Better Beaters - Building Cars and Daily Drivers

 It seems like there has been a lot more focus lately on the musings and ramblings part of my blog description,

Not a Bit O' Honey, just a bit o' this and that. A lot of talking, instead of doing stuff to, or with my cars.

(Some of this stuff is kind of old, I'm just doing some, housekeeping, hopefully next week will be better.)

Yeah, that has been the case. Lots of car stuff going on but nothing very exciting.

The extreme amount of rain we've received this Spring, had a lot to do with it. No need to get one of my hobby cars all dirty if I don't need to. It's kind of a luxury to just drive one of the Daily cars, and keep my hobby cars in the garage or under their cover. 

Now we are approaching Summer.

A few weeks ago, I went through a very thorough musical car day. 

Taken at Pacific Grove a decade ago!

I decided that I wanted to drive my '96 Mustang more. All of my hobby cars have been sitting since I got my '97 Riviera. I've done a bit of work and put a lot of miles on it. It seems to be a pretty good car, so I think that it's time to start using the other cars. It can sit in the garage for a bit.

My '06 was a lucky find.

I had hoped to drive the '06 Mustang some more, as I haven't made up my mind about this car. Should I keep it or sell it? I thought that I'd put it into daily driver rotation. But I discovered that one of the front tires is quite worn, and only suitable for the trip to the tire store. That will run me between 700-800 dollars. I kind of hate to put the money into a car that might be sold, but I paid the registration, and the insurance, so it doesn't make sense to let it sit. But it's currently in the garage.

The most logical candidate to sell is the '96 Mustang. But this is the only car that I developed an emotional attachment to. I decided that I should drive it more and decide if I would actually sell it. Now, I care who I would sell it too. I haven't invested in this car just to let some jerk tear it up. My plan is to take it to Cars & Coffee type events with a for sale sign and see if there is any interest.

I moved each of my cars at least a little. Some came out of the garage, one was swapped from right to left in the driveway. I also put some miles on a couple of them. It's important for me to keep the batteries up and the fluids free and flowing. The battery in the '96 Mustang is on it's last legs. I had it on a trickle charger, but after it sat for a week the battery couldn't crank it over. It might cost as much as two bills for a replacement, but I don't want to have to use my jump box to start it every time!

I moved the Nav and put some miles on it after putting it on the charger for several hours. I parked it on the opposite side of the driveway, as the Flex isn't usually covered.  I like the Nav and enjoy driving it, but it may be sold in the coming year. It's funny that the Nav gets the same gas mileage as my F150, and the Nav is full of every goodie and has more power. For some reason I see the Nav as a bit wasteful, but it gets twice the mileage of any '60's car that I had before.  

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Just Today, I was using the '06 Mustang for errands, making a couple of Costco runs. I looked at the car when I got back, as it was parked at the curb. It did not make me happy to see that the inner lines of the tread were very worn looking. This was on the left front tire.

I had known that the car was going to need new tires back when I bought it, but I hoped that I could make it through this Summer. I'm going to have to let the car sit. I'm still trying to get my credit card bill down where I want it.

I had considered putting the car on non op for '24, but I waited too long, and paid the 230 bucks for the registration.

I've  even been thinking about selling it, and the additional  expense of a new set  of tires won't be recovered in that situation.

Now I've been considering a real antique car, I've mentioned the '40 La Salle that I saw on CL. I spoke to the seller last week, plans to see it got rained out, but maybe this weekend. 

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It is cool, and it's still for sale.

Well it turns out that I did make it out to see the LaSalle. It gave me a lot to think about. The car was pretty good and as advertised. The seller is in a bind, he really needs to sell it. He has lowered his price twice from 15,000 to 10,000, now it's sitting at 8,000.00. That sounds fair, but I currently don't have the money.

My Wife asked me why I was thinking of selling the '06, as it's one, or maybe the only one, of my cars that she actually likes. I told her because it the only one that is actually worth a little money. I suppose that what I really need is the space, more than the money.

That might be true.

I'm up against the limit of how many cars I can keep. But I'm also up against a psychological hurdle.

I don't know how a really old car might fit into my lifestyle. I told my Wife that I've never been about forever cars, and that the Mustang, or even that La Salle if I bought it, aren't necessarily something that I expected to keep around for years. At my age, maybe I'd like to try something different, they are just cars after all. 

The LaSalle appeals to me because I think of it as kind of a "Noir Car." The kind of car I'd see in those beautiful 1940's black and white crime drama movies that I love. This particular car seems to be in good condition and the price seems pretty fair also. 

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I mentioned that I was trying to organize some kind of Riviera Owner's activity. 

My Riv the day I bought it.

There hasn't been much response from Riviera club members. I attended several Cars and Coffee events that I notified club members about. Only a few showed up. Maybe nobody needs the hassle, they can attend those C&Cs anytime they want, with no obligations or expectations. The lack of response has kind of dampened my enthusiasm for my '97. Though I shouldn't let that happen. It is a pretty good car. And it's not like I need to have other people around to enjoy my cars. 

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I just discovered that the rear brakes on my truck are badly worn. That means new rotors and pads. My back has been killing me lately, so maybe, I'll get to it next week. On a positive note, I've decided what my next car purchase will be. It's a late model, less than ten years old. So no hurry there!

I'll bet that Jay Leno doesn't have these headaches.

Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah, Isn't it more fun to read about kit cars?