Projects The car you just had to have and you ended up disliking it

Had a lot of '55 Chevys but never a show car.Decided I wanted one and it had to be beautiful.
This was the days before everything was available at 1-800-send it to me.
Took a 150 2 door sedan and added all new 210 moldings.
Rebuilt 454 BB with automatic.Nice cam...rumpity rump.Even sprayed the Edelbrock air cleaner orange after removing all the casting stuff.Did everything I could to make it look like it would have if Chevrolet had installed a 454 in 1955.
Power steering and disc brakes front.No kit available,figure it out and make it work.Front and rear sway bars.Used '56 colors as the teal was a shade I liked better.
Put in a Belair interior.All brand new. New glass all around.New wheels and tires.
When it was done it look and rode like a brand new car.In fact,it looked like a AMT model car only full size.
That's when I realised how much I hate detailing and worrying about the first rock chip.
Never enjoyed the car.Came to hate it.8 winters worth of work and after it 600 miles on it I sold it.
Been driving beaters/unfinished/works in progress ever since and enjoy the heck out of them.

 

The car just wasn't anything like I imagined,the lift off top was a PITA and stayed on more than off and at that time our twin girls were terribly uncomfortable stuffed in the tiny area behind the front seat.

Around town I let them ride in the rumble seat but we liked to travel and out on the highway they were inside ,we only made one long distance trip with the car and the kids,from then on they stayed with their grandparents until I had a car with a back seat.

I had sold a perfect car for my family,the old sedan better and served me well for a long time...I saw what I had now and it wasn't as good as what I previously had. HRP

 

I never got a new car,just never had $ for that,yet you got to look an dream. All my old car buys I just fixed into what I wanted. Having grown up in the 40s an 50s,going to see the unvaling of the new modal of any brand was a big deal++back then. Mostly was very impressed with the new {I wished but can't aford modals} but there were those bad dud's=The 1958 T-Bird totally sucked for me,the next super sucked after all the hipe beforehand was Olds new Tornodo=too big an not sporty,no gulwings etc. not even close too the BS. With a body design that would of only look good 1/2 as big.

 

1960, stationed in Indiana. Sold a perfectly fine 54 Ford coupe, bought a 56 Merc Monterey. POS / money pit. It did get me cross the country to Washington. It leaked / used so much oil I felt I had paved I-80.

 

In the mid 70s I bought a 47 chevy pickup project on a modified 68 frame.It was in lots of pieces.I got it up and driving in about 6 months with a modified 292 six and a turbo 350.I drove it for awhile,realized I just didnt like it-didnt like the way it drove or the way it looked. I put a 230 in it,sold it and have not wanted a hot rod truck since.

 

Once upon a time........ I had to HAVE a factory original high optioned car...... I'm a chevy guy at heart, but that's changed over the years..... I found a 64 Nova SS, 283/PG. Original nice paint,AC/PS/and a whole bucket list of options. All the factory chalk marks. Rode and drove like a dream, with only 34k on the odometer. I was in heaven to have such a car....... It was that nice, and one of the best originals I've seen in person. I jumped ASAP. I got it for a good deal, and eventually made money on it.
The problem was that it puffed oil at start up, and we should know what that means........ I didn't want to even change the VC gaskets.... Original spring clamps, every wire hold down, everything FACTORY stock! I couldn't bring myself to even have new head gaskets showing because it was all that and then some.....
So it had to go only for that reason..... I digress...... But- It would have never had been the same once the heads were done..... I still think about it to this day...... Oh well. Better to leave it original from my hands, and know I didn't screw it up. They're only ORIGINAL once.......

 

'76 Cosworth Vega; good idea but GM never sorted the engine properly, ate head gaskets for breakfast. The head had teeny cracks that seemed to multiply.

 

While I was building my 32 sedan I was restricted to driving the daily driver to and from shows and parking away from the activity's and it sucked so one warm summer evening at a local cruse in I saw a beautiful red 1967 Chevelle with a black vinyl top,ralley rims,air,power steering with a bench seat~ the only draw back was the power glide and inline six.

