does anybody ever get tired of their cars

[l-floyd3]

do you ever get tired of working on your car . i find myself going in sperts
working on my car i dont know if i just get burnt out on working on it or its just because i run out of $$$$ or because i work on cars all day long and just
want to go home and not work on cars but even when i have all the parts
they just set in the box some times .but i also think if i didnt work on cars for a living i would probaly work on my car alot more. take this for example
i work at a car dealership with 10 other techs and 2 lube techs
and only 3 techs have cars as (toys) and 1 lube tech has a ricer go figure
the rest have no intrest in cars.
i have also thought about getting out of working on cars but i know if i do
and i stayed out for any length of time. i would fall behind on the technology
because cars change alot and fast. it would be every hard to catch back up
on the technology
any thoughts ???

 

[Drip Pan]

I hear what you're saying...my 10 second GN sits indoors in a storage facility about 3 miles from my home. I drove it for the first time in over a month for about 5 miles...drove awesome...then the t-stat stuck. It was running about 210* when I got back to the facility, which wasn't a huge deal. I have the part at home, but no gumption to change it out. Honestly, I don't know why I keep the car at all seeing as there's only two tracks locally; one is 1/8th mile, while the 1/4 mile track is cursed with perpetually hot weather. :frown:

 

[6APPEAL]

I don't mind working on them too much. But, having 2 kids takes up a lot of time and $$$ that used to go into the cars. So for now, the cars sit unattended and my 2 daughters get the attention.:biggrin:
John

 

[kh440]

It's an expensive hobby with a love/hate relationship mixed in. It's not uncommon for stuff to sit grazing for 2-3 weeks at a time while I try to muster the energy to mess with them. I took about a 5 year hiatus from Buick world and a lot certainly did change, just in terms of what was available for these cars.

 

[blubaldmontess]

I believe this happens at both ends of the spectrum. If you are not mechanically inclined and you dig into a new project, its a joy at first, learning new things, but then you get lost, you don't know what your doing and you get frustrated and give up. And the technilogical terms, tools, and all out knuckle banging just pisses you off. You just give up, pay somebody to do it, or get out of the hobby all together. I've seen it happen too many times.

As for working all day on them, and then all night...I can relate, I was in school and after school I'd help out at our families junkyard...that was enough for me. My father, he'd work his 7-5 job at the repair shop, then come to the junkyard til 9 pm and work all weekend out there...even though he has a toy, he barely drives it too...gas prices, the strain of time, and just loss of interest because of stress sometimes detracted him for a long time. He finally found a new job working in military pay and now he enjoys it again, because its HIS toy, he can do it his way, the right way, instead of cutting corners for customers to save 15 bucks. He's alot happier, but your right, techknowledgy is fast...and scary!

 

[psycho6cyl]

frustration

I feel that way about every other month when the car is laid up. Unfortunately I cant forget about t bc its my daily driver. The car taught me patience. I have learned a lot. I wish I could do it all myself but it just doesnt pay for me todo it myself. I think having a couple friends into TRs is very hepful. Im pretty much here ny myself but I get it done. Tunning is a weak point so therefore I will pay someone for it. good luck to all TRs down and I hope they hit the road soon.

 

[Boost231]

i love working on cars but i think if i did it for a living i would no longer enjoy working on my own car. i would probley just come hom and relax and not want to look at another car.

 

[chrisgarrett]

i love working on cars but i think if i did it for a living i would no longer enjoy working on my own car. i would probley just come hom and relax and not want to look at another car.

I look at those guys in the dealer garages. I'm sure at one time they were enthusiatic kids who wanted to work on cars all day long. But man after a few years of working on other people's cars, and boring ones at that, it must be a real grind.
I get tired of my GN sometimes, but because it's just a hobby car, I can walk away for a few days. I like going out to the garage, working for a while and then clearing out. When I stop enjoying working on it, I will sell it.

 

[RUQWKNF]

I can relate to what has been said.
To me, the Buicks are a form of a drug. When the car is running right, you're on a high and don't want to come down. But when the car is broke or beyond your mechanic'ing means, you come down fast. Given the price of major repairs with these cars, it's no wonder people loose interest and wind up selling the car or letting it decay in an auto cocoon. The trick is to plan your goal not only based on your monetary means, but also your tuning capabilities and mechanic skills. There's nothing more frustrating than owning a car that you don't know how to either work on completely or properly tune on your own. I like to call this being the captain of your own ship.

There were times when I owned my grey car that I lost interest due to either the car being broke, or not being able to fix something on my own. It's times like those that you need to step back and take a break from working on it, but don't let it idle too long because the old saying will always reign true, Out of sight, out of mind. These cars do not make very good daily drivers if it's your only car and you are hot rodding it. As said above, it's best to own these cars as a hobby or Toy. Leave the dependable daily driver status to a car that you don't really want to modify of make faster. One other word of advice, once you have set your goal and reach it, don't abuse the power. If you use the power in moderation, meaning don't drive the car and or flog the car every chance you get, you won't get tired of it, or used to it. Drive something slow as a daily driver.

