2Forty Posted May 31, 2003 Share Posted May 31, 2003 Gentlemen, I come to plead my case today. (Venting) I bought a 72 240Z in 1988 that was in Phoenix, Az. Second owner sold it for $2000.00. Mostly original with velour seat covers and door panels. 100k miles. With just new sway bars and racing tires I won my Auto-X class (C stock) in the Akron Sports Car Club. It has sat ever since. Last summer I dropped the gas tank and rear suspension and refurbished them. New u-joints, sand-blasted everything and repainted with POR-15. Looks impressive. I turned to the front end, pulled the fenders and had the inside sand blasted and repainted with POR-15. Stripped the inner fenderwells with Aircraft stripper and repainted. Mostly by myself. When I started this my brother and his 2 sons as well as my step son said they would like to help and learn as we went. As I said before, by myself. The last chaper in this story to date is the engine is frozen. I squirted oil into each cylinder when I stored it to avert this problem but it didn't help. Have tried other remedies to no avail. I was planning on pulling the engine anyway for a 350 so that was not a big deal. I did buy a stroker 383 with my last money. Still need trans and attending pieces. I wouldn't be is such a dilemma except for the fact that I have been trying to sell my other house for almost eight months. The payments are killing me. I did wander out to the garage this morning and pulled off the A/C compressor and loosened most everything else. It's hard to gather any enthusiasm at this point and my wife is on my behind to work on it. I'll try and take it as far as I can but any words of encouragement would be appreciated. Thanks for the ear. Frustrated in Arizona. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted May 31, 2003 Share Posted May 31, 2003 you know what always makes me feel better??? Seeing someone less fortunate than myself . So let me tell you about my situation and hopefully it will help. I have a 78 280(wish I had a 240) and its gettin a V8. Now the funny part. My wife is from the Phillipines. In asian culture everything new is good and everything old is bad. Everything American is good , anything not is bad. I'm workin on and old Japanese car!!!!! She HATES my car with every ounce of her being. If I spent 2 hours a week on it she theatens to make me sleep in it(my name is on the lease hehe). At least yours wants you to work on it. I had to hide the title cause she doesn't know she can junk it without a title(and she would too) watchin beavis and butthead makes me feel smart too!! good luck and keep your stick on the ice !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Synlubes Posted May 31, 2003 Share Posted May 31, 2003 Just think of the fun you hard in the car, auto X, etc. . . If your like me, every time I`ve driven mine I always come back and think what a good ride that was! (even when the car wasn`t all that) Just do what you can do, keep it protected from the elements and think of the fun times. Hope that helps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
280Zone Posted May 31, 2003 Share Posted May 31, 2003 Check out your local Z car club, sometimes it helps to see some completed cars for motivation. http://www.DesertZAssociation.com DZA Prez Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Juday Posted May 31, 2003 Share Posted May 31, 2003 All good advice. But if none of that works just wait 'till the house sells, take some of the money, and pay someone else to work on it. If you pick a good guy the car will be done. If you pick a loser you will have all the motivation you need to do it yourself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Damn Cracker Posted June 1, 2003 Share Posted June 1, 2003 How about another story to make you feel better: I'm almos 18, I love cars, but I don't have a car, liscnce, or even permit, beouse mom was a stupid teenager, and she doesn't trust anyone under 25 to drive. My parents won't let me get my liscence until I'm 1, and even then, if i'm "to live under their roof", won't be able to drive by myself until i've had several months of practice, and also hired a privet drivng insructer for lessons, with my money. And When I get a car, it has to be newer than 1990, and some econobox, nothing "sporty". I have to obay, or they kick me out of the house. Needless to say, Im doing my best to move out at the end of smmer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Thurem Posted June 1, 2003 Share Posted June 1, 2003 How about another story to make you feel better: I'm almos 18, I love cars, but I don't have a car, liscnce, or even permit, beouse mom was a stupid teenager, and she doesn't trust anyone under 25 to drive. My parents won't let me get my liscence until I'm 1, and even then, if i'm "to live under their roof", won't be able to drive by myself until i've had several months of practice, and also hired a privet drivng insructer for lessons, with my money. And