Art & Inspiration I Shouldve drove it before I....

You Know how the story goes,, I shouldve drove it around or fixed it while i drove it.. How many of you out there have done this? Im guessing most. My wife is always trying to warn me when i bring a running car home.. "Dont tear this one apart, enjoy it" anyways thought id put this subject out there and see if i can get any good stories.. I drove home a perfect running 64 GTO and 55 chevy and tore into them, they never ran again..

 

Should have a contest to see who has the longest sitting orginally running project.Ill start with my 46 truck wich i purchased running in 1978 been in three differant storage spots even outside were the cab got crushed in a wind storm.Should have left it running and fixed as i went.My have it on the road yet this fall.

 

'54 Chevy had a short in the wiring somewhere, because it would shock me when I opened the door. That was in 2003. It has since been sitting in my garage, totally gutted interior, motor/trans out, etc.... Should never have bagan "fixing" the little short.

'40 Ford tudor. Ran like a champ. Had a small carb problem. Probably needed the carb rebuilt. Here I am one month later after new heads, new intake, dual carbs, etc. etc. etc..... The funny thing is, the new carbs I got were bad so now I'm rebuilding TWO carbs instead of just rebuilding the original.

Story of my life.

 

Sounds like you need to sell your tools and live by the rule ( IF IT AIN"T BROKE DON"T FIX IT) you need to listen to your old lady,but the next GTO or 55 you screw up give me a call and I will come and get them out of your way.

 

Dam, that blows..

you still working on them to get them going? how far off are you to getting them back on the road?

I got a Brother in law that buys shit and has grand plans that never go anywhere...becareful , a lot of guys end up in Divorce court over that shit
and end up with junk laying and rotting all over the place..

although sometimes thats a good thing for those of us who can buy in cheap and make it happen....

got anything for sale

not much into the "goats" but a tri5 might be cool

 

^^^ '40 Ford tudor. Ran like a champ. Had a small carb problem. Probably needed the carb rebuilt. Here I am one month later after new heads, new intake, dual carbs, etc. etc. etc..... The funny thing is, the new carbs I got were bad so now I'm rebuilding TWO carbs instead of just rebuilding the original.

Now that is funny!

 

wow, i'm surprised anyone would admit that...but is something i see far to often. many end up on craigslist. maybe because it's easy to tear apart when you first get it and your enthusiasm is high , but it takes talent , time , tools , money and determination to finish the job. i can honestly say that every project car i tore apart i got back together and running

not trying to bust your balls here , but after two cars you did that to it's time to reevaluate your priorities

 

I am just the odd ball I guess, I have only bought one car that ran and drove and continues to, but most of mine including my last 3 daily drivers I bought with bad engines and rebuilt. My wife says I am a glutton for punishment or something! I just like to save money! Buy a broken car cheap, put new parts in and know what you have is my thinking. But I must admit the '62 Galaxie I am doing right now bought as a basket case has been a challenge or it could be I am getting older??

 

Haven't done that one yet...the one I have hasn't run since the early '70's and hooking the battery up this week was the first juice it's seen in almost 35 years... Gotta bring back to life, not kill 'em.

If you still have them, get out there and get excited about driving one or both of them again! That's the only thing that has kept me going, and with any luck, when I get home tonight, I have to hook up one more wire and then see if she'll fire for me!!! If so, we're going for a short cruise around the neighborhood!!!!!!!!

 

things are way easier to take apart, aren't they.... ?

 

actually priorities is exactly what happened, life in general, bought land, house,tractor,etc.. mainly loose intrest, want something else..weigh the options, they are just cars..

 

I totally agree with that......now.....lol...it was always fun to tear them down, but when i was done , it would be so far gone that i would lose intrest and sell them.. and yes they are both long gone.. O yea 36-3window, busting my balls is deserved in this case, lesson learned..

 

You must be a long lost relative as I have done just about the same thing for the past 40 years. My wife has had some nice daily drivers over the years but most of them were bought for pennies on the dollar and came home on the hook and then I built an engine for them or in one case did the brakes and a tune up and bought a set of tires before bringing it home.

My never ending project 48 Chev pickup seems to always get put on the back burner for something else. Usually that is buying/ putting another daily driver for my wife after she wrecks/tears up another one though.

But I am fast getting to the point that if it ain't broke, I'm not going to try and fix it while I can be driving it.

 

The wifes 49 caddy wasnt running when we got it but i should have never pulled it all apart to do it up they are much more fun to work on when you can still drive them. 8 years later and its still in the garage, After im done with painting the rambler this week its the cad im going back to working on. Whats really sad is once i finish the 49 I have my grandpa's 71 cad to fix too. Its in far better shape and runs but i promised the wife to get the 49 back on the road

 

did you ever think it could have just been static electricity?
i've had cars that do this , but its not because of a short..its because of the seats or carpet, or the type of clothes you wear or shoes..or combination of both

I have a 2009 GMC that nails me everytime i get out of it..its because of the seats,
just bought a new 2010 silverado for my buiz..and it has the same seats..you guessed it,,whamo..same problem

old timers used to put on static straps to their bumpers to disapate the static build up that some of the older cars used to develop...

soooo did you ever really find that short?

