June 3Jun 3 5 minutes ago, Buzzrock said: On top of the indignity of having to drive a fucking minivan around.
June 4Jun 4 Picked this up for $1900 this morning to use in a birthday rally of sorts with my YouTuber neighbor next week. It needs to survive various torture tests. 1999 528i 5-speed, 265K miles Pops had a ‘97 540i Sport as his company car (man, things were good for these boomers).Anyway, I pushed that thing well north of 140mph on multiple occasions… just a blast to drive!
June 4Jun 4 I have a beat-up POS 1999 F-150. Missing hubcap, faded paint, dents and shit. It is now over 25 years old, and eligible for "Classic" license plates. I kinda think it would be funny as shit to do so.I’ve thought about getting them for my 1997 Z71.
June 4Jun 4 I arrived at my cousin’s house in Germany and this was in the garage. A friend of her husband’s was out driving in his 1960 190SL and had some brake issues so he asked if he could park the car until he could get it sorted.
June 4Jun 4 12 hours ago, Party_Taco said: Pops had a ‘97 540i Sport as his company car (man, things were good for these boomers). Anyway, I pushed that thing well north of 140mph on multiple occasions… just a blast to drive! Rojo Jr drives a 2010 328i. It was a bit of a maintenance headache when we bought it, but it’s so fun to drive.
June 4Jun 4 I’ve never been a huge BMW guy. Our family has always thought the Bavarians were too whimsical but, some of their cars are awesome. I love the old 635 and 2002. Just beautiful
June 4Jun 4 13 minutes ago, PittsburghTiger said: I’ve never been a huge BMW guy. Our family has always thought the Bavarians were too whimsical but, some of their cars are awesome. I love the old 635 and 2002. Just beautiful If I ever stumble into fuck you money, I'm planning to have a barn full of project cars I wrench on with no timeline for completion. One of those will be a 2002 in rally trim, probably a resto-mod with something like a modern B48 turbo 4 under the hood and nothing resembling a muffler underneath.
June 4Jun 4 3 hours ago, Pescado_Rojo said: If I ever stumble into fuck you money, I'm planning to have a barn full of project cars I wrench on with no timeline for completion. One of those will be a 2002 in rally trim, probably a resto-mod with something like a modern B48 turbo 4 under the hood and nothing resembling a muffler underneath. Her dad has a beautiful 850 and an M6. Fantastic cars
June 5Jun 5 16 hours ago, Pescado_Rojo said: I could listen to this audio 24/7 I have similar audio of me after red beans and rice night.
June 9Jun 9 Probably not the right thread, so a pointer to a better one would be appreciated. I finally wrestled my wife's 2015 4Runner away from her by buying her a new vehicle. Now I want to do a little cosmetic refurb (on the 4Runner, not the wife, but . . . never mind). Mechanically, it's pretty sound, 175K miles, just a little bit of Toyota oil burn so far. Interior is great. Exterior has a couple of dents, etc. What I want to do is bondo or replace any body parts that need help and then paint the whole vehicle a different color. I am NOT looking for a show car, but I do want a good paint job. Any recs for a local (Austin) body shop that does a good job at a fair price? I'm guessing parts and paint will come in $7K-$10K but I could be off. I don't care about the investment value, the way I'm tearing myself up this might be my last car. Hey to startups.
June 9Jun 9 I think your price is too low. I spent more than that on my roadster in this thread but it did need a lot more. However changing a different color is a real challenge. You are looking at engine compartment, door jams etc. You probably would be better off selling and buying the color you want
June 9Jun 9 Getting real close. Door panels and kick panels are in. The seats are the 45 year old ones. They are going to upholstery this week. The only real issue is the missing trim on the dash. It is still back ordered but the national MGA convention was 2 hours away from the garage and the owner went over to discuss this with the vendor (in addition to being at the convention). Optimistic it will be shipped soon
June 9Jun 9 1 hour ago, jimmyjazz said: Probably not the right thread, so a pointer to a better one would be appreciated. I finally wrestled my wife's 2015 4Runner away from her by buying her a new vehicle. Now I want to do a little cosmetic refurb (on the 4Runner, not the wife, but . . . never mind). Mechanically, it's pretty sound, 175K miles, just a little bit of Toyota oil burn so far. Interior is great. Exterior has a couple of dents, etc. What I want to do is bondo or replace any body parts that need help and then paint the whole vehicle a different color. I am NOT looking for a show car, but I do want a good paint job. Any recs for a local (Austin) body shop that does a good job at a fair price? I'm guessing parts and paint will come in $7K-$10K but I could be off. I don't care about the investment value, the way I'm tearing myself up this might be my last car. Hey to startups.
