Ever started something that has fought every step of the way ? I bought a 72 New Yorker parts car,440 and 727 trans intact.and i'm wondering if the very reasonable 400 dollar tag was worth it. I could have bought a 440/7272 combo locally for anywhere from 800-1200, but i saw the deal, and trying to make a low buck effort with the 440 swap into my 55 Dodge 1/2 ton...i thought why not. Took the 440 apart, siezed pistons, # 1 was worst, some heavy pitting in the cylinder ( is at the machine shop as of noon today so we'll see ), had to ditch the heads, lots of corrosion and broken off exhaust valve heads......couldn't rebuild them for the $460 bucks I bought a nice set already done up.....etc...... From the time it took ( four hours ) to break the belly of the car from the frozen pile of mud and horse manure ( was on a farm ), to the last straw last night when i went back into work where i'm keeping the car to take the seats (split power bench with armrests that would have fit sooooooooo nicely in my truck ) out..... i got a bit over zelous with the pass side, since the bottom of the car was rotted out, i opted to use the smoke wrench to take the seat bolt out/off.....and smoke it did. An errant spark started the seat on fire. one empty extinguisher and a lot of water to make sure the smoldering seat wouldn't reignite. went back in this morning to move the car on the trailer from the middle of the back yard, i left it out in the open in case it would have relit, but i sprayed it down and cut what was left of the seat to ribbons and soaked it for almost an hour. I was gonna pull the master.booster/pedal assembly but after last night, i just bought one online and said, "scrap is up, and you're going to meet your maker" I should have what's left crushed to a cube in a week Kind of makes me think if someone was trying to tell me something with this one, i've never had a project go like this before. I'm shopping online, makes me forget...... Derek
Don't forget to yank the 8 3/4 and driveline out of that sucker before you let it get away from you. Tilt or tilt/scope wheel? Yank that too. You know, of course, after it's down the road, you'll thing of a kazillion things you should have saved that would have gone right into your pickup.
Seemed like everything I did on my 39 Plymouth was a fight. Battled with it tooth and nail for 2 1/2 years. That was enough, it now belongs to someone else. I'm spending the money I got out of it on more cooperitive things. Sad part was I loved that body style and the body was great. I'm taking some time off hot rods and re-evalueate things. I'm getting too old to put up with stuff that doesn't want to work right. This lousy computer might be next....Gene
I'm going through that right now. It has come to the point where I stopped wrenchin for a week straight.... but of course all I think about is the damn car. Life hasn't been the same for the last week. I'll be back in the garage tomorrow though and the fight of frustration will begin again...
Why do you think I call my car "BadLuck52"?!....nothing but drama since the day I brought her home....I almost have her whipped into shape, but shes still giving me problems....shes still worth it..
My MGB/GT was a fight every step of the way, even when I didn't have a wrench in my hand. From the DPO's assorted issues to getting the title taken care of...sheesh.
My '57 has been a constant struggle. It's cool though, stick with it and walk away from it when it pisses you off. When you have it running good, you'll appreciate it more and all the hard work will be worth it
I have one that fights every step, and then keeps coming back. A buddy of mine has a 49 Ford, wants a flame job. I scuff the car, lay out a FULL body flame job, roof, sides, trunk, the works. He pics up some House of Color pearl from the paint shop. cans look REAL old. We spend a WEEK taping and prepping the car, ony to find the pearl dries like rubber, ruining the whole car. I sand the whole car, repaint the entire body, then re-tape and prep the ENTIRE thing again with my buddy and his wife. Used PPG paint which was donated to us by a PPG employee that felt bad for us. Paint came out great. A solid week of pinstriping, she's done. Not long after, he gets rear ended by chick in a Chevy, so I repaint the back of the car. Last summer, the steering goes out on the hiway and he clobbers a guard rail with front fender, I repaint the car. I guess when you get to fight something every step, at least you get LOTS of practice.
Yes, none go smoothly. But, I've got six in the shop so when one pisses me off or is uncooperative, I go work on a different one until the first gets jealous and decides to be more cooperative or I get a new perspective. Case in point is the master cylinder on the 53. The cotter pin was installed in the wrong hole originally and there's no means of getting needle nose, screwdriver up into the region to move the pin. Lying under the car with dirt falling in my face and SPIDERS, i can only take about 10 minutes and gotta move onto something else. that cotter pin will eventually break and things will be fine but for now, it is being ignored. (Also I've been waiting five weeks on a two week radiator so he's not road worthy or I'd be a little more diligent)
are you way over there waitin for the statue of limitations to expire? and yes i have had a couple cars and trucks give me shit every inch of the way ..
The '57 Bel Air I HAD for the wife. It was like that movie Christine, but instead of coming back to life the damn thing would keep commiting suicide! Sold it, lost money on it, but it's gone now...
As we speak! I've always said that I'm smarter than that hunk of iron but lately I've started to wonder if I'm getting dumber or the iron is getting smarter.
Had a similar thing last October. It was 2 days before my wedding, my soon-to-be wife wanted to drive her 71 VW Squareback. Now, it hadn't been run in a few months, but it ran good last time we had it out, so I thought a day of freshening it up would do the job. After the running rough, backfiring, exhaust collar rusted off, gas leak back by the motor, gas leak up by the tank, ignition switch working intermittently, discovering mouse nest in trunk, seized brake caliper, and the rusted brake line finally popping open, I thought I had enough...until the inside door handle broke off on my way out of the car.
I been working on a 6 inch chop model a sedan for about 2 1/2 years.....i have bought or traded for some good stuff...most all new really....but this thing is something always wrong....Now my buds...they get stuff out of scap and run out with no problems...one got a trnany out of a guys shop that had been outside...no problems to louisville and back 3 times..me... mines rebuilt and its just got demons in it....the whole car has demons....hell maybe it was found on sacred ground....who knows....but i love her anyway......
still have night sweats and scars from the 30 A i worked on for a friend last month.its been gone a couple of weeks, and i still cautiously open my shop door hoping it didn`t return.
Yup, first car I ever did for a customer was a 1967 Karmann-Ghia. Made me swear off aircooled VW's forever. Also had a 1988 Jeep Comanche Eliminator. Every week something new and wonderful would break. Finally got rid of the truck right after the transmission STOPPED howling. I figured something in the trans just got a whole lot worse and that was the last straw. Shawn
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