I’m still a big fan of the 2003 BMW 530i I purchased off a member for a whopping $3,000. I’ve named it (Clive), so I guess I’m keeping it. Our pals at FCP Euro have even offered to let me come by, look it over with one of their E39 experts, and work on it in their extremely nice shop. What have I done, instead? Driven it, topped it off with oil, let it sit.
We’re busy around here. Probably too busy. A startup + a kid + life in general means it mostly gets driven around town on errands when the other car isn’t available or when I just feel like driving it. The A/C stopped working shortly after it came into my care, but I think it’s just the Blower Motor Resistor so that’s an easy fix (it should arrive any day now).
I only have two parking spots near my apartment and neither of them provide access to an outlet, which means I have no way to use my battery tender. Knowing this, I recently replaced the battery in Clive with a brand new one, assuming I can let it set for a week or two and not have to worry about it starting. Oops. Between Pebble Beach and ::gestures at the world:: I let it sit for more than two weeks. Here’s what happened.
First, I got into Clive and he didn’t start. This wasn’t a surprise. I then attached my battery jumper and, again, he died. No big deal. I just had to drag my battery to an AutoZone for a quick charge. Upon returning to the E39 I realized one of the well-worn tires was flat. Not a big deal. I have a compressor in my Subaru and I filled up the tire and it seemed to hold air.
The next day I picked up my daughter for school and, whilst driving home, noticed a certain fall like aroma. When I got to my parking spot I immediately opened the hood to see what I initially thought was just a bunch of leaves up there and quickly realized, given all the sticks, was a freaking squirrel’s nest. It was, like, not even parked for three weeks! How long does it take a squirrel to build a nest?
I don’t have a picture of this because I was too busy trying to get the leaves and shit out before the nest caught on fire. So, anyway, lesson learned.
In your life, how do you care for your project cars? How long do you let them sit? How bad should I feel?
Too many 60-hour weeks have meant that my 2000 Ranger, Alice, has been waiting for a new engine since January 2021. It decided to add festive holiday glitter to its engine oil. “One of these days, Alice; to the moon!”
Also, I know I’m not the first person to have my username swapped to my real name. Is there an easy fix other than “pester one of the staffers”?
Well for months at the time, some of my projects are in the 4 years and counting
Months, obviously. I got my Fiat back in March-ish from a 2 1/2 year trip to the spa for body and paint work and a few other things that made sense to do while they had it. Needs a bunch of deferred mechanical maintenance and age-related stuff (front suspension rebuild, ditto brakes and steering, timing belt/water pump service, a few other things). My goal was to drive it before the end of the year. It’s mid-September and I haven’t touched it. I have more projects than time and the E12, Saab and even the 911 (which hardly ever really needs anything) keep demanding my attention. The JSW and the SE-R get neglected somewhat. My cognitive overhead for car projects is too high and it’ gonna take until spring to lower it to where I want it.
I build up my own bikes too, and for the most part my fleet doesn’t require anything more than maintenance. But I have a project bike that I started as a city bike for an ex-gf and I haven’t touched it in at least a year and a half. And it just sits taking up space in my sun room.
My ’67 VW squareback that I purchased in 1978 needed some engine work, so I got the engine rebuilt. I finally researched and installed the proper carbs and jets. It ran great for the first time in a really long time. Then I started taking it apart to fix a sticky door latch. To do that meant the door glass had to come out. Then covid hit and I received a chunk of cash from the government. Spent it all on parts. Then I started taking more and more apart to get to the hole where the battery used to sit. More and more parts were purchased and more and more parts were removed from the interior. Now the only thing left is the headliner, which will stay. Then the intent began to do body work all over and repaint. I have all the parts I need. I started grinding and cutting. I’m in the flammable foothills of California and the next work time was spent readying our posessions for a quick exit in case of wildfire. Which included readying the camper, creating go-bags, identifying stuff to bag up, creating lists, etc. And cutting and grinding on metal in a highly flammable area during a heightened fire risk was not a good idea. So, the squareback has been sitting now for two years with little or no progress. All the intent, but none of the action. Bummer.
About two years ago, my beloved 1985 VW 2 WD Vanagon that I DDed for about thirty years went south. The coolant and oil had decided to co-habitate. I’d replaced the mill about twenty years back, swapping the 1.9 liter for a used 2.1 liter from a ’89 Syncro (hey, it was cheap). What a nightmare that was! I wrenched on it, outside, for an entire summer to finish the transplant (this isn’t your parent’s VW–they changed the lay-out of everything (especially the cooling system) about every month of the production run, requiring a lot of thinking, figuring and fabricating to get Tab A to fit into Slot B).
It was late fall and I don’t have a garage. Winter here lasts 9 months.
So I bought the proverbial $500 rig to get around in for the winter. Of course, a $500 rig now costs $800, but whatever. A ’93 Toyota Corolla Sedan wasn’t my first choice, but, hey, I’ve always wanted to build a Gambler rig and what could be better? If Mercedes can do it in some of her rigs, so can I!
But… life. I wrench on a brewpub for a living, which is a fairly full-time job. Also, the Toy needed some work. When I took it for a test-drive, it was obvious that the front left wheel bearing was shot, so I replaced that. It’s always been my thinking that if one corner is shot, all the rest aren’t far behind, so I replaced those. Then the rig felt like the timing was off. I asked the seller when the timing belt was last replaced and he replied “Do those wear out?”. 265K on the original? Good thing it’s not an interference engine! New timing belt…. Two year later, the Vanagon sits in my yard and the Toy is now my DD. Latest repair was a new fuel tank–looks like a PO really crushed the old one and it started leaking.
Bought a second set of rims for winter tires and installed a largely home-made roof rack so I can carry something–switching from a Vanagon w/bed to a rig with the cargo capacity of a lady’s handbag is tough. I’ve had to suffer the indignity of sleeping in a tent on the ground again!
The lift kit I bought for it is sitting on a shelf, as I realized the shocks kinda need replacing, too.
My $800 bargain rig is now a $3K+ bargain rig and counting.
So keeping the stand-in running has become a full-time wrenching job, while the Vanagon waits for my wallet to get fatter. New mills aren’t as expensive as some, but they still cost a few $K–plus the entire nightmare of fitting a new mill in! Plan is to buy a short-block and swap all the parts from the old one so as to save some work on that.
Now it’s fall again and still no garage. I guess I’ll drive the little white roller skate for a while longer… got good winter tires, at least, and it does get better gas mileage than the Vanagon could ever dream of.