What was i thinking?

What was i thinking ?

It's sort of difficult to admit it, but you guys are right about biting off more than we can chew. I did it way more times than I've completed anything. I had these visions and dreams of shiny, chrome covered, smooth running hotrods. Believe me, most dreams turn to nightmares!
Trying to keep this short. Keep in mind I already had a Model T touring I was restoring and a 1933 Chevy 4-door I was restoring, plus a boat and RV's for camping. Always wanted a 1940 Ford deluxe coupe. In mid 70's new neighbors moved into short cul-de-sac with a 1939 Ford deluxe coupe. In ways I liked the 39 better. Ended up buying it and found it had a 283 Chevy/Powerglide/57 Chevy rear, etc. Body original except shaved trunk and Dodge interior. It was metalic dark green. I love red. Painted it red, drove it a few summers, 57 Chevy radiator top tank busted. Parked it in garage around 1976. Gonna fix it later. Still there. Well, now in Florida garage. 36+ years:confused:!

Bought 1948 Chevy panel truck to make RV puller. Got a 1950 Studebaker with no motor or tranny with the deal because I felt I needed more for trading a restored 26 T touring. What was I thinkin? The panel is now partially customized and running gear updated. It sits waiting for me, in the garage.
The 1950 Stude we gave to our nine year old. He tinkered till he got involved in kid things. He is nearly 23 and the Stude sits in a carport waiting.

Here's the biggy. Same used car lot, I found a 1942 Merc coupe. It was really junky but owner had a 1946 Mercury coupe project in great shape. According to him! Body on wooden dolly 10 miles north at a paint shop. Frame and most other stuff 10 miles south in two separate garages. The shiny small parts at the car dealer's office in boxes. No interior. Well, late model Caddy grey leather seats, panels, etc to go with car. No engine or running gear. NONE ! Traded an almost finished 1933 Chevy for that mess. I wasn't thinkin !
Still more. While visiting in Illinois I bought more 1946 Mercury fenders, hood, windows, stainless, bumpers, etc. and a tail lite and glovebox door that were missing for the Merc.
Even more. Bought a 1947 Mercury roller chassis with running flathead, radiator to gas tank. Now I have enough to build almost two 46 Mercurys. Except time, money, energy, ambition! What was I thinking?:confused:
We went to many car shows and saw many finished cars that looked kool. I was thinking I could do that. But raising kids, vacations, working on homes and yards, etc. and working 10-12 hours six days a week left little time. Besides, I was always driving and working on another car at the time. I even customized a class "A" motorhome. Who does that?
Now retired with lots of time I still have no energy, money, or ambition. With the discovery of this computer I am trapped in my little fantasy world, the old cars are waiting and wondering what the hell I'm doing in the house instead of the garage. Really, WHAT WAS I THINKING?

 

More 39 Ford stuff.

We lived at the left end of the block long cul-de-sac and those new neighbors lived about halfway down on the right side. A young couple. He drove the 1939 Ford 15+ miles to work everyday, all year around. His wife worked the same place on a different shift so drove a newer car. She convinced the young man to sell the 39 Ford and buy something more dependable. Anyone familiar with old cars knows the heater/defrost wasn't all that great in cold climates.
From the first time we saw them I asked about buying the 39 Ford. I actually thought it still had the original flathead V-8. The cherry bomb glaspac mufflers gave the little Chevy engne that sound. The kid said he'd never sell his toy. Yea right. He was married !
One day our five year old daughter came riding her trike down our drive way all bubbly like little girls get. "Daddy daddy, that man said you can buy his old car for $25.00." I was surprised but figured maybe he wanted $2500 for it. Still a great buy in my mind. Went down and sure enough it was going up for sale soon. I didn't hesitate to buy it for $2500.
My initial plan was to get a flathead Ford V-8 and tranny to put the car back to original. That Checy engine ran so good I left it as was.
Sadly, on a hot summer day, in heavy work traffic , the radiator top tank busted. No biggy. A common 55-57 Chevy radiator. I'll put the Ford in the garage and fix it later. Later has never come. And that is my favorite car of all I've owned or ridden in. Funny how things just happen.

