abandoned projects - hands up ??

[steptoe]

Alrighty, we know SuBaRiNo Dave has already expressed some despondency towards finalising his supercharger project and asking what we all thought - getting mixed support - as you will always get asking for opinion.

I am getting close to saying Argh BLEEEEP it.

I originally wanted to turbo my Brumby. I bought a turbo cross over pipe on ebay for 18 bucks. I also eyed off a complete 1987 turbo L series auto sedan at the wreckers for its turbo bits. Not being available for being stripped at that time, a year later bits have gone, I am told it wil cost me 600 to stop the bits going - and its mine with a suspected blown head gasket. The motor has been cooked - due to an inlet manifold gasket leaking water into combustion.
I also bought a spare rolling shell of same but 1985.

Two years later I still have 87 that still needs sorting. The intention was to see if i like turbo (stupid question !) runs right on LPG then dump it into the Brumby. I have to get it run right (just weak valve springs to try) then see if that improves its behaviour on LPG then see if I can get it all into my Brumby and engineer it

Wondering if it has all been worth it so far and whether I can afford the time and motivation. I cannot remeber doing or thinking much more than this project in my spare time of past two years! That's nuts !!

I am nearly there. Thinking to dump my spare EA82T in and see how that goes, then attend to the valve spring problem some time in the future

I bought a gearbox off a fella who had two or three Brumbys, a few MY wagons, an L series wagon, L turbo bits, a Liberty and more subie bits all over the place on a small property. He was moving and decided he needed to dedicate time to his family before they grew up. Someone from Mudgee drove down with two 4WD and trailers and pretty much took the lot! I have sen others with abandoned projects and would feel I have wasted last two years spare time if I gve up now.


Who else has thought of abandoning projects, and did you, or just shelve it for a while

[El_Freddo]

Hey steptoe,

I'm thinking of abandoning my MPFI EA82 that was only rebuild and put in the car just before Easter '07 - only then to have the engine cooked in December '07.
Its sitting on the bench at home waiting for new head bolt threads to be installed, I don't know if I have the time or patience to fix it back up again, put it in the car, smile for a day and then still want an EJ.

I abandoned my solid lifter project, a little more time and patience and I reckon it would have been a real goer - probabily better on a carbie engine though, I don't think the MPFI ECU liked the mod... Driving it to Perth without really putting it through its paces beforehand was a mistake too.

There was also an LJ torana that i was doing a ful rebuild on, including replacing the rear parcel shelf and window lip - its in the shed waiting to be finished. As with a few other "long term" projects that are lurking in dad's shed (I want a shed as big as his once I'm outta uni, but with less stuff stacked up and around the place...)

There was also a mathematics degree I gave up on after a year... I still wonder what I was thinking.

That should about do it for now.

Cheers

Bennie

[Hamish71]

1953 MG TD - Had a runner/daily driver, and a runner/not roadworthy.
Ojective: Make two MGs, sell the first one to pay for the other.
Result: Made one, my mum still drives it at 70. The other....I honestly think I left it disassembled under a house somewhere in one of the thousand Army moves I did.

1953 Ford F 100 - Bought at deceased estate, running, all original except for the Ford 390/Powerglide someone had put into it in the 70s.
Objective: Complete "restorfication" to modern running gear, daily driver.
Result: $20k and two years of effort into chassis and suspension. Full Jag IFS, Ford 9" rear on Valiant Station wagon leaf suspension. Chassis notched and lowered. Rails boxed. Body restored. 400 Chev built for straight gas matched to Hollinger g/b sourced from a V8 Supercar....didnt work on it for 2 yrs, sold it all for 8k when I left the Army and started my own business and needed all the cash I could get.

2001 MX5 NB - The car I was never going to sell. Bought one with reasonably high km, but the engines on these things a bullet proof.
Objective: Build a normally aspirated screamer, for street and hill climb use, overbore, high compression, head work, power ported intake manifold, bore throttle body, extractors, full stainless exhaust, Motec, custom leather interior, 18' wheels, koni/king suspension, lowered, PWR radiator, cold air intake.
Result: All complete (suspension, body, exhaust, extractors, throttle body, intake and manifold, interior etc), except that the engine has not been assembled. All engine parts purchased, ready to go. Needs about 2k to finish the engine. Car cost 20k, engine parts alone are worth 10k.....and then I bought a Brumby......Cars for sale now at 17k, and engine package is for sale for $5k.....anyone want it?

[Phizinza]

So many projects I have abandoned. Some of the ones for the Brumby were auto locker, snorkle, complete brake work over (I was going to install some 6stud brakes off a van).
Just recently I've dumped my range rover tube chassis buggy project in favor of using a different drivetrain, so now I have two 3.5 V8's and a gearbox along with two nissan axles, and a tube bender.
Sometimes projects take too long that by the time they get underway or near finishing you won't something different. If you still want it, then do it. But most of the time for me theres something I want to do more.
I'm about to get stuck into my Mazuki project again after not finishing it by the April dead line. Now I need it done by October. And all this car will do is give the crowds at Loveday River Challenge a good time.

Can't tell you weather to keep at it or not. But I'm sure you can figure it out yourself. Just think it over for a while longer. Put all the negatives and positives about doing and not doing it and see how it weights up.

[steptoe]

ONLY 3 of youse so far ?

I am sticking with it, just gotta pick myself up outta the dumps, put all the tools back clean, build a new engine lifting frame. I have committed myself to Subaru, Brumby and EA82T (mate , they are buggers to remove - heat shield bolts and exhaust off turbo and those bloody converter bolts) Just bought a flex head ratchet in 10mm for the heat shields. I just wanna sort my engine out on petrol, then sort it out on LPG, then into the Brumby with the GLTAs disc brake rear. I need a house with a BIGGER shed !

