- Hughmoris
- Apr 21, 2007
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Let's go to the abyss!
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Awesome. Can't wait for updates. You still have the Escalade?
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Jun 13, 2018 04:17
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May 10, 2024 06:25
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- Hughmoris
- Apr 21, 2007
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Let's go to the abyss!
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Meatpimp, how long have you been buying cars and fixing them up? What was your first experience like doing it?
I'm trying to get out of apartment living in the next few months and this thread has me wanting to buy a basic car and learn the basics of maintenance and detailing.
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Nov 3, 2019 00:22
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- Hughmoris
- Apr 21, 2007
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Let's go to the abyss!
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Huh. Interesting question. Short answer, I've been doing it for 35 years. Long answer:
My dad always had new cars. He started with a '69 GTO before I was born and one of the first cars I remember was a 1979 Grand Prix. We had a 1978 Rabbit LS Diesel, a '78 Celica, an '82 Supra (probably the first car I fell in love with), a 1984 Sunbird Turbo (my first taste of boost), and then moved to higher-end cars with a '85 Fleetwood (the first FWD disaster one, not the cool RWD one), then he shifted to Mercedes -- 190E 5 speed, a couple 300Es and by then I was driving on my own.
With that influence, I loved cars, but never "did" anything but clean them. Until he bought me my first car, a 1967 Buick Wildcat with a 430 4bbl. I got it when I had just turned 15, so I had 6 months to wait for my permit and another 6 months after that to drive on my own. So, I started cleaning. And cleaning. I spent hours under the hood with Simple Green and paper towels. That thing was spotless. I remember somehow connecting the battery backwards and blowing a fusible link, my first repair. And from then, I went on...
Over time, I started doing more with cars, but it wasn't until I bought my first house at 22 that I really started "working" on cars. I had a garage and space. Plus, after a while I ended up with an Audi coupe quattro, that I loved. When it came time to do rear brakes, I made the decision that I could buy the parts and tools to do the job and still pay less money than having someone do it for me... plus I would have the tools and knowledge afterwards. I used that as a method of operations... and I still do. Brakes and alternators and fluids changed to buying a '92 Miata as a project. I ended up doing everything to that car... one of the first Flyin' Miata turbo IV kits, clutch, rear differential after I tore the original out with turbo powah, transmission after I tore second gear out with turbo powah, etc.
It was all downhill from there.
On the cleaning front, the game changer was the advent of random orbit polishers. We started using those when I was still living with Mom and Dad. It was a cheapo Sears thing with a huge 12" bonnet, but it was still worlds better than doing it by hand. When I bought a Porter Cable, it was all over. I still have that first Porter Cable. It needs a new power cord, but it'll still chooch just fine.
With a good polisher, you can do anything.
Basically -- just start doing things. Buy tools. Learn to use them. Get better. Repeat. It just takes a view that it's a lifetime of learning and by the time you get a few years in, you'll be able to look back and be amazed at how far you've come.
Thanks for the thoughtful response.
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Nov 4, 2019 16:51
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- Hughmoris
- Apr 21, 2007
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Let's go to the abyss!
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How goes the VW adventures?
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Dec 10, 2019 16:02
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- Hughmoris
- Apr 21, 2007
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Let's go to the abyss!
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Okay, I suck. I never updated this thread with more pics. 
I have a deposit on the Passat, supposed to be picked up on Wednesday. I've got a total of $2400 in it and I've had it since 2019. Sold it for $5k, even with a list of obvious cosmetic and QoL problems.
I don't really want to sell it, since it leaves my wife and I and 20 year old kid with just the Escalade and RDX, but the kid is at school and doesn't need to drive until late Spring, and I figure that by then there will be a different used car landscape and I'll be able to buy something significantly better for that same money.
We'll see...
How's the Escalade cruising these days?
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Nov 20, 2022 16:22
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Jun 13, 2018 04:17
