72BlueSwinger
Well-Known Member
hey.. I have a pretty bad sob story for ya'll. I bought a 1954 Chevy half ton truck when I was 20. It did run but you could see the ground through the floor board. My first mistake was paying $1500 for it. My second mistake was tearing it completely apart and cutting off the frame to back-half it. My third mistake was selling the 235 inline 6 for $45 along with the tranny. My fourth mistake was buying a set of 33x21.5x15 MT Sportsman Pros and weld prostar wheels and Sportsman front tires.
Then I bought a heidt's mustang 2 weld in crossmember, and an air ride technologies parallel 4-link rear, setup for airbags. Once I had the truck all apart, I realized ALL of the metal was bad on it, and the frame was rotten. SO, now I still have a lot of the parts, and I junked the truck out for like $150. I sold the wheels and front tires for $550, I have the back tires for sale here for $150, still have the heidts and ART 4-link. OH.. and I paid $1000 for a hot 350 chevy.. I lost almost 6 grand on that project.
To top it off.. I bought a nice little 91 camaro with a bad engine to put the 350 engine in and resell it, and the guy who bought it burned it to the ground and stiffed me for $2600 dollars.. Took him to court, won the case, and he still hasn't paid. Now how's that for stupidity and bad luck? K
now what I learned? I learned that the next project I do will be a driver, which my 72 dart is now, and I'll work on it while I'm driving it, and won't just throw money at NEW and EXPENSIVE parts - now I bargain shop. Also.. if you don't get EVERYTHING done you want to in your time frame, SO WHAT? ENJOY your ride, have fun with it, and enjoy the adventure fixing it up. I have a pile of parts in my garage waiting to be put on and I haven't gotten ANY work done on it this winter, but oh well. If I don't get it now, I'll do it some other time.
I was 21 when I bought that 54 chevy truck and now I'm 28, and I learned a lot from all the money I wasted. I don't care what anyone wants me to do to my ride, I don't care about their opinion of it or criticism. I'm going to build it the way I want to, in my own time, on my own schedule, and enjoy it the whole time. So, don't pressure yourself on your project. try to keep it in running and driveable condition, and worry about the other stuff later. That's just my 2 cents.
Then I bought a heidt's mustang 2 weld in crossmember, and an air ride technologies parallel 4-link rear, setup for airbags. Once I had the truck all apart, I realized ALL of the metal was bad on it, and the frame was rotten. SO, now I still have a lot of the parts, and I junked the truck out for like $150. I sold the wheels and front tires for $550, I have the back tires for sale here for $150, still have the heidts and ART 4-link. OH.. and I paid $1000 for a hot 350 chevy.. I lost almost 6 grand on that project.
To top it off.. I bought a nice little 91 camaro with a bad engine to put the 350 engine in and resell it, and the guy who bought it burned it to the ground and stiffed me for $2600 dollars.. Took him to court, won the case, and he still hasn't paid. Now how's that for stupidity and bad luck? K
now what I learned? I learned that the next project I do will be a driver, which my 72 dart is now, and I'll work on it while I'm driving it, and won't just throw money at NEW and EXPENSIVE parts - now I bargain shop. Also.. if you don't get EVERYTHING done you want to in your time frame, SO WHAT? ENJOY your ride, have fun with it, and enjoy the adventure fixing it up. I have a pile of parts in my garage waiting to be put on and I haven't gotten ANY work done on it this winter, but oh well. If I don't get it now, I'll do it some other time.
I was 21 when I bought that 54 chevy truck and now I'm 28, and I learned a lot from all the money I wasted. I don't care what anyone wants me to do to my ride, I don't care about their opinion of it or criticism. I'm going to build it the way I want to, in my own time, on my own schedule, and enjoy it the whole time. So, don't pressure yourself on your project. try to keep it in running and driveable condition, and worry about the other stuff later. That's just my 2 cents.
