Are you passionate about cars?

[zookeeper]

The other day I saw an interview with Nicholas Cage and I caught one remark that kind of made me flinch. He said that he is, "Passionate about old cars...". I really don't know what to think, I mean if he's passionate, what word do I use to describe my feelings, rabid? To me, writing a check to buy whatever car strikes your fancy, then selling it a few months later isn't passion. Here's a few things that I think separates people who love old cars from people who just own them to be cool. My apologies to Jeff Foxworthy, but here goes: You may be passionate about old cars if:
You have a tattered magazine with a test of your favorite car in safe place, but couldn't find your kid's birth certificate on a bet.
Your daily driver is a total piece of automotive crap that barely runs and that your significant other refuses to ride in, but your pride and joy is a half-done car that costs twice what a new car would.
Your family automatically gets you gift certificates for car parts at Christmas. Double points if they don't have to ask which store.
You haven't bought new clothes in months, but the UPS man brings you a fresh load of car parts every week.
You have had to make a trip to KMart to buy a plain white T shirt to go with the rented tux at your brother's wedding because you don't own one and your wife wouldn't let you wear even your cleanest hot rod t shirt under your dress shirt.
You work insane amounts of overtime or get a second job rather than not get the parts that you want for your car.
You have sold a Christmas present from your wife on ebay in order to get more money for your car.
You're wife complains that you need a family vacation, and you agree, provided that you go to the Monterey Historic Races. (sure, she was mad, but I got to see Cobras race!)
You don't see a friend for several months, and the first thing out his mouth is, " how's your car coming?"
You don't know your the names of many of your freinds' wives, but you know what kind of car they've got in the garage and how much they told their wife it cost. (...and why you don't talk about it in front of their wife...)
You wanted to name your son "Gurney" after your racing hero.
Your garage is nicer (and bigger) than your house.
Your favorite hollywood celebrity is Jay Leno...because he works on his own cars!
You'd rather chew broken glass than sit through an Oscar-winning chick flick, but you own several horrid "B" movies with absolutely no story and watch them often because they have neat cars!
You know how many hours until the NHRA Winternationals, but you're not sure if you're anniversary is the 5th or the 6th of March.
When some blowhard starts talking about how he's restoring his '69 Z28 at a Christmas party, you casually glance at his girl-like hands that don't have any scars, stains or scabs and realize every word that's coming out his mouth is a lie.
Every one of these statements is true and I'm sure a lot of you have a lot to add, so have at it. How passionate are YOU????

 

[mdjay]

Hey man wait a minute. I would say Jay Leno is pretty passionate and knowledgable. He isn't restoring all the darn cars in his aircraft hanger!

Hell I feel I'm as passionate as they come but if I could afford to have someone else execute my wishes, you're damn straight I would keep my hands clean

 

[zookeeper]

I guess it's just a different way of looking at it. My wife's nephew considers himself a "car guy" as well. Here's where the differences are: if we both won the lottery, his "ulimate car" is whatever high end sports car was top dog at the moment, loaded with bolt-on accesories, etc. If money were no object with me, the first thing I'd be buying would be the tools I dream about to build my dream car. I'd have a paint booth, a frame table, more welders than I could count, a CNC machine as well as manual machine tools and pretty much every hand tool and tool box in the Snap-On catalog. As you can tell, I'm not much of a "pay-the-man" kind of guy. I think of cars as a form of art and the finished product is a showcase of the builder's talent and perseverance to succeed and excell. I'm not building my car just to have a neat car, I'm building it because I'm sure I can do a better job than anyone I can pay. I'm doing it to learn a skill, and when it breaks or gets bent, I don't have to ask nicely at the bodyshop how much it's going to cost or when they can do it. I'm a little older than some of today's current car guys and I remember when the only guys who had old cars were the guys who could build them, and to me that was special. The people were different as well, not better, just different. At a car show last fall, I asked the owner of a pretty cool '67 fastback about his Wilwood brakes. I asked what size master cylinder he used. He had no idea. I asked if he was using a 4 or 5 leaf rear spring. He had to look and actually count the leaves. I asked what brand his aftermarket 'glass hood was. Clueless again. The more I talked to him, the more I got the impression he was the owner of an old car, not a Mustang guy. To him the car was just a piece of jewelry, no more, no less. Just like 99% of all the yuppies on Harleys. Just like 99% of all the street rod owners these days. Just like the well-heeled bidders (and agents) at the car auctions you see on TV. Money doesn't make a poser a car guy, nor vice versa. You either are, or you aren't.

