This is not exactly Fowardlook related but it is relevant to a lot of us.My wife has put up with my car and motorcycle addiction and has always been supportave, but you start to hear rumblings about car parts all over the place, the endless supply of packages that show up (the neighbors must think she is having an affair with the UPS man he is at the damm house more that I am) and the fact that she wont ever ever be able to park her car in the garage. For the 19 years or so that we have known each other my wife has always wanted a Corvette, and I always said she would get one ....eventually...if i found one at the right price.. I happened to stumble acros an unfinished project (basket case???) 1976 Stingray on on e-bay for a little bit more that a song. It looked like an easy project. The front end and brakes were all new, the engine re-built and in the car but nothing but the motor mounts and transmission were connected. The interior was spray painted black over the original red, so i had to remove the paint and will re-paint with the correct paint. So far so good a few weeks and she would have a cruiser for the summer. Well you all know it cant possibly be that easy!! I decide to change the oil, I pull the drain plug and get 3 quarts of fresh clear water followed by about 5 quarts of milk. The same geneous that spray painted the interior left the car outside with no hood and no intake manifold. I did check the dip stick when i checked out the car and there was clean oil on it. I am guessing that when i looked at it the water in the pan was frozen. He said that he had just changed the oil so the clean oil must have been sitting on top of the frozen water. It thawed out after i got it home. I pull the oil pan and see way too much rust for my liking so I proceed to pull the motor. Nick and Joe (from this list) came down to lend a hand and we pulled it out and tore it down. (These guys work for beer) and learned that the cam was also wasted and a complete rebuild was in order. So now I am re building the engine, I will do the transmission also just to be sure. And still have not done a thing with the interior. So you would think at this point I would be pretty aggrivated NO WAY! You see the wife is so happy about finally getting a Corvette there are no more complaints about the car parts around the house, the endless delivery of boxes are all HERs, she is now feeling the excitement in all of this, heck I am even getting my favorite meals every night. Her Vette will even be in the garage right next to te Dodge. We now spend more time together in the garage. All and all this has been a great investment. Sure it is an endless money pit but that it is insignificant when you compare it to the marital harmony it has created. Scott 1956 Dodge Custom Royal Lancer 2002 Dodge Ram Quad Cab and a 1976 Corvette _________________________________________________________________ The new MSN 8: advanced junk mail protection and 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 2003 Calendar voting results and ordering information is online! Please visit: http://www.forwardlook.net/calendar2003 for more information. |
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