June 9Jun 9 2 hours ago, jimmyjazz said: Probably not the right thread, so a pointer to a better one would be appreciated. I finally wrestled my wife's 2015 4Runner away from her by buying her a new vehicle. Now I want to do a little cosmetic refurb (on the 4Runner, not the wife, but . . . never mind). Mechanically, it's pretty sound, 175K miles, just a little bit of Toyota oil burn so far. Interior is great. Exterior has a couple of dents, etc. What I want to do is bondo or replace any body parts that need help and then paint the whole vehicle a different color. I am NOT looking for a show car, but I do want a good paint job. Any recs for a local (Austin) body shop that does a good job at a fair price? I'm guessing parts and paint will come in $7K-$10K but I could be off. I don't care about the investment value, the way I'm tearing myself up this might be my last car. Hey to startups. wrap it
June 9Jun 9 On 5/28/2025 at 8:26 AM, davidg said: Nice! My first truck was a ‘65 stepside with a 283 and 3 in the tree. Lots of memories in that old truck. Thanks. This a '65 also , straight 6 that was a 3/tree but had been moved to the floor before I bought it. No hanging now though between 1st/2nd. My first vehicle was a 64 GMC long bed stepside that had the same straight 6 but was a 4 spd on the floor with first being a granny gear. Could pull anything out with that 1st gear. I had plenty of friends in school with these or the 50's series Chevy/GMCs and I always liked them (50s series) and that was what I almost bought a few x's. More I looked though, the more I kept coming back to the familiarity of what I had in high school. This one is far from perfect but it gets quite a bit of interest due to it's original look. So many people come up and say either, "My dad (or grandfather) had this truck", " I learned to drive on our families ranch in one of these..." It's been fun going to shows or just the Cars/Coffee weekend get togethers.
June 10Jun 10 Paint jobs are crazy expensive. I honestly don’t understand what’s driving those costs… it’s ALL expensive, but GOT DAMN painting is bananas.
June 10Jun 10 I honestly don’t understand what’s driving those costs… it’s ALL expensive, but GOT DAMN painting is bananas.Body work is some time consuming shit.
June 10Jun 10 9 hours ago, Party_Taco said: I honestly don’t understand what’s driving those costs… it’s ALL expensive, but GOT DAMN painting is bananas. Experience and materials two things that can be in short supply, and cost YMMV.
June 10Jun 10 1 hour ago, Mother mopar said: Experience and materials two things that can be in short supply, and cost YMMV. I bet it's tough to find a real body guy (not just a fender swapper) under 50 years old these days.
June 10Jun 10 Body work is some time expensive consuming shit. Fify. And pretty much guaranteed to need it when you start stripping paint off an old car.
June 10Jun 10 i've prolly got 50 hours in the roof of my 67 coupe with at least another 15-20 before i install the new vinyl . and roughly 500 in materials ( not including tools needed ) . body work ain't hard but super time consuming . when in doubt sand it again !
June 10Jun 10 33 minutes ago, mr.goodkat said: i've prolly got 50 hours in the roof of my 67 coupe with at least another 15-20 before i install the new vinyl . and roughly 500 in materials ( not including tools needed ) . body work ain't hard but super time consuming . when in doubt sand it again ! I made the hard decision to skip vinyl on my 65 coupe when I did it. I had to put an entirely new roof on. The metal under the vinyl was just rusted out Swiss cheese. Granted, that was after 50 years variously living in and outside, which is murder on that vinyl/steel combo. That vinyl is just like a sponge that holds water against the roof with inevitable results. I was torn knowing that (a) vinyl was original to the car, (b) it was never going to live outside again, and (c) I really like the period look of the vinyl top. But in the end, the heartburn and expense of even the chance of having to go through body work on the roof was enough to put me off. Maybe I'll rethink it later, but...probably not.
