Olemiss540 said:To younger me: Pick a car and stick with car. QUIT SELLING AND REBUILDING. The fun is driving and tinkering, not car shopping and building you idiot.
I'm 40 years old and still haven't learned this one. I agree that buying and building are more of a chore that sucks the fun out of everything... but somehow, I can't get that lesson to stick.
roninsoldier83 said:Olemiss540 said:To younger me: Pick a car and stick with car. QUIT SELLING AND REBUILDING. The fun is driving and tinkering, not car shopping and building you idiot.
I'm 40 years old and still haven't learned this one. I agree that buying and building are more of a chore that sucks the fun out of everything... but somehow, I can't get that lesson to stick.
This lesson finally stuck for me when I was 43 and had just come off a run of 3 cars in 4 years. I was lucky and managed to get the Datsun back (I'd sold it 3 years prior to fund one of the other cars).
I am on year 9 with the Formula 500 and year 39 with the Datsun.
Life is so much easier because I'm not constantly developing cars. Even major upgrades are easier because 75% of what's needed is a known quantity.
In reply to Tom1200 :
You're saying I'm just about due to start learning this lesson.
I know I don't currently want to go through another bout of development. It's worn me out over the last few years. But I'm still considering selling one of my (stock) cars (my AP2 S2000) in order to replace it with another car that would stay stock (GR Corolla).
The cars I've put in the most wrenching time on (DC2 Integra and BMW 128i), I have no immediate plans to sell them. Lord knows if I did, I'm burned out on turning wrenches and have no desire to start over.
roninsoldier83 said:Olemiss540 said:To younger me: Pick a car and stick with car. QUIT SELLING AND REBUILDING. The fun is driving and tinkering, not car shopping and building you idiot.
I'm 40 years old and still haven't learned this one. I agree that buying and building are more of a chore that sucks the fun out of everything... but somehow, I can't get that lesson to stick.
I have had at least one first generation RX-7 in my life since 1998 when I was 20. They would get replaced when the shells would be too far gone, and the good bits and lessons learned transferred to the next one.
Sometimes I think I missed opportunities by not playing very deeply with other chassis.
Pete. (l33t FS) said:I have had at least one first generation RX-7 in my life since 1998 when I was 20. They would get replaced when the shells would be too far gone, and the good bits and lessons learned transferred to the next one.
Sometimes I think I missed opportunities by not playing very deeply with other chassis.
That's a fair point. I've ran several cars at autoX and open lapping days, but as far as developing a chassis goes, I've spent most of my time seemingly with Miata's and double wishbone Honda's. Arguably a good amount of my time was also spent with turbo Subaru's when I was younger in the military (2001-2006).
Even though the point is to quit selling and rebuilding, it's never too late to start something new.
In reply to roninsoldier83 :
I don't know when and how it clicked but I've discovered I love driving the wheels off the Datsun and so there is no need to upgrade to something else.
The F500 fill my lust of open wheel cars; it's fast enough to be fast and low maintenance enough to be livable.
In reply to roninsoldier83 :
I mean, it could be worse. I was looking for an MGB when I found that first Mazda.
I have also played with a Subaru, extensively rallycrossed and some autocross with a late 80s Golf (my favorite front drive chassis of all time, even more than the Rabbit GTI), and played around with all wheel drive VWAG cars and the weird half-Volvo, half-Mitsubishi, all-awesome first generation Volvo S40, but none of them felt like "home", you know? Only one model got autocrossed and drag raced and open tracked and rallycrossed and TSD rallied.
I am a firm believer that one should at least experience all sorts of different chassis and drive types, to expand one's horizons as a driver and to appreciate what various vehicles bring to the party. This is where it "pays" to be a co driver, helmet in hand and thumb out looking for a ride at the registration table 
In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :
I think you're onto something there, brother! I should really start looking into this co-driver business. It sounds like it's worked out well for you- that's a heck of a fun-sounding resume!
In reply to roninsoldier83 :
Oh, all those cars I listed were MINE. . But I also got to drive interesting things like 2.5RSs (such a wonderful car, very forgiving yet also very "pointy"), WRXs, Neons of all description, more stuff than I can think of. It was all very fun but also educational. Ride alongs were good, too. I got to ride in autocross in an E30 M3 with a well sorted suspension (hoooooooooMG), a 924S on fat Hoosier A6s, all sorts of neat stuff.
Still waiting for a chance to drive someone's 911SC
Colin Wood said:When you get that time machine working, make sure you take this, too:
Enter rabbit hole... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBjIO3upN5M
This little gem has a lot of easy to understand knowledge. Easily worth the 3 bucks it costs.😎
In reply to Colin Wood :
Max is right, but having fun is winning.
NIKOLAT
I also wish I'd started earlier. It was kind of set in my mind that if you didn't get into karts when you were a little kid, the normal avenues of getting into racing will be closed off to you. While that might be true for open wheel racing at high levels, that stuff is more an indicator of privilege than a measure of skill.
My biggest learning the past couple years has been to let the car choose the line. Don't force it onto the line you think it should be on. Just gently guide it at key moments (corner entry, really) and then let it find maximum grip by letting it run where it wants to with the minimum of input. It's hard to describe. However, if you're fighting the car, you're slowing it down. Can you run wider? Turn in earlier?
In reply to dr_strangeland :
What you're saying makes total sense for most modern cars but....
My Datsun 1200 needs to be made to work........guiding it is slow. You need to hurl it on to a trajectory.
Once you turn in, you are a passenger all the way to the exit curb. If you aren't driving it that way you'll be slow.
My message to Younger Me would be: "Don't build something where you have so much in it that you're too scared (financially) to drive it hard."
Guilty as charged - twice.
Olemiss540 said:To younger me: Pick a car and stick with car. QUIT SELLING AND REBUILDING. The fun is driving and tinkering, not car shopping and building you idiot.
For ME, the fun is in the design and construction. I designed and built two cars from scratch, losing interest once they were complete, but don't regret it at all.
Oh, and another message to Younger Me: Don't sell the Datsun 1200. I find it rather shocking and ironic that of all the cars I modified or built, the 1200 was the one I enjoyed the most, because it was so easy to work on and the parts were cheap. That said, if someone handed me one today, I'd probably swap in a slightly larger engine, like a Honda B16 or B18, nearly stock for reliability.
kb58 said:Oh, and another message to Younger Me: Don't sell the Datsun 1200. I find it rather shocking and ironic that of all the cars I modified or built, the 1200 was the one I enjoyed the most, because it was so easy to work on and the parts were cheap. That said, if someone handed me one today, I'd probably swap in a slightly larger engine, like a Honda B16 or B18, nearly stock for reliability.
I was very lucky to get mine back pretty quickly after selling it.
The only reason why I haven't done an engine swap is I want to keep it vintage legal. You can also turbo an A12 and get 175hp to the wheels in very reliable trim.
July makes 40 years since we bought it and 35 years since we started running it at SCCA events.
In reply to Colin Wood :
yep... re the braking release..Sir Jackie Stewart pointedly said that was the last thing he learned that allowed him to start winning. Ditto for Bertil Roos school using the brakes to go where you want the car to go...this from a guy who had to jump in and out of corners on the full Nurburgring F1 track.
Message to way younger me...Keep the 79 Mk1 Fiesta and the 1974 mk1 ford capri..you fool you..
Also the 2005 Evo MR that you worked so hard on.
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