[El_Freddo]

ONLY 3 of youse so far ?

Maybe they're all too ashamed to come out and admit that they've abandon a project...

Bennie

[BaronVonChickenPants]

I've got 3 major abandoned projects:

First abandoned was the Super Sherpa, scored a '84ish sherpa for free and figured it would make the perfect little beasty with a crazy power to weight ratio running the supercharged Vivio motor, was abandoned in favour of the EJ Tourer Project, gave the sherpa to Xaymayca

Seconded abandoned was the EJ Tourer project, scrounged up all the pieces I needed including a very straight 1984 MY Tourer, EJ18, 5 Speed AWD Manual (turns out was also dual range), full bumper replacement bullbar, surge tank, EFI fuel pump, etc. All I really needed to strip and rebuild the loom, source some EFI fuel hose and put it all together. But by the time I had sourced all the parts I was working 12-14 hour days 7 days a week which didn't leave much time for playing with cars, it all sat in the shed for about a year then had a very sudden change of job and location, some stuff got flogged off, the engine and box got dragged up to Coffs and eventually sold and the very straight MY tourer got crushed into a cube.

Third project was to turn my original white MY wagon into an offroader that lost way to turning it into a destruction derby car, got it 95% complete but missed the deadline so kept tinkering away at it waiting for the next chance to use it, then again due to sudden change, it and its strong, seriously tweaked engine also got crushed into a cube.

Current project is my RA40 celica, hopefully this will pan out better.

Jordan.

[brumbee]

92 Brumby- daily driver, intending to spend time, lift bullbar etc, cut out rust, but proving hard with current house, and not being able to do any major work due to needing to drive to work the next day. not abandoned, but barely moving

1963 holden ej bout in 99, engine is dissassembled, sitting on my dads farm in the shed waiting for me to get some money to do her up original.

[brumbyrunner]

Maybe they're all too ashamed to come out and admit that they've abandon a project...

Maybe some of us have never abandoned a project.

[Matatak]

mine arent abandoned....just ongoing constantly

[dibs]

im 50 ish my memory fails me some times lol. so i got heaps
3 wifes but realy 2 abandoned me., custom fj ute sold to a m8 who finished it of , 265 hemi rail,eh street car sold to finance 1st wedding,72 f100 mild streeter,resto on my ty175 i had since new sold it not long ago.now and then i work for the guy that bought it he keeps rubing it in that its nearly finished 100% resto.

wish we could abandon some of this rain

dibs

[Outback bloke]

mine arent abandoned....just ongoing constantly

Pretty much how it is. My cars are always an on going project. Not because they need it but because I can/want to change them.

[Phizinza]

wish we could abandon some of this rain

Just send it down the Murray would ya?

[El_Freddo]

Maybe some of us have never abandoned a project.

That or our definitions of "abandoned" are a little different - the solid lifters got to where I wanted them til they broke, after that I had no time or patience left to fix the problem.
The LJ was abandon but at anytime is there to be done up and finished.

I guess what I'm saying is that not all abandoned projects are a walk away never to be touched again situation. My abandoned projects are that at the moment because at this point in time I don't see a future working on them, but that could change with some money and nothing to do in my spare time...

wish we could abandon some of this rain

Send it down this way - I love rain, especially since we don't get much of it down here anymore. So far this is the wettest and coldest winter I can remember, even if it started a little late (but nothing unusual there).

Just send it down the Murray would ya?

Too many dams on the Murray for it to get to you Phiz... It'd need a bulldozer to help it out...

Cheers

Bennie

[Willie]

I had to rebuild a HZ Statesman once, after it "fell" off a small cliff and was uninsured.

I bought another "unfinished project" and started putting my good gear into the new shell. My 308 and Turbo 400 'box were recently reco'd and I had the LSD and rear disc set up. The new shell came with all this, (except rear end set up) but mine was better and I knew history. The only things missing from new shell were the front gaurds, nose cone and bonnet. These were the only panels left straight on mine.

I sold off all the extra stuff as I went through the rebuid - motor, box, rear end, interior, doors. After putting in a new windscreen, paint and panel work, 2 new mags, it all ended up costing me approx $200. Not bad for rolling a car down a cliff......

I only had all the bright work to put back on and putting the interior back in, but so far had this project on the go for nearly 12 months. The guy who owned the house where I was living was getting pretty jack of it and my girlfriend of the time wanted me to spend more time with her rather than under the car.

Alongs come an old friend who offers me a pretty good price for the car "as is". I agree, sell car and everyone's happy. Although only a couple of months later I move out and the guy who bought the car moves in. Home owner gets same "nearly completed" car back in his garage!

BTW, funds from that sale allowed me to buy my first Subaru - it was an '84 MY, 2" lift, full alloy roo bar, 14" sunnies and the darkest tinted windows I had ever seen.

[El_Freddo]

BTW, funds from that sale allowed me to buy my first Subaru - it was an '84 MY, 2" lift, full alloy roo bar, 14" sunnies and the darkest tinted windows I had ever seen.

That's sorta what got me into subaru's too. A mate rolled my torana years ago, he paid out what the insurance would have - only had third party. I started the LJ rebuild, got jack of it, then started another car before realising I really needed a going car now. Got an L found out the engine was dead (didn't care, it cost me $500), it spend 18 months in the shed before being unleashed!

Now I got other plans for her

Bennie

[schultzie]

i abandoned a Resto on an xf pannel van... actually only 2 weeks in to it, because i found my old XG that was mint and a smarter option.

My l series is in the shed in bits and i tinker in there some nights after work, it will get done but just like everything it takes money as well.