June 10Jun 10 it was never a choice for me . vinyl was happening . thankfully it was prepped correctly previously and i had very little welding and filling some filler but i was shocked how good it was under there . i do not have that warm and fuzzy on my 69 . that one i may replace the roof entirely . that sounds like fun
June 10Jun 10 6 hours ago, Pescado_Rojo said: I bet it's tough to find a real body guy (not just a fender swapper) under 50 years old these days. That's kinda what the garage that is working on my MGA said. Their comment was that the current shops only want insurance works since it is quick. Luckily my shop has a body shop in the same town that does older cars. Not quick or cheap though.
June 10Jun 10 9 hours ago, Pescado_Rojo said: I bet it's tough to find a real body guy (not just a fender swapper) under 50 years old these days. Guy at my old shop was telling me how hard it was to find labor that can work on old cars now. Said all the new ase guys all they could do was just read the code and do what the book said. He said old cars are like sick kids before they can talk - you gotta figure out what’s wrong yourself. He also said a big part of his business was redoing whatever some dumbass had done through the years on these cars before someone realized they were valuable. Said young guys really struggled with that. He moved into an air conditioned shop just for the recurrent advantages. He did a lot of Barrett Jackson cars His shop rate was up to like like $135/hr I think when I sold my Firebird. Had the chance to meet Gary Meadors, founder of Good Guys, a few times a while back. He was telling us the worst thing that ever happened for car restoration costs was that Lexus commercial where the rolled the ball bearing down the gap between the hood and fender. Now everyone wanted their 69 cuda to fit like that. And they absolutely were not built or engineered to anything resembling that kind of tolerance.
June 11Jun 11 3 hours ago, tbone_ said: Guy at my old shop was telling me how hard it was to find labor that can work on old cars now. I think that the right kid with the right mentor and some staking could make a very good life for themselves in the right region. https://www.mcpherson.edu/autorestoration/ Edited June 11Jun 11 by Anastasis
June 11Jun 11 13 minutes ago, Anastasis said: I think that the right kid with the right mentor and some staking could make a very good life for themselves in the right region. https://www.mcpherson.edu/autorestoration/ There was a cool article about this place in an issue of the Hagerty magazine a year or two ago.
June 11Jun 11 10 hours ago, Anastasis said: I think that the right kid with the right mentor and some staking could make a very good life for themselves in the right region. https://www.mcpherson.edu/autorestoration/ My wife and I were watching a story about McPherson on 60 minutes or Sunday Morning or something she records. We weren't even halfway through when she turned to me and said - no you can't apply. Place sounds awesome - kind of like Hogwarts for classic car people.
June 14Jun 14 More pron.. Seats are done. I honestly think the custom seats from 1980 looked better when new but 45 years is a long time. Only remaining item I can think off is the center cockpit rail. You can see where it goes on the first pic. The door rail just ends in open space. Soon.... Edited June 14Jun 14 by AUinHsv
June 14Jun 14 1 hour ago, AUinHsv said: More pron.. Seats are done. I honestly think the custom seats from 1980 looked better when new but 45 years is a long time. Only remaining item I can think off is the center cockpit rail. You can see where it goes on the first pic. The door rail just ends in open space. Soon.... Looks fantastic
June 14Jun 14 Just got an email that the backordered part arrived. Of course there is always a new issue. Do I want to live with a flaky speedo or send it out? Last month I said live with it but am thinking about it. I can always send it later. Removing the speedo is literally five minutes and requires no tools t all unless the cable is too tight and needs pliers
June 15Jun 15 On 6/9/2025 at 11:03 PM, royiv said: That brings actual tears to my eyes because my grandfather had Earl Scheid paint his 1968 Riviera, and it was such an awful paint job. Not even close to the original color. I think it was $29.95. I took it back to original
June 15Jun 15 7 hours ago, AUinHsv said: Just got an email that the backordered part arrived. Of course there is always a new issue. Do I want to live with a flaky speedo or send it out? Last month I said live with it but am thinking about it. I can always send it later. Removing the speedo is literally five minutes and requires no tools t all unless the cable is too tight and needs pliers I say, make it right. You’ve made the whole thing right, don’t leave a straggler to bug ya
June 15Jun 15 I say, make it right. You’ve made the whole thing right, don’t leave a straggler to bug yaThis. The absolute worst is getting almost what you want, when you could’ve had exactly what you wanted.
