemplate us at that age. Well, here we are... WHAT? As we grew older, experienced more things society threw at us, trying to be good citizens as certified adults, and the fun things we did as teens started to affect the way we did things. The bodies just would not do the same things. Ha ! Early to bed, early to rise was a mantra for 50 plus years. 4 a.m. rise and shine to get things moving for the day's activities has been so ingrained, that in the present day, it is still nothing to go to sleep and have an automatic alarm clock silently awaken the senses at 3:59 a.m. Almost every day. But the high contact sports, activities of youth affected how we are these days. No more two on two basketball, surfing/sailing due to injuries over the years. A brisk neighborhood/harbor waterfront walk keeps us active and breathing well. 50 years of being involved in hot rods, surfing, beach lifestyle, and photography, the new couple of kids learned how to get along with society. Then having a son and then years later, a granddaughter taught us all that we learned/learned to endure, the trials and tribulations of growing up in So Cal. We still reap the rewards, despite the aging process and this crazy pandemic. YRMV
Yep, I have gotten to where I seldom even work on my stuff anymore. I find it hard to even loosen and tighten bolts now. I pulled a bicep muscle loose just removing a lug nut a while back. And getting up from lying under a car takes more time than ever. But hey, look at the alternative, ya ain't dead yet....
I'm only 63, but right there with y'all. Everything takes longer to do, with this damn COPD I get winded quickly. Skin is tender anymore, one bump and I bleed like a stuck hog. My hands and arms look like I've been in a knife fight every time I work on something. Work a little then rest a little. Still working three days a week, and there's still not enough time to get what I need done around here. Got the wife's Expy in the shop right now, damn plastic fan started chunking blades. New stuff is a bitch to work on! Gotta keep on keeping on though. Nobody's gonna do it for me.
Get four small used leather cushions ( at least 15 inches ) from the recycle/thrift store. 50 cents each. Just let them drift around in the garage .
I've installed floors for 40 years now , I have crawled more miles on my hands and knee's than I have walked on my feet Advil is my best friend most days When did everything get so fucking heavy ...
Mark, at our age getting down is not the problem, breaking something when you fall is the problem, I can still roll around and find something I can use to hold on to to get back on my feet, BTW, I just use the being on the floor as a excuse to see what I need to pick up while I'm there. HRP
I'm glad I put everything on casters a few years ago, it's much easier to push than to lift. I've got all the electrical and hydraulic lifting things, because I have learned not to work like a mug many years ago. I'm recovering from a popped bursa in my shoulder which I got just working under a dash last week. From now on, under dash work will start with seat removal so I can get my old frame in there!
I was talking about getting down where and when you want to! It is amazing what hardware you find while on the ground.
Never did a 5 minute job in 5 minutes ever and as time has gone by those jobs have progressed to around 5 days now for me. I keep plugging along, I will not give up, I'm sure that I'm not the only guy that most any project in general turns into a F story, always been a DIY guy. I have so many things to get done this Summer, working 4/5 hours a day is about it for me now and if hard physical type I need to rest a day in between. BUT I'm better off than many, my car friends are dying off or with cancer, their ticket has been punched, I have my family, many toys, garage, tools, 1/2 a brain left so I'm thankful to be here typing, Not complaining. I once read a story of a man complaining of no shoes until he met a man with no feet. Summer finally coming to Northern Wisconsin, real late Spring this year, anxious to get home and go to work, then the whining will start, this, that and everything hurts, nothing goes smoothly anymore, Why do I do this stuff, I really miss my garage with this SnowBird deal, Winter weather super good in Az. their Winter is better than Wi. Summers. I'm a very Lucky and Thankful man, We all are, Enjoy your Summer/Cruises/Shows, Yahoo !
The Jalopy Journal
