My autoshop bud is a fool, right? Also, autoshop is awesome.

"saabstory | fixes bikes, breaks cars" (saabstory)
03/24/2014 at 20:06 • Filed to: None

Today in autoshop, my classmate started talking about how he was going to sell his 2005 Malibu to fund a new purchase. I asked him what he was gonna buy and he saida '65 Thunderbird. Some background on this guy: he's a friendly enough guy, but he's kind of a douche sometimes about stuff. His Malibu was driven from Utah to Seattle and has steelies (usually cool, but on a white Malibu, not-so-cool). He spent the first couple of lab weeks we had trying to hook up some aftermarket lights. They were smoked and had fake HID/LED rings that I think were somehow just regular bulbs. I tried to help him, but he didn't know what a hot or ground was, and he didn't realize that hooking his light bars straight to his battery was a poor decision. He has proved his worth while we've worked on cars, I guess. Like he helped me get the rear suspension off of our teacher's Nova

But I digress. He says he wants to buy !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! which would be a terrible first or second car, especially if you have to drive to school every single day. He told me that it runs great, but from the looks of this ad and the description given, I can't help but imagine that it runs very very poorly. I told him he should buy a Miata if he's gonna swap out his car for insurance and running costs and he told me that Miatas are for girls. Oh, he's an aspiring stance nation guy, by the way. I asked him why he thought that this would be a good buy, and he said, "Because I need a constant source of projects for my hands to do." I can understand this, but we're in Autotech 1, and while I have another year of high school to take 2 and 3 (in the third one we build an engine and put it in an old muscle car, and one class entered the northwest stock car league and won everything one year because fuck yeah, high school kids are smarter and better at driving than adults), he is a senior and doesn't really know what he's doing. What do y'all think, Oppo? I think that this would be an awesome project car if you A) know what you're doing, B) have a DD already, C) have a steady cash flow, and D) are not a tool. He wants to"just clear coat it, man! Patina. " I don't think he understands rust...

Also, does anyone know about the Thunderbird Special Landau and how rare it actually is?

Edit: He also did an oil change without asking our teacher if he could and without jack stands or a lift... Our teacher yelled at him and then told him that if the car fell on him, he'd laugh and then get some old rags to clean up the mess... I like our teacher.

DISCUSSION (14)

Logansteno: Bought a VW? > saabstory | fixes bikes, breaks cars
03/24/2014 at 20:13

I wish my school offered autoshop class...

saabstory | fixes bikes, breaks cars > Logansteno: Bought a VW?
03/24/2014 at 20:17

My high school is the last one in the Seattle Public School district. It's actually one of the last shop classes of any sort available through SPS, sadly. Ingraham (my school) has basically the best autoshop ever, too. The lesson here is move to Seattle.

Logansteno: Bought a VW? > saabstory | fixes bikes, breaks cars
03/24/2014 at 20:22

Mine stopped offering it in the early 90s when the became more concerned about test scores than giving students the option of taking fun classes.

JR1 > saabstory | fixes bikes, breaks cars
03/24/2014 at 20:23

He has hope and optimism. I feel the same way about the Lincoln I am trying to restore (no prior experience). Let him give it a shot, it would be fun and the car looks to be in good shape. Definitely cooler and more unique than a Miata if you ask me.

saabstory | fixes bikes, breaks cars > Logansteno: Bought a VW?
03/24/2014 at 20:24

Yeah, exactly. It's a college-obsessed world and system.

Spaceball-Two > saabstory | fixes bikes, breaks cars
03/24/2014 at 20:24

I was in Auto Shop at Lake Washington H.S. back in the day. That facility was junk but we made it work.
As for the guy. I'd let him make his own mistakes. Doesn't seem conducive to our weather but hey.

Big Bubba Ray > saabstory | fixes bikes, breaks cars
03/24/2014 at 20:35

He sounds like a kinda weird dude, but let him do what he wants. He may not fully understand the responsibilities of owning a classic car, but he sure will find out quickly if something goes wrong. If/when that happens, you can stand on the sidelines and laugh at his problems.

I knew close to nothing about my Baja Bug when I bought it and people told me not to get it because they thought I couldn't handle the maintenance on it. One week after buying it, I had pulled the engine and removed the heads on my own without help. Sometimes just diving in and doing something is the best way to learn.

Vince-The Roadside Mechanic > saabstory | fixes bikes, breaks cars
03/24/2014 at 20:36

my friend doesn't have his license yet and he is buying a 1964 barracuda that probably doesn't run his dad is a muscle car guy. I think it is too much for a first car but I will help him with it and support him and throw good ideas at him cause he is my friend and I suggest you do the same

webmonkees > saabstory | fixes bikes, breaks cars
03/24/2014 at 20:56

Sounds cliche, but a '65 Mustang. Lots of parts, a ready market for when he's done. Learn that car and the works, and then he can go chase the thunder.

That might make a good project, class project that is, er, the economics of a project.

The real-world costs of, say, taking a Rustang and making a factory-spec Mustang.

Repair panels, patching, refurbishing this, replacing that.. the usual.

Junkyard costs, new parts, etc. .

Determine what it really costs from cruddy to chromey.

Total it up.. Break it down into teachable subsets; electrical, mechanical, bodywork..

Then start a fundraiser.

saabstory | fixes bikes, breaks cars > Vince-The Roadside Mechanic
03/24/2014 at 21:49

I mean, I'm gonna do whatever I can to help him out because that would be awesome. But I hope he doesn't hurt it.

saabstory | fixes bikes, breaks cars > Vince-The Roadside Mechanic
03/24/2014 at 21:49

I am warning him right now about it.

Vince-The Roadside Mechanic > saabstory | fixes bikes, breaks cars
03/24/2014 at 21:52

ya I get where you are coming from

Vince-The Roadside Mechanic > saabstory | fixes bikes, breaks cars
03/24/2014 at 21:53

warning him about what

153624 - Straight Six > Logansteno: Bought a VW?
03/25/2014 at 19:32

I took one second year. I changed a tire and then spray painted some stuff. That was it. Then I hung around with the stoners.

Fun class.