Easy To Hard Means First To Last

[Jack Meoff]

I still haven't gotten my damn Caravelle out of the storage....why? Order of priorities.....the Fifth is the daily so it gets attention first. This will include tune up, bodywork and once on the hoist.....whatever the hell it needs....hopefully not much.

Then the Volare to ensure the Mrs. has a safe reliable ride which will consist of a bumper to bumper once over on the hoist when I can borrow it again... I basically fixed what needed to be immediately dealt with, slapped plates on it, handed her the keys and restricted her to "city only" till I can fine tooth it.
It's solid but I don't want her doing a buck and change down the highway in it until full inspection.....

Then......lucky me.....I get to go in for a damn hernia operation which will knock me out of commission for at least a week
This on June 12th.....so realistically were talking end of June before I can even think about getting the car I love the most out and actually drive it......that particular golden nugget of the financially vacuous variety is my PITA. It needs the most work of all of them.....and it sits.

Ain't it always the way.....
I've had numerous people tell me to junk that thing.
If I didn't love it so much (not even sure why) and it wasn't such a rare weirdo (I've never seen another non vinyl Caravelle two door.....I've seen one no vinyl Diplomat) I'd think about it.....okay maybe not....

I've already long accepted that these things take time
But I sure do miss that car....it was gorgeous out today
I was dying to take it out but instead......I worked on the Fifth.

There......I've ranted......I feel better now.
That could be the beer though.............

 

[brotherGood]

Oh, believe me...I know. My car has sat in line at the shop for around a month now, and been in the same spotgoingon 3 weeks. I actually drove by it today (as if I didn't miss it enough already)..and got irritated. I'm about to just show up and give the guy my opinion about the whole deal, but then it'll never get done right.

 

[NoCar340]

I still haven't even gotten my Imperial home, and my Challenger is a project that will take a couple of years. I feel your frustration, because I can't work on anything until I get that damned garage organized. I now have two of my engine stands hanging from the ceiling and I'm still seeking ways to find more floor space! :eusa_doh:

 

[Jack Meoff]

I guess it's all part of the fun (hell)
My headspace is why hit the Caravelle unless I'm gonna hit it for real.
It looks good, it drives okay.....but ultimately that car needs to be torn apart and done right once and for all.....this will include my slant upgrades

My choices are.....wait and hit it all at once (lots of money)
Or throw it on the hoist, patch the floors, throw on frame connectors after addressing the drivers frame rail which I suspect could be a bit more Nerf like than I'd prefer....it's still in one piece but I always fear metal fatigue.
Then just drive it like I stole it till I have the coin for the big teardown
Or just call it a project and go in for the long haul.
I'm leaning towards B.....but A might be more fun.

 

[NoCar340]

Well, at least in the case of one of my cars, I have no choice but to start at Ground Zero so that makes it easier. The Imperial runs and drives like a champ, though, and I hate to disable a good car for long periods of time... but it's going to have to happen eventually when the turbochargers come to town.

 

[Jack Meoff]

That's pretty much where my head is at too.
Once I start the big stuff it's going to be out of commission for possibly a year
So I'm pondering a temporary fix so I can milk another year out of it.
Mind you up here another year means another six months of driving weather tops....and with time restrictions...closer to four.

 

[Mr.Lopar]

for your situation on parking and building, I would do what you can when you can
yeah it may take longer to finish, but this way you will still be able to drive it once in a while
also if you tear it all down for a total resto, you may get yourself burnt out on it
but as you know, I feel your pain, I got 2 projects that are gonna basically be from the ground up (dart and 46), and 2 I gotta finish (5th and ram)

 

[Jack Meoff]

for your situation on parking and building, I would do what you can when you can
yeah it may take longer to finish, but this way you will still be able to drive it once in a while
also if you tear it all down for a total resto, you may get yourself burnt out on it
but as you know, I feel your pain, I got 2 projects that are gonna basically be from the ground up (dart and 46), and 2 I gotta finish (5th and ram)

Good advice....and yeah I know you can relate.
You've got your hands full too....

 

[Jack Meoff]

Always good to get objective outsider opinions.
Puts things into perspective...I was getting a bit lost trying to figure out what I need to do with my three cars and what order to do it in.
It was bugging me to no end seeing my Caravelle just sitting with no clear picture of what to do with it while tackling the other two.

