Build Thread-85 Cutlass Brougham-New Pics Added!

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

Well, considering that I have done exactly zero of my engineering specific courses yet it's a moot point. The only courses required for my major that I have done are Composition and the Calculus I course I am trying to pass now. I am doing all science and math courses now since I never took them before when I quit college at 21. I had 40 credit hours at that time. I may try to get something to do with my major after next semester, but right now the job market stinks. You have to understand that I need the break from constant struggle. I can't even afford any decent clothes right now because I have too many other things vying for my money. My truck needs work, my Cutlass needs finishing, My AMC needs a ton of work, my back porch roof is fully rotted and has large holes in it that you can see the sky through. I just want to run screaming from it all. If I made good money that would be one thing, but I simply don't. My income has dropped off by a few hundred dollars a month now with the economic slowdown and I don't want the house anymore. I can't handle the stress of it all anymore. I am burned out from years of a life devoid of any enjoyment.

 

[axisg]

sometimes it is better and easier to walk away.

Any chance to sell the house ( although it's a crappy time and a buyer market ) and get something smaller with the $$.

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

I figure I would rather sell the house and pocket the $20-25,000 in equity I have than have it foreclosed on or keep living life like I do now. I am hoping that things improve in a few months when I am ready to sell it because right now no one can get financing. I should have done this a year ago when things were not this bad. Right now I am not in bad shape and have done a lot to fix my past credit problems. I have gone 2 years without any late payments, etc. I don't want to see all of that time and effort ruined because things take a turn for the worse. I don't really love the idea of living with my parents, but I would rather that than sacrifice my last chance to maybe have a good future.

 

[Tony_SS]

The things we own, own us.... that's kinda why I hate having 2 project cars. I'd be just as happy with the Monte and a POS truck. I've been very close to selling the Malibu to buy a truck.

If its a starter home you shouldn't have a problem selling it. Also, look into doing a sale by owner and having a title company do the transfer work. You can save thousands on commission with some work on your end.

If I was in your boat, I'd probably liquidate most of my stuff and look into an apartment, store your Cutlass at your parents house and get a cheap fuel miser for driving and start stashing away cash here and there.

My parents are at retirement age and the fact they just have too much stuff is the whole reason that they're still working!

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

Well, my parents live in a Nazi community, so storing my car there is not an option. They left their garbage can out 12 hours too long and were sent a pic of the garbage can and threat of a fine if it was not brought into compliance! I think living with them would not be too bad for the short term, but long term I might look into an apartment. I may even consider renting my house out while I live with them so that I don't lose the equity. That was my mom's suggestion anyhow. Yes, my house is a starter home with around 1050 sq ft, 2 bed/2 full bath/ 1 car detatched garage, screened in in ground pool and a large front porch which is now parts storage as is the living room, kitchen, dining room, both bedrooms and 1 bathroom. I may consider storing my Cutlass at a friend's house if we can put up a fence to keep it hidden. Then again, I may just sell off all three cars and get a nice late model Mustang GT. I don't know what I will finally end up doing as it is a few months away. I just know that my life now is nuts. Too much crap, and yes, eventually it ends up owning you. I want a little freedom right now. I can always buy another car to play with but time is something you can never get back. I just wish I had lived that out when I was much younger.