 

Easy for me - I've got a suburban tract home with a 2-car garage, and not even enough space on the side of the garage to park one extra car. Doesn't matter anyway, since I also have no extra money.

 

Thank you old Ford

Thanks to that 1939 Ford and my 1957 Chevy 2-door hardtop I was once again reunited with station wagons. At several car shows and swap meets I was buying many car parts for my projects. At another large show/swap meet I bought a louvered 57 Chevy hood and a 1940 Ford rear fender.
I had driven our 1980 Malibo 2-door to that car show just as a spectator. Ya ever try to get a 57 Chevy hood in one of those? I swore I was gonna buy an old sedan delivery or panel truck. Couldn't find one. But often I saw a red 55 Chevy wagon pass by as I was on my way home from work. One day I followed the guy and his little red wagon home. I didn't stop. I was just curious I guess.
That winter, I saw an add in the newspaper for that very wagon for sale. I was still wanting a sedan delivery but remembered the wagon sounded and looked nice for the price. It was January, snow up to the rockers, temps in the teens, and snowing. Perfect weather to be looking at an old station wagon. It doesn't take near as long to look during winters! The young guy had painted it himself, apparently in a dust storm with runny paint ! He had a jacked up fourwheel drive truck and wanted another. Therefore the wagon was for sale.
Took the battery out of his truck, pumped the pedal in the wagon, the 350 engine came to life. I put it in gear and it rocked back and forth. Don't remember exactly but no tags, no insurance, and sitting in a snow bank may be why I didn't drive it. Made some sort of a deal and came back with my own battery another day.
It was a cold ride home with the lights, wipers, heater all on full speed. Might have something to do with what happened next. Just as I rolled down our long driveway I smelled something I was familiar with, plastic wiring burning. As the lites, the heater, the wipers, and the engine stopped, I was assured that what I was smelling was correct. Black ugly smelling smoke began rolling up from under the dash. Lucky I was wearing gloves. I looked under, then reached and started pulling glowing red wires out. There are only a few small glass fuses in the fusebox of most early cars. Apparently most of those were bypassed. Either too many things were running or some of the "not so great" wiring shorted out. But, hey, we were home!
All of the old cars were in the garage for the winter. Our family car was parked on the far side of the driveway. The 55 Chevy wagon sat there in it's new resting place till spring. I added a stall behind the garage and moved the poor old 39 Ford back there to be forgotten till 1994 when I started it and put it on my flatbead trailer to hide in another garage another 18 years in Florida. Actually 18 years this June.
This station wagon with the new paint job and fine running engine proved another headache. A simple job of sanding a few runs and dirt out ended up a complete removal and repaint, plus body work. The solid floors (?) had beer can patches, and on and on!
But our 1955 Chevy wagon turned out to be our most fun and interesting vehicle ever. Without it I would never have found you!

It wasn't long after I bought the 1955 Chevy wagon that I saw a 1955 Chevy sedan delivery for sale along my truck route. Later saw it advertised. It also had a later 350 and other modifications. A friend had a 55 panel he had painted a pie company scene and called it the PIE WAGON. I sure wanted a sedan delivery!
But now owned other junk plus had recently bought a 55 Chevy 2-door post, a 1957 Chevy 2-door hardtop, and a 1949 Ford 4-door for our youngest son at that time. Didn't have room or money for anything else. Fate wanted us to be station wagon owners.
I always regretted selling our new red 1972 Gran Torino wagon.

 

In Illinois we had a pie shaped lot. The house, garage, and driveway took up most of it. Small yard behind house and beside garage with pool. Tiny front and side yard close to curb and cul-de-sac turn around. I got a permit and added a pie shaped stall behind the three car garage for the 1939 Ford and a place to work. That garage door actually came out on the side of the garage with a four foot overhang to work partially outside in rain or sun.
Now we have five acres, several garages, and a small building with carport on each end. Plenty of room. No money or energy.
I'm waiting for a reverse time machine.

 

Well, I have a 67 Cougar that has'nt seen the lite of day since 87. I can't even take a pic to show you, it's completly buried! Big dreams, big plans, somrthing allways came up

 

Since I knew college wasnt in my future I got my college money and wasted it on a 1969 Chevrolet Chevelle. It was an SS but only by trim.

