Hotrodding commandments

[Pablo]

I've noticed that the car hobby has the potential to really screw up people's lives.

For example, A lot of guys that I meet fall into a trap of wanting and subsequently taking on more than one project car when they realistically can't. I can think of at least 3 car guys I know off hand that have more than one project, no money, and not one decent car to show for it. The worst is when they buy a project car they are making payments on, or worse, more than one project car they are making payments on.

A guy I know right now has seriously proposed that I go in on renting an aircraft hangar with him so we can have a place to work on cars.. but mostly so he can have a cheap place to live in! Mind you, there is no bathrooms or running water in these hangars. He has 4 project cars, only one of which runs, two of which he is making payments on (they don't run). I had previously mentioned to him that I wanted a thirdgen F body as a next project and he is all the time trying to put me in contact with people that are selling them cheap. I'm like "dude, I already have one car I am working on, I don't have time, space, or money for another"

Another guy I know has three f bodies... big plans for all of them. In the year or so that I have known him, none of them have ever been driven. One of them is a real pile of **** too. I tell him he would be further ahead to dump that thing and buy something decent to work on... or just dump one of the cars period. This same guy has like 4 junkyard long blocks.. big plans for all. No real action on any.

When I was like 18 I sorta fell into this trap by taking on another car to my then project car. Big mistake. Your house and your life start looking like a junkyard if you don't make a lot of money. I know some of you have multiple toys and the money to afford them.. but I'm speaking for the average schmoe in his 20s, just starting out not making a whole lot of money.

So it occurred to me that there oughta be a hotrodding ten commandments of sorts...

some rules you should live by so that your hobby doesn't end up running your life into the ground.

so here are a couple rules I've come up with
1. Thou shalt not have more than one project car and one daily driver on a modest income.

2. Thou shalt not be tempted by "really good deals" on things you don't need that pop up out of nowhere.

3 Thou shalt not stockpile car parts you do not use.

anyone else have some more? anyone disagree?

 

[tom j]

Whats a modest income?

 

[TexasT]

I've noticed that the car hobby has the potential to really screw up people's lives.


2. Thou shalt not be tempted by "really good deals" on things you don't need that pop up out of nowhere.

3 Thou shalt not stockpile car parts you do not use.

anyone else have some more? anyone disagree?

How does one define "Screw up"?

How do you know you really don't need it?

Define "use".

:biggrin:

I guess these have 'screwed me up'.:biggrin:

 

[Pablo]

modest income... that would depend on where you live. 50 grand a year here in so cal is modest (to meager), in Alabama you'd be living large

so I would say lower middle class income is modest

Screw up? people like my friend that is considering living out of what is essentially a garage because his cars own him not the other way around.


How do you know if you don't need it? Example, owning a holley 650 double pumper and complete tuning kit but having a turbo buick and a late model series II 3800 daily driver. (I am guilty of this.. anyone want to buy it?) Some people take this to the extreme like another friend that has a complete rear end out of a late model diesel truck for absolutely no reason except "it was a good deal"

 

[Junior Samples]

thou shalt not go dumpster diving carrying home scrap saying."hey I can make somthing out of this!"
2 years later its still here and still scrap

 

[Rodney87GN]

I've been guilty of violating rule number 1...except my project car was my daily driver, not to mention my only car.:redface: Not the smartest thing at the time especially as a newly married E2/E3 in the Air Force.

For some reason I see a lot of military folks do this. I remember a good friend of mine in the AF needed 20 bucks to buy formula for his kid, but just few days before he was able to buy a carb spacer for his Mustang. That wasn't the first time he pulled something like that...so it was no surprise his old lady took the kid and left his ass.

 

[LukeSTi]

How about...

Thou shall not buy a Turbo Buick instead of taking thy wife on a 4year late honeymoon.

Which is exactly what I am thinking of doing.

** Sinner **

 

[Grumpy]

3 Thou shalt not stockpile car parts you do not use.

Parts are good for the "just in case" .. ya I have gone a little overboard BUT I hate to see my parts supply goin down even though the $$$ looks good

 

[GNBRETT]

How about NOT buying parts because they look kool and serve no other function then they look kool before the car is actually running. I was guilty of that many times myself.

 

[TURBOTWIN2]

Don't make a project car your daily driver, unless you don't mind riding the bus occassionally.

 

[GNBRETT]

The hard part is seperating the wants from the needs.

 

[bazkook]

I know exactly how you feel about having multiple project vehicles. In a period of about a year, I bought three vehicles. First was an 83 S-10 4x4 with a 350 that I was going to use as an offroader. It turned out the truck needed a lot more work than I thought. No problem I said,I'll just sell it and find another offroad toy. Before I could sell the S10,I found an 81 Toyota in good running shape. Bought it and blew the motor in it playing in the mud. Had the motor rebuilt and new tires put on it and then found out the damn truck had a charging problem. The problem was fixed ONLY about a year after I had the truck. Finally,I bought a 78 Camaro with intentions on turning it into a street/strip car. I should have said no because the car was a POS rust bucket that needed a TON of body and paint work. Hell, the damn doors wouldn't close,the had stagnant water collected it with huge rust holes, and the engine bay...I don't even want to go there. The only saving grace of the car was the decent interior and I barely mean decent.
I managed to sell the S10 after owning it close to 2 years. Now I'm sitting on 2 other vehicles that have had a lot of people asking about them but no serious inquires. On top of all this,I've been trying to sell my 02 Dodge Dakota because gas mileage and insurance cost on it is killing me,but I've had no luck. Best advice I can give someone is think realistically before you go out buying stuff.