My Way To Deal With Ptsd

[Sludge]

Bah. Not even the tanks impress me...

What we need is some real steel on the road.

Me, I prefer a 73 Ford Falcon XB GT with an aftermarket front end and a Weiman Supercharger...and some custom body work...

 

[Sludge]

Let's see...owned...TR3, 2 Triumph TR4s (one IRS other IRS with a targa top), Austin Healey 100-6, Sprite (Ugh!), an MGB and my current love, an Austin Healey 3000 MK II. There was an abandoned part of the Autobahn behind the base where they would have gymkanas when weather permitted. The Coopers took home the prize every time. And believe it or not an old Beetle with a Porche engine was always a close second.

What a great thrill to just stroll down to the local cobblestone street an watch a cross country. Exotic cars zipping by at 100 per, exhaust screaming. Tons of fun and a German occasionally for a hood ornament.

Motorhead? Me? No!!!!!

Sarg

I threw a rebuilt Porcshe flat four along with a bus transaxle in a 67 Beetle about ten years ago....Dual Weber 44IDF with synchro control hex linkage, and disc brakes of a karmann-ghia.

Four weeks after completion, I took that beast of a Porsche out of there and swapped it for a 21oo overbuilt VW flat four.

Even with the lower heavier bus gearing, I got tired of rolling the rear skirt into the engine every time I took off from a stoplight in town. Too many ponies in that bug even for me.

Damn, I miss that car- Sold it at a huge profit and bought a Transporter and a Barn Door bus, both of which got stolen and were never recovered.

(I do have a 58 split-window bug here I intend to finish one of these years, but money is really tight right now...)

 

[Sarg]

Oh, you mean Detroit iron...O.K. 1968 Dodge Charger RT with a 440 Magnum. Couldn't keep tyres or gas in/on the thing. Sheriff told me if he ever clocked me at 140 per again, he'd park a squad car across both lanes of the freeway. 49 Ford with a 292 flathead V8, ran like a striped ape but blew oil all over the place. Had to carry a 5 gal. can of recycled oil to keep the pressure up. Sold the damn thing cause I thought you had to pull the motor to fix the seal and sold it to a kid who went down to the auto parts store, bought a $2.95 kit and fixed the damn thing so it didn't leak anymore.

69, 72, 73 Bronco. Yes, seriously, took three Broncos to make one. 67 Chevy 3/4 Ton pickup. Suspension so stiff you felt every grain of sand. Sold it out of self preservation. 66 Chevy PU short bed with camper. Liked the truck but they had butchered the shit out of it cramming a 350 in it.

Been tinkering with vehicles all my life as I could never afford a reasonable new one.

Oh, and Sludge, how about a 48 split window Beetle with Machs nichts sticks? Parts were constantly falling off the damn thing. Got so pasted one night I lost the pax door and never knew it. Had to retrace my steps of the night previous to find it. Lost my Charger the same way once.

Even when they're looking and running good (which is very rare), I'm still tinkering on them. Fantastic therapy!

Sarg the motorhead.

 

[Sludge]

Best Therapy in the world is having to throw it in neutral with the e-brake on at every stop so you can jump out with a pie-pan to catch the oil that pours out of the crankcase at idle...and then dump said hot oil into the funnel that serves as your filler cap....