When LIFE gets in the way of the car projects.....

[Kern Dog]

I talked with Justin, the former assembler at GYC.
The ordeal with that poor guy waiting for 9 years only to see it run ONCE was enough to motivate him to quit.

 

[eldubb440]

And the collective FBBO group (and South Jersey) says thanks!

I always wanted to clone myself and assemble a team of me

 

[beanhead]

I "felt the pain" of delayed projects for near 15 years...bought two cars when I was still single, then got married and started having kids so I wanted to wait until things were more secure before I could feel good about dropping dough on the Mopar.
That said, brother @Kern Dog don't let your mind play tricks on you....the Chargers might get backburnered for a bit but it's for a VERY good cause, getting out of this place! We still have a few years to go before we can head out (aging parents, kids in school etc) but luckily for us we have family with lots of land in a few of the more "friendly" states.

 

[moparwacko]

I always wanted to clone myself and assemble a team of me

I'm not sure the hobby, or anything for that matter is ready for that.
So many questions......
Real, or clone:
Which one ummm, interacts with the wife?
Which one gets murdered by the wife?
Which one does the paintwork?
Which one does Rebel recognize?
Which one does Rebel tear limb from limb?
Which one has to go to Walmart at 2 am?

I have to stop

 

[cosgig]

Although I have a number of cars, and projects to do on them, I keep them running so I can enjoy them until the time comes. What takes my time away from doing this is daily life, which I can manage, but more so, it’s the bands that I play in that seem to get in the way of driving the cars. Band practice on Tuesday with the rock band, cruise night up town. Gig this weekend with the Irish band, my buddies car show/picnic. Seems every time there’s something going on carwise, I have a gig. Not that I mind, because they pay good money, and I really should just drive myself in one of the cars. But sometimes that is not possible with the upright bass and the bluegrass band. Too many hobbies, not enough days in the week. I’m with the Beatles and Elvis, 8 days a week and more than 24 hours in a day. But, even if there were 40 more, I wouldn’t sleep a minute away!

 

[Kern Dog]

I "felt the pain" of delayed projects for near 15 years...bought two cars when I was still single, then got married and started having kids so I wanted to wait until things were more secure before I could feel good about dropping dough on the Mopar. Then came the vacation home mortgages, private school tuitions etc...good things for sure, but kept the hot rods sidelined.

That said, brother @Kern Dog don't let your mind play tricks on you....the Chargers might get backburnered for a bit but it's for a VERY good cause, getting out of this place! We still have a few years to go before we can head out (aging parents, kids in school etc) but luckily for us we have family with lots of land in a few of the more "friendly" states.

You're looking to get out too? You want me to look for a place with plenty of acreage for us both?

Although I have a number of cars, and projects to do on them, I keep them running so I can enjoy them until the time comes. What takes my time away from doing this is daily life, which I can manage, but more so, it’s the bands that I play in that seem to get in the way of driving the cars. Band practice on Tuesday with the rock band, cruise night up town. Gig this weekend with the Irish band, my buddies car show/picnic. Seems every time there’s something going on carwise, I have a gig. Not that I mind, because they pay good money, and I really should just drive myself in one of the cars. But sometimes that is not possible with the upright bass and the bluegrass band. Too many hobbies, not enough days in the week. I’m with the Beatles and Elvis, 8 days a week and more than 24 hours in a day. But, even if there were 40 more, I wouldn’t sleep a minute away!

If you're in a band that actually gets paying gigs, hell yeah! I'd ride that wave as long as you can. Your situation reminds me of the joke...
Two men were walking down the street. One was a musician. The other one didn't have any money either.

 

[beanhead]

You're looking to get out too? You want me to look for a place with plenty of acreage for us both?

I've been looking for a long time! But, family/aging parents/kids in school is keeping that move well in the future. Not to mention, I make more money here than I would anywhere else so the plan is to finish my career in CA (as crazy at that sounds..)
8 years, 9 months, 3 weeks and 2 days..heck yes I'm countin' down
(And I would consider it a blessing to have you for a neighbor!)

