- Reaction score
- 35,618
- Points
- 113
You beat me to this. Baaad’s situation at home seems very similar to mine. And I’m thinking yours as well. There are tons of Vettes out there. You’ll find the right one when the time comes.
I hope I’m not kicked out
- Thread starter pontrc
- Start date
My good buddy since high school finally got a 68 427 tri power vette convert. one evening after golf league we were on the freeway heading home and he thought he’d tease me in my 66 stock 389 4 bbl GTO we both floored it and ran exactly parallel till better judgment took over and the straight away was running out.
PontiacJim
Baby Corn
- Reaction score
- 27
- Points
- 13
It killed me to give up mine back in the day and I went thirty years without cars but you do what you have to do for the greater good. I can find 20 plus nice goats for sale with the click of a button and get a loan and be driving one in no time, but there's only one beautiful house we built, two great kids and one amazing wife in the world for me that certainly aren't worth any car or any material thing in the world ! I'm sure it killed pontrc but he had to make a hard choice and made the right one, what is someone supposed to do ignore their bills their wife and kids needs so you can drive around in a muscle car? I just had a tenant call me yesterday who is falling on bad times and he had to sell his '70 Cuda that he has restored for the last few years, it was beautiful and he loved it. Yes my wife got a couple of rings over the past few years and I felt guilty spending so much of our money on my hobby which she hardly ever questions that when she fell in love with the newer Challengers I raided our IRA's and found her a used purple one she was dreaming about, just like have been dreaming about having a '65 so if I can have my dream why can't she have hers? To see her reaction on Christmas morning 3 years ago and her tell me she giggles still to this day driving it is worth more to me than any IRA....plus now I can get mine painted
There is a difference when the wife supports the hobby and might even engage in it and enjoy it - that often means she enjoys/loves being with you and its not about the cars, but about the support of you in your happiness. These type gals are as rare as frog farts and changes the context of keeping the car or keeping her.
Yep, I have done "the right thing" in the past. My ex ended up in the hospital having an emotional break-down and I got a whopper of a bill that the insurance did not cover. Being inexperienced, and I emphasize "inexperienced," I paniced. We had no family anywhere near and no real friends to offer any advice - and both of us had family that were more critical on the things we did rather than provide USEFUL advice or guidance.
I had a nice collection of Chevy 409 items, a built 1965 engine I assembled with all the high performance goodies. I had another 409 that I had before the marriage that I was building and had a lot of big money, even then, put into the short block making it a 482CI stroker with all the good forged parts - the 427 forged crank had to be machined to fit the block as an example. I had ported the big valve heads myself and they were ready to be built. I never go past that stage as I went through divorce #1 and money dried up with child support and taking on a second wife and just having a new born.
Anyway, I knew I could make a fast sale, generate some cash, and move forward and chip away at life. I don't think anyone, other than me, knew how to do that killed me. I knew I would probably never be able to afford another 409 or all the work I had put into it - and I was right, I don't think I could afford one of the 409 blocks anymore with todays prices. LOL I also had to sell off another 1965 truck 409 I was trying to hang onto after divorce #2 and more child support. But times got real slim for me and I had to let it go and got peanuts for it as I needed the money like "right now" to pay rent. I pulled through that one as well. I had bought a 1955 Packard for $900 when still married, and still have that car under a tarp - not running and deteriorated, but salvageable.
It took a long time to get financially back on my feet, I was about 49 when child support ended, and I paid off a 7-year bankruptcy I had to file with the second divorce. My brother sold me a 1976 Lemans which I ran for years until I rear-ended a car. Smashed the right front, but it still ran good. Drove it a short time later until my parents gave me their 160,000 mile K-car which had a bad head gasket I had fixed. Drove that for a long time as well just keeping up with head gaskets and water pumps. LOL Then I had to build up my bank/savings account and my first goal was purchasing my OWN house that could not be taken away in a divorce - which I did, be it a small "man cave."
My last fast/old/muscle car was with the first wife. I was in financial straits when that marriage ended and a buddy solt me a 1974 AMC 6-cyl/3-speed hatchback for $100.00 so I could have a car. LOL I was 26 years old with 3 kids, and thus ended my old car life. It was not until I had purchased my house and bought my well worn/rough 1968 Lemans in about 2001, at age 42. Still was paying child support on my daughter (which was not killer), and dating. The Lemans sat a couple years before I could afford to begin the work it needed to get it back on the road with the 350CI/3-speed manual. Drove it for a short time and then quit my job to take a summer off and rebuild a 400CI engine, and install it. Drove it up until 2012 when the oil pressure went to "0" one day - knowing it was going to happen as oil pressure kept dropping over the years. I knew I was going to rebuild the car/engine again, so did not care.
So it took me about 17 years before I could buy the Lemans and about 3 more years to get the car on the road. So I had a 20 year span from my youth, when I used to buy the old GTO's (and other cars) for $300 -$400. Not going to get a running driving 1970 Judge for that price anymore! LOL The collection of cars and parts in todays market, and no one knew that they would ever soar like they have, would be a small fortune and even more restored or resto-modded.
