[1965gp]

After taking a couple days off work I was able to finally shuffle around the cars and switch the insurance to drive a few cars I haven't driven in a while... by a while I mean years!

You know when you drive by a house and you see a cool car and it's all treated like sh!t... you (we) immediately think 'we all know that guy is never, ever going to do anything with that car! He should sell it to a worthy person like me!'

Well.... I've done that my entire life and so has my dad. Now we have a reasonable collection of cars none of which we drive enough.

Our 66 GTO, 25th Anniv TA and 2002 Firehawk hadn't moved for a few.... years.

The 66 is a project car and it was indoors- no harm no foul. It's now off to the shop to get the brakes operable to take it to the body shop.

The 25th and Firehawk however, did not fare too well. Both cars were fully operational, had new paint, new interior and wheels/tires.

I got in the 25th after buying a new battery and there is mold all over the plastic panels! Carpet looks like crap, dust everywhere. The Firehawk was just as bad.

I know the mold is because I live in Houston- humid every day!

Both cars started and drove on their own- nothing that a good cleaning won't help. The 25th is in good shape except for a busted headlight motor. The Firehawk sat outside for a while and the paint felt like 240 grit!

Took a clay bar to it tonight and hopefully it will buff out. It's gonna take some time but hopefully I can clean it up.

Point is... after 20 years of collecting cars I have now become the guy that I used to try to take advantage of because they 'weren't treating the car with respect'! Plan is to try to keep this from happening again but damn.... I'm now that guy.

[ladytata]

That's sad, we only get the chance to live once, I love driving all my cars. I'm glad you dug them out. I offen go to my friends house and there sit a t/a under a half of tarp. Been there for years rotting away, in my eyes, your fb, mustangs, 57 chevys etc etc are all American I cons. Why let them rot?

[BertMac]

what part of Houston?

[wovenweb]

The first step to a solution is recognizing the "problem".

[geeteeohguy]

Thanks for having the courage to post this, and congratulations to you for taking action and braking out of the slump. As we age, priorities can change, and we have less energy...we need to recognize that and stick with what we can manage. I am maxed out car-wise right now with 6 cars, all of which run and drive and are 100%. I drove my '15 Ford for the first time in 2 years this past month on a brass car event...and had a lot of fun. But I'll probably sell it. But, and it's a big but, all mine are stored inside the garage and shop. Nothing is left outside....Have a friend who had 13 '64-'67 GTO's when I met him in '96, all stored outside in central CA. When we opened up the trunk of the Mayfair Maze '65 in about 2004, we were staring at the dirt ground and our feet. The nice trunk floor that I saw 8 years earlier was GONE. Ditto with all the other GTO's. Happy ending though: He sold all of the cars except one (his first car) and they were ALL restored to high quality and are now all on the road, being enjoyed and pampered. Good luck with your continued progress!

[mrrat1]

You're not the only one!!

I have in the past to a certain extent been "That Guy" also...........times changing here also!

Had the 70 GTO out after 4 years of sitting...........50' black stripes cured me yesterday!
Took it to the Vo-Tech HS for open house night, biggest hit of all the shops. My teacher buddy & wife love the car.
He was surprised how great it looks, last painted in 92-93'. I was too!

Going after my 86' 2+2 this weekend 6 years under cover! I cleaned it up last weekend but had oil pressure reading issues, and wouldn't come off the choke for some reason. New gauge & sender still same issue.....dash face has been off since the issue. I have a fresh battery and gonna dig in again.

1970 SS LS-6 next weekend......14-years in the garage! Never drove it after paint, body shop got primer all over freshly done engine bay so I parked as it was in the garage since 2002. Valves never re-adjusted after initial break-in, or heads re-torqued.

I feel much better lately had back problems 4-5 years.......not cured but able to hang over the fenders into the engine bay now!

[Craig Hendrickson]

Originally Posted by geeteeohguy

Thanks for having the courage to post this, and congratulations to you for taking action and braking out of the slump. As we age, priorities can change, and we have less energy...we need to recognize that and stick with what we can manage...

Yup. I'm 71 and I sold all but one of my project and parts cars...well actually the parts cars went to the metal scrapper when per ton prices were high a few years ago. Now I'm down to 1 project car and 1 parts car. I hire local guys who want to learn how to do car projects (body, suspension, paint, etc. work) for not much $/hr since part of the compensation is education through work as an apprentice. The apprentice does all the hard stuff and I supervise. After this last project car is finished, I'm done. I'll drive it all over the place to sight see and visit friends and relatives. Here's my website on it, if you're interested:

http://1956packardpanther.com/Panthe...ect_Index.html

Gotta give it up sometime. LOL!

[mrrat1]

12 gallons of 110 cost me $120, plus I put in $15 of 93 just about full.......My SS has only race gas and still smells like it!

[mrrat1]

4 hours on the SS this pm & evening......re-torqued the heads.
Polished up the valve covers & alt. Removed fan & shroud. Painted alt bracket.
I'm gonna do PS pump & brackets tomorrow.
Then adjust the valves.

[1965gp]

Wow- great responses! I just came in from the Garage...

Bertmac - I live in Spring at Louetta and TC Jester.

