In reply to NOT A TA :
You are right but I was trying to figure out how many miles I race a car as a means to justify ownership.
Put the pieces in a chassis which will only take a few hundred hours, Then fab a body mold, shouldn't take more than 100••••••
But you're right. The MGuar comes first and then the XJS. I'll be hard pressed to get both of them done before my long dirt nap.
And so ends another frenchyd thread, this time on a strangely somber note, from the man himself.
Frenchy, Have you ever posted a current pic of the MGuar?
I'm in a similar boat. I have 5 cool old cars and haven't driven any of them in years, now they're projects because of neglect while the rest of life took over. Been 10 years now since I last raced or was on track and like I've said to you before "Time's a fleetin!" so I'm on a mission.
Start a thread on the MGuar to document and keep your focus. I for one would love to see you get it done.
NOT A TA said:
Start a thread on the MGuar to document and keep your focus. I for one would love to see you get it done.
Yes, Please do.
I also would like to see it. And I know from experience that once you start documenting a build it is out there and you have incentive to continue.
I am in the corner with those saying two half finished projects and a wife are two projects too many....
In reply to NOT A TA :
It's a pile of parts waiting for me to build a chassis table. Before I do that I need to dispose of wood, a lot of wood. 2 years ago I sold about 1200 bd feet of FAS graded hard maple for 50 cents a bd ft.
In car speak that's like selling 1200 quarts of Moble 1 racing oil for 50 cents a quart. I've still got 12,000 quarts, err board feet to dispose of. But I've got a few projects that have to be done first.
In reply to frenchyd :
Sounds like my 1928 Model A build. Pile of parts waiting on a chassis table but I'm working on it every week because Travis is riding me in my build thread. Do as they say. It really helps to keep focus and maybe you'll convert me into a Jag lover. Just kidding about the last thing.
I apologize that I wasn't clear. I need space. Space that is taken up by wood right now.
I can't just randomly throw wood away, one it's valuable, and two I don't know exactly what I'll need. There are some awesome pieces of wood stacked up with great and a lot of boring straight grain FAS wood. 
Start a thread on you selling your wood. Whatever it takes to start doing something instead of telling us how great MGuar is going to be.
2 problems solved
Maserati Woody !
In reply to Stampie (FS) :
I don't think you can find any place where I've said it's going to be great. It's just what I want to do, well because I want to do it.
It's certainly not going to be particularly fast. Not with that big square radiator sticking up. Nor is it going to be slick or aerodynamic. Maybe a little nose heavy. With wire wheels it won't be modern. The engine is going to make something less than 244 horsepower and be backed up with an automatic. Yawn! Since I have the pieces to recreate the early 1971 version it won't be high tech. Just a collection of left over unwanted junk.
Figure out what wood you really NEED. Then add a bunch of extra "just in case" to the pile. Then put some for sale ads everywhere for the left over extra wood. A month later change the sale ads to "FREE WOOD!" Then a month later have the best damn bon fire EVAR. Problem solved and you can move on. Life's short, don't waste it trying to recoup a small percentage on losses. You bought the wood to build a house, and you built an awesome house! Now it's time to clean house of that project. (See what I did there?) Even your wife the planner will agree with me and if you make the wood go away she'll be less adverse to the car projects.
I once sold a running, driving, fully operational Porsche for $100.00 just so I could get rid of it quick and move on with more important things. Granted it was a 924 but it was a manual. Sure I could have met with more potential buyers wasting time while they talked about SBC swaps and their dreams. But I was done in a day and moved on. Guy bought it to build a Lemons car, dunno if he did.
In reply to NOT A TA :
There are several things I need to do before I dispose of wood. The great room floor is going to be my final artistic stamp. Before that though I'll build the bar I want on the bridge next to the Billiard room. And those windows in the Billiard room need to be finished. The ladder to the art room along with the curved railing on the walkway.
Finish the tower and open it up so the light from the stained glass windows floods the lower great room.
none of those are major jobs except the great room floor. Oh and the stairs up to the third floor. Need to be finished.
But The wood I select for the great room floor has to be selected before I dispose of my surplus wood. Some have been carefully set aside, the burl plank. Plus the bloodwood to abut the burl planks. I also have the brass edging to separate the bloodwood and the burl. That's only going to take about 1000 bd ft of the 12,000+ bd ft I have. The timbers for the uprights and curved timbers for the round railing going to the art studio.