So looking back from my vantage and through my experiences, I would never give up a favorite car for a women or money to pay bills/make ends meet. I would find another resource to do it. If I was asked to choose between a wife/girlfriend and a car, I am sure going to be enjoying that exhaust rumble without her. But, I will also say that I am really not a family type guy where I put family first or live my life for the family. I admire those guys who do, but I am not one of them. I will also say I did not make a very good father, and let my anger/hate for my 1st ex get the better of me and it distanced not only her, but my kids whom I don't have a relationship with. I did however see this when I went through the 2nd divorce (as did #2) and we worked things out in an effort to enjoy a good relationship with my daughter - which I still have today.
So I can see that age/maturity/experience plays a big role on your perspectives in life. Perception creates your Reality, and Belief is Behavior. Perceptions change, beliefs change,...........you change. The person who you are right now is not the person you were 5 years ago, nor will you be the same person as you are now 5 years from now. In a relationship, 2 people can either grow together or grow apart - if you have mastered a conscious awareness of your self, your partner, and your life, you can grow together. If you walk through life unaware and blind, chances are you may grow apart. You and your partner never had "free will," you only ever had "free choice."
Really wish I had had a mentor to guide/steer me along my path when I was young and had no clue. "Winging it" didn't work so well, but it was a valiant try if nothing else.
pontrc
Seasonal Corn
PJ , I understand and I’m sorry you had such a tough time through it all just hope it gets better for you
armyadarkness
Royal Corn
It took me from wanting my first GTO in1982, to 1995 when I bought my first real GTO... A fully loaded, numbers matching, 2nd owner car. It was a mess but I fully restored it, myself. After 2 years of hardcore, tedious work and a ton of money, I was forced to sell it just weeks before completion. It then took me until 2020 to be able to afford another.It killed me to give up mine back in the day and I went thirty years without cars but you do what you have to do for the greater good. I can find 20 plus nice goats for sale with the click of a button and get a loan and be driving one in no time, but there's only one beautiful house we built, two great kids and one amazing wife in the world for me that certainly aren't worth any car or any material thing in the world ! I'm sure it killed pontrc but he had to make a hard choice and made the right one, what is someone supposed to do ignore their bills their wife and kids needs so you can drive around in a muscle car? I just had a tenant call me yesterday who is falling on bad times and he had to sell his '70 Cuda that he has restored for the last few years, it was beautiful and he loved it. Yes my wife got a couple of rings over the past few years and I felt guilty spending so much of our money on my hobby which she hardly ever questions that when she fell in love with the newer Challengers I raided our IRA's and found her a used purple one she was dreaming about, just like have been dreaming about having a '65 so if I can have my dream why can't she have hers? To see her reaction on Christmas morning 3 years ago and her tell me she giggles still to this day driving it is worth more to me than any IRA....plus now I can get mine painted
I don't think that any of us buy or keep these cars for the same reasons. In my case, the GTO is my blow-off valve. After a hard life, it's how I stay sane. It's a friend that's always waiting for me.
armyadarkness
Royal Corn
74 to 94 you can get for a song.
- Reaction score
- 35,618
- Points
- 113
After all I’ve gone through with mine this past year, this will sound odd. I’m not honestly emotionally attached to mine. If something came along that I wanted more, I’d sell. If life handed me lemons, I’d sell. I love having an old car but it doesn’t make me who I am. Like you, it provides a release. In some ways, I had more fun this summer working in the junker stock car and the mechanically totaled Cobalt I picked up for my kid than I did on the engine install. Same release, but on project cars that didn’t need the care that the Pontiac did.
pontrc
Seasonal Corn
Army I’ve seen the price all over the place for them. The 74 big blocks are more but I rather have the dependable sbc. Had a 396 Chevelle when I was a punk remembered how many times I was under the hood lol
armyadarkness
Royal Corn
Awesome post @PontiacJim I shared MANY of those same experiences... and Im in my own little man-cave, as well, and have been for 20 years. Your philosophies and experiences caught my eye, early on in the GTO Forum, which is how I knew/ felt right away that you were one of us, and why I reached out to you so long ago to come over "here".
None of us here are the same. Many of us have loving children, many of us have children who wont give us the time of day. Many of us love our family, others hate them.
I built this forum on the premise that there's no room to judge, but always room to learn. Our experiences define us, and even if the experience destroyed you, there's always a friend whom you might be able to save by sharing them, so even in the darkest hour, it's always best to be yourself.
You never know when you're going to change someones life, or they're going to do the same for you. I'm very happy that you guys made it in here and are interacting. Who you all are is who we are.
I can agreed with this, but I take it one step further. I'd rather help out fixing a car with somebody else's name on the title. I like the work, and the sense of accomplishment. I have no time to enjoy them in a way that would justify the investment.