I had never been a Chevy guy but the price was down right cheap and the guy needed to sell so I made a deal and bought the car,at least I had a cool car for about a month,on the way to a show in Atlanta the poor six blew up.

Now problem I had a fresh 327 ready to slide in the frame rails of my deuce sedan and a 350 tranny so I figured a weekend and I would be good to go.

Not to be,with the air I had to find a pulley,I had the wrong water pump and a plethora of other ugly problems,suffice to say one weekend turned to 3 months and a box full of the wrong pulleys and a hurting wallet.

Just as soon as I got the car back on the road the radiator started leaking,pulled it and repaired it,reinstalled it and had had enough.

I wanted the car but it turned into the Chevelle from Hell and was a red letter day when I sold it. HRP

 

One of mine was this original 409 car that a good friend had since new. 4 speed car all numbers matching 2 dr HT. Loved this car for at least 30 years or more. Ended up trading him out of it a few years back. Then I drove it......Shit it was like driving a dam Tank...Ran like a raped ape, hard and very fast, but drove like crap. Sold it to a good friend and he loves it. So all is well...at least I can say I had a 409....

 

Ordered new 1967 Plymouth GTX, black black 4 speed 440 engine, good looking car but it was slow as hell, sold it a year later a got a 57 Chevy belair with a built 283 and 4 speed, bought this car because it beat me bad at a street drag race. Also c4 Vettes suck

 

LOL- I knew a guy that had one, and I rode in it...... WE were a lot younger, and things were different. He wasn't a car guy, so that made it worse. I had to walk several miles home in the late night because of that "car"

 

35' chevy standard sedan. Bought the car 2-3 years ago from a buddy,car seems solid enough and i liked the overall look of the 35's so i decided to freshen it up a bit. The car looks great now thats its done but i mean to tell you every,every frickin thing that we touched was a total pain in the ass . At one point i realized that i was" three levels back". I had to fix one thing so that i could fix some other shit so that i could fix the first broken shit.

 

I feel your pain man. HRP

 

In the summer of 1996 I happened to be in Tacoma, WA and found out there was a car show in the downtown area. I happened to see, from almost a block away, a guy in a '36/'37 Cord replica that had a slight rake, and a V8 rumble and just looked soooo cool! Being a long time fan of Cords, but unable to afford a gennie , I REALLY wanted to see this car up close. For reasons too complicated to explain here, I never got any closer to the car. But I had The Fever!

I immediately began searching for a Cord replica that I could hot rod. Very soon I found one in Boca Raton, FL and flew there to look at it. In spite of ample reasons to pass on this car, I bought it anyway and paid more than I thought it was worth...then drove it back to Illinois! The more I got 'acquainted' with the car, the worse I found it to be. It was not a 'kit car', though almost everyone asked if it was. It might have been a better car if a conscientious person had 'built' it. The manufacturer put together a hodge podge of parts, poorly engineered the chassis, took liberties with the proportions....a total POS.

I eventually sold it for about a 25% loss, not counting expenses acquiring it, and was glad to see it go.
However, I never fully understood my total abandonment of judgment in the first place.

Ray

 

40 Ford coupe. One of the best cars I ever had. I am average size, 6'1 and 200 lb's but I always felt like 10 lb's of shit in a 5 lb bag. Love 30's and early 40's cars but I am more comfortable in cars like my 51 Merc or my brothers 62 Impala. Larry

 

Wow, this hit home with me. It was a '64 Jaguar XK-E drophead. Sold my '64 Barracuda to finance it. Rebuilt the Jag's engine, tranny, brakes, replaced wiring and spent a pile of money. Rebuilt engine had a lubrication problem to the head that kept breaking cams and shattering tappets. Put 150 miles on it in six months, most of that behind a tow truck. Sold it to a guy (who insisted he was a top mechanic and could fix it) for less than I had in it, telling him over and over again that I couldn't find why it was committing suicide. I even had him sign a document acknowledging those facts. Two weeks later he called insisting I give him his money back. I told him I sympathize with his frustration, but he bought it knowing full well exactly what the issues were.
Still hate that car, but never felt bad for being open, straightforward about the problems and making sure I had the original, notarized document he signed.