 

[Kern Dog]

Shoot man, a guy like you.....and a fellow Mopar guy as a neighbor? I'd be living heaven on Earth!

 

[beanhead]

Shoot man, a guy like you.....and a fellow Mopar guy as a neighbor? I'd be living heaven on Earth!

The cackling engines would permeate the countryside..

 

[Richard Cranium]

I work on a project car and get it done. I can’t say that I’ve ever lost motivation on one ever.

 

[Kern Dog]

My main Mopar buddy near me sold his car to build a house awhile back. He isn't in the financial position to build another. I miss the tinkering that we used to do. He had a different take on what makes a car "cool" but we have been friends since the 80s. He was my Manager when I worked at Burger King!

 

[Scott Engelhardt]

I do understand when life gets in the way. Its a quick way to get down in the dumps. They fired a guy south of me so it looks like I will be picking up 50% more work the rest of the summer.

 

[Budnicks]

long read, if you're game

This all took place a few years after I lost Lisa, she was my rock
she handled the kids & house stuff, I had all of it on my plate, after that...
I did projects & spent time out in the garage, trailers, tow rigs or barn/stables...
No complaints I know people that have far less & no kids
no projects I find myself lucky, fortunate...
Even after that ****...

I sold the (Lisa's) horses, Jeeps & tow rig, car trailer & the horse trailer
after the kids were gone...

2 race cars (Altered & TS TransAm), 3 car projects, 1 truck my 99 Dakota
(actually 2 trucks, also a 92 Chevy 1500 lowered),
I fiddle-farted around with (& a golf cart) the past about
actually almost 28+ years now
1 my silver 68 RR (bought in 2000 ?) I got after it,
I finished it fast, in like 2 years
& maybe another 5 combined years of building/tuning/racing it and perfecting it...
After I got it to the mid 8's @ 150+ street driven,
took 7 years on & off building & refining that car, sold it in 2007...
Just before I moved up here...

The car market was just starting to go batshit crazy
I could have got way more...

A buddy asked if he had the cash, "today", what would it take ?
& I told him $28k today & today only, I keep the A12 hood & 6bbl stuff,
that I'd put the dominator back on it & the factory hood & paint it flat black...

I was just throwing a # out, I didn't think he would do it...
He called my bluff & he had the cash in my hands by 5pm that evening...
I honored the deal, regrettably...
But;
1 less car to have to move, a bunch of parts that came off that car
went with it too...
I now wish I never sold it...

I bought 2 other 68 RRs during that time
(1 LL1 car, I still have from I bought in 2005, that had 67k miles complete car,
with very lil' rust, but a lil' rough, nothing major)
& another Yamaha gas golf cart, that I tricked out, in like 20 months...
I didn't think it would take anywhere near that long...

Cars were on the back burner so to speak...
I sold the other rougher RR to another friend...
Kept the LL1 RR HT car...

The kids & business gets in the way...

Sort of delayed the RR builds...
I bought 2 of everything when doing it
1 car was supposed to be for a buddy, he got a divorce & bailed on it
I was stuck with $7k + of extra parts, out of my pocket,
I should have known better...
Some stuff, I still have sitting on the garage shelves...
&
I was putzing around golfing 400 rds a year too,
& running a pro-shop, still consulting on the dealerships group too...
I was just doing a few hrs of stuff at night and had to do it quite too,
tough to do that on a car build...

I fixed up & sold my dad's place & pretty much all of fall in 2004 to 2005
till Aug. when it sold in like 10 days, & I bought this place $394k
above Sonora 10 days later, put my place in Rancho Murieta on the market
in Nov. 1st 2005, just before the market started to crash...
My dad's cabin was closing by the end of that month,
had to move him off the mountain, down lower elevations
to the house in Bellview Oaks Estates...
That was a ball buster for a couple of months to about a year...
Moved most of the stuff to the Bellview estate,
(bad idea cars were still in RM)
I figured my house/s was a corner lot duplex 1300 sgft 2bd 2 bath 2 car garage
& an adjoining 1,600sqft 3bd 3 bath big 2 car garage, both would sell fast...

