Roadkill has inspired me

Just typing out loud, but Roadkill has really inspired me to get my old project rolling.

I've got a '66 Plymouth Belvedere II sedan that I've had sitting in storage for about 8 years. I parked it because the steering and brakes were getting too scary to drive- I believe the idler arm was going bad, it was leaking brake fluid, and I had other plans for it (modern Charger swap), so why waste the money and time fixing it?

Now those other plans have all but fallen through, and I'm thinking come spring I'm going to get it back moving. I figure if these two guys can literally rebuild cars with unknown problems in a junkyard in a limited timeframe, there is no excuse why I can't repair a car, with known issues, at my home, with essentially an unlimited timeframe (although limited funds).

Not a build thread, but my plans are basically to fix the known issues (steering, brakes, wasp infestation, and put seatbelts in it) and then cruise the car and do burnouts until the tired 318 poly has had enough. I might even take it autocrossing once, because I can (you don't need shoulder belts, right?).

Who else is sitting on a stalled project, and just needs some inspiration?

I did essentially what you are proposing over the summer. Took a 61 Pontiac that had been sitting for almost 40 years. Got it running, braking and driving on the cheap. Drove it on a beater challenge road trip. Had oil issues right at the end but great fun. Owned the car for almost a year but I did the bulk of the work in the last two weeks.

I'm kinda there. I stalled on getting the truck running. It got cold, I got a cold, wife got a cold, then stuff happened etc. 

I'm trying to not end up in a stalled project state with the Jeep.  I really need to get to the couple of things I need to take care of on the BMW next week while I've got a few days off, then I'll feel ready to tear into the Jeep for a bunch of work.  The Jeep runs and drives as-is (and I was DD-ing it up until about 3 weeks ago, at which point I shoved it sideways in the back of the garage, hooked up a battery tender and started ignoring it).  But it's got a lot of things wrong with it, I have a bunch of rust to fix, etc.  Just about every part of it needs some kind of attention at this point save for the drivetrain behind the torque converter (well, other than the 60+ mph driveline vibration it has right now). 

I've also gotta figure out what I want to do with the motor.  Bottom end has 249k miles on it, still has good compression, it runs great, etc. but it's going through more oil than I'd like (especially on the highway, which makes me think I might have a valve seal or guide issue even though these heads only have 45k miles on them).  And to add insult to injury, the stereo stopped working the day before I took it off DD duty and parked it...  This head unit died once before and in the troubleshooting process I left it disconnected for about 20 minutes, after which it worked fine for about 9 months.  

That is one good philosophy that show spreads.  It doesn't have to be perfect, it just needs to run and drive, because a crusty car that runs and drives is still so much better than an immobile project that is stalled out waiting for perfection to come along.

In reply to dinger :

And that's exactly what got me thinking. That Belvedere is giving me absolutely zero fun sitting in the storage lot. Yeah, I can sit and think about how cool it would be if I ever built it, but bench builds are a dime a dozen. I figure once I get it back to "driver" status I can list it for sale at a price I am comfortable with (which is probably way more than market value) and either I have a neat car to bomb around in, or I have money to throw into my RX7. Either way is a win in my eyes.

Roadkill is the most inspirational automotive thing (for me) I can think of. 

Stalled project fear is why my zephyr still has the i6 in it. Atleast for now I can still fair weather daily it. It's hard too get motivated on stalled projects

Just make it safer and more legal than most of their "builds," and you will be okay.

They actually inspired me to finally get my 240z driving. Ive has the car for ~5 years now and have never driven it. Going to get it running and mobile so I can enjoy it.

I love Roadkill although sometimes I cringe at the abuse they dish out to a vehicle. I have been inspired to do a RK style trip and here's what I am planning: fly from my rust belt home in Winnipeg to Nevada and look at Craigslist cars until I find something under $3000 that looks like it would a) drive the 1700 miles back home and b) sell for a profit. Older rust free vehicles sell for a premium around here and if I'm smart, the whole trip could be paid for from the proceeds

Oh man, that first step is hard to take on a stalled project. Whether it be the lack of time, money or motivation.

I sold my Mustang project to a member on here. It sat for 6 years while I tried to collect enough motivation (and time) to continue along my path of planned modifications.

I found that if I went out and sat in it and made motor and tire squeal noises that the old feelings of joy and happiness started to return. It made me excited to get back into it. I started researching parts again.

Then I got a job 2900 miles away. I had to cut it loose before I could get it going again.

Yes, it's hard. But it sounds like you want to get back into it and sorta have an idea on what you want to do. Get it running and driving so you can actually use it as a car and not as a shelf.