And as bad as this is to say, I really not a "car guy". It's the challenge more then anything. Figuring out a solution when someone else can't.
pontrc
Seasonal Corn
PJ , expect 3 ghost to visit you Tonight hope it goes well for you. Merry Christmas 
Feel like wearing all black for today, this will do plus my mom gave it to me 
This GTOAA windbreaker has started a 1000+conversations with strangers
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PontiacJim
Baby Corn
- Reaction score
- 27
- Points
- 13
LOL. Don't take me wrong, I have NO regrets per say, I DON'T feel sorry for myself, and I have NO need to apologize for anything in the past. Life is just Life. I can look back, and sure, maybe I would have done things differently BUT, that's only because I am where I am now and can look back. I can't honestly say I am sorry because that is an "after the fact conclusion knowing how something turned out." If I come to a fork in the road with three different paths, not knowing what each path held, how would I choose? So you just pick one and go for it. Path 1 may be difficult, find yourself suffering, nothing turns out "right", and all that you do turns to shit. So you say, "This sucks, I should have choosen another path, Path 2 or 3." Well, you can ONLY say that because of the path your are on. But suppose you took Path 2. On Path 2 you were robbed and beat and put into the hospital because your were really busted up - so badly that you lose the use of your right arm at the elbow and you suffered kidney damage that has taken away 2/3 of its function and you are now on a dialysis machine every week. You are on disability and will never work again and have to rely on friends, family, and the government to support you for the rest of your life. Now you say, "Dammit, I should haven Path 1 or 2 and I would have not been robbed and beat and had a life." Well, you can only say that because of the path you are on. But suppose you took Path 3. Path 3 was a good path. You met a hot wife, purchased a home, had 2 kids and a dog, and in one fell swoop of fate, a tornado hit your town while you were on a business trip. The tornado destroyed your home, and your town, and the entire family was killed and they never did find the body of your son. Your biggest regret was that you had a little disagreement with the wife over taking the business trip when the kids were both going to be in a school play and they wanted you to be there. You placed the job over family and left everyone on a sour note - you never said good-bye because you stormed out of the house and didn't say "I love you" to the kids, or wife. Now you think, "Mother Fucker! I should have take Path 1 or 2 and my wife and kids would still be alive."PJ , expect 3 ghost to visit you Tonight hope it goes well for you. Merry Christmas
My point? Life is nothing BUT a series of forks in the road, a never ending series of choices starting with what time you will get up, to what you will eat for breakfast, to what you will wear, to which car and route you will take to work, etc., etc.. YOU are always making choices, conscious or subconscious, fully aware or not even thinking, some will be actions and some will be reactions - but choices will flow like the air you breathe and they will only stop when you are dead.
Many of your choices will have to be made at "that" fork in the road. You may not know what is ahead. You may simply have to follow the path and hope for the best - until you reach the next fork and have to make a choice. Other times, you may have an idea of where each path leads, so you do the research, learn all you can about each path and its pros and cons, and seemingly make a "better & informed" choice as to the path you choose. Everything looks swell and the path you chose is seemingly the best one, Hooray! But then someone else who had a choice to make wound up on your path and when the two of you crossed, BAM!, all that calculating, all that researching, all those things you did to affix a plan that would be best and was seemingly so..........just got fucked up BECAUSE someone else made their choice. You have choices to make and so do all the millions of other people in the world, so your choice may affect others and others choices may affect you - but you will never know when, how, why, or where. Its called FATE - something YOU have no control over. Its like a Plinko Ball bouncing all over the game board changing direction each time it hits another post and then takes off in another direction only to hit another posts, and so on and so on........
So you NEVER know what the future will be. You can ALWAYS look back at your past. And the best you can do is to exist in the moment of now, which as soon as it takes place in a millisecond, it becomes the past where you can once again look back on it. Not knowing what the future holds, always moving forward in life being blind because of it, you will make choices that you feel are rational and the best at that moment with what skills, experience, and knowledge you have. But then you will be able to look back after "that moment" and may ask yourself after the fact, "why did I do that when I could have, would have, should have, might have, made a different choice knowing what I know now."
Life is what it is. I don't have regrets, feel sorry about, wish it would have been different, or beat myself up over it. I was put on this earth to learn & experience life; good, bad, or indifferent. I wish I could see/know the future, but I don't. I only know "now" and the "past." Not knowing the future I can only make a best guess choice and if it goes sour, it is because I could not see/know the future, so I can't beat myself up for that which I never new would take place or happen. I just move forward and observe with awareness, the learning & the experience.
Living can make you rich in spirit & mind, its not all about stuff or money - but that "Vitamin P" is some pretty good stuff. LOL
PontiacJim
Baby Corn
- Reaction score
- 27
- Points
- 13
Hope everyone has a GREAT CHRISTMAS, however you celebrate it.
67ventwindow
Pepper Corn
Merry Christmas!!
armyadarkness
Royal Corn
You too bro! I got a few hundred miles on the GTO today. Some great burnouts and a few drag races... killed a newer Mustang as well as a Nissan 300x and wiped the highway up with a sport compact. Twas a great day!
armyadarkness
Royal Corn
BTW... 4000rpms a 90mph, for 60 miles straight. I need over drive!
armyadarkness
Royal Corn
Merry Christmas, GTO peeps!
