So I have this friend

C Body Bob

Old Man with a Hat
Joined
Apr 8, 2012
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Youngsville, NC
Ok before anyone jumps all over me saying I’m being mean or a criticism on a guy please understand this is just a bit of humor at a friend that I’m trying my hardest to help make better decisions. I see a lot of post on the net were someone reads 3 sentences & thinks they have a full understanding of a year(s) long process. This is simply meant to humor us guys that work on our cars & own a shop & ample amount of tools. So everyone just sit back & read & enjoy & knowing that I’m trying to keep this guy between the ditches. Not trying to tell him how to live his life.

My buddy owns a screw driver set & a socket set & maybe 4 combination wrenches. He doesn’t even know why they are called that. I had to explain that to him. He knows nothing about working on cars but can tell you all about them & which ones are better & why. So a year & a half ago after a year long search he found a Corvette ZR1 on this site called Bring a trailer. $27 thousand. He did all the due diligence & wired the money to the guy. Had the car shipped up to him. He gets the Vette & I stopped by a few days later & could tell he was a little disappointed. Why ? Well it wasn’t quite as nice as advertised. He’s seeing a change in the paint that I can’t see & is concerned it’s been repaired from a minor crash. The tires are dry rotted & the belt tensioner is squeaking bad & it has an oil leak. Cut to the chase. He spent about $2000 getting all that fixed. Now we are at $29 thousand & he’s not driven it much. Goes to move it one day as it’s blocking his daily & it won’t start. Nothing. WEEKS go by as he’s telling me & a mechanic bud of his all the things he’s found on the net to diagnose & has determined it’s the ignition switch. Buys a switch. Can’t figure out how to install it. Finally after 3/4 days gets the switch in car still won’t start. He’s not happy. Been driving a company car all this time. He finally finds a loose wire or something at the alternator ??? and repairs that & it starts up. Two months have gone buy. Now another oil leak. A braided line that goes to the oil cooler. Can’t find one anywhere. Doesn’t want to drive it with a oil leak. Last I checked car is still sitting but now in the garrage and out of the way. In the mean time he finds a tricked out Mustang convertible on Bring a trailer & offers 13 thousand. Seller accepts & sends the car to him. It arrives & I stop by to have a look. He’s all smiles as I can tell he likes this car but wait. There’s a problem. It’s been fitted with quality aftermarket wide body quarter panels & front fenders. Looks kinda cool. Not over done. Has a nice looking roll bar hoop bolted to the floor. Reacaro buckets & 5 point safety harness. It has a 351 V8 with Edelbrock GT40 type heads. Edelbrock EFI Intake. Tubular front engine cradle. Trick Koni struts & Springs all 4 corners & a belt driven Pro Charger but heres the problem. The super charger isn’t building any boost & is bad. Needs rebuilding. The engine has a bad oil leak. He sent a sample of oil to a lab & it came back that it had a high level of metal in it & the lab said it looks like metal consistent with engine bearings. So the Mustang has also been sitting for about a year. He almost put a used LS in it & that's the only time I stepped in. I recommended not to do that to instead rebuild what he has. He doesn’t want to do that. 400 horse ain’t enough. Last time I was over he showed me a 550 horse crate motor. 400 pounds feet of torque at 3000 RPM. $5500 is a bargin & I told him fine if that’s what you want. But I told him to expect another $2000 in labor & misc charges. He said I can sell the old motor & super Charger to recoupe that....so he will be close to or over $20 grand but he will have one hell of a Mustang. So he’s approaching $50 grand & has two cool cars he scared to drive because they have mechanical issues.
 
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There in lies the argument of the guy who built his own or the guy that signed a check to achieve pur hase his trophy car.
 
I tremendously dislike him without ever meeting him.
Meeting him will most likely increase that dislike.
LOL he’s not that bad. 35 years old. Has a good paying desk job. He’s currently enrolled in the school of hard knocks. He’ll be a wiser man in a few years.
 
LOL he’s not that bad. 35 years old. Has a good paying desk job. He’s currently enrolled in the school of hard knocks. He’ll be a wiser man in a few years.

Bob, now is a good time to bring up a story about an event that may have directed me to a life long path.

I was a kid (10? 12? Who knows... )
Walking down a street (this was aprox. late 50's), I came upon a guy working on his motorcycle in his driveway. He had a lean, grizzled, intense look while scraping his knuckles on this bike in silence and never acknowledged this kid watching with compete fascination. He had tattoos and in particular one jumped out at me.
Running up one arm, one tattoo simply said "You ain't ****" and on the other arm, something about "unless you work with your hands" or something in that vein.
60 or so years later I still remember that day vividly so I'm damn sure he left a life-long positive impression on me.

I'm too old now for more tattoos.
 
I sure hope so... my ugly duckling electrolux turned into a swan by now if I had that kind of coin to throw around.
Yea he could have had a Hellcat by now. Paid for. He will learn. Keep in mind he’s paying insurance on these cars while they sit also.
 
maybe he should invest some money in an adult evening class for a couple of months learning about engines/mechanics etc..
 
I think we all have met or know someone like this.
Take Jim Gaffigan for example & his knowledge of cars...

 
Doesn't think, just reacts....oh look a Corvette, oh, there's a Mustang. Next year itll be a boat, camper, motorcycle.....
 
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It's a problem with the schools teaching the test. Learning and understanding have been replaced with method and recall.
Instead of answering test questions by knowing the subject they learn to just get a answer.
 
I feel sorry for him up to a point. There are many people that can and do work on cars or anything else no problem, but cannot complete a task from beginning to end. Their life seems to be a sea of loose ends and projects that are left and forgotten for something new. Abandoned in fields, barns and sheds, and not because they don't have the knowledge to finish them but because their attention span isn't up to the task.
 
I feel sorry for him up to a point. There are many people that can and do work on cars or anything else no problem, but cannot complete a task from beginning to end. Their life seems to be a sea of loose ends and projects that are left and forgotten for something new. Abandoned in fields, barns and sheds, and not because they don't have the knowledge to finish them but because their attention span isn't up to the task.

Some people, probably most people, aren't cut out for project cars. They may like the IDEA of having a project car, but once it gets boring or difficult or they get stuck on something and don't know how to proceed, or something urgent comes up in their life that requires their spare time, it's so easy to just never make the time to get back to it.

procrastinationdemotivator.jpg


In this guy's case, it sounds like he doesn't realize he's buying a project car at all. He thinks he's getting a deal, but it's really a "deal" because he's buying someone else's problem that they didn't want to "deal" with themselves.
 
I see your point but from what I have read here he is not lacking in funds to see any problem through that he is not up to fixing. He just sees something else he can have a wet dream about. Like said before here he should of gotten a turn key new car.
 
maybe he should invest some money in an adult evening class for a couple of months learning about engines/mechanics etc..
he has wasted enough money already. either you are mechanical or you are not. that is taught to you when you are young by either your dad or friends and you need to turn the wrenches with grease and grime on your hands. a 2 month mechanics course would probably teach him just enough to make him dangerous.
 
IMO He needs to rev up the monetary propulsion system he's been using to buy cars and parts and pay someone to get both sorted out, then sell the one he doesn't want to keep.
 
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