 

I always check to see how well I can push the car. I don't care what they are if they don't push easy I'm not interested. I never crank or drive, just push.

 

Just keep fixin it til it breaks.

 

You must not be a car guy!

 

wicked funny! me too.

 

Just being anal-litical.
I think what happens to many foresaken projects, is because of lack of skill, tools, equipment, money, the things we lay hands on fall short of our dreams and we postpone the work. Then along comes another project that's full of dreams and promise that we haven't hacked up yet.
Before you know it your the guy with the backyard full of stuff telling the kid at the door "not for sale, I got plans for that one".

 

A 64 GTO and a 55 Chevy are not just cars ,with that attitude no wonder all your projects have turned on you.

 

I've bought 3 that ran, never took them off the road. All the others I've brought back from the grave. I don't catch much flack from the wife because I've put so many back on the road.

Now let's not count how many never got brought back!

 

<<<<< Did it to that one on the left there. 20yrs of front sheet metal off, striped interior, engine n trans out, suspention removed, wireing striped out, dash all out, ect. ect..
So when anyone tells me that they want to do a car and never have done it, I tell them don't tear it apart completly apart. Take the 12 step plan and keep driving it. Because if we are (im going to use lazy) about getting it done. A beginner will just drop it.

 

actually they are..cars.. and no attitude here,, just the facts.. ma'am, lLet me clarify for the few that i killed and didnt resurrect, i have built a couple dozen that did,, Im not a serial car killer..

 

When I was 2 years old I took the wheels off my match box cars, they have pictures of this, my mom gives me the shiznit about this crap to this day, Yeah I'm freakin old too. Any time I buy a car my mommy says "Oh do you remember when you were a little baby and used to take all your little cars apart and I used to vacuum them up with the vacuum, to which I facially respond WTF? So as a rule I never take anything apart to be left and if I do I junk that crap or sell it off as soon as I can cause I really don't want to give her any sort of goddam satisfaction. Having troubles? give me your address I'll send her over and your shit will be humiliated complete or junked in a week. I guarantee it.

 

I try to keep mine running for the most part. Two out of three of mine will start up and roll under their own power and are legal to drive on the street. I just move too damned slow. Cant get crap done in the 100 degree plus weather, nor in the -30 degree weather.... Yeah, Im a wuss.

 

It seems like alot of people can strip one down in a few days and then take years to put one back together. You just have to stay after it, if you only spend an hour or two when you get a chance. It all ads up in the end. Finding a picture simliar to the one your working on except done sometimes will keep you going.

 

Been there, done that. My buddy's '59 Bel Air- It ran good when he got it, but we tore RIGHT into the body. About halfway through doing the body, we realized that we'd have been much smarter driving it for a few months first.

I learned from the lesson. On my '51, I am holding back on starting into the heavy bodywork. Since it ran when I bought it, I have been focused on getting it roadworthy and driving it a bit before tearing into the body. It will give the wife and daughter a chance for some serious bonding with it, which should work in my favor during the time when I'm cutting out rust and things look more.... grim.

 

This thread feels like group-therapy. Maybe others can learn from our mistakes. Shoot...maybe I can learn from my mistakes!

OK...my turn. My name is Rick, and...

I took my '48 Chevy coupe COMPLETELY apart shortly after buying it. I was gonna have it acid-dipped, and do a complete build. I actually did take it to the dippers, but the idiots were gonna hurt the car, and I took it back home. Then it got set aside for other projects.

Not just that simple, though. The biggest mistake I made was after partially disassembling my '53 Chevy pickup...I stored all the boxes and cans of parts for the truck together with the boxes and cans of parts for the coupe...and didn't mark them. Now after a few years, I've finally just sold the coupe, (naturally for less $ than I paid for it) and finally putting the truck back together. The man from Indiana will be here in about a week to pick up the coupe, and I'm still figuring out which parts are for which vehicle. I don't wanna short the buyer on parts, and don't wanna accidentally give him parts that I need for the truck. Whew...got a busy week ahead of me! LOL.

Everybody repeat after me: "I swear I will never again disassemble a car, unless I know damned-well I'm gonna see it through in a timely manner. Even then, I will think twice, and three times. And I will never make the mistake of storing parts from more than one car together. And I will be thoroughly anal about marking parts in the future...Amen"

Life is not long enough to waste this kind of time, having cars sitting around idle, being no good to anybody, and doing nothing but taking up space, gathering dust, getting covered in pidgeon-poop, and rusting.

 

on my 4th project in 7 years, without one being a reliable driver. each had/has a ton of potential. being on a low budget I get something someone has done a bunch of work to.3 actually drove away on their own, but still needed a ton of work. current chopped '51 Ford with S10 front clip and butchered bag set up. bought most of stuff to replace bag system. But, with 302 engine trans out I am getting side tracked with "cool" stuff and not getting it back on road. so, thinking about bypassing bags for now and run dropped spindels & 2"lowered springs I got cheap on craigslist. Just want to concentrate on getting it in running condition for now and can do "cool" stuff like bags later. Oh ya, needs wiring and floor panels redone, etc. Spent today at Pick'N'Pull with 50% off on everything. A "someday driver".