Philosophy today folks. A little kick back and ponder time.
What I want to mention today is a dangerous phenomenom of the car hobby. It afflicts many people and their project cars. I have done it too, so I'm as guilty as the next guy. What this is, is...well, I'm not sure there is a name for it. But if there was, it would be along the lines of: "Taking a project car completely apart with the intention of fixing it up, but then abandoning it, never to get it even remotely back into some semblance of a complete car".
I will tell you that taking a car apart is kind of fun, in a non-destructive, exploratory sort of way. I suppose entropy, the tendency towards a natural state of disorder, is on your side here. It's easy to undo bolts, strew pieces about, to break stuff if you have to, all in the noble pursuit of car "restoration".
I understand how it happens, most project cars are disassembled with the best of intentions. All it takes is an old car that someone purchases, and becomes somewhat attached to. No harm there. They go to a car show and see all of the beautiful cars in pristine condition. They get the dream of getting their car into show condition as well. This is where the naive get into trouble. It takes a lot of time, effort, and money to fix up a car nicely. Do not underestimate this.
I am not against car restoration, or complicated projects. Far from it. I want people to enjoy the hobby, and to take little ventures into fixing up their rides, and to gain experience and have fun. What I am saying is this: DO NOT COMPLETETLY DISASSEMBLE YOUR CAR. I see too many people go way too far once they get started. It sometimes looks as if there's some magical, unknown, key fastener that inadvertently got unscrewed that caused the entire car to fall apart at once.
I personally know of a car that has been apart for over 30 years, still waiting for reassembly. I know of a guy that took a project car apart and became overwhelmed. He bought another car to have something to drive, but again, the urge was too much. He took that apart too, and now has 2 cars COMPLETELY apart, and nothing to drive. Hey, I understand the reasons. Lack of money. Lack of time. Can't find the parts. Don't have the proper space. Don't own the proper tools. Got a hangnail. Whatever. And no you can't sell it like that and just get out of it. Maybe for pennies on the dollar. Maybe.
Let me tell you some realities. If you think a project car itself takes up a lot of room, you'll find out it takes up about 4 times that amount of room once you've taken it completely apart. Parts get lost. You need specialized tools. Replacement parts cost a lot of money. You'll need professional help at some point, that costs real money. Oh, and if you didn't bag your bolts and label parts as you were doing disassembly, and neophytes rarely do in the heat of the moment, you reduced the chances that you'll ever get those parts back together by like 90%.
I could put your project back together for you, but I'm not going to do it for free, either.
What I'm advocating today is this: Just drive your car. Sure, do reasonable upgrades and improvements. But keep it together and functional. Enjoy it. Embrace it's battle scars and aged patina. Don't worry if someone owns a nicer car than yours. Don't you think a car would benefit more from being driven for 30 years, even in imperfect shape, than sitting as parts, dusty and unused, like the bones of a skeleton at an archaeological site? Older cars are so rare now that I have to smile every time I see one in traffic, no matter how ratty it is. Keep your heap together and get it out on the road this summer. Make me smile. Make yourself smile.
photo: treehugger.com
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