The mind plays crazy tricks on us Turbo Buick owners and it doesn't take too long to get used to the power. It's when you get used to the power that the right side of the brain tells you, "Ok, I'm used to this feeling, now we need to go faster. So, let's buy this new fancy dancy giagantisarus turbo and go racing." But doing so only leads one down the path of the Dark Side, or Gofastitis. And it's not too long before a bad case of Racecaritis starts to break out. Then, before you know it, you've got yourself a gutted out race car that you don't enjoy driving on the street anymore and you're back to square one. It took me 11 years to learn this valuable lesson. So I say, if you want to build a race car, build a turbo Chevy. If you want a quick street car that is fun to drive, build a mid 11 second Turbo Buick. Now, I have set my goals to 11.30's and want to still retain all the creature comforts. I won't break that goal a second time. To me, this is the line that once crossed, leads to Racecaritis. Even though my first go around with my grey car was a goal of 10.00s and try to maintain street ability. That don't exist in the real world.
Good luck to all of you that have cars in various stages. I hope you get them back on the road soon.
Just my O2's worth.

Patrick

 

[turbofish38]

I look at those guys in the dealer garages. I'm sure at one time they were enthusiatic kids who wanted to work on cars all day long. But man after a few years of working on other people's cars, and boring ones at that, it must be a real grind.
I get tired of my GN sometimes, but because it's just a hobby car, I can walk away for a few days. I like going out to the garage, working for a while and then clearing out. When I stop enjoying working on it, I will sell it.

I look at the guys in my shop and see a bunch of bastards who could pull down an easy 6 figure salary if they wanted too. I like working on cars. Heck I dont think there is anything I couldn't do. Sometimes I pour into a project and when its done I think, man that didn't take very long. The only things that kill me is the money end. Sometimes I have money burning a hole in my pocket, but no time to start on it and others I have the time but no cash. It sucks when I have to let something sit because I ran out of money. You know the old question "would you rather work on the car or drive(race) it?" Well I cant get to the track to show off the car unless I work on it,right? Thats my motivation. Like I tell the wife. Chics dig guys who know how to fix cars. The pencil neck geek next door has to take his Honda to the dealer just to change his oil. Now that is my real motivation. I never want to be the helpless geek. Sometimes you have to ask yourself, "what would Chuck Norris do?"

 

[SFITurbo]

I'd dump all my vehicles if I wouldn't take it in the shorts on the sale. I have grown sick of trying to keep up with the cleaning and maintenance/tweaking. I have 2 4 wheelers and 2 cruiser bikes gathering dust and jellied gas because I no longer have the time to ride or play with them. I've grown bored with the Buicks, so they sit most of the time, just to drive 10 miles away to the local car cruise in once a month at best. Guess I need to take a break from it all for a while and try to find new excitement in them all after a few months.

 

[gyrhead]

I got lucky..

Here's my $.02

I love my TR, and we drive it at EVERY opportunity. Basically a 170k mile stocker, and thanks to Russ Merritt, a very reliable ride. Nothing fancy, just the basic and time tested mods and good maintenance. Although (by my choice) it's not particularly fast by TR standards, it does easily put the absolute wood to 99% of the old school muscle and tuner cars we encounter around here.

I love that many parts are still available from GM and the aftermarket - and at fair pricing.

I love that the car has a devout collector following and a major league "street cred" (it gets more looks than my 69 Cougar 428CJ ram-air ever did)

I came from the world of big block Ford and GM musclecars, and I grew really got sick of:

1. Price gouging on correct NOS parts (check eBay pricing on Ford 428CJ and SCJ parts!)
2. Obsolete parts that couldn't be had at ANY price.
3. Carbureted and points equipped cars that ran differently every day of the week for no apparent reason
4. Crap handling, crap fuel mileage, crap creature comforts
5. The real fear that everytime the car came out of the garage, it was at risk of loss, theft or damage - and that the car could never be replaced...

Dudes, we got it good with these Buicks!

