This page was inspired by my friend Bob and his collection of crappy vehicles.
Some people do drugs, some do art, some make babies, but one of my biggest hobbies is cars. Other than the Porsche, there is nothing particularly special about any of these money pits although some have sentimental or local history value.
I do a fair amount of my own wrenching, but farm out things like bodywork, welding, and paint. I have been too dumb and gotten attached to these cars and not accept offers to sell some of them, but who knows... One of these days I might drive them all into town and exchange them for a hydrogen fuel cell car.
1991 Toyota FJ80 Landcruiser
187,500 miles
I needed another car like I needed a hole in the head, but I got this one for a great price. The lady I bought it from had purchased another (newer) Landcruiser and she didn't need two. It's no sportscar and suffers from the early FJ80 sluggishness. When and if the motor gives up the ghost, I will probably drop in a nice 350. Current plans: convert it from full-time to part-time 4WD with a kit from Mark's of Australia and upgrade to Old Man Emu suspension.
272,000 miles
The commute-mobile. I inherited this car from mom when she bought a new one a few years ago. She had kept up with the maintenance pretty well, but rode the clutch a lot and so it got a new transmission around 1990. I replaced virtually all moving suspension parts and took care of a lot of the little details that had fallen by the wayside (like the spark plugs with gaps over 0.150" , spec is about 0.030"). Runs great, gets around 34 mpg. Plans: new windshield and repaint it.
1984 GMC S15 Jimmy
92,000 miles
This was my high school graduation present to myself. I bought it used in '86 with only 22,000 miles. Has been a very reliable vehicle, but rather underpowered and developing a few rust areas behind the rear wheel. Current plans: Hopped up 4.3L V6 to replace the 2.8L V6 is under construction right now. It won't be quite as tight a fit as a smallblock V8, and should be a huge improvement in power. I plan to keep the T5 5 speed tranny, but we'll see how long it lasts behind the new motor. Anyone want to buy a used but still great-running 2.8 V6?
1978 VW Rabbit L
215,000 + miles
The wabbit found it's way out west from the DC/Virginia area while I was in college at New Mexico Tech. It was owned by Xibo, but he grew tired of it and I bought it for the best $500 I ever spent. After removing all the little Russian vocabulary stickers Xibo put in the car, I drove it for several years in college and grad school until one day I was headed to school and the little beast lost 21 teeth from the timing belt. No problem, as VWs aren't interference engines. I got it running again, then decided to tear it apart as well as repaint it. The engine, which was my first full rebuild I did myself, has been put together for over 2 years, but I haven't gotten around to putting it back in. Plans: put the engine back in, repaint it right this time (last attempt involved more beer than sanding and prep work and the paint is peeling). Will be the back-up commuter car.
130,000 miles
I got the Scout at an estate sale for $750. It has the 345 V8, a powerful motor with decent mileage. I had the body and paint done about 2 years ago and then needed some new bumpers. I posted an ad at The Binder Bulletin looking for someone to weld up some bumpers and got a number of replies. Jack Porter in Alamogordo had the best prices, so I sent him some plans and he did a great job. The Scout even made the trip down and back to Alamogordo to get its new bumpers! I just might even make the Rocky Mountain IH Rendezvous this year! Plans: get the winch for the front, replace both cab mounts, replace the back floor, rip out the rest of the carpet and have a spray-in liner applied to the whole interior floor, maybe a 2" spring lift.
150,000 miles ?
Another car that used to be mom's. Not much in trade-in value when she bought the Jetta, so my sister got it for a couple of years in high school. She didn't take very good care of it, and when she went to college, we put it up on blocks behind the house. I got interested in it a couple of years ago and found a great mechanic in Santa Fe who is a wizard with all things VW and Porsche. Mitch put together a nice motor (1641 cc, mild cam, ported heads, dual Dellorto 36mm carbs, centrifugal advance distributor with Pertronix electronic ignition) and we got the bug mobile again. Last fall I put in a whole new lowered front suspension with disc brakes. Plans: finish it off in Cal-look style (dechrome, clean mouldings, body-color bumpers with integral turn signals, EMPI 8 spoke wheels), maybe go up to ~1750 cc and Weber 40mm IDF carbs, replace current tranny with shorter gear unit. Pipe dream: carbon-fiber dash.
26,000 miles
The '67 came from the same estate sale as the Scout but I got this one for $500. I can't really tell if it has 26K or 126K, but I believe it is only 26K, as the old man who owned it bought it for his camper, used it for a few trips before his wife took ill and he sold the camper. It then got used as an occasional dump hauler. 1967 was the first and only year of the new body style with the small back window. This one came with a 351 cu. in V6 (Yes, you read that right, a V6.) The cylinders are about 4.5" in diameter. I love messing with the guys at the parts store with this - by forcing them to look hard, I can always convince them that yes indeed GM made a 351 V6. I took all the body side mouldings off and the had the same guy who painted the Scout do this one - it was his last body shop job before he left the state. The day I picked it up from the shop, I had an offer to buy it about 15 minutes later and have had many since. Plans: new front bumper, spray-in bed and cab liner, lift gate and hydraulic dump bed. It's going to be a nice-looking work truck.
This is my latest project. 1965 was effectively the last year of the 356, with the biggest improvement being 4 wheel disc brakes which debuted in 1964. My car is a Karmann coupe, which came with the Leitz luggage rack and driving lights as options. The original color is Light Ivory, and this is the color I am going to use for the restoration.
Here's how the car looked in the mid 80's after its first repainting (not a correct Porsche color).
Here is the car in the condition I purchased it, sporting primer and paint from its second repainting (a horrible paint job with another wrong color - some weird champagne color).