You can NEVER go home again !,... or can you ?

I recently ran across a car I use to have decades ago (which will remain nameless),.... It is without question the same car (although it was nothing special),... I really loved that car, and was sad the moment I sold it.
When it left the driveway for the last time, it was glistening in the late afternoon... sun, with a low mellow tone coming from the exhaust,...
I watched it as it came to a stop at the end of the block,... seen the right turn signal blink,... and listened to it as long as I could as it drifted away into silence,...Assuming that would be the last time I would ever see it.

By total happenstance, I recently found the car,... the first pictures were disappointing,.... When I went to go see it,... those pictures made it look good ! There was my ol' flame,.... in the worst conceivable condition imaginable. For considerably more money than it is worth.

Honestly, I would have to have rocks in my head to try to restore this car,... By all rights, it's now no more than a parts car,.... at best. BUT! , I cant get the old girl out of my mind,.... I really want to try to make a deal on the car,... although I will be buying myself a boat load of work,... and even then it might still not be savable.

There is a saying that I keep trying to tell myself, that “You can never go home again” And I see this as being such a big project, That I might hate it by the time it would be done,..... But again,... I am probably the last person on earth that would care enough about this car to TRY to restore it.

If ANYONE else gets it,... I guarantee it will become a parts car,... And scattered to the winds,... never to glistening in the late afternoon sun, with a low mellow tone coming from the exhaust,... ever again.

I guess what I am saying, Is that I think I am going to try to come up with a deal on it,.... No matter how stupid the idea is, and no matter how insane it makes me feel,.. I know cars have no soul,... and I really shouldn't be attached to this thing,... But in my heart, I know I am the ONLY hope this car has to become a car again,.. and not just a memory.

Just curious,.... What do you think ?

 

Bring it back from the dead

 

keep the picture of it when you owned it next to the recent picture in its dilapidated condition - both on the mantle, where you can remind yourself where NOT to spend any discretionary funds you may have for a project. First cars are like first girlfriends - much finer in retrospect, and the further you are away from them, the better they (and you) were. Be happy you owned a nice car....go buy one with no nostalgia attached - then DON'T sell it to any TITheads that won't appreciate it.

dj

 

Go for it. Even if you never do anything other than look at it sitting in one piece in the shed. You'll kick yourself if you let it go, and it does become a parts car. It's worth it for the memories if you can get it for the right price.

 

Personal, I think your nuts,,that being said, I have been in your shoes with the the exact same feelings.

It's hard to put your finger on but seeing something that you poured you blood,sweat and tears into turned into nothing more than a parts car is just too much to deal with,, and knowing if you take that step to save the car you are really opening Pandora's Box.

On the plus side you can fix those forgotten things that bothered you when you first built the car.

I say go for it,,damn the torpedo's,,,full speed ahead,,and good luck! HRP

 

Make a deal, or you'll never forgive yourself.

 

It's destiny that you found her.........go get her....bring her home......show her the love once again.....then ride off into the sunset with the sweet sound from the pipes and never let her go.......

But then I'm a sentimental old fucker.

 

If ANYONE else gets it,... I guarantee it will become a parts car,... And scattered to the winds,... never to glistening in the late afternoon sun, with a low mellow tone coming from the exhaust,... ever again.

I would grab it in a heartbeat !!!!!!!! if you don't you will be crushed,much like the car may be !!!!!!!!

just the way you said that quote makes me know you will do the right thing.
i still have my first car since i was 14 and i am now 37. i could not imagine my life without it ! GOOD LUCK BRO !

 

I've been there, I made the deal. I'll never forgive myself. What a waste of time and money. PropWash said it best. It IS just like an old girlfriend that you run into. You go out on a date, and you quickly remember why you broke up in the first place.

 

Does the current owner know you once owned it? If he does, the price may not come down as he may know you're attached to the car.

If you can swing it, buy it then look for a better shell;same year/model and swap all of your old pieces onto it during the rebuild. Sort of a clone build. Don't buy it just to watch it turn to dust in your yard-that would be a heartbreaker.

 

you can do it!

 

If it's not an especially rare car, consider buying it to part out yourself. Go find a same make/model and transplant a few significant parts/sections of the 'old car' to the new acquisition to keep a part of it alive and give the remainder a 'decent burial', so to speak.

If it's now as bad a you've described, you're going to pay a huge price, in time and effort, for what may turn out to be a very disappointing experience.

On the general topic of "You Can't Go Home Again"..........I have become a believer in that concept. It is very difficult to resurrect neglected relationships, of any kind, and objects never live up to you memory of them. I have found it more useful to savor an old memory than have it diminished by current reality.

Ray

 

Yeah I chased down my first 34 P/U that I sold to go into business. WOW was I disappointed. Someone tubbed it with huge M/Ts tires....then they hooked up a hydraulic dump mechanism to tilt the bed and rear fenders up into the air like the old mini-truck fad. The old original dropped axle that we drilled in the 80s was missing. Fortunately he was not interested in selling it. I had no interest in it any more. It took a while but I finally replaced it.