 

mine was a 34 plymouth coupe since i was 16 i wanted one that was fast stop light to stop light with big tires . found a body and built me a nice pro street coupe with a blower motor. my back hurt so bad after 30-40 mile ride i could hardley get out . should have built it when i was 20 instead of 62

 

mine were a super clean green '54 Ford Wagon, then a primered '32 Ford Sedan - what junk - HA! - thought that would get the attention of HRP for bringing up this subject that is like ripping a bandage off a still painful wound - mine was trading a nice '63 Ford for a '54 Willys Panel Wagon with a 4 cylinder that was at a used car dealer lot - yikes, what a stupid mistake - went back 2 days later and luckily my Ford was still there - but, dealer would not take Willys back! - so, ended up paying a high price for my Ford and selling the Willys at a low price - ouch, big pain to my wallet & pride

 

My mom had always liked the looks of a 55 T bird and once my dad acquired one she was in her late 60's. Car was low to the ground and door opening to seat is a serious design flaw hard to get in and out off with the hardtop on. They didn't keep it long.

 

Every single Mopar... Loved all my 69's... Super Bee 383... Dart Swinger 340... Charger R/T 440... All 4 speeds all money pits before they had gained any monetary value.

A few years later I Could've retired off of them.

Furging timing...!

 

For me a 69 Corvette Drop top. Triple. black paint , a numbers car. I resurrected it from sitting over a decade,, drove it a lot over 4-5 years I owned it but what a pile. Top leaked like crazy,, froze in winters, hot in summer, & unsettling to drive on wet pavement but it ran like a scalded dog in a straight line. Glad it's gone. Flux


Should've been yellow with a green top & interior.

 

Funny man! I get the 54 wagon but as bad as it looks the sedan has old paint,not primer,well the fenders do have some primer where they were reworked. HRP

 

Several of these have brought back memories for me-- mine and of stories from my Dad.
Dad bought new 64 Ss 409 4 speed - he was living outside Seattle and worked downtown at the time. Had to order the car and wait. When it came he discovered that rain every day and a 409 going up and down city streets on those skinny ass bias tires was a pretty poor combination. He gave it to grandpa and bought a trade in Beetle from Denny Akers.
Also remember him talking about his Ford Sunliner (58?59?) claimed the two happiest days of his life were the day he bought it and the day he sold it.

Myself, after several years putting together the "Fourspeedwagon" I took it around the block and back into the big shop. With a list longer than my arm of things that it would need before I'd be actually pleased to drive it. I still like the idea of the car.. The car, not so much.


Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Bought a '48 Chrysler Town & Country convertible and it just wasn't what I thought it would be. On the other hand, sold it for big bucks and made a nice profit

 

My 1957 Plymouth....
My first car, purchased off the back row of a car lot in Denver 1985 when I was 15. It has been trying to kill me ever since. If it gets wrecked, I want it completely destroyed with no chance of rebuild. Had the 301 poly with the pushbutton powerflite when I bought it. Reverse was out, right rear brake would lock up, smoked like a train, had been wrecked at some point with rusty replacement front fenders full of bondo used for repairs.
spent ten years looking for good fenders, found NOS in New Hampshire of all places. Swapped a 1976 440 and TF 727 into it in 1989. Pulled it apart in 1994 and did the body and paint work in my one car garage at the time. I had cut the rear window gasket to prevent breaking the window when pulling it out..... could not find a usable replacement seal for years afterward. Finally obtained a used one from a wrecking yard (window still leaks) and finished reassembly sometime around 2001. Frame damage caused repeated failure of upper control arm bushings on the passenger side.... The manual valve body in the transmission sucked (had to use one because I didn't have room for the kickdown linkage, manual steering blows, and the brakes were less than effective. I rode great though. Ran a procharger on the 440 for awhile. Noisy, pushed oil past the main seals for massive oil leaks under boost. I ran a hose from the valve cover to the intake hose for the blower, which helped cut down on oil leaks, but caused oil vapor and fumes to be vented out the bypass valve and fill the car with said vapor. Sold the blower. Moved away from my car guy friends, and even listed the car for sale on ebay a couple years ago. I guess it is like being in a bad marriage. She cheats on me, we fight all the time. She spends all my money and monopolizes most of my time.... but I just cant let her go. Pulled her apart last December, picked up a frame and spliced in a Dakota front clip for power rack and pinion steering and power disc brakes, and purchased a complete pullout 6.1 hemi drivetrain from a wrecked '06 Chrysler 300 SRT. One of us is going to change.... I just don't know who will give up first. She is so stubborn.