I went out and brought the first thing I saw that I could afford. It was rough but ran. The car was primered gray , the windows didnt like up, the radio had been taken out and not replaced, the doors were out of alingment and the whole car shimmed when I went over 45 mph. I was told it had a new motor in it. It was born with a 350 but had a rebuilt 396 in it now. Had a can and custom heads. What could go wrong ?

I bought it. This was the mid 1980s when these cars werent overly popular , so you could buy a good one for around 1200 bucks not like today where we live in a world of brokers and flippers. Now even a project car will cost you big money. Im a 17 year old kid and jazzed about owning a muscle car despite having a part time job. Figured all I needed was to find the factory steering wheel, pay a few bucks to aling the doors and windows and all would be good after I painted it. I drove the car endlessly. But I was way wrong about what I thought id spend on it. The motor spun a bearing a month after I got it, the transmission started slipping in it. But I still drove it. Then the belts on it snapped and got all tangled up in the fan and the water pump.

Every time I had enough money to fix the cosmetic stuff, something major would go on it. Once I replaced the rear end in it, ( my dad paid for most of this stuff btw , this made him very upset about blowing my money on a car thats been beat on ) on the way to work in heavy fog around a blind curve a Honda Accord got in my way and I wrecked the Chevelle. You think these Hondas , Toyotas and Kias are all plastic and fiberglass cars, nailing that Honda at 40 mph was enough to snap the A frame on my all American steel Chevy and thats what killed it. All thoes stupid hairline cracks gave way and was the end of my 69. I happened to hit a lawyer an ambulance chaser per say. and She took me and my folks insurance company to the cleaners. She sued for almost 200,000 dollars and won. That pain and suffering crap, missed work, the car. Everything.
My dad and moms insurance dropped me like a bad habit.

Thats how I learned you cannot restore a car you drive everyday.


That 69 Chevelle was far and away the worst money pit I ever owned. My dreams of having a 1969 showcar turned into my ultimate nightmare.

 

CAT....your preechin to the choir !!!
I decided last year that things here..were getting outa control...and chose to start liquidating....too many cars!!too many trailers!!..too many Tikis!!tooo many of everything!!.....but its hard....cuz Im a hoarder at heart I think
Lifes too short to have all this pressure to finish all these things ~!
Not to mention the clutter in the garage!!
so they must go

Ted...pal....I have 3 cars that fit that description !!

 

When I was 17, I bought a '58 chevy from my dad. Base model, 4 door post, inline 6, three on the tree. Well, I got the grand idea that it needed a small block and an auto tranny. Ended up refreshing a '68 327 and got a low-mile TH400. Put it all in, the engine bay looked like new. Got it all up and running and needed to fabricate a cross-member to have it be ready to rock. Can't weld worth a damn, and Dad wouldn't let me use his welder.

Well, as I looked at the paint and body work that needed to be done, the interior work, the bad glass, I decided I was done with cars for good. I sold the car, the 2 extra inline-sixes, the two extra transmissions, and any and all car-related items I had to a guy, stacked it all on his trailer and said 'I'm done!' While I've never gotten back to what I was doing so hot and heavy with cars, at 17 (I swear I had a tan line from the hoods of cars), I'm still puttering around with them. When you make minimum wage, as I did at the time and have other priorities in life, those projects start to be more harm than good in your life, it seems.

 

umm you could store them at my house.

 

And then soon you could write your own sad story about too many cars and not enough time and money.

I almost feel better about my bad car adventures after reading others.
But , actually I feel sorry for them too!

 

Those are great stories and great memories, Cat...no matter how sad some of them may be. I'm impressed that you remember all the cars you had and the stories about them. I don't remember half the cars I had until someone reminds me of some of them. I usually finished the one's I started but, there were a lot of them that got sold before I started them. Now days, I have, thankfully, become aware that there is not enough time left to do all the cars that I want to do. I find many cars online that I get excited about but, then reality sets in. Maybe getting older is saving me money!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTqra4YSsaM&ob=av2e

approiate

 

We've seen this but had to listen and watch again! Makes me repeat, what was I thinkin ?

 

hoepfully it cheered ya up a little bit, now get out there and have a great memorial day, you can worry about this stuff 2 weeks from next tuesday!