 

[l-floyd3]

sick of cars

thanks guys im glad im not the only one who fills that way i have had a buick
for ten years know and have only driven it about 1 year or less
my first buick i bought when i was 16 alomst 17 i had to get my first bank note to pay for it $2500 and traded my 91 rs camaro tbi 305 5spd car this was in 1997 ish so the camaro was still faily new. and i traded for a 10year old buick my friends thought i was crazy but after they took a ride in the car
they understood .
AH i can still remember when i had my first buick enconter it was in the fall of 1996 i was at a local speed exhibition (street racing ) out side of des moines. we were at what we called the power plant racing there was a tubbed 69 challanger 440 with a blower and sheet metal interior i heard it ran
low to mid 10s ? i dont know for sure and i asked 1 of my buddies what going to race him because i didnt see any thing down there fast enough to run it .
and then up rolled this white regal with black trim and black windows
and slicks on steel rims the car was clean as can be. i looked at my buddy and shook my head and this going to be a great race "yeah right ".
the buick was so quiet i could only hear the fan running. so the challenger
did his burn out and the car was loud . then the buick did his burn out it
was quiet but i heard this whisleing noise then the cars lined up
the buick started to spool up then the challenger got up on the converter
and then sombody started them off. the buick instanly took off like it was shot out of a cannon it pulled 5 car lengths and was still pulling hard at the top of the track i had never seen any thing like that before. i was completely
puzzled at what i had just seen . i asked my buddy what wasthat car ?
he said a turbo buick with a 3.8 v6 i said ive got to have 1 of those
so a few months later my buddy said he was going to trade his mustang for
this blue buick and i told him that if he didnt get it i was going to buy the car. so he and the guy who had it couldnt make a deal .so my buddy told me to give the guy a call and try to make somthing happen. so i called him and he said he wanted $6500 cash for the car . i said i need to sell my car first.
i had guy who wanted to buy my camaro so we set a deal and the weekend
i was going to make the deal the guy backed out and bought a mustang
so i called the guy back and said i cant make the deal to buy the buick
and i asked him he would do a trade for my camaro and he said yes $1500 and my camaro so i went to the bank and my mom cosigned for the note.
i went to the guy with cash and title and he told me na i want $2500 and your car i said eat a d##K D BAG so i went home told my mom i really want this car and could i get another $1000 she said let me think about it. and a week later i had my first buick and i was happy thanks mom & dad .
i am very lucky to have such great folks .i had that car nine and a half years then i sent it to the crusher when i bought my 86 gn the body was done and it was cheaper to buy this car and put my drive train into this car.
so now
this 86 is my new project but i cant get very motivated to work on it
every couple of weeks i take it to work at the car dealer and work on it
the dealership i work at is pretty cool. i even come in on sunday and work on it when im not working my part time job driving a truck .and now that fall
is just around the corner i have been thinking of pulling the car off the frame and sand blasting the frame and repalcing all the suspension a componets
and painting the frame .but i dont know if i have the ambtion.
LOL any way thanks for everybodies
2 pennys worth

 

[l-floyd3]

sick of cars

i would just like add 1 more thing to my short novle i wrote
the reason the car sat for so long was because when i was 19 i got in drunk driving accident i was the passanger in the in the drunk car and broke every bone in my face and had memory problems i didnt work for six months i spent
a month and a half in the hosptial i had 2 surgies were they peeled my face off to fix the broken bones in my face. i lost every thing i owned and my credit was wrecked and i had a daughter on the way my girlfriend was 6 months pregnat when i got in the wreck they did think i was going to make it at first but im ok know but anyway. my buick and my tools was the only thing i was able to keep. if it wasnt for my folks i would have lost that stuff 2
damm i love my folks they are good hard working people. they also put up with alot of my crap when i was grownig up i was not a poster child for good behavor lol !! so know that i have grown up im not so wild
well that pretty much sums up my life and buicks that who i am thanks for reading my novel and sorry for the 20 minutes of your life will never get back lol

 

[turbojimmy]

I don't mind working on them too much. But, having 2 kids takes up a lot of time and $$$ that used to go into the cars. So for now, the cars sit unattended and my 2 daughters get the attention.:biggrin:
John

That pretty much sums up my situation (except for the two daughters - I have a son and a daughter). I enjoy working on the car but rarely have the time or $$ to do what I really want to do to it.

I also find as I get older that the more time I spend rolling around under the car, the more I pay for it in the way of muscle and back aches in the following days. It could be that I haven't set foot in a gym since high school, too

Jim

 

[Freight Train]

my 2 cents

i spent the early parts of my automotive dealership years wrenching and enjoyed it some...but working on customers daily drivers left me flat..
same crap day in day out.. now i work for the railroad and have no time for anything,so when i get a chance to drive or spend some time with my TR i really can appreciate it...
although it mostly sits in the garage covered with the cats sleeping on it...
i now,,,,many years later like working on cars again...
........... i did drag race a malibu for awhile but it never broke so i cant really complain...

 

[boostedturbotom]

well you your blessed and you become a better person cause of this, you just keep it up stay positive, two girls and my buick is like my other wife that's what my wife said, its hard to put time to upgrade rebuid repair and tune! spend time with the family kids its not easy.these BUICKS are drugs for real your story is similar to mine how i saw these cars but it was 1989 and 69 camaro same story same ending LOL.i asked my dad what was that a jet . I got mine in 2001 sept. 8 to be exact boy did i feel stupid 9-11 hits and i was like what do need a buick were at war. GOD BLESS ARE SOLDIERS. think of it as therapy these cars are special and they need are attention . we need that hit of boost to keep us going.