 

[Platonic Solid]

A line in your tenants rental agreement stipulates that the parts cars in the back yard stay.
Tearing all the walls out of the downstairs of your house to make a larger garage is actually a consideration.
Building an 8 car garage isn’t large, it’s adequate.
You have several containers of misc. parts and you know where each one goes.
Going through the boxes in storage is like an auto parts Christmas.
You can stand in the middle of your garage and point out at least 20 car parts hanging on the walls or sitting on shelves.
You have a registered and insured vehicle that hasn’t left the neighborhood in at least 2 years.

 

[mdjay]

I take a lot of pride in what I do. I would never flat out stop building cars, but if I had that kind of money, I would definately be purchasing some cars that someone else had bled knuckles and lost wives over

 

[bnickel]

I take a lot of pride in what I do. I would never flat out stop building cars, but if I had that kind of money, I would definately be purchasing some cars that someone else had bled knuckles and lost wives over

i'm right there with ya man. i'd still be build 'em too. but the "less important ones i would let someone else handle. i'll do the coolest cars and pay Chip and Troy do the "lesser" cars. LOL

 

[66ford289]

To me, writing a check to buy whatever car strikes your fancy, then selling it a few months later isn't passion.

It seems like anybody who owns them is "passionate". The "money is no object" cars are what appeal to the general population. If you don't care about the car, you care about how the car relates to you and that is through money, everyone is a fan of that. But do I consider myself passionate about cars? Coming to school everyday with a vaugue hint of gasoline and oil scent and paying for gas on 10mpg is acceptable because driving my '55 makes me happy. It's as simple as that.

 

[chepsk8]

Hate 'em.


























(if you believe that, I have a bridge I'd like to sell you.....)

 

[krash kendall]

Your daily driver is a total piece of automotive crap that barely runs and that your significant other refuses to ride in, but your pride and joy is a half-done car that costs twice what a new car would.

Imagine my dilemma since these two are one in the same most of the year (except for the barely running part). Good thing I had the newer truck to give my wife.

 

[zookeeper]

LOL! I've been there! I went to school for a couple years in Phoenix (didn't everybody?) and my car was a hot rod Model A pick up that my Dad and I built while I was high school. The car was loooow dollar, but still pretty neat, but as with all hot rods (at least the ones I've built) it was bare bones. It had a 289/C4, no A/C, no heat, loud exhaust, extremely low. The roads in Phoenix were fairly bad at that time ('80-'81) due to the unbearable heat and lots of traffic, so there was always something wrong with the thing, exhaust leak, brake problems (early Ford drum brakes suck on a good day), loose nuts and bolts, wiring troubles, the list goes on. I really feel for a lot of the guys on here that are still in school, driving their early Mustang as their only car and doing what they can to keep it going on a practically non-existent budget. For anyone who's going through this phase now, I can tell you this, it does get better. I still have that Model A pick up and when my son gets old enough he and I will rebuild it, and no I won't make him use it as a daily driver! I'll give him my POS work truck for that

 

[krash kendall]

You know you are passionate about cars when your wife asks, "Honey, why do the extra RAM slots in the computer have car parts stored in them?"

 

[steemin]

Passion?

I recently had a builder build me my dream car.
Why did I not take on this project myself?

Time...
That is what I do not have right now..
I have two young sons.
They are very busy with sports (I coach 3 of their basketball teams)
And I own my own business.
I used to turn wrenches on my own cars.
Now I barely have time to keep it clean,do tune ups and change fluids.
Do I have any less passion for the hobby than I did before I became so busy?
No way!
Perhaps when I have more time in my life I will buy me a project and do the work myself. Please do not look down your nose at those of us that have other things going on in their lives. We are all enthusists!
Scott

 

[jbsteven]

I recently had a builder build me my dream car.
Why did I not take on this project myself?

Time...
That is what I do not have right now..
I have two young sons.
They are very busy with sports (I coach 3 of their basketball teams)
And I own my own business.
I used to turn wrenches on my own cars.
Now I barely have time to keep it clean,do tune ups and change fluids.
Do I have any less passion for the hobby than I did before I became so busy?
No way!
Perhaps when I have more time in my life I will buy me a project and do the work myself. Please do not look down your nose at those of us that have other things going on in their lives. We are all enthusists!
Scott

yeah, what he said.

 

[12sec67]

i have the hardest time going out to go but food for lunch or dinner because i'm always thinking about that money going to something more important, like my car.



when i got ingaged the first time ... all i could think of is that money for that ring could of went to a badass paint job

 

[mdjay]

Priorities will change, but hopefully your passion won't!

