getoffmyinternet

HAHA! All really good stuff. This guy sounds single. Who rides girls?? Game set and match. Checkmate. Point.

She definitely brought it on herself by encouraging you to ride, but then again women are a strange and elusive species. Have you tried getting to the root of the problem, talking about why she really hates it? I'm sure it has nothing to do with your independence, and if that's why you ride (as opposed to wanting to go really fast and reckless) then you two are on the same side. You just need to fix her misconception about bikes. When she was probably encouraging you to ride, she probably had a harley in the back of her mind, and "crotch rockets" aren't exactly typecast as safe transportation. Just looking at that thing makes her think of fast and the furious--thinking these are inherently dangerous is a common tale whether it's a 650r or a 250r (which are indistinguishable to women am I right?) if you can reassure her that it's perfectly safe, or at least just as safe as any other method of transport, then life will be easier (although I'm sure proving that to her won't be easy). At any rate, like the other said she has to accept you for who you are. It doesn't sound like she doesn't like who you are though, she just doesn't like her perception of who you are, and if that is flawed then correct it so she can see the real you because she'll like that version more. It's way too early in the game to be settling, and you shouldn't have to choose one or the other--girlfriends and hobbies can coexist. If she makes you choose then she's just not being reasonable, and that's her problem which will sabotage her in any relationship.

I'm confused. Is that a good thing?

Fiberglass...anything, except bumpers, but in carbon fiber.

A diamond cutting surface would burn up pretty fast on steel. Might make it through once if you're lucky and just toss it, but you could probably use that foot with a different hole saw right? Hole saws don't have to have that much runout if you're careful, especially if the guide is steady. They tend to grab and bounce around if the guide is free to float. Definitely a rough finish and will need deburring though. A knockout punch would obviously give the best finish to a hole, I just think on a highly curved surface it will try to crush it to in the process and will end up somewhat flattened out.

I don't think a knockout punch would be ideal for anything but a flat surface. I'm not a fan of unibits. A hole saw is definitely your best bet.

I would sue just on principle so he doesn't get away with it so easily. FWIW it doesn't matter if he claims to be broke (he'll get no sympathy from the court), once you win the case you can put a lien on his house until he pays you or sells it.

He said he painted it and then it got stolen and somehow recovered it himself but it ended up unpainted and all banged up? You better be suing that guy. I don't know how it works out there, but in CA you can go to small claims for up to $4500. Resolve that issue before even touching the car. The rust doesn't look too bad to me, but for a car that inexpensive, if the interior is already shot, what's the upside? If you don't have time for a long term project anyway then junk it and buy one that's already in good shape. If you're already on the fence before getting started then you'll never be motivated to finish it.

Yeah there are a lot of them. It's even worse being low to the ground because they're practically pointed right at you. Especially big bro trucks with like eight of them. Not sure that there's an increasing trend though, it's always been that way. I never thought of it as being because of lacking lowbeams, just being jackasses, but that's a good theory too. I've always wanted to mount headlights pointing backwards just so I could return the compliment to those people when they're behind me. If anything it seems to me people around here are getting away with having nothing a lot more. What kind of weirdo drives in the middle of the night without their lights on? I also always see singles in threes. Perhaps I'm just more aware now that I do so much night driving. I did see someone get pulled over a few weeks ago after switching them on way too late to recover, which I enjoyed. Also drunk drivers at 9PM, seriously?? I always wanted to dial 911 like the amber alert board says but it feels like a waste of time. See now you got me all worked up. Man this stuff really grinds my gears.

Orange.

Yeah I was about to say you'd end up losing money just having to pay to get it hauled off to the junk yard eventually. I agree that you would have to have a strong business sense to flip a classic like that for profit -- being frugal as hell, not pouring your heart into it like it's your baby. By that token, if I were to buy one I'd want to want to make gain on someone who did pour their heart into a restoration that they planned one taking to the grave but had to give up in the end, that way it's less likely to be mickey moused together. I would expect nothing less from someone who just wanted to profit off of the vehicle than to just make it look nice enough to sell when under the surface it's a piece of junk and a week after you buy it the engine is going to crap out and cancer is going to show up all over the place. I just couldn't do it myself, I would be too much of a perfectionist. Seems to me that the best route to go if you want a project with the most potential would be to get one half completed by some poor soul who did all the leg work and just got way in over his head to complete it. It's like if you could get what would basically be a kit car where he sourced most of the parts and had the body completely reworked, now all you have to do is put it back together.