 

Sure you can. She was my first and we're coming up on our 35th
anniversary. Of course i've neglected her along the way and maybe
time hasn't been that great to her, but its nothing a facelift(via mig welder)
won't fix. The girl that puked IN the door in high school will never be
allowed to forget the damage she did and if the repairs don't get done
this year,well at least she's not getting any worse...

 

Best of luck, Im going thru the same thing right now. Only difference is I cannot locate the car lol

 

Sorry Dennis couldn't let this go by!!!
Get you sentimental head from up your arse!!!!
If this "past love" is in that bad a condition, it will take all of your time, energy and $$s (or trades).
I've lost count of the number of unfinished projects that you have sold. Will this become another? I'm not being harsh, I too went to look at my old Anglia, and theres a shit load of memories I have wrapped up in that old car, but I saw it with both my heart and my eyes. It took someone looking with just their eyes to say leave it there!!
You have some great projects that need finishing, so stop dreaming with those rose colored glasses and get that bloody '34 coupe finished. Its about the driving of them not always the deal!!!
Love ya Dennis!
Cheers,
Stewart.

 

Aren't you the hamber that did the "Analysis of Paralysis" thread?..if not it was about being overwhelmed with too many things. That thread was the missing link to fixing my situation.

Run away from that car, Forrest, Run !

I bought one back that was gone for 10 years...still in the same cond......and after reading the "Analysis" thread, I realized why I sold it years ago...I have no real use for it, I have more important ones to finish, I'm getting too old...etc

My advice, wander through your shop and ask yourself which one would be the last to go in a crisis...then work on that one.

 

"My advice, wander through your shop and ask yourself which one would be the last to go in a crisis...then work on that one. "
Dennis, this man has obviously been in your garage!!!

 

I agree first love rember?

 

HI: Just drove the first car I ever bought(1936 ford panel truck) down the avenue after 45 years, It was worth it

 

If I ever came across my 1964 GTO that I had in the 80's I'd have to buy it.

 

We all get emotionally involved with our cars, even though our common sense tells us not to.

Without seeing good clean pics it's tough to give advice. I'd assume a couple people who have posted in this thread know you personally, so drag a couple - three of them over to see the car (or what's left of it) and have a legit discussion about whether or not you should buy it back.

 

What ever makes you happy tickles me plum to death.

BTW I went back to the last place I lived before becomming a vagabond last year to bury my little brother. You really can't go home again.

 

Same thread helped me. I have to say the above is some solid advise.

I have the never give up mentality. Even after the ship has sank, I am the one that will think, well, if I get some pumps, and find a way... Driving myself nuts and pouring money into a loosing project. Usually one that if I spent a little more up front, I would acutally save money in the long run.

Do what was mentioned by F&J, evaluate what you have, and your desires, then make the call.

 

The issue here is that it is NOT a car, yet.
If it was a "get in and drive" and then fix stuff along the way , I'd be all for it. Dennis by his own words says anybody else would break it for parts. So what he is saying is a rational man would look at this project and say that there is too much work to bring this back from the brink. I TOTALLY understand the emotion that we all have, or should, have for these cars of ours, BUT Dennis needs another long term project like he needs a hole in his head. If this car REALLY meant that much to him, he would not need to ask our opinions here, he would know what to do, and he would be posting a shit load of pictures saying "cool, I've got my old car back". By the very fact that he is asking, leads me to believe that he already knows the answer, here just needs to look a little deeper to find it.
I sometimes think we all type words like "Go for it man" without realising how much work and heartache it will take to do it.
Cheers,
Stewart.

 

I say do it - if I could find my first car (OT as it's too new) and restore it, I would in a heartbeat. Last time I saw it was in 1987 and a friend swears he saw it about a year later rolling through a small town south of here beat half to death. I got emotional both times . . .

Steve

 

I have to admit that the "cloning" (adding a part you have left from an old car you had once to a better example of the same year and make) worked for me. The first car I had in high school was a rusty 1951 Ford four door that I loved. When I scrapped it, I took the electric clock out of it and kept it. In 1987, I found a MUCH better club coupe without a clock. I sent the clock out to be gone through and installed it when I got it back. Voila'! My old car. Just last week I took a couple of friends out for a drive on a beautiful day and stopped at a couple of places. That old feeling came back over me, just like in the old days (I get it every time I hear that clock wind itself up). In the end however, I'm sure glad I was in the club coupe, not the rusty four door.

 

you got rid of it once-for a reason ,otherwise you'd still have it,...enjoy your memories and move on.

 

I LOVE this comparison! OK Harm, what about same car, different VIN?
I guess my question is this, did you love THAT car, or did you love the style?
I had a '69 Cougar I traded away, the car was promptly rolled/totaled. I struggled with the thought of buying it from the salvage yard but Thankfully, I came to my senses. I always missed that car. 7 yrs back, I scored a very nice '69 Cougar replacement. It's not THE car from my youth, but it is, if you get my meaning.

 

Every person on here is sentimental to some degree - if not, we wouldn't be attracted to old cars, right? If I had a chance to buy my first car again ('66 Mustang) I would unless it was so far gone that it wouldn't be that same car after extensive repair. In other words, so much "new" would have to go into it that it wouldn't retain the "feeling" that it had when I was a kid and drove it in high school. If I could repair it and in my mind it was still the same car I would certainly do it. Good luck to you.