When to stop with "while this is off, may as well fix that too"

[Hardway]

Once you get a part off, no matter how easy or hard it was, it is almost inevitable you will something close by that needs attention and that is when it becomes a slippery slope. You have to determine what is truly needed vs. would be nice to have. Another way of thinking about it is safety & reliability vs. just for my peace of mind. We have all dove in to projects head first with best intentions just to be swallowed up by our cars and all their issues in a sea of frustration. If I buy a car with the intention of re-selling it I am very good at doing just what is needed and what will truly add value to the sale of the vehicle. However on my '72 240z, the fuel system needed some real attention to be safe. The fumes were so bad I feared someone in a car next to me on the road might set me and the car ablaze with a lit cigarette. However on the brakes and suspension, I probably could have gotten by with just getting the rotors and drums turned, replacing the calipers, throwing on a new set of pads & shoes, and giving the whole system a good bleed. Is that what I did? Nope! Had to do a whole suspension rebuild while I was at it thus uncovering new frustrations like spindle pin removal, parking brake cable rebuilding, and all the other fun stuff that comes along with it.

In the end, the important thing to have is an objective for the car. Full on restoration, bringing up to par to reliable driver status, or just running enough to move under its own power in and out of the garage. Once the objective is determined, MAKE A PLAN, with real goals, budget, and approx. timelines. I know this has been said before but a lot of us seem to epically fail at it. As many have said before, take it in phases. Get one phase complete, drive and enjoy the car for a few weeks or months, then move to phase two. Once phase two is done, drive and enjoy and then move on to phase three, etc. I think this is the best way to go about working on a car while keeping the enthusiasm for it. A full blown restoration requires a full tear down and tons of work, money, and time. The end result is a much higher quality car but you run a high risk of burn out since it may be many months or years before you drive it again.

[siteunseen]

That sums it up perfectly! I now get the handle "Hardway".

[ksechler]

Good question. I started to fall into this trap when I was rebuilding my rear suspension. The brake and fuel lines were looking rough. The brake lines I had to fix because the flare nuts were frozen and I had to cut the lines to get things apart. I put on my blinders for the fuel lines and left them as they were. They aren't leaking and I'll fix them later. I'm doing a "phased" restoration and decided to replace the fuel lines in the next phase. I will also slush the tank and replace the fuel pump.

The more stuff you take on because you are there the further the car gets from drivable. For a ground up restoration that isn't an issue. For a phased restoration it defeats the purpose. The only reason to phase the restoration is to have a car that's drivable at least part of the time because it's a lot more labor.

[Mikes Z car]

What is anyone's worst case scenario? I would only share this with my closest friends on classiczcars.com assuming I have any but I have been known to remove nuts and bolts holding the sway bar, suspension and other items on with the sole purpose of putting gray anti sieze on the threads and then re-installing the bolts and screws. I do make sure nothing is going to fall off in the course of this procedure. This also goes for screws inside the car. In some of the pictures of my car I have posted splotches of gray anti sieze can be seen here and there as I haven't gotten around to wiping it all off yet. I am paranoid about corrosion partly because of my previously owned 71 rusty Z car.

[Hardway]

That sums it up perfectly! I now get the handle "Hardway".

Thanks Siteunseen. My handle is the story of my life with cars. An almost ongoing state of self induced misery with moments of victory and joy. After owning 30+ project cars one would think I would have learned by now. However for some reason I can't help myself and end buying cars that need rescuing to some degree or another. Is it a disease? Possibly. More like insanity but in the end I enjoy it (most of the time) and learning experiences and the people you meet along the way are the best part of it all. Also, acquiring new tools is a bonus!

[mjr45]

Amen to the acquiring new tools! On my "rolling resto" I learned how to weld and paint as well as other minor skills like using a multi-meter. I have way more $ into my 75 than I'll ever get out of it, but its been a fun, frustrating, blood, sweat and tears time. I now know every nut, bolt and wire in the car and all this will go a long way to helping on the next project, a 49 Chevy 3100 P/U.

Edited February 21, 2013 by mjr45

[Zedyone_kenobi]

The while you are at its, is a dangerous thing.

I started out just wanting to replace my heater slider cables. I ended up with a rebuilt z clock, new amp gauge, new retrosound radio, new bulbs in the dash, I fixed my antenna, and then bought speakers. Oh I did get that heater slider cable fixed as well.

[hogie]

Luckily, I had a good winter to just hammer through most of the while you are at it work. Since that point I really only work on things that have broken or are safety related.

The funny part is I thought I drove the crap out of my car this summer, but I only put 1000 miles on it since March of last year.

[az240z]

You finally stop when you realize you've owned for a decade and only driven it less than 100 miles...

wow you put a lot of miles on yours

[bartsscooterservice]

A full blown restoration requires a full tear down and tons of work, money, and time. The end result is a much higher quality car but you run a high risk of burn out since it may be many months or years before you drive it again.

I think if I had that much money, I would just drop the Z at the best classic car restoration shop, and dump a **** load of cash on the counter and say good luck!

[EuroDat]

You finally stop when you realize you've owned for a decade and only driven it less than 100 miles...

I hope thats not the 100miles from the PO's house to your garageLOL

[mlc240z]

For a full resto, no. It's gonna be off the road for a while.

For a refresh, I think it's a balance that needs to be struck. Phases, definitely. But when I did the brakes, it was total package, rotors, calipers, drums, master cylinder, wheel cylinders, new drum spring kits.

Same for suspension, shocks, springs, spindle pins, bushings, frt wheel bearings, paint and rust remediation. Only thing missed was rear bearings.

Interior likewise.

Fuel's next with tank refurb, hoses, sending unit, filler neck, etc.

Each phase is followed by a few months or season of driving to enjoy.

I don't know, but for me there's something of peace of mind to the idea that I know it's fully (or to the best of my ability) done and I'll prob never have to touch it again. Based on the number of miles per year, except for repairs, shouldn't have to go back to it unless I want to modify or upgrade.

Cross it off the list.

Handle it once.

Edited February 24, 2013 by mlc240z