When I get a car, it has to be newer than 1990, and some econobox, nothing "sporty". I have to obay, or they kick me out of the house. Needless to say, Im doing my best to move out at the end of smmer. I didn't get my motorcycle endorsement til I was 21, and in retrospect, I could not have told you this if I would have gotten it earlier. Your parents have a point, you don't agree, but they are probaply the best judge of your character, they've known you all your life. If you have to go fast, get a sport like carting, ie.100 cc carts, and ask your parents to help you support that. Somebody else come up with some arguments to persuade the parents, Please. Thure Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moridin Posted June 1, 2003 Share Posted June 1, 2003 Yeah, start printing some articles up about how karting and other forms of racing make you a better driver. I'm so much more aware of possible situations on the road after doing a little karting. Jim Russell Karting classes, here I come!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
innerware Posted June 1, 2003 Share Posted June 1, 2003 Think of the good side to it. You have a Z and the space to work on it. right there is more than most people have. Next you have people eager to help. It was an Arizona car that is rust free and all cleaned up now. It isn't your daily driver so there is no rush. And you love working on it as a hobby. Your house will sell, hopefully soon. As for now the z isn't costing you much but labor. And there is sooooo much you can do to it now without it costing anything like what you are doing. Get it clean, prepare it to the fullest. When money comes you can be at the ready point to finnish it. Make the motor mounts yourself for the v8 swap. Learn how to be creative and do things well that will cost near to nothing. Your on the right track, pretty soon your ride will be sooo sweet everyone will be so jealous. Taking your time is a good thing. And your girl wants you to work on it. Most don't, mine included. Hang tight and post pics a long the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dot Posted June 1, 2003 Share Posted June 1, 2003 Hi 2Forty: I believe innerware has a valid point. I started working on my Z at about the same time I started my family. Supporting a wife, three kids and a mortgage, money was scarce…well you know the song. With some ingenuity and plenty of spare time you can network parts and accomplish many of the tasks yourself. It sounds like you are on the right track already by cleaning up the underside/inner parts. You do however have one very special gift… the support of those around you. Cheers…Glenn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbeech Posted June 1, 2003 Share Posted June 1, 2003 My SBC GTO conversion needs a new fuel pump (it runs out of gas pretty quickly right now) which is likely good as it has a stock type oil pan still. Grumpy sent me a suggestion for a pan (for my road-race style of desires) and that's in the works though I just recently ordered one of the Ford Taurus fans from some online vendor that one of the guys here added a link to in a recent post on cooling (my English teacher is rolling in her grave over that run on sentence, but what the heck). Then my Webers get installed (once the engine is setback and the T-56 gets installed) and then . . . boy it never ends. I guess what I'm saying is, we all have a list of projects. Be glad you have a car, a place to work on it, that it's rust-free, that you have some free labor, etc. Life is good - the alternative sucks! See my work in progress at . . . http://www.modelsport.com/gto Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peej410 Posted June 1, 2003 Share Posted June 1, 2003 alright how bout this one, i got my Z in april of last year, 8 days later i crashed it into a moron in a lumina, that week i also found out my girl was seeing someone else.... anyways, bent the frame alot of the front suspension. on top of all that the bitch in the lumina is suing me for 15000 when there was 500 dollars of damage to her car. compounded by the fact that she insists ambulances came to the scene when she drove away. may 5th of last year brought a full tear down... i ripped off all the body panels up front pulled the motor front suspension.... i bought a mig welder taught myself to weld and purchased a bunch of power tools used. i spent weeks trying to get the carpets out, they were glued down using weather strip adhesive. eventually aircraft stripper helped me clean everything up, after that i saw the horrible mess created by the previous owner, including the passenger floor pan which was merely tacked in a few places. so i bought sheetmetal made new floor pans and subframe connectors. then came the task of stripping TAR off of all of the underbody. this guy was too cheap to paint the underbody after he prepped it so he tarred the entire thing. i por-15ed my floors i can bombed my engine bay