"therotaryisdeadlonglivetherotary" (therotaryisdeadlonglivetherotary)
07/01/2014 at 03:59 • Filed to: None | 3 | 9 |
Apexes and straw bales, thats what it boils down to: you hit the apex you feel amazing; you hit the straw bales... not so much. Of course you can avoid the straw bales if you hold back, stay away from toeing that line. But do you want to?
Have a taste of my hell: I have two cars, three (two in multiple pieces each) engines, two transmissions, two sets of wheels and tires (cracked summers and and good winters) a single four-barrle 650 cfm Holley carb and a suspension that will be finished one of these days; but with all of that I have only one possible car. I've bought the wrong parts, got sent the wrong parts, needed new parts I didn't know, but couldn't go any further without, and missed tools I needed.
Pictured: my weekend (sideways for some reason)
If you want a reason not to be a car enthusiast, buy a project car: six months in you'll have cried in your garage, sworn at every part and tool in your vicinity and come away from the experience an avowed driver of on-warranty appliances or huge dreams, a bank account shrinking in direct proportion to the car budget and the experience to wield a wrench and a curse word.
What separates the former from the latter? I'm two cars into this project and firmly in the second group, and I ask myself the question everyday: wouldn't it be easier to get something a little more reliable, a little cheaper?
The answers hell yes. It would be easier, I would be richer, and I wouldn't spend saturday evenings in a pit of failure after moving 2 steps forward and too many steps back. You ever tried loosening off a bolt caked with mud and rust with nothing but hand tools? It's hell on your hands and your mental fortitude.
Yeah, my car can be a real bitch, but when those victories come... You ever tried ver tried loosening off a bolt caked with mud and rust with nothing but hand tools and finally getting that fucking bolt to move, even one millimetre? That's Victory. And the more bloody knuckles, the more swear words, the more shouting at the sky and wishing it would rain down the heavenly fire of revenge on that pile of shit in your driveway, the better that victory feels.
There is no bitter mouth turning enough to take away the sweetness of your victory.
Combine that victory, over the forces of belligerent metal, wayward electronics and protesting mechanics with the sublime sound of an engine running to redline, an apex well hit, a respectful glance from a fellow gear head, and a car that makes you smile when you see it in your parking spot, and there's not a lot more than you can ask for.
So maybe the straw bales are just as important as the apexes. Failures and victories, can you have one without the other? I guess you can, in our have-and-eat world; you can buy a new german sport sedan and avoid the bloody knuckles and despair of not having the right tool, but always remember: It's the sour and the sweet, and I know sour, which allows me to appreciate the sweet.
ReallyColorful
> therotaryisdeadlonglivetherotary
07/01/2014 at 05:45 | 0 |
Inspirational words of wisdom! I'm not familiar with your project car, what exactly are you building?
Mattbob
> therotaryisdeadlonglivetherotary
07/01/2014 at 08:21 | 1 |
" mud and rust with nothing but hand tools" I live in Michigan and have a jeep. Half the bolts are made of rust. A torch is your friend. But yes, there is nothing better than that first drive where you are listening for something to go wrong, and nothing does. "a car that makes you smile when you see it in your parking spot," Every single time.
Clown Shoe Pilot
> ReallyColorful
07/01/2014 at 08:51 | 0 |
whatever it is, it's got a wankel in it
ReallyColorful
> Clown Shoe Pilot
07/01/2014 at 09:24 | 0 |
I was able to figure that much lol.
therotaryisdeadlonglivetherotary
> Mattbob
07/01/2014 at 13:50 | 0 |
An impact too is your friend. In fact, I think impacts are my best friends, they make me smile when I hate the world and wish to torch a project. They are the gods among tools.
therotaryisdeadlonglivetherotary
> ReallyColorful
07/01/2014 at 13:50 | 0 |
It's a 83 RX-7. I'm putting in a 13B from an 86, but it slow going.
Mattbob
> therotaryisdeadlonglivetherotary
07/01/2014 at 13:58 | 0 |
I only use impacts when I am ok if the bolt breaks. When I did shocks last on my jeep, the impact made it real quick because it just snapped all the bolts real quick.
therotaryisdeadlonglivetherotary
> Mattbob
07/01/2014 at 14:01 | 0 |
It saved me this weekend. The nut on the back of the engine and the bolt on the front of the engine are real bitches to get off, especially because they're attached to the crank, which likes to spin. Spent a long time trying to get those off before finally finding an impact to borrow.
Mattbob
> therotaryisdeadlonglivetherotary
07/01/2014 at 14:04 | 0 |
oh yeah, big stuff like that, it's a godsend. Especially a crank where you probably don't want to be getting it red hot with a torch.