"E. Julius" (soonerfrommi)
12/13/2014 at 19:40 • Filed to: Questions
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"E. Julius" (soonerfrommi)
12/13/2014 at 19:40 • Filed to: Questions | 3
| 9 |
What sort of sacrifices have you had to make to get (or keep) your dream car? What circumstances allowed you keep an old bucket of rust on the road far beyond its natural life? 'Conventional wisdom' tells us that some things just can't be done. Keeping that roadster after you have kids. DDing your old British car. Wrenching on your 2013 S–Class. Of course, the real world is much more nuanced than that, and sometimes 'conventional wisdom' is flat out wrong. Oppo, what sort of things have you done that most would be too scared to try?
Sadly, I have no tales of my own, but I'll share the reason I ask this question. In my five years of driving I've had the good fortune of being given two reliable, practical cars— a 1996 Ford Escort and a 2004 Honda Civic—that, while not yielding many exciting stories, have never let me down. EVER . I've never had a mechanical failure of any sort occur while driving, and I've never once thought "what if my car breaks down before I get there?", despite numerous 1000 mile+ cross–country drives.
That being said, once I'm able to buy my own cars, I'd like to move on to something a little more exciting, even if it entails a bit more risk in the livability/reliability department. Share your stories so I know that it can be done!
banjo cat ghost of oppo past
> E. Julius
12/13/2014 at 14:47 |
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Compulsory...isn't all Phill Collins?
Anyway yes. And I wish I wouldhave done the same with a few cars before it.
Only way I was able to keep my eclipse for 7ish years as a college car turned spec racer has pretty much been through the good graces of the family of mechanics and their shop I take it to out in the countryside. They have allowed it to sit against one side of the building albiet with a bunch of other junk and haggard cars for...oh five years on and off...mostly on.
Without question my parents (dad) would have had it sold and trailered off without telling me if it stayed in their upscale neighborhood longer than a week. He does that.
The owner's son/ other mechanic has a very powerful DSM he's not let go of beyond the 7 years I've been dealing with them, and has done all manner of work on countless DSM's, not to mention being an engine building Mopar family anyway. There really was no one else to trust and no where else I could park it. I tried renting a storage space for a while to work on it myself but that was cold and expensive so it went back to their side lot.
The big caveat is they've seen my requests for work on the car as more suggestion whenever they have the time rather than an actual work order...which is why it has sat for so long at times. Nearly forgot I had it for a year or so. I'm just as guilty for taking advantage and they likely knew if I really wanted it worked on all those long spells I couldhave pressed my case and presented the money.
Despite all this the car couldn't have received more expert care literally within 100 miles. The owner & Jr have always done excellent repairs, looked out for me and fixed issues I didn't catch and have never, ever overcharged me or overbilled me, never asked for compensation for letting it sit there.
I spoze I could've sold it for the original buying price, never making back the thousands I spent & having to spend thousands more starting from scratch on a car to replace it, just to go fast. It's faster than an average of C5 Z06's (it beat three) so thats fast enough for me for $2500. I'll stop at seam welding and a roll cage.
OH YEAH and they're pretty understanding with inspection/ emissions... Pffft OBD-2 cars?? It's been years since I've had the 1 ; )))
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E. Julius
> banjo cat ghost of oppo past
12/13/2014 at 14:53 |
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Ha, I definitely left myself wide open for the Phil Collins. Great story though! What have you done to your car so far?
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banjo cat ghost of oppo past
> E. Julius
12/13/2014 at 15:08 |
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Thanks & there ya go ha http://oppositelock.jalopnik.com/the-modified-m…
deekster_caddy
> E. Julius
12/13/2014 at 20:13 |
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Well, some of my story is here:
http://oppositelock.jalopnik.com/b-body-bouilla…
I've had this car since 1991 or so, my grandparents bought it new in '73, I DD'd the thing for about 10 years before I started using it winters only, then I parked it for about 10 years and somehow hung onto it through a few moves. About 3 years ago I brought it back to life and now I'm reviving it from it's decline into a ressuraction... But it is taking a really long time because life and kids and stuff. Plus nobody makes replacement sheetmetal for my lil moose so I've had to make it all from flat sheet stock.
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E. Julius
> deekster_caddy
12/13/2014 at 20:21 |
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Nice to see someone keeping something like that up and running. It looks great.
Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies
> E. Julius
12/13/2014 at 20:37 |
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Modern speed, safety, and gas mileage. On the plus side, I get pre-beige Toyota reliability out of it, so that helps. It has survived a 1000 mile, one way trip more than once. Driving 250 miles through a snow storm in an old, lifted Toyota (with a bent front sway bar link) is fun...
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deekster_caddy
> E. Julius
12/13/2014 at 20:37 |
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Thanks! It was my 2nd car and I've always loved the way it drives, I can't imagine getting rid of it anytime soon. Other than a few rusty spots left, it's very solid (in more ways than one).
Tohru
> E. Julius
12/14/2014 at 03:45 |
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reliable, practical car— a 1996 Ford Escort
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E. Julius
> Tohru
12/14/2014 at 04:51 |
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+1 for KSP. Thankfully it worked well for the year and a half I had it, with the exception of the time I slammed the passenger wheel into a curb and had to have most of the front suspension and steering replaced on that side.