Chuck’s last comment about the Delorean made me wonder how many GWC’ers are into cars?
I’m kind of a Gear-head myself. My Dad & I restored this 1974mgb a few years ago:
from this:
To this:
I wish I had the time/know-how/money/etc to do that daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayum
Well we bought it in Nov 2001, and got in on the road in July of 2005…So it took a bit of time and work…
British cars are great, if you like rust, electrical problems, and leaking oil. Thankfully I’m a fan of all 3!
My family is such a glutton for punishement, my Dad bought this last week:
http://devinemg.blogspot.com/2008/10/new-addition-to-family.html
Devine, I’m totally a car nut, though I never seem to have as much time and money for it as I’d like. I have a couple of fun “project” cars: a '93 Miata that I bought with pretty decent paint but lots of mechanical issues. It makes for a cheap, fun convertible option – especially this time of year. Having spent some years messing around with a '59 MGA I owned for a bit, I think of the Miata as an MG without the mess – and parts are a lot easier to find.
I also picked up an '89 Porsche 944 S2 from a sorta-relative’s yard in Misissippi a few years ago. I test drove one back in high school, and I’ve always wanted one. So, being the sucker I am, I conned Sean into going out to MS with me to grab it and tow it home. After a year of jacking around finding parts, replacing a water pump, and handlind some clutch work, it’s running. It’s still a little rough on the outside, but I’m pretty much treating it as my daily driver right now.
Unless your talking about the old Rick Ocassak group, I’d have to say no as far as being into a car. If there was a word for the opposite of a gear-head, my picture would be in the diictionary as an example of that opposite.
Of course, my feelings for cars have changed over the years.
I used to just think of a car as a device with four wheels that transports my and my car stereo/tape-deck around.
But later I evolved and began to view a car as device for taking infant/toddler car seats in and out of and for playing CDs of “Dora the Explorer”. “Seasame’s Streets Greatest Hits” or “Disney’s Top Ten Kids Songs”.
But now I’m older and wiser and have come to appreciate what the TRUE purpose of a car is: It’s a four wheeled device to transport me and my mountain bike around and a place where I can listen to podcasts and my iPod playlists.
I’ve got a 1973 Datsun 240Z that I’ve been working on for a while…
Haven’t been able to do much with it lately as I don’t really have a place to do anything on it.
Bought it as a project car for me and my dad to work on back before he died. Unfortunately we didn’t get very far on it.
Hopefully soon though I can get back on it.
Yeah I heard Carl Sagan was gonna do a special on NOVA about how he found a force stronger than a black hole:
“Project cars: how they suck time, money and energy”
I hear ya on the Miata. It’s like the Modern equal to a british sports car, My Cousin got one in 96, as a replacement for his 73 MG Midget, and it’s still running really well!
Sounds like you have a pretty cool Daily driver there.
You should try french cars. You’d love 'em!
I plan on it. The DeLorean’s engine is a Peugeot. 
The best part about Miatas is exactly that: parts. They made over a million of 'em, so it’s really, really easy to find parts – new or used. There’s a Mazda-only junkyard here in the DFW area, and you can still get pretty much anything for even a first gen from the dealerships.
The Porsche, well not so much. They only shipped a few S2s to the US – like around 7,000 – and the engine is a 3.0l four cylinder, as opposed to the standard 2.7 in other 944s. So engine-specific parts are pretty tricky. Body, suspension, and transmission (sans gearing) isn’t the end of the world. It’s just expensive.
So it looks like you took on some of the MG body work yourself. How’d that go?
Noooooooooooooooooo!
Sorry. Childhood flashbacks.
Miata is totally a chick car Cage.
Admit it
Do iiiiit
And what do you drive?
Dakota sport pickup
And a motorcycle, probably Suzuki M50, within the coming year
“Chick car” is a good thing. Trust me.
I drive an MR 2.
I did a lot of the metalwork. after cutting the offending rust away, My Cousin helped show me how to weld a bit, and I was then off and running.
on the passenger side the Rocker/sill on the side panel was shot, so that whole side got replaced, as well as the front fender & rear dogleg.
The Driver side was ok, I did the outer rocker that rests under the fender. I just sectioned it out with a sawsall, and replaced it with new sheet metal (from a replacement rocker panel)
We sanded it down as best we could, and put a spray bomb primer on it, to keep it from continuing the British tradition of rust, and then it was off to the painters. I would have loved to tackle painting it, but as I’ve painted guitars in the past and had inconsistent results. I figure the only people that should use paints are artists, so I found a couple of guys in Maine that do good work, and loved working on the smaller convertibles, as they’re easier to move around their shop, and use less paint and take less time than, say a full sized car.
As far as the Delorean, If you don’t want the PRV (pugeot, Renault, Volvo) I’ve seen one in NH that had a Chevy 350 in it…
PS Yeah a Miata’s a chick car, which means chicks like them, and usually want a ride in them, which isn’t a bad thing
Um, I drive a GMC Sierra Crew Cab. What do you call a vehicle that a male typically drives but that a female is driving? A “dude-mobile”?
From someone who HAS painted a vehicle, you made the correct decision. It sucks, big time! I will never do it again!!!
Yes. That is in fact what they’re called. Urban dictionary it
And chicks want rides in nice cars. Chicks want to DRIVE chick cars. There’s a difference
Oh. My. Gods. I was totally kidding! That name sucks!