 

[zookeeper]

Ok, I didn't think this thread would head in this direction when I started it, but it did and I for one am very sorry. Personally I had no intention to make anyone think I was "looking down my nose" at them or their car, or that I was trying to put myself or other builders on a pedestal. Instead, I meant it to be an observation of how those that build their cars may be more attached, or feel more of a connection to their cars than those lucky enough to have the money to have a pro-built car. I think MDJay's car is one of the neatest cars I've ever seen, and I'm envious of anyone that gets to deal with Mustangs day in and day out as both a job and a hobby. Plus I remember the body damage pics from the infamous open track day so I know he built it to use! I've never seen steemin's fastback before, but if that's it in his avatar, it looks pretty darn nice to me, and I think anyone would be proud to own it as well. What I intended to bring out was the fact that people that have the big bucks to have someone build their car may not worry quite as much about some og the same things I do. How can they? I build hot rods on the side occasionally and I'm currently building a Model A sedan for a guy in Arizona. I send him updates weekly, and get his input on various parts that will affect the overall look of the car, but the fact is he's 1200 miles away and hasn't seen it in person since August. He's enjoying the build as much as he can through pics and emails, but he's really looking forward to the finished car. Same as anyone who pays someone for work. You think a guy who has a house built is thinking about anything but getting the house finished? Same thing with cars.For me, I enjoy the journey that is the build. I love going out to the garage on a Sunday morning or after work and just working on the car. Call it solitute, or therapy or rejuvenation of the soul but it's what I love, creating something that not everyone can. Also, Steemin' mentioned a lack of time being his problem. We all have tight schedules, that's why my car has taken over 3 years. Presently I work 50 hours a week, work on the customers hot rod, work on my brother's Thunder Roadster race car, help my son with schoolwork and sports, as well, plus find time to go riding with my buddies and try to get some time to fix whatever breaks around the house and if there's anytime left over I work on my fastback. Anyway, sorry if I offended anyone.

 

[steemin]

Zookeeper,
No offense taken.
I am actually envious of people that have or are able to make the time to build cars for themselves or others.
I felt the need to post because there are some people out there that challenge your manhood if you did not personally build the car from the ground up. You are obviously not one of these guys

Scott
p.s. That is my car in the avatar.

 

[electricgreen]

Your husband buys you car parts for Christmas-and wouldn't consider jewelry if he wanted to sleep in the bed

Your house isn't finished, but you still find money to buy sheetmetal and go fast parts

Your spare bedroom is really a parts storage room

You have this in your dining room (will be moving to the garage when it gets warm out):

View attachment 487832

Your yearly vacation is to Detroit in August (to be specific, the Third Saturday in August-the day of the Woodward Dream Cruise)

You have a picture of your car on your desk, but not of your husband

When the other women in the office get flowers, you get a Ford hat-and you'd much prefer the hat!

You'd rather eat pizza when you go out to dinner that go to a steak house, because it means more $ for car stuff

*most of ya'll can sub "wife" where ever I typed "husband", lol

 

[zookeeper]

Here's something else I love about building my own car: last weekend I was out working in the garage, nothing heavy-duty just using a spray can to paint the headlight brackets so I could mount up the low beams on my car. I had the bracket hanging by some wire and had already carefully primed it and was shaking up a can of semi-gloss black. My 5 year old son was watching me do this, and asked if he could try. Now mind you, I'm extremely picky, I spent weeks blocking a car that is plain-old white. I've beadblasted every part and bracket in the engine compartment and ordered all new, "correct" bolts wherever they showed so the car wouldn't look like I raided the hardware store to put it together. I am constantly surfing ebay to find period-correct parts that may complete the look I'm going for, and here is my 5 year old son asking if he can paint some parts I laid out over $100 to buy. Then I thought about it, I could tell him "no" and let him think that Dad's car is too important for him to even touch. Instead, I went to my paint cabinet, fished out a particle mask and handed him the can. You'd have thought I handed him the pink slip to the car! He concentrated as hard as he could, and did his level best to do a good job. How did it look? Who cares? It's a friggin' bracket that only got painted because I didn't want it to rust and look bad when someone does see it. But my son is now part builder in that car, it's a huge step for him and lets him know that I love him a hell of a lot more than the money pit I've been working on for so long. Who knows? He may be the next Chip Foose!

 

[steemin]

Zookeeper,
That is way cool..
I have two boys (9 and 12) and I try to get them involved in minor mechanical projects as well..
They have a couple of 4 wheelers that we change tires,spark plugs,do oil changes,adjust the chain etc...
I don't want them to grow up without any mechanical aptitude.
As a side note:
I work with a bunch of 18-25 year old guys.
It is really suprising to me how many of them can not drive a manual transmission! This is probably due to the fact that not very many of the cars produced today have a manual trans.
I am 45 and I learned how to drive on a "3 on the tree".
Scott