MuuMuu101's 68 Dart, A Learning Process...
Some people are car guys for awhile, others are car guys for life.
Over dramatic?
No. While I joke around a lot, I am honest when I am serious.
Old cars are not for everyone. They require a sense of dedication because they are usually not practical to use for daily transportation. They are toys. I doubt anyone is commuting 40,000 miles a year in Pennsylvania in a 70 Road Runner or any other classic Mopar.
If a man isn't that skilled, it helps to have friends around that can lend a hand.
If a man decides that the old car hobby isn't as fun as it used to be, he often bails out.
If a man did not grow up with these cars when they were new, he might not have the same love and patience for them.
This is not a direct reflection of the OP, just a general observation from a Man with several sunsets behind him.
I won't "disagree" with your posts here because there are some scraps of truth to them. And yes, you are
absolutely being overly dramatic.
Either you haven't bothered to read this whole thread, or you don't understand it. If you did, you would see the dedication and hard work that MuuMuu has put in on his car. He's done a ton of his own work. He's been reluctant to send work out, even when it was clearly the best thing to do. He's been pouring his heart and soul into his car for over 7 years now. He's clearly a "car guy for life".
But he's also just bought a new house. And got married. Dude has a lot of stuff on his plate. A "car guy for life" can sell his car. Life comes first. Taking a few years out of the hobby to get your life situated, your family started/situated, doesn't mean you're not a car guy. Just means you understand that there are priorities in life. If your car truly comes
first, you're a selfish prick.
I'd hate to see MuuMuu sell his car. I get it, sometimes these cars are challenging. Sometimes it feels like you won't ever get everything sorted out. I've been there. Hell I'm there right now. I'm finishing up the T56 conversion from hell, I've had the damn thing in and out a dozen times and had a couple things come up I just couldn't believe they were so ridiculous. But sometimes that's how it goes, and you have to step back for awhile. For me, I've been fortunate enough that I've been able to step away for awhile without selling anything. Ever. But that's a product of the hard work I put in before- the fact that I have an established career, own a house, have a very understanding wife, have the space, time, money, etc to park a valuable asset and just not worry about it for a bit without it upending the rest of my life. Not everyone is that fortunate or have reached that place in their life. Honestly I'd still be better off if I sold off a few of my projects. Having all the stuff that I do is my own dysfunction, and I probably put this hobby higher in my priorities than I should.
I grew up around old cars. Not the way some of you did, I'm 40 so it's not like these cars were coming out new as I was growing up. But growing up in an auto-restoration shop meant I was always around and driving old cars. And daily driving old cars. But that's been my choice, and I've been both lucky and skilled enough to pull it off most of my life. But even I had a couple years where I bought a new car and wasn't daily driving something that pre-dated me. Just had too much going on getting my career and life established and not enough work space to pull it off. There's no shame in that. Yeah, I think MuuMuu should keep his car if at all possible. There's so much time, effort and money into that car that it'll be really hard to sell it and then come back into the hobby later with a car at that level. But if that has to happen to keep his life's priorities straight it doesn't mean he's not a car guy. That's complete BS.
