I struggle with a pattern of putting things down without thinking. Lately I've been experimenting with a work apron, so I'll put common sockets and wrenches, screwdrivers and a rag, a ball of steel wool, etc., in a pocket instead of on the floor or a shelf or wherever. ... View more

Always bring your reading glasses and a small tube of Vaseline.   ... View more

What impressed me about the piece I just read is that Baruth has actually internalized the mediocrity and then mocked it with his language.  Any article that can pull off the use of the phrase "immanentize the eschaton" without being a chest beating heap of crap from someone who is trying to impress with a vast knowledge of foolishness is a winner in my view.    ... View more

Saying this sort of comment is the same as criticizing a stamp collector because they don't use them to mail letters, or a collector of English china because they don't use it to drink their morning coffee.  ... View more

My projects are all smaller size because they are two wheelers, but there's always a moment when I'm taking things apart to fix A, discover B, take some more stuff off, and there's problem C and D, and I realize that I haven't been taking pictures along the way and I've got parts and tools all over the place.  Panic.  Stop unscrewing things, break out the plastic bags and start putting stuff into groups, and then the thought that this time I've gone too far and will never get it all together again.  That has never really happened, but the worry has never gone away.  I tend to put things back together too soon, just to be sure I can, then I have to take them apart again.  Walking away doesn't help, then I worry more.  So I just keep on, muttering to myself and wondering what the heck makes me want to do this.  Over and over, all my life, I've been taking things apart and putting them back together.   ... View more

Opel GT was the first to pop into my head, too.  It was beautiful. And the first generation Miata?  Not so beautiful, but there sure were a lot of them.  ... View more

I have very limited work space so I can really only work on one project at a time.  Also, I can't store a non-running project other than the one I'm working on.  Sure, with a bigger rented garage I could do more, or if I owned a truck so I could easily move a non-runner from the garage I do rent away from the house.  But this is my set-up and I'm trying to keep inside the lines.  And I have a Honda Gyro that does run now, not beautiful but solid,  and I can't realistically get it to my house because I live up a very long steep hill.  Admit the truth, you're a collector.  You just are.  Try not to be a nuisance to anyone else and try not to run yourself into bankruptcy.  And don't start buying mid 60's GM convertibles.   ... View more

There's nothing much to add, but when the head is going back on be sure to check the valve lash.  It's a picky job and this is exactly the time to do it.  The performance benefits of having it right are tremendous.   ... View more

I had a Spitfire Mark III, later 60's era, that burdened my life for some years in the later 70's.  It had no power, no room, no decent weather protection.  It was useless in the Winter.  I somehow destroyed several clutch disks, probably putting them in wrong.  It mostly started and ran.  Mostly.  I loved it.    But then life interfered and I sold it.  Like most of my vehicles I was happy when I bought it and happy when I sold it.  I do not miss it, ever.  My Miata takes care of what the Spitfire tried to do, and it does it without endless failure.  ... View more

Wow!  This is exactly right.  Buying a car today to double your money in 20 years is a terrible investment.  For those 20 years it pays you absolutely nothing, and it costs a lot.  If you love the car and get joy from looking at it in your storage place then great, but never forget you are paying for that joy.  We all pay for pleasure, but to call it an investment is just fooling yourself.   ... View more

I do know I'm just as nuts as you are, and just as nuts as most of the people who posted here.  It doesn't help at all.  I just this week rejected a 66 Honda 160 Dream project because it was literally a pile of rusty junk disguised as a motorcycle.  Even so, I still find that I am thinking about it.  When every fastener was rusted to the point that it was mostly just red-brown lumps, and the rims were completely rotted, spokes all peeling and rusty, every cable jammed, headlight broken, bars bent, fender crumpled, exhausts rotted through.  You get the picture.  Why am I still wasting a moment on it?   ... View more

It's very, very easy to stumble into a dark hole like this.  California can be difficult about some things and easy about others, so it's impossible to be so confident that it's always terrible.  I mess with old motorcycles and the documentation I get is pretty sketchy sometimes, and certain things can cost you a ton of money.  If the Cal. registration is expired for a few years be prepared to go to the DMV website for a calculator to find out the tab.  It's available with the license number and the last 5 of the VIN.  It can be close to $1,000.  On the other hand if the owner put it into "Non-Operation" status ever, even decades ago, all you do is pay the fees for transfer of title and registration and off you go, no inspection at all for a motorcycle.  For cars and light trucks you need a smog check.   Gotta do the homework. ... View more

I agree that Mazda deserves a great vote of support.  They make cars that are actually fun to operate, without being troublesome or expensive or precious.   ... View more

I'll never understand GM.  This car sums up my problem.  They build a fun, weekend play car for people with some disposable income, they make it attractive and different enough to be a standout in a parking lot full of silver Porsches. and they they make it completely useless for a large segment of their target buyers by providing absolutely no storage for a bag of golf clubs or tennis racquets.  Who did they think was buying these cars?   ... View more

For me, buying something in serious disarray and putting it back into good solid running condition is satisfying, and makes me happy.  When it's finally done enough to be reliable and reasonably good looking, either it's really fun to operate or it's gone.  Owning the vehicle you rebuilt, only to find out you don't like it much, is just not smart.  Sell it, take a loss if you have to, and move on.   The hobby is the process, not the product.  My father was a life long stamp collector who would spend years and money assembling a complete collection of something, and then sell it because he was done.  He was finishing off his collection of the postal stationary and postmarks of every single post office from the years when Germany colonized Tanganyika.  After he died he directed that everything be sold at auction in small lots so the 10  other people in the world who cared could cherry pick what they needed.  He was right.   It's the process, not the product, for me.  ... View more