All together 2000 bd ft is probably plenty. Save a little more for projects later and I'll still dispose of more than 9000 bd ft with a value somewhere around $70,000. No I won't get that or even 1/2 of that. That isn't what matters.
What's important is that I finish the house in a way I'm pleased, Not slapped together.
Building cars is something I really love to do. But first things first.
In reply to frenchyd :
SMH and you thought buying a Maserati was the next step to take? Come on man. I'm bad about lining up future projects but really? Take a step back. What do you want to do in the next year? How about the next 2 years? 5 years? Anything that can't fit in those three categories needs to begone.
In reply to Stampie (FS) :
Everyone is absolutely right. My MGuar and the XJS race car are in all likelihood the last cars I'll build before I take my long dirt nap.
But a running Ferrari engine and mechanical bits for a grand? How can you not dream about that? A chassis isn't that hard. I've built complete chassis for my BlackJack, the DeMar, a Lotus 11, and a Devin. None of them took that long. Even though most were tool room copies. A clean sheet frame just connecting existing bits and pieces? OK a space frame isn't the latest High tech, so what? It would be very light, stiff enough, and easy. Besides square tubing is your friend. No fish mouths to get exactly right.
There he goes with that "dirt nap" talk again.
But it isn't really a Ferrari engine. The F136 series was developed with Ferrari but the Maserati version has a cross plane crank and different cams, etc. They sound good but they don't sound the same as the actual Ferrari version of the engine.
frenchyd said:In reply to Stampie (FS) :
Everyone is absolutely right. My MGuar and the XJS race car are in all likelihood the last cars I'll build before I take my long dirt nap.
But a running Ferrari engine and mechanical bits for a grand? How can you not dream about that? A chassis isn't that hard. I've built complete chassis for my BlackJack, the DeMar, a Lotus 11, and a Devin. None of them took that long. Even though most were tool room copies. A clean sheet frame just connecting existing bits and pieces? OK a space frame isn't the latest High tech, so what? It would be very light, stiff enough, and easy. Besides square tubing is your friend. No fish mouths to get exactly right.
Yeah you did all that chassis building decades ago when you were younger and didn't have all that house and the planner-wife. Sometimes we have to reel ourselves in and be realistic about what we're currently capable of.
In reply to yupididit :
You're on the money there. I used to spend about 2500 hours building a complete car and still get it done in a year or so on top of working a 50 hour+ work week
Now I'm certain a car is at least a 2 year proposition If that's all I do.
That's why I like square tubing. I noticed most of the Trans Am builders were going that direction as early as the 1980's. I remember doing the fish mouths on the Lotus nearly every tube took me at least an hour to fish mouth properly and some tubes took 2 or 3 tries before I got everything right.
Square tube was cut at the correct angle and measure it carefully. 10-20 minutes later I was welding it together. Considering the XKE was crash tested and passed completely. I know how strong it can be. The front sub frame was made of 1 inch tubing with 24 guage wall thickness ( yes thinner than sheet metal ) and only brazed together. I doubt that whole front subframe weighed 30 pounds and that held a 730 pound engine and 180 pound transmission. Plus if you look at how heavy the rear end and front suspension was it's remarkable how light that car was.
In reply to frenchyd :
There it went. Came home and they were loading it up to haul away. I'll have to list that as one that got away.
In reply to frenchyd :
That or breathe a sigh of relief. I love thinking about buying projects, and I see lots that I could afford and find room for on my acre. Fortunately I have a friend with a serious project disease and twelve acres.... Every time I go there I come home and see about moving a small project like a lawnmower down the road. At this point I have reduced my wants to a classic pickup (have and almost finished building) one race car (have two and will sell one in the spring) and one bus..... Have it and working on it. I keep thinking about selling my awesome land rover and buying an old K5 is to replace it, but I cannot see myself enjoying driving it after the first few months, and I know maintaining it wil just detract from time spent enjoying something else I have.
frenchyd said:In reply to frenchyd :
There it went. Came home and they were loading it up to haul away. I'll have to list that as one that got away.
Probably went to Copart or IAA. If the car is now owned by the insurance company, that is where they send them to be auctioned off as salvage cars. Check their websites in about 5 days.
In reply to John Welsh :
Please don't enable me. I'm at peace with not buying it when I had a chance. Accepted the reality of my age and the fact that The two projects I have are likely to be all I achieve before the long dirt nap begins.
Grrr, now I know I'll be watching those sites just to see what it sells for. I will not put in a bid!! I WON'T, I WON'T, I WON'T !!!!!!
You'll need to log in to post.