June 15Jun 15 For those of you who need old school body work, a hint: Mexico. Seriously. Take it across the border. You’ll get 3x the quality for 1/3 the price. When I was a kid and one of our cars would get damaged, dad would 1) take the insurance money, 2) we’d head down to Eagle Pass to spend a weekend seeing family while the car was being fixed in Piedras, and then 3) he’d pocket 2/3 of the insurance payout.
June 15Jun 15 15 minutes ago, Brisketexan said: For those of you who need old school body work, a hint: Mexico. Seriously. Take it across the border. You’ll get 3x the quality for 1/3 the price. When I was a kid and one of our cars would get damaged, dad would 1) take the insurance money, 2) we’d head down to Eagle Pass to spend a weekend seeing family while the car was being fixed in Piedras, and then 3) he’d pocket 2/3 of the insurance payout. I used to take our cars to Mingo’s Body Shop in North Austin back in the day when all three of our sons were still at home… and driving. He was a first rate artist. Just checked…he’s still in bidness. Edited June 15Jun 15 by Armybrat
June 15Jun 15 4 hours ago, Chad Fuck said: This. The absolute worst is getting almost what you want, when you could’ve had exactly what you wanted. It's not going to bug me. I can live with the speedo needle jumping around. I can also live with it being fixed. I can't live with it if the fix adds three months. I can always send the speedo off after getting the car back. The shop also told me they are adding something I was not aware off. The doors are aluminum and there is only a small one inch brace inside. They are adding a third party brace to strengthen the aluminum. So not quite done yet
June 16Jun 16 No really classic car, but if you have a classic car you are likely one who works on cars some. I just wanted to say I HATE ELECTRICAL CONNECTORS! Decided to change out an O2 sensor on one of the vehicles. Sensor is in a reasonable spot that can be accessed under the hood without removing a bunch of stuff. Spend about an hour unsuccessfully trying to get the electrical disconnected before removing the sensor. Finally, just closed the hood for another day. Same thing happened a couple months ago changing a leaking gasket on an oil filter housing - two connectors took 90% of the time and that job required jacking up the car and removing the front tire. Carry on.
June 16Jun 16 I've said it before - any engineer that designs parts for a car is required to actually service the part on a working car.
June 17Jun 17 And essentially done. The long backordered rail came in and was installed. Heading up there in early July for last time. Still going back and forth on putting a top on it. I actually am taking the top frame to be blasted this week and will probably have them put it in just in case. Only items left are some minor punch items. Garage owner plans to put about 50 miles on it to make sure of everything.
June 17Jun 17 Besides the top, I had a tonneau cover for my 1960 MGA. It was a lot more convenient for everyday use and really cut down on the frequency of dealing with raising and lowering the awkward (IMO) top. Are tonneau covers still made at all?
June 17Jun 17 BTW, my speedo needle didn’t work at all, as the cable was most likely broken. Never bothered to get it fixed and just relied on the tachometer. The car was almost 5 years old with 68,000 miles showing on the odometer when I bought it in the summer of 1964. Had to have a valve job done 3 months later…. $100!
June 18Jun 18 8 hours ago, AUinHsv said: And essentially done. The long backordered rail came in and was installed. Heading up there in early July for last time. Still going back and forth on putting a top on it. I actually am taking the top frame to be blasted this week and will probably have them put it in just in case. Only items left are some minor punch items. Garage owner plans to put about 50 miles on it to make sure of everything.
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