black. i bought a chevy 350 for 500 dollars with a fresh rebuild i got a used t-5 for 100 bucks and pieced together my 4x4 brake upgrade (THANKS ROSS) my motor will be going in soon. if you are lacking motivation what i find that helps is every morning, i take a morning poop, on my way to the porcelain i bring a car magazine or a catalogue, also buy some of the cool little stuff (ive been on this stainless steel hardware kick for a week or so lol) that will help your project get together in the long run. keep the faith man, watch days of thunder alot, rent bullit and ronin. tune into speed channel and watch the races. heck try and get your wife to help. a helper thats fun to look at always makes the job go by smoother. be greatful for what u have.... i cant even find a decent girl. im also only 21 and still living at home soooo goood luck and take lots of pics... as for the kid (damn cracker) tell your parents that even though u cant drive yet you want to buy an inexpensive car to build.. something that will keep you motivated to work hard in life. something that will form goals and structure, something to keep you from going out and getting trashed make sure to point out the fact that if your poured hundreds of hours of blood sweat and swears into an automobile your alot less likely to drive like a dipshit in it good luck kid if u want more advice pm me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Damn Cracker Posted June 1, 2003 Share Posted June 1, 2003 Thanks for the advice, but I've already asked, and they laughed at me. Their reasoning isn't that they are worried about me, or don't trust me, I've never done (read:been caught) anything bad, pretty much at all. They just don't want to deal with it. plus, our garage is fulll of crap, and my dads motorcycle, and we have a charger, suberban, and explorer out front, so no room for a project car. plus, my parents hate beaters, and anything i get or drive must have a nice paintjob, bodywork, etc. and by sporty they mean anythging that isn't a civic or suv, not nessisarily anything "fast". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peej410 Posted June 1, 2003 Share Posted June 1, 2003 KEEEP TRYING never give up never give in and when youve reached your last bit of patience, take a breath and try harder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trevor Posted June 2, 2003 Share Posted June 2, 2003 I have a '66 Mustang that I have owned since high school - about 24 years now. I haven't driven it in 10 years!! Just parked it in the garage When my 1st son was born, Mrs. Trevor said we needed a new, safe, "family" car. Ever hear the expression "a $40 saddle on a $10 horse"? Payments on the garage are 20 times what the cost of the car has been - After 20 years once I figured it was about $9.00 a month Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pparaska Posted June 2, 2003 Share Posted June 2, 2003 I was lucky enough to have a garage to keep mine in while the 11 years passed that it was/wasn't worked on. And a trickle of play money to keep the hobby going. What I found useful was to imagine driving it. No kidding. Those imaginations actually turned into dreams while I was asleep (occasionally, not often). And like someone said, keep re-assessing, re-planning based on what you read. Today's hot product is tomorrow's junk. It has to be a religion. You must worship it or it will fall away (the desire to finish that is). Of course, having someone (like your wife) on your A$$ constantly to "finish the damned car" doesn't hurt! BTDT! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Posted June 2, 2003 Share Posted June 2, 2003 Have your folks check with their insurance company and compare costs of a newer Honda Civic and a nice, clean 75-78 280Z. YOu'll find that the Z will probably be the same or cheaper - and a lot less to repair. Find yourself a clean 280Z that looks decent and that you can use as a daily driver and "prove its worth" to your family. My old Z has had a fraction of the repair costs of the newer cars in my family. Then get a plan, get your pieces/parts ahead of time and then do your upgrades. Either all at once or, if possible, in weekend bites. I did that for 10 years with mine until the "BIG" conversion and then it went into the shop for 11 months. In the meantime, however, my family was fine with me picking up another Z to use as a daily driver while the 1st one was in the shop because they are "cute" and reliable and don't cost much. Now the 1st Z is back and my wife wants to keep the second one around. In other words, quit complaining and develop a plan that can work to your benefit - and your families. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest silverbullet Posted June 3, 2003 Share Posted June 3, 2003 My old Z has had a fraction of the repair costs of the newer cars in my family. DITTO!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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