When I moved in 30 years ago, a friend told me to make my neighbours think I was crazy. Soooo: Rode motorcycles through the winter (still do). Played with sidecars. Always old cars. Hired no one to do anything to the house, did it all myself. And it worked. My neighbours do NOT bother me, do NOT ask me to do anything, and it has been good for 30 years. Cosmo BTW, I did just buy my '61 Falcon. A 50,000 mile cream puff. I haven't done anything but bring the maintenance up to date. Does this make me a gold-chainer??
I am kind of glad my neighbors don't "get" the old cars I fool with. I feel safer leaving the garage door open when I am working in there knowing they won't steal anything that they don't want. Only my next door neighbor gets it. He is in his mid 70s and has restored an old TBird and an old Falcon before. Now he comes over and chats and tells me about the 30 or so antique cars his brother has. I've got to go visit with him sometime.
Been at my place for 11 years now without any complaints. Grinding, welding, hammer & dolly work, air guns, pulling engines in the driveway, the list goes on and on. Not that I give two ****s what they think but it is their neighborhood too. Within the last 9 months I put an addition on to my house to have my Mom come live with us. Of course under her apartment is my new 24X30 man cave. We had a huge tri-axle dump truck, a smaller dump truck, a huge Samsung excavator, a mini excavator, a skidsteer (Bobcat), a 10X20 storage unit on the front lawn, 4 to 6 contractors pickups at any given time, cement trucks, piles of rock, dirt, sand, building materials. It wasn't surprising to the wife and I that 2 of our neighbors sold their homes before the project was completed. For a better look at what we did go here: http://public.fotki.com/BIG-JIM/addition/ One of my new neighbors has real little kids (Crying all the time) and she runs a hair salon out of her home (Illegally) so I don't think I will hear anything from her (not wanting to cause waves n all). The other guy owns a machine shop and is very friendly (Could be a good man to know). I even got lucky with the building inspector. He is a total car guy & didn't break my balls on anything.
My neighbors don't get it...but when they want or need to borrow a tool, they know where to come, dear ol' Dave will have what they need.
You must have the same neighbors I have. No clue as to why I do what I do except to tell me I have a death wish. But when something breaks or they need a tool they know where to go. Fine by me. They're all nice people.
I have lived in the same house for 40 years now and none of my neighbors get the old car thing but ask most of them where Danny lives and they don't have a clue,,but mention old cars and they know exactly who your talking about. HRP
Nice Southwind tunnel dragster.i use to be the truck guy then i was the boat guy now I am the old truck guy. My next door neighbor is in to mini trucks but just sold off the clown truck for a 47 Chevy truck were makin progress lol.Good guy always ready to help. Jake
Live in a subdivision--neighbors are great--on one side this neighbor has done several cars and we help each other all of the time--on the other side is a Fireman and he is great too and has off road stuff and a couple of Harleys as well as lots of high end tools-we all help each other and watch out for each other as well.
My neighbor just brought back my engine stand after working on his o/t daily. He's he's lent me tools and helped me with my daily, my tractor, my hotrod. I've helped him with his truck, tractor and cars. He has lots of sbf knowledge, and that's what I'm working on for my AA, so yeah, we're tight. Other neighbor is cool, too. I've lived other places where neighbors were crazy, thieving, threatening, drunk or too tight*** for me to live peacefully next door.
I reckon they get it as far as realising it's my lifestyle as opposed to a hobby. They've seen all sorts of crazy old cars,bikes and 60's camper trailers on my driveway over the years. My neighbours are cool but i don't give them reason to moan. I do any noisy work in the day etc and try not to attract too much attention. For the most part my garage doors are always closed so very few folks know whats going on or hidden in my garage. Best way
This is actually an EXCELLENT point. To be perfectly honest, I had been into the rum late last night when I posted this. I would delete this thread, if I knew how, but I'm such a "FNG" that I don't know how to do it. I humbly apologize The real morale of this story is "don't drink and post". -Dan
My neighbor on one side is good, minds his own business....The one on the other side is nuts. I think the looney wagon is coming for him soon. Good thing we have 2 acre lots, they are far enough away.
I am all for doing stuff yourself believe me but one thing that makes me laugh about these threads is peoples reaction to people not knowing how to do stuff. Not everyone has been taught how to do everything, if someone has never done it good chance is they won't know how. I mean hey you wouldn't expect a fish to be a master tree climber.
I'm lucky. We live in the country with 3 acre lots. My neighbor on one side is a diesel truck hott rodder who goes to truck pulls and shoots snakes in his backyard with a .357, and the one on the other side is a biker who just loves anything that goes fast and looks cool, and appreciates anyone who can drink more beer than he can. I guess that means I'm lucky.
“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” ― Albert Einstein
Over the years living in different cities/towns/country I have had neighbors that understand that I like old cars and other gas burners, really only had one that was a "richard" but that wasn't related to the cars. Currently one neighbor across the street has a beautiful 40 Ford, far nicer than anything I have ever had, the next one over has a 57 Thunderbird and the next one after that had an early 60's Tbird that is now gone. We all are do it yourselfers, although we are getting to the age that may not last a lot longer. One of the best experience I had with neighbors was the son of a high school cl***mate lived about a half block away, he was not old enough to drive but he came up and visited me when I was working on the 38 Chevrolet in the garage. I don't remember but he did. He blamed me for being a car guy Cancer got him in his late 30's, or we'd have built something together.
Overall, I have to say that I am fortunate to have the right neighbors. Ok, the house next to me is an abandoned mess. And, I don't talk with most of the the others. But, really, I don't talk with many people. I keep my place somewhat respectable. I feel bad if the gr*** gets too long. I try not to be too loud when I come and go. My hours are not all that typical. I sleep late. I work late. When I was a kid, there was an old man that lived nearby. His name was George. A shorter, hunched backed fella continuously equipped with a cigar, grey work shirt and suspenders. All the "Dad" types new George. Every kid knew that George was a guy to respect. If your bike kept throwing a chain, George was the guy whom Dad would consult. If you were good, for no good reason, a gift from George would find its way to you. I still have a couple of his gifts, a car, a whirlygig. Don't say a word to George 'cept thank you or you would embarr*** him and yourself. Many years later, me, an old man now, when the snow comes, I snow blow my neighbors drive and their sidewalks. Hell, I'm up anyway and I have a sweet 6 speed electric start snow-blower. I'd rather that they stay inside with their kids and I sure as hell don't want to push their cars out of a snow bank. I get a visit from those neighbors who need a tool or advice on home repairs. Do I care if they get it (my old cars and motorcycles)?, nah, not really. I appreciate that they're putting up with me. A couple of years ago, the two year old boy next door had a birthday. I had made him a little wooden speedster car to push around. Didn't wrap it up or anything, just gave it to his Dad to p*** it along. Walking back to the garage, I realized who I became. I'm cool with it. Really, I think it's better that they don't get it. It's better that they just let us be. All the best, Dale Cleveland OH
Not many would have recognized that...Thanks. I've been stripping off the paint to see what the gel looks like. So far I'm pleasantly surprised. The Sleek Craft is going to be a little more retro. Tuck and roll, mild 427 with a dual carb setup and finned rocker covers. Polished over the transom log exhaust.
My wife just put a wad of cookie dough in the waffle maker...... You have got to try that. Lots of whipped cream on top, with a big gl*** of milk. Oh, my neighbors are cool.
The Jalopy Journal