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

I will add another telling little tidbit about my project cars: They have gone on too long with no payoff. I took my Cutlass apart for a "quickie" paint job in 1999, and did the engine swap in 1996. The AMC Spirit got it's swap in 1993 and NEVER worked right despite throwing every extra dime I had at it several times during my life. The AMC is representative of failure to me, and I need to cleanse it from my life. The Cutlass is not really what I would build it as today, but rather what I can do with what I have. The amount of time involved represents literally thousands of hours of work with no payoff for me. I want to see both of them finished, but even the Cutlass which I like better will not be what I want it to be because now it would have an LSX and T-56 with a swap front and rear to better suspensions and brakes ( independent rear). The AMC has been with me since I was 15, and represents money not spent on things that matter, and ultimately failure. The Olds I have had since I was 19, and while I did get some payoff with it, I should have punted it years ago and spent my money on things which would have given me a chance at true happiness rather than just a piece of machinery. Yes, the whole girl thing is the impetus for me rethinking my life right now, but then she has been in the past too as she was one of my influences for going back to school and quitting my crappy pizza manager job. Not directly, but seeing what I had missed out on by pursuing in vain things rather than people and relationships. In that way, I consider her one of the better influences on my life even though she does not realize it and did nothing to directly prompt it. I don't see any of this as a negative, but rather as a new beginning. I just wish I had done this when I was 25 and not 35. I could have had a happy life instead of one filled with selfish loneliness as I tried to finish projects I could not afford. It's all very complicated and I am sorry for bitching about my life on the board. I just find it cathartic to write things out and figured I would use my own thread to do so. I am setting a deadline of the end of next semester to start selling off the encumbrances that hinder my life. Will I ever build a car again? I don't really know the answer to that question. I will see where life takes me. For now, I want to spend my time and money on trying to find the right person and finishing school. After I succeed at those two things I may think about building another car for myself. Never again, however, will I let this hobby run my life.

 

[Blake442]

This all seems pretty drastic to me, but who am I to judge?

Lots of projects can easily become overwhelming, but there's no point in throwing away all the time and effort you put into something like your Cutlass because of a decision that you need to simplify.

You think you're depressed now, imagine how you'll feel when you look back and think that all that time you could've been doing something else and were working on your Cutlass instead, and now you don't even have the Cutlass to show for it? How much time and money have you invested in it? What do you think you'd get for it if you sold it? I'll tell you right now that even with your new engine, and a new paint job, good luck getting more than $6000 for it. Is that really worth letting it go? I doubt it.

Pack your Cutlass and any parts you want to keep into your garage and lock it up. Sell all your other parts that you have laying around. Rent out your house, and tell them that the garage is off limits. No sense in losing your *ss more than you need to on your house, and renting it out is a good idea. Ditch your AMC, and make the minimal repairs to your truck as neccessary so you can continue to drive it into the ground. There are easier ways to simplify your life without throwing everything you've worked for away.

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

$6k is about what I anticipate getting for it. I really have not had the time to work on it in a while. To finish the body I skipped a semester this summer. I just don't want it hanging over me anymore. I don't really expect anyone else to understand but I have lost interest in it.

 

[Blake442]

You just posted while I was writing my post, so I will add that you can always upgrade your car to your current tastes later down the road when your situation is more stable. Cars are never done, and are always evolving with the taste of the owner. Turning your back on the hobby just doesn't sound like a rational decision. It seems more like you're pointing the finger at your projects saying that they took you away from what you wanted to experience in life.
Even so, who says that your projects have to control your life like you seem to put on? When I built my 442, I worked from 8am to 5pm, worked on the car from about 6pm to about 10pm, took a shower and went to the bar with my friends until about 2am, and then got up and did it again. There were times I didn't work on it for a couple days or even a couple weeks, depending on how much energy I had or if I had the parts or materials that I needed.
The whole reason I built my car was as a reward to myself for the hard work I had done through school. I went to a two year autobody program, and all my friends went to four year schools and had the typical college experience like in the movies. I never went on spring break, or fun summer road trips, just school and work, every day, year round. I then immediately got a full time job and decided it was time to enjoy myself a little, and the car was my means of doing so.
The bottom line is that YOU are in control, not the car. If you want to go do something else, go do it, the car will be there when you get back.
I know it's not as easy as telling a person that's depressed to cheer up and everything will be better, but fact of the matter is that the power to change anything lies entirely on you. If you feel that you need to rid yourself of everything you've worked for, then I guess that's what you need to do. I certainly don't agree with it, but in the end it's not my decision.

 

[Silent viewer]

renting is the best idea i have heard yet! have you considered a storage garage? i had my regal in a storage garage for at least 2 years and i was able to work on it there which was cool and i was able to keep my car indoors. why not keep 1 project car and sell the others to buy a better daily? and a mustang? a ford? NOOOOOO! lol