Parts cars

["content22207 <brobertson@xxxx>" <brobertson@xxxx>]

Good grief, *2* pages of new messages. I know who WASN'T outside
freezing their b'doobies off this weekend working on their D's...

I do know a thing or two about parts cars. Have a driveway full of
them. I buy parts and intstall them in the cars...

To prospective owners considering a fixer-upper of any kind, please
consider whether vehicle is at least roadable. Inconvenience of a car
that can't leave driveway under its own power is exponentially greater
than the asphalt actually consumed. I have 2 driving lanes and STILL
get frustrated when one's out of service. Am single, but imagine
stress on marriage from dead vehicle is probably disproportionately
larger too. And the biggest source of frustration must be to the proud
new owner -- it takes a PATIENT man to pour money and energy into a
car that only travels in his own mind (kudos Dave Stragand and Rick
Gendreau). Few people are willing to let their car sit at a repair
establishment and soak up money until some nebulous point in the
future. Same principle applies in your own driveway.

Re: out of service DeLoreans -- these are especially aggravating due
to attention lavished by curious neighbors and passers by. They all
want to see the car *GO*, and are vocally disappointed when it
doesn't. Of course they're not the ones laying in the driveway covered
in grease. Have discovered that these people are usually dressed much
finer and tend to cut conversation short when you stand close in the
greasy coveralls and explain (use lots of gestures with greasy hands)
why car is on jack stands...
FWIW: my SS (Stainless Steel) Titanic is definitely a fixer-upper,
mostly interior. But she does run (3000 miles and counting). Is of
course never for resale. 1001 ongoing irritants until I am able to fix
them, but those alone could not prompt a parting. Would I feel so
strongly if the car and I had NOT spent time on the road?

Bill Robertson
#5939