then;
Hosuing market & banks failing, too big to fail BS
saving & loans crap, people foreclosures flooding the markets
& the housing market even took, an even much of a worse
downturn like $100k+ for each of the 2 units...
I got them cheap, and bought them right, so I was still ok...
But it took 2 years to sell, from the time I bought the place
Sept. 2005 in Bellview estates
RM duplex/s on & off the market every 3-4 months,
adjusting the price down each time (be a $1.2million today)

What could have been a min. of $700k-$800k+ sale,
was a $585k net after fees etc.
That was back in Nov. - Dec of 2007...
& then
The Annionted one got elected in Nov. 2008,
took office in Jan. 2009
The construction & housing markets turned even worse, to ****
luckily it sold & I was moved out by then...
But still feeling the effects of the losses of potential profits...
I owned it all outright...
But it was a big part of my planned retirement funds...

Sort of put a halt on a lot of the build/s or projects
work slowed down, cars weren't selling at the dealerships & fewer projects
were getting planned it all really snowballed... for the bad
Then the kids were all gone "thank god", just taking care of Dad now...

Then lost my Beloved Lab, Lord Budnicks, that hurt...
A lot more than I thought it would have...

Then helped to teach my neighbor a frame off, 68 Jeep CJ5 resto-mod
came out pretty damn nice too...
Took about a year every weekend, some weekday nights
he had a nice budget, which makes it easier...

Still working on the LL1 RR, after almost 18 years...
Just refining it now, my paint sucks ***, I tried to do a garage job
I failed, IMHFO it's just a 20-footer, but it has color now
& I got disappointed/I lost some interest & sort of went off the rails...
Just firing it up driving around the neighborhood every so often...
I just recently got back at it some, lil' **** really...

As you can see from my short book
Greg @Kern Dog **** happens, cars are secondary
my dad's health is ****, another operation is planned, he's 86 & falling apart
from 60+ years of self-abuse...
Priority 1 & my family & my dogs or house/s come 1st...

I ain't getting any younger either...

 

[Kern Dog]

Thanks, Bud.
You are dealing with a greater burden than I am. Maybe the Lord knows that you can handle it better than I could. I lost my dad at 55 years old. Seeing a parent weaken and "fade away" is a heavy thing to deal with.

 

[ESOXER]

Mines been sitting along time.
We bought the house, lived poor but paid it off in 7 years, had a daughter, decided to renovate the house, materials prices skyrocketed, still not done renovating, daughter does karate 5 days a week, I maintain 3 other vehicles...
I do know I'll never have one of those ads you see that says "Lost interest".

 

[QuickBpBp]

KD I walked away from all my cars for about 20 years a few years after my first son was born… I still have all of them, kept indoors and my youngest just graduated. I got a shop to work out of now and will be wiring in a 220 upright compressor so I can work on stuff.. My friends who kept spending all their time and money on cars are mostly divorced and the kids went with mom. 2 houses, 2 boats, snowmobiles, 4 campers and 32 years later I still have my cars, a building filled parts all the toys and most important my wife and kids… Only thing I sold was my motorcycle but that was cause I wanted to be around for my kids. So I wouldn’t change one thing.

 

[chargervert]

My main Mopar buddy near me sold his car to build a house awhile back. He isn't in the financial position to build another. I miss the tinkering that we used to do. He had a different take on what makes a car "cool" but we have been friends since the 80s. He was my Manager when I worked at Burger King!

View attachment 1491093View attachment 1491094

Back in the day people used to personalize their cars,they might not be suited to everyone's taste,but there wasn't another one like it anywhere!

 

[eldubb440]

I'm not sure the hobby, or anything for that matter is ready for that.
So many questions......
Real, or clone:
Which one ummm, interacts with the wife?
Which one gets murdered by the wife?
Which one does the paintwork?
Which one does Rebel recognize?
Which one does Rebel tear limb from limb?
Which one has to go to Walmart at 2 am?

I have to stop

shop slaves, nothing more.....