 

So, in '82, I was 17, and working for a small resto shop here in Phoenix, and needed cool transpo. The boss was always digging up very low mileage Sun City cars, and one day nudged me and said, I have just the thing for you - walk out front with me....

Out front sat a mint green and white '55 Vicky with the sunliner green clear top! With about 40,00 showing on the clock, my bell was rung! It had to be mine! A deal was made with the boss to clear my humble bank account, and payments for a bit more, and a quick trip to the DMV and it was mine.

On the way home, the bliss started to fall apart. After what turned out to be a very long day, about two blocks up the road, I started getting a terrible headache. Like bad. As I headed north on Cave Creek Road, the feeling got worse and worse, and was joined by a serious queasiness. By the time I got home, I was full blown sick! I got out of the car, took two steps to my apartment, and threw up like mad..... This was gonna suck!

And it almost did.... Except that by the time I climbed the stairs, I was better, not great, but better. had some dinner, and felt full again, and about 2 hours later I'm fine. The next morning, I woke up happy as hell, feeling good and ready to enjoy my new toy on the way to work. Except, two miles away from home, the headache started again, and by the time I was at work, I was dizzy, and throwing up again. I walk into the bosses' office, to explain that I needed to turn back and go to bed, complete with evidence in the parking lot, and as I'm talking, I'm feeling better.

Turns out, I have a weird sensitivity to the color green, in the transparent sense, that basically causes the same symptoms as sea sickness! I kid you not, I can't even ride in cars with that Ford green tint windows without becoming a projectile vomiting machine. A doctor later told me what the name was, but it's been so long i don't remember. Needless to say, my dream of owning this bitchin' Sunliner Vicky was snuffed pretty freakin' quickly. Boo!

 

My Grandparents bought a new '54 Crown vic with the glass roof before I was born, that car is a family legend. TOTAL shitpile of a car! My grandfather was a professional mechanic, and a dedicated Ford guy, but even he couldn't keep that pile running. You are probably lucky you were allergic to it!

 

About 5 years ago I bought what some consider the "Holy Grail" of Hot Rods. Yep, a Deuce 5 window. I had known the owner and the car for over 30 years, and always thought it was a pretty decent piece, rebuilt from an older rod by a few of the local hotshot builders of the day. I bought the car and a few firearms from the guy, and drove it on the trailer for the trip home after it had been setting for 7 years. After unloading it, and driving into my garage, my son and I started looking closer........what a mess. Steering, brakes, frt and rear susp, radiator, shifter, seat, all had to be changed for safety sake. The body was held to the frame with one bolt. The gas tank, behind the seat leaked. The door latches were junk, as were the window crank mechanisms There was no weather stripping, or glass channels, and all but 2 of the windows were cracked.. The frame x-members were of different gauge tubing, and the rear suspension had zero travel. The frt king pins leaned forward about 6 degrees. Brake lines were a miss matched metric/sae just tightened so they just about didn't leak. There were more issues but you get the drift.....

I really don't hate the car, any more than I hate myself for buying it. All things I mentioned have been replaced or repaired and the body goes back on the frame soon and then maybe I will be able to recover most of my money.... OR.....I just might decide I like it

 

That's probably the most puzzling part... why did I buy this POS??!! I'm sure every one of us has at least once has bought something that caused a WTF moment, if you were lucky it wasn't too costly... LOL.

 

I wonder what happened to my thread on here what a nightmare my 1956 buick station wagon went.????Bruce.