It's great to hear that I'm not the only one!! Right now at my house I have:

68 LeMans vert
69 TA clone
69 General Lee
70 GTO
70 LeMans
72 TA clone
79 Trans Am
86 Grand National
94 25th Anniv TA
99 30th Anniv TA
02 Firehawk

I have a 66 GTO getting the brakes done then heading to the body shop and a 73 Blazer at the body shop getting painted. That's thirteen cars I am trying to keep up with.

I also have several stored at my dads house and fortunately they all stay inside. At my house all of these cars are stored indoors. Unfortunately the Firehawk was stored under a carport for two years. All of the cars run drive and stop, most are completed projects.

I feel a lot better about the Firehawk tonight. After the clay bar, hitting it with a buffer and a few coats of Zaino I think it will be okay. the paint met not be perfect but it looks really good.

You guys are right about life taking over. My kids are now at the age where there are sports, concerts, homework and projects. I often wonder what I did with all my free time before I had kids!

[Half-Inch Stud]

Originally Posted by wovenweb

The first step to a solution is recognizing the "problem".

Ahhhhh funny. I've gotten animated during certain drve-bys, where my wife went along with the enthusiasm.

Well, each time there would be a "come to my senses" for the level of time commitment, money, and result WEIGHED against the GTO that I already have and don't work on enough to correct relatively simple stuff compared to a shettmetal squatter.

Yet, the hobby & interest live on with "THAT GUY" which is probably every guy reading this Thread.

[mrrat1]

I bet we many closet "that guy" guys here!! LOL
Rain is forcing me to stay inside so the SS work continues. PS pump & bracckets are coming off. Gonna paint the engine again, then put the stuff back on!

[goatless]

I am "kinda" that guy. I do try to drive my old Pontiacs as much as I can… it just doesn't seem to be that much these days.

My '69 LeMans sees the most drive time- OK on that one.

The '69 Bonneville wagon is a running, driving car. I don't think it's been out of the garage since April. Not so good.

The '66 GTO- well now were getting to the problem. Started a motor and tranny swap… years ago. I got it 95% done the first weekend… and haven't touched it since. Been sitting on the lift ever since. Probably needs 3-4 hours of work and the drive shaft shortened.

And then the worst offender… the 1970 T-37 I bought it from out west a decade ago. Made tons of progress right away- paint done bottom cleaned up, etc. Brought the seats to my upholstery guy to get them redone in the correct Tempest pattern… then he couldn't get them done due to a back injury and all progress on the car stopped.
Oh sure, every now and then I'd say I was going to get going on it… and then work went crazy. And it sat.


Fast forward to a few weeks ago- Was at the local POCI fall show with the LeMans talking with a friend about how I wouldn't mind getting a 4 speed F-body. When along comes a another friend that I've sold a coupe of other Pontiacs to in the past. He tells me of a '79 TA that he's got, and he'll cut me a good deal on it. I've got no more room left for another car sooooo…
Long story short- I'm trading my neglected project for a running, driving car.
So, that's progress, right?!

Barn find? Nope- just a neglected project.


The replacement.

[GT182]

Originally Posted by 1965gp

Point is... after 20 years of collecting cars I have now become the guy that I used to try to take advantage of because they 'weren't treating the car with respect'! Plan is to try to keep this from happening again but damn.... I'm now that guy.

Don't feel bad. You still have all of your cars and that's a good thing. At times many of us are/were the same way. I think age is a part of it. I know it is for me. I've been there with the 76 Super Glide I had. I didn't ride it for a long time and it just sat there faithfully in my storage shed... no garage at the time, but at least it was inside. So like an idiot I sold it. To this day I still kick myself.

The 66 GTO sits in the garage faithfully too, but it does come out during the Summer months for a few car shows, and most all of the cruise nights we have. Here in Delaware we get a ticket if were caught driving our classic and not going to a show, cruise, or, a shop for work to be done on them with the free Exempt license tag we have. No daily driving or pleasure driving allowed at all.

[geeteeohguy]

Rain? What's that?

[bird72]

It always gets down to math. Expected time in life available for projects. Expected funds needed. Expected funds available. Repeat prior for stupid silly trivial things like housing, retirement, eating, etc.... and see how much of that 1000 pound ball of stuff fits in your 700 pound size box. It is just math. If it fits, yer blessed and cool, move on. We all hate you. If like many it needs some infusion of new math to make fit, then re-evaluate.

At my age SIMPLICITY has immeasurable value and removing stress (looking at undone vehicles does not feel good to me) is my goal. Simple means a great car to turn the key on and drive, and not a fleet to maintain and worry about. This is strictly me. I know we have collectors here. Hat's off.

[Half-Inch Stud]

goatless ;ya gotta update your Signature, or you're selling that Yellow bird to me, huh

[mrrat1]

nice swap for the bird.....straight up? If so I think you did very well!!!

SS engine bay is now back together, just gonna touch up the areas that need little dabs of orange. Can't get all the over spray off of the frame and control arms. I used painted wheel cleaner worked pretty good but not all is coming off.

I'm pretty stoked what 6-7 hours of work did...valve adjustment after F-1 Quali........

[goatless]

Originally Posted by mrrat1

nice swap for the bird.....straight up? If so I think you did very well!!!

Actually got a few $$$ out of it, too. Bird has a bunch of minor issues that need attention. I've already done more work on it than I have on the T-37 in the last 5 years.

[MD79TA]

I get overwhelmed having one project, I don't know how you guys maintain multiple. Kuddos to you!