Auto Restoration Club Blog

When I was a kid, I was just like Beaver on the old show "Leave it to Beaver".  He was always asking grown ups lots of questions about what they were doing.  He was a curious little guy.   Much the same way, I wandered around town after school and in the summers asking lots of questions.  There were three places in particular that I liked to visit.  1. Produce store. 2. Taxedermy shop 3. Bicycle repair. (leter added mechanics to my list of visits) I would walk in like I owned the place and and always ask, "watcha workin' on?"  I was always fascinated with what adults were doing.  After all, I was going to be one someday so I might as well know what to do.  Some times the adults were a little grumpy at first but then seemed to enjoy showing me their work.  I gained a great deal of knowledge back in those days.

Now, here I am in my fifties and I really haven't changed much.  I have lots of hobbies and still love to go and ask people that question.  Especially people working on old cars and trucks.  Ask a "car guy" the question, "whatcha workin' on?" and you better have a few minutes to spare.  We love to talk about our old cars just like we do our kids.

What's awesome now days is I don't have to just walk around the neighborhood bugging people, we have the wonderful internet.  So many ways to learn from other people and what they are up to.

Here is a list of what I'm working on when it comes to auto restoration: (besides working on the daily drivers my kids keep tearing up)

1969 Roadrunner

1956 Chevrolet 210

1967 Ford Bronco

1979 Ford F150 4X4

As you can see, I have plenty to do.  So now it is your turn to list.  Whatcha workin' on?  Even if you haven't worked on it for a while and it's in the "someday" department,  let me know.

So, a while back I was visiting with some friends.  I told them that I had made a decision.  Since I am madly in love with all of my projects and will probably never part with them, I decided to get some project automobiles that I do not like.  This way, once I get them fixed up, I won't want to keep them.

Well, today I was browsing around in the local classified ads and low and behold, there were two cars that I found rather ugly for a very low price.  I looked up pics of the cars and how they look fixed up.  I still didn't like them.  They passed the test.  Now, here I am with no money.  Two ugly cars at an amazing price.  I could end up sleeping outside for the winter if I show up with them at home.  I could make a little money.  Best of all, i could make some people really happy to have those cars all fixed up.  

What a situation!  Not sure what will happen.  I shouldn't have told anyone my plan.

Are you an Automotive Person, an Automotive Enthusiast, or an Automotive Nut?

If you are an automotive nut, there is no hesitation answering with a resounding “Yes!”  If you are between enthusiast and nut, you may hesitate to decide.  Perhaps the following will help you decide:

Automotive Person

You like your automobile and maybe even take good care of it.  You see your auto as a tool to get you from point A to point B.  If you have to sell it, it is no big deal.

Automotive Enthusiast

You love cars and trucks.  You take good care of the one you drive.  Not only do you want it to last and run well, you want it too look good.  You enjoy going to car shows and seeing cars and trucks all fixed up, and you wish you had the time and money.  You tend to hang on to cars/trucks for sentimental reasons.

Automotive Nut!

You go above and beyond person and enthusiast.  You probably have several automobiles.  You have your family car, your work car/truck, your “good gas mileage” travel car, and probably have at least one or two project cars/trucks.  You have cars/trucks you will never part with even when strangers often knock on your door and offer to buy it.  You look at your projects often and visualize how they will look when they are finished.  You cuss at your project when you work on it but you put in hours working on it anyway.  You scare others when you are driving down the road and suddenly slam on your brakes because you saw an old car/truck in someone’s yard.  You go to car shows and hate to leave.  When you do leave, you can’t wait to get home and get to work on a project while dreaming of someday having it in the car show.  You talk to total strangers about their car.  When you discover another Automotive Nut, it is like you have been friends forever.  You have plenty to talk about.  You may have even had your spouse and kids sitting in the car honking because you have been there too long talking cars.  There is even more but all this talk about cars makes me want to go check on prices for a quarter panel for my ’69 Roadrunner.

Most of you have probably heard of www.rockauto.com   Well, I am not getting any kick back for this (I wish) but I just want to recommend visiting their site.  I have bought many parts from this site for my newer vehicles and my really old project vehicles.  Rockauto's prices are amazing.  Shipping is fast.  They even give you a refrigerator magnet with a cool car on it with every order.  My garage fridge is covered.  I have had several times that I have saved a great deal of money for myself, friends, and family members by shopping on this site and doing the job myself.  Too many mechanics and shops out there are taking advantage of people.  

I highly recommend you go and check out www.rockauto.com