Thanks to some very helpful insights from you guys I now have what I think is a good and totally feasible plan....

Job 1 is the Volare so the missus has a solid reliable ride.
It got dropped off at my buddy's shop today where he'll do a bumper to bumper inspection and give me the verdict tomorrow.
When that's taken care of the Caravelle goes in next for some floor patching and whatever frame rail reinforcing it may need. Then....drive it.
I can do a major resto when the body tells me so....the car still looks fantastic so why do it now?

The Fifth is rocking generally so outside of a simple tune up it'll be weekend bodywork at the trailer....I just want to patch the funny spots before they get away from me......simple enough.
And now all of a sudden it seems simple and procedural.

Thanks for the input guys.....it helped more than you know. :icon_thumright:

 

[Mr.Lopar]

it seems that way now.....

 

[NoCar340]

Step back, breathe, re-evaluate... not always easy to do. I want to go great guns on the Challenger, but progress will be easier to see and evaluate on the Imperial. Long weekend? Attack the E-car. Day off? Imperial stuff, up to and including putting the 360 in it. However, I'm considering a storage shed as a "shop area" at this point due to the ever-decreasing space in my garage. That's going to be wall-to-wall cool stuff when that Imperial gets back here, but not an easy place in which to work. I'm thinking an 8'x10' shed would make a good place for working on engines, transmissions, differentials and such... plus add a little storage for non-essentials like fuel cans, the lawnmower, etc.

 

[Jack Meoff]

it seems that way now.....

Lol!!!
I never said the getting it done part would be easy
But at least I have a path to follow. As long as I don't deviate from the list it'll eventually start to fall into place......that's the theory anyway. :downtown:

 

[Jack Meoff]

Step back, breathe, re-evaluate... not always easy to do. I want to go great guns on the Challenger, but progress will be easier to see and evaluate on the Imperial. Long weekend? Attack the E-car. Day off? Imperial stuff, up to and including putting the 360 in it. However, I'm considering a storage shed as a "shop area" at this point due to the ever-decreasing space in my garage. That's going to be wall-to-wall cool stuff when that Imperial gets back here, but not an easy place in which to work. I'm thinking an 8'x10' shed would make a good place for working on engines, transmissions, differentials and such... plus add a little storage for non-essentials like fuel cans, the lawnmower, etc.

I basically have the street, my parking pad or my buddy's driveway for my work space.....which sucks. If I need to do anything more complicated than the things I can do there than I'm mooching hoist time from my other buddy who builds some fairly scary cars....used to race but he's retired now.
Real good guy to have around...either way I can almost see it.
It's by no means a race for me....it was but I've mellowed a bit.
I think my best approach is one car.....finish what I have to do on that car....
Next car.....same thing, etc.
Ultimately the Caravelle is my toy so it's not a rush.... I just want to make sure all is solid and drive the thing.....full resto can wait for now.
And the Fifth is the daily steed that basically gets what it needs immediately because....it's the daily.

It looks good on paper.....We'll see how it goes. :happy7:

 

[Mr.Lopar]

since I can buy a house back in Wi while I'm in Tx (yeah its retarded) i found a 50x55' pole building I'm really considering.
granted theres no house there, but i could build a room in a corner to sleep in for a while lol
then i can have all my projects there and be able to keep them all inside

 

[Jack Meoff]

That would be cool....
Eventually I could build a setup on my sisters massive spread of land up north but then everything is three hours away.

 

[Mr.Lopar]

it would be AWESOME! and on the plus side its just a short jaunt to anyone in my family
and since its on my mind, i just sent the realtor an email askin about it

 

[Jack Meoff]

it would be AWESOME! and on the plus side its just a short jaunt to anyone in my family
and since its on my mind, i just sent the realtor an email askin about it

View attachment 5882

Sweet!!!
You could easily set up a spot to crash out for a while in there.

 

[Mr.Lopar]

hells yeah, being in texas, I've had worse lol

 

[Jack Meoff]

hells yeah, being in texas, I've had worse lol

I thought God blessed Texas.... :eusa_clap:

 

[Mr.Lopar]

HA!
Not where i'm at