 

[d0n_3d]

I can relate to what has been said.
To me, the Buicks are a form of a drug. When the car is running right, you're on a high and don't want to come down. But when the car is broke or beyond your mechanic'ing means, you come down fast. Given the price of major repairs with these cars, it's no wonder people loose interest and wind up selling the car or letting it decay in an auto cocoon. The trick is to plan your goal not only based on your monetary means, but also your tuning capabilities and mechanic skills. There's nothing more frustrating than owning a car that you don't know how to either work on completely or properly tune on your own. I like to call this being the captain of your own ship.

There were times when I owned my grey car that I lost interest due to either the car being broke, or not being able to fix something on my own. It's times like those that you need to step back and take a break from working on it, but don't let it idle too long because the old saying will always reign true, Out of sight, out of mind. These cars do not make very good daily drivers if it's your only car and you are hot rodding it. As said above, it's best to own these cars as a hobby or Toy. Leave the dependable daily driver status to a car that you don't really want to modify of make faster. One other word of advice, once you have set your goal and reach it, don't abuse the power. If you use the power in moderation, meaning don't drive the car and or flog the car every chance you get, you won't get tired of it, or used to it. Drive something slow as a daily driver.

The mind plays crazy tricks on us Turbo Buick owners and it doesn't take too long to get used to the power. It's when you get used to the power that the right side of the brain tells you, "Ok, I'm used to this feeling, now we need to go faster. So, let's buy this new fancy dancy giagantisarus turbo and go racing." But doing so only leads one down the path of the Dark Side, or Gofastitis. And it's not too long before a bad case of Racecaritis starts to break out. Then, before you know it, you've got yourself a gutted out race car that you don't enjoy driving on the street anymore and you're back to square one. It took me 11 years to learn this valuable lesson. So I say, if you want to build a race car, build a turbo Chevy. If you want a quick street car that is fun to drive, build a mid 11 second Turbo Buick. Now, I have set my goals to 11.30's and want to still retain all the creature comforts. I won't break that goal a second time. To me, this is the line that once crossed, leads to Racecaritis. Even though my first go around with my grey car was a goal of 10.00s and try to maintain street ability. That don't exist in the real world.
Good luck to all of you that have cars in various stages. I hope you get them back on the road soon.
Just my O2's worth.

Patrick

This is a very good message. I was around at the tail-end of your encounters with the grey T. You were so burned out from it. I hope I never get that way with my car. I don't think I will...this is my first ever car, let alone turbo Buick...and I've had it now for exactly 10 years since high school. I'll never forget the memories everytime I sit in my driver seat of my car. It drives me that much more to get the car done. For the past 3 years I haven't had the car running for longer than 3-5 months straight. Most of the time it has sat in my garage broke. It's broke and out for the rest of the year again this year. I'm depressed that I can't drive it to the local car gatherings and have fun on the street. Now I'm dropping serious money into it so it will be unbreakable. I guess you can say I am "overbuilding" my combination this time around but I don't want to mess with ANYTHING anymore. I want it built so solid, I can romp on it and not worry about my crank going through the bottom. We are going to do things RIGHT this time around and I WILL drive the car all year next year! That is my #1 goal. I have a re-newed giddy feeling about my car again with all the new mods coming. I can't wait to finish this thing and get it back out there on the street.

 

[turbo39151]

I don't work on cars for a living and even then I get burnt out. I have 6 cars in my driveway/garage right now and 4 of them are Buicks! They all run, all are street legal (ie: registered and insured) and none of them has any issues. However, I have 2 FMIC's, a set of rims, a couple of dual fan and f-body red combo's, 2 larger turbo's, tires,etc.... I haven't even bothered to put them on. It's not that I'm tired of the car but it's such a hassle to move all of the cars. ( I need a bigger garage)

I think it's more fun when you have friends who are into the cars as well. I find that when I have an active group of enthusiasts around, the car is just that much more fun to drive...

Most of my TR buddies are just too busy with other things to hang out much anymore...:frown:

 

[usetaboost]

I here ya guys. I haven't touched my car for over a month. Not just for the fact it don't run but just seem to lose interest in it. I want to see it finished but can't get my ambition back. Then I keep going back and forth on doing a frame off or just say the hell with it and paint it and drive it. Already went backwards with building an 82 block and throwing it in just so I could drive it . I'm gonna end up painting it in my garage anyway beings I'm not loaded. Maybe if I buy the parts I need to get me closer to getting it painted I'll get my ambition back. I'm even too lazy to wax the limited!