And remember, perfection is the enemy of good.

Cooter said:

Just make it safer and more legal than most of their "builds," and you will be okay.

THIS. Roadkill has done some awesome things, but intentionally leaving something unfinished and sketchy for the sake of viewership is not a good way to be.

In reply to GIRTHQUAKE :

On one of the Roadkill Extras, Freiburger said that when builds or trips go too well, the number of people who watch goes way down. Some of the drama is played up for sure but I think most of it is real. They came to SCCA Nationals and I spent quite a bit of time with Dulcich. The drama they had there was played down, if anything. They had a lot more trouble on course than they portrayed.

I always figured the "drama" was upplayed a bit, or they leave stuff untouched that they should have probably fixed (like belts or hoses). Sometimes they do just plain have bad luck, like the driveshaft failures on the wheelie truck.

While my project definitely isn't going to be polished, I am intending on making it safe. I want to take my kid and wife in the car and I wouldn't want to put them in jeopardy just for the sake of driving it. Luckily I can actually find parts easily (thank you Big Three for using the same parts for decades), so there's no excuse to cobble anything together. Legality is a non-issue, I've got the title and I've insured it in the past.

I like Roadkill from the "Get your junk running" point of view, but the lack of care and real life mechanical knowledge they display drives me a bit nuts.  After 40 or 50 episodes, you still can't make something cool properly?

Streetwiseguy said:

I like Roadkill from the "Get your junk running" point of view, but the lack of care and real life mechanical knowledge they display drives me a bit nuts.  After 40 or 50 episodes, you still can't make something cool properly?

That’s why we do the challenge and they do tv show

In reply to Streetwiseguy :

I skip around a lot, but from what I can tell the Blasphemi '55 seems pretty legit and cool. Stubby Bob came close, I'd consider it "done right and cool". You can only do so many 45* wheelies before something is going to break.

Patrick said:

Streetwiseguy said:

I like Roadkill from the "Get your junk running" point of view, but the lack of care and real life mechanical knowledge they display drives me a bit nuts.  After 40 or 50 episodes, you still can't make something cool properly?

That’s why we do the challenge and they do tv show

They're episodes and builds take DAYS. ours take YEARS.

The closest thing to them we do is the parking lot build. They are able to spend unlimited money though. So they have that going for them. Which is nice.

And im a roadkill fan. Just not a fan of them making things way harder than necessary for the sake of tv. Gives less experienced guys in the hobby the wrong idea. But at the same time, they inspire us. 

Like brother Dustin and his z cars. Roadkill inspired him to just get one put together and on tbe road instead of the chalkmark resto he dreams of. But i have to temper him to not cut corners like they do. (Hes doing challenge style budget and build with unlimited recoup now)

Im sure i have a point here, but not sure what.....

I freaking LOVE the shows and the Extra’s but I am always dismayed watching them drive around with bad/terrible/no brakes.

God forbid they crash into someone. That could be a senseless death or injury or an end to the show.

loosecannon said:

 They came to SCCA Nationals...

That went well.  

TheRX7Project said:

In reply to Streetwiseguy :

I skip around a lot, but from what I can tell the Blasphemi '55 seems pretty legit and cool.

Judging from how he did during Drag Week, he finally has it dialed in pretty well - to have a car that can run in the 8s (with a manual transmission, no less), and then drive 1000 miles or however long it was this year, was pretty impressive.

stuart in mn said:

TheRX7Project said:

In reply to Streetwiseguy :

I skip around a lot, but from what I can tell the Blasphemi '55 seems pretty legit and cool.

Judging from how he did during Drag Week, he finally has it dialed in pretty well - to have a car that can run in the 8s (with a manual transmission, no less), and then drive 1000 miles or however long it was this year, was pretty impressive.

I'm pretty sure Finnegan killed a couple of engines on the way to a decent car.  

Streetwiseguy said:

stuart in mn said:

TheRX7Project said:

In reply to Streetwiseguy :

I skip around a lot, but from what I can tell the Blasphemi '55 seems pretty legit and cool.

Judging from how he did during Drag Week, he finally has it dialed in pretty well - to have a car that can run in the 8s (with a manual transmission, no less), and then drive 1000 miles or however long it was this year, was pretty impressive.

I'm pretty sure Finnegan killed a couple of engines on the way to a decent car.  

...and had most of the build farmed out.

TheRX7Project said:

Just typing out loud, but Roadkill has really inspired me to get my old project rolling.

I've got a '66 Plymouth Belvedere II sedan that I've had sitting in storage for about 8 years. 

Right there with you, except mine is a '67, and I'm finishing it for somebody else.