Joined: Fri Oct 07 2005, 12:03PM
Location: Central Ky.
Posts: 1575
Man do I hear ya on the Gettin' old part ( I'm 52 ). Sure does make it harder to get down & go under cars now. I'm wishing I had planned for a lift in the Garage at this point but don't want to loose the storage space upstairs to raise the roof now. 10 years ago it did'nt seem to matter, now the lifts have come down in price to where it's attractive.
Now all my hip & leg joints just hurt all the time, thought it might be "uncle Arthur" coming to visit a few years ago but the Doc said no. Just another by-product of having Diabetes for 30 years, joint soreness. Along with a bit of neuropathy in my feet & having over 7K Laser shots in my eyes for retinopathy I sometimes deel like a real mess too......so There! Now you've depressed me too Just KIDDING! Just have good & bad days like anyone else, nothing to do but carry on. Working on the cars keeps me Happy...I think? Course retiring 4 years ago hasn't helped either, too easy to get Lazy! I started getting back out working in my chosen vocation this year to make some money & keep current with technology ( TV ) & am having a blast when I do work, forgot how much I missed it!
I wish you were closer! We'd have that thing together for sure. If I remember it still needs paint on the outside only? Maybe you could have it shipped here ( yeah right! about 1K ea way ). Darn shame there is'nt someone reliable close to you. We see it all the time though, shops that promise but don't produce. We've gotten a decent rep around here ( it seems ) since we're getting people referred to us now. A lot of people are tired of not getting what they've paid for. We just try to treat people like we want to be treated and they appreciate that. If some small issue happens after we hand it back we handle it, no hassles. Russel's GTX ( the one we just finished ) just developed a small water leak, he called Larry & he ran over & diagnosed it as just water pump housing gasket that failed already took it apart over there & I'll go check the stash & see if we don't have spares, no problem. That's the way we like to treat people.
Anyway, ( I get long winded sometimes LOL ) Yes, the Filler neck grommets are available too. I think the filler neck is still stuck in the tank I pulled up in the attic.
Joined: Tue Oct 11 2005, 01:33AM
Location: Calgary, Alberta
Posts: 5893
Wow, we'd make a good pair! I also have Diabetes (type II), bad hips, bad feet and bad lower back. Years ago I used to nearly live under my IHC Scout in all sorts of strange weather. Now at 63, laying down on a creeper is tough and getting up again is a joke. I've pretty well made a rule, anything lower than my waist doesn't get worked on unless it can be raised to table height.
Retirement has me a little worried, as you say, it's easy to get lazy. I've been in a position to retire for awhile but keep finding reasons not to. I'm in a bit of a unique position in that I own a number of companies so I pretty well control my own workload. For the last 25 years or so I've basically worked 7 days a week, however last year I took two weeks off and rented a cottage. That was an eye opener, the world didn't come to an end while I lay in the sun! This year my son decided to get married on a beach in Cuba so we all went down there for a couple of weeks. Then I booked the cottage again and one thing led to another, I don't suppose I've been in the office more than a few weeks since April. I've spent my time doing all the home projects I've put off over the years. Problem is, I'm almost out of projects, so what am I going to do next year? Looking at your garage has got me thinking, maybe what I need to do is buy a building with a bunch of rental bays and reserve one for myself. Buying an acreage like your's is another option, but I really can't imagine moving all my junk.
Hoist - have you considered a four post lift? They bolt the floor and if ceiling height is a problem you can cut out a section of the floor under it so that when the car is lifted say 4 feet a two foot pit will give you loads of working space. A concrete saw and a couple of guys with shovels will make a two foot pit pretty quickly. I was at a garage auction last spring and three of these lifts sold for less than $2,000 each. I would have bought one but my garage isn't wide enough. Food for thought.
Joined: Mon Oct 10 2005, 10:29AM
Location: Metamora, MI 48455
Posts: 43
We have a real nice setup here at my school's motorsports club. Two post 9000lb lift that I can put my C-body on and work to my heart's content. Three toolboxes with every tool imaginable, two large aircompressors, plus our school has a full machine shop with all the goodies. Not to mention I just had the school buy a brand new SuperFlow SF-902 dyno for the ChallengeX project I'm on. Now I just wish we had a building I could store my car in so it doesn't sit outside all winter. At least it's not at home not being used at all... what I could use is someone nearby like Bill who has a building of bays and wants to rent one out to a hands-on low-budget college guy like myself. Ah well...maybe one day.
I'd have to say though - spending someone else's money and racing someone else's cars (we have a rear-engine dragster <5.6x in the 1/8th>, a late 80's Mustang <7.3x-7.4x in the 1/8th>, and a late 80's RX-7 for SCCA Solo II autocrossing) is the way to go instead of beating your own stuff up. Plus when you break it from having too much fun, someone else gets to pay for it!
But nonetheless - Butch, you have one heck of a setup! <span class='smallblacktext'>[ Edited Thu Dec 01 2005, 10:21PM ]</span>
Joined: Fri Oct 07 2005, 12:03PM
Location: Central Ky.
Posts: 1575
Actually I had people trying to get me to put a "Pit" in when I had the garage built but I just don't like 'em. One thing that stops me is just plain thinking ahead, Say we get tired of the large house & acreage & want to downsize someday ( should be able to sell this & pay cash for something smaller ) The more I modify the existing setup the harder it'll be to sell. Right now the left side is perfect for any kind of workshop or Hobby area & cars on the other. The workshop has heat & a bathroom, be great for a woodworker or such. Just me thinking ahead, 10 yeara ago I felt pretty good & now look at me! The wife also came down with MS about 6 years ago ( at 40 ) & at some point we might just need less to take care of...Plain & Simple.
Now by Downsizing I'm talking going from 2 acres /3500 sqft house & 2000sgft garage to about 1 acres & 2000-2500 sgft & still a nice garage. The wifes Aunt & Uncle live just over in the next county in a nice subdivision with 1 acre lots & he's bought the 2 empty ones right across the street from him so there ya are, already have a lot to use.
All the tools are just a result of 35 years of collecting stuff, I decided a long time ago I really liked to fix things myself & didn't like paying someone else to do stuff & tools are a necessity. I'm just a hands-on kinda guy, I like remodeling too.....shoulda see me when we knocked a wall out between the kitchen & family room, Did my best Tim Taylor imitation!
Joined: Fri Oct 14 2005, 07:26PM
Location: Pittsburgh,PA
Posts: 481
I would love to get the Fury done by 2007 when she turns 40, which is the age I'll be this up comming Feb 11th . Turning 40 and have a new baby in the house what was I thinking , oh well, so much for me retiring at 67 . Tom
Must have been the same thing I was thinking, Tom. 40 next November, and we've got a 4-month-old boy drooling all over everything! And here I though I'd be driving the Fury by April of this year, and have her painted before he arrived in August... Talk about At least the vinyl seats will clean up easy, right?
Hah! Tom and Clair- You young pups! I'm 43, I'll be 44 when the current bun in the oven arrives in May! And my first son will be 4 in June.
Obviously some sort of correlation with C bodies, Fury's, Late blooming fathers, anything else....oh yeah! Working plumbing!
I won't mention questionable sanity ...I...crap, did it anyway.
As for winter, it caught me napping, the Sport Fury has had 5" of snow on it for the past week, melted off today. I had to leave it outside as I recently filled her up, just to find a leak. The sending unit lock ring that I scavenged off of a ford pickup hasn't cut the mustard, I got the right one from my local Dodge dealer last weekend but it's been too nasty to change them out. Maybe tomorrow.