I don't know it looks pretty darn rusted through in a lot of places to me, perhaps I'm just a skeptic about a project's potential. The more expensive the car, the more expensive and hard to find the parts are. I don't think a bel air is worth all that much in the end. A pristine corvette for example would be worth several times more, but then the parts are priced accordingly. Right now there's a '59 roller at 13k and that's probably a bargain. Even the final details can be costly. i see them selling all the time looking almost done and just needing a paint job go for only a grand less than ones that don't, and you know you'd have to spend way more than that to give it one. It seems to me that most times a car that is already restored is cheaper than the sum of its parts though. People don't rebuild a car from the ground up to turn a profit, they just do it because they love to. Once a car is cherried out it's no fun anymore and you spend most of your time worrying where you're going to keep it safe from people and the elements, so you sell it for a loss and start a new one (unless you're wealthy enough to build a collection of trophies). Hence, if you want a nice car, buy a nice car, if you want a fun project, buy that barn find.

I still disagree, I'm sure there's people even cheaper than you that have succeeded. Brakes and suspension won't cope?

I knew ferrari's sucked a lot of fuel but wow http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yIf2RktGYc

Perhaps if rust was the only problem. I've seen people selling something like a 54 vette in better condition and am still not convinced it's worth it. Was this thing owned by Elvis or what? How a restoration project ever gets like this is beyond me.

Wow I'm just amazed that someone's actually trying to sell it! What happened, did it catch fire and later roll into a lake? Repair Cost: $10,500 USD Title State/Type: VA NON-REPAIRABLE CERTIFICATE FTW I suppose that's the price of a replacement car? This would be great as a war/post-apocalyptic movie prop.

I am pretty good about shipping stuff though as I've sold plenty on ebay and have a bunch of shipping supplies already. I just don't want to find out that it took me a year to make 500 bucks and my profit was a dollar an hour, that's why I ask. Yeah I figured it would sell for more in pieces than the whole, but being that I'd have to buy it from him first narrows my profit margin. I even told him that he should part it out but he just wants cash quick. Perhaps if I wait long enough and he doesn't get what he wants for it I can lowball him.

My buddy has a 280z that is rough on the outside. The body has a couple bruises (some filled with bondo) etc. but doesn't look like much rust and has a semi-repaired front corner where it was backed into. The inside however is immaculate. Perfect seats, all the original carpet and trim panels in great shape, a very original car all around. He's gonna try and sell it soon but I don't think he'll get much for it due to the body needing so much work and who knows what's going on in the engine bay. I've never parted a car out before so I'm wondering what you guys think about the idea. I know there are several people on here that do it all the time. I know it would be a lot of work and take quite some time to move everything, but what I'm completely uncertain of is how profitable it could be. Is it worth the time? How low does the initial investment have to be to make some real returns? I don't want to have to sell all the big items just to break even and then nickel and dime the loose ends. One reason I'm considering it though is that I could probably use a little of it for my 240z, although the majority of the stuff I I actually need isn't interchangeable so their counterparts would get hocked.

Awe, I've been there. It gets old real fast. And it was conveniently at a time where my car needed the most work too (Although lately the only thing getting in the way is laziness). At least once you've got the downtime you'll have the money to match your appetite.

So 200cc's doesn't help much but by the same token a larger bore does? And the difference in this context is... Sure you can't compare apples and oranges, a displacement up isn't the only thing that's going to make a difference. My old engine was the same displacement as my new one but was probably about a third the power output for instance. I'm quite sure he was generalizing. Although a square cylinder is reputedly the most efficient type, I wouldn't be hasty and say that an engine best fitting this design to necessarily be the most balanced by any means. Since the only difference is the slightly larger bore you could essentially stroke it 3mm to 2.9L and keep the same aspect but I don't know if anyone would go through the trouble of adding 100cc's for the sake of squaring the cylinders (or even stroking it to a 3.0 and having the cylinders completely square for that matter). Consider sleeving the cylinders to decrease the bore for the sake of squaring them off, sounds pretty silly right? Now if you wanted to make an engine with cylinders 100x55, then we'd have a problem

Here it goes again not giving me notice that someone replied until months later. Probably beat to death but I agree--I wouldn't just shave my stock fly to save weight, you probably can't get away with saving a whole lot anyway. The more weight you want to save, the more scary it looks. I believe my fly is like 22lbs (could be mistaken, it was a while ago) And I can't imagine cutting off half that weight without turning it into a clay pigeon. Is it just me or has that ebay fly got to be the lightest ever, let alone in a one-piece. Unless it's freaking titanium or something, I call shenanigans.

I never really considered z cars to be big collectors. At any rate, I think it's moot to keep the original paint if anything else is altered. It's 100% original or bust.

I'd say headers are definitely underestimated, but people can get a little crazy with how big they think they need. There are exhaust diameter calculators for this and the numbers seem to always come out surprisingly low. There can also be such a thing as too big.

SU's are capable without batting an eye, 200hp isn't much of a stretch besides. "motor will only give me at most 200hp" 8| The head is everything! I would start there and put bottom end mods at the bottom of the list. "what size exhaust should I go with?" Seriously, 200hp, I bet the stock will suffice.

Why aren't you using an impact? Jam something in the wheel so it physically can't rotate / whack the breaker bar with a mallet?