Quote:
Originally Posted by Happy
...This one of the main reasons, not the top, but main reasons owning Ole’Girl is difficult for me at times. The seasons that she has sat around rotting away. It’s like a chest pain that never goes away! LoL.. And I also agree, sometimes I feel it’s better to just let her go. !ouch....
|
I just swapped my '66 Chevelle (427 c.i.,635 rwhp) for an '01 X5 (3.0L, considerably less rwhp), after 13 years of letting the "Big Galoot" Chevelle sit unused in the dust-filled garage, sharing space with my home-built 4x8 squareback trailer, and with lots of my wife's junk (unable to fit inside three large storage sheds).
Whenever I would go to the garage, I'd be sure to pat my old car, and would 1) regret stopping racing it, 2) regret not putting it back on the street, and 3) wishing I could be sure it would get a new "life", with another like-minded owner.
I knew I'd never get a quarter of the money back that I'd put into her, and certainly didn't want her parted-out for the high-dollar components (I previously had hung on to a '65 Chevy II shell, until I found someone who wasn't going to cut it up), so she sat in the garage, only being rolled-out every few years just to start the engine.
Eventually, I quit doing even that, and she sat. Couldn't even get interest from my millennial nephews (2 of my brother's sons, and 2 by marriage), because...they are millennials. Even for free, but with the promise that the car wouldn't be parted-out. No interest. But then, I turned to my 40-something next-door neighbor, that worked on his own cars & dirt-bikes.
After several years, I finally got his interest piqued in the Chevelle (which he had seen/heard running years before, in my driveway, and brought his kids over to see). At the time, I told him my wishes to keep it intact (mostly), and for it to return to racing or the street (I never entirely stripped out the necessary parts for that). He agreed, but with a modified plan to make it a pro-touring type street car, with less compression (from un-domed new pistons), Holley fuel injection instead of a honking big Holley carb (1053 cfm), and swapping in a 4L80E tranny for the trans-braked Powerglide (of course, the 5000 stall torque convertor and full-spool 4.88-geared 12-bolt rear would be changed out,too). Ladder bars would come off, as would the 5-gallon fuel cell (too small for streetability), but practically every non-critical racing part would be kept, and integrated into his plan. At least, it would be given a new life.
In exchange, for the Chevelle plus extra stock & racing parts I had stockpiled since '94, he would find me a 4WD Jeep, or similar from '96 (start of OBD2 on everything)-'04 (when I thought the hated TPMS was on everything), and make it as reliable as he could (he is an Electrical Engineer, rebuilds his cars engines, transmissions, etc. in his garage, and has the knowledge - and drive- that I used to have in my earlier days). He found what he thought might be two good prospects...an '01 BMW X5 (hi-mileage, but well-maintained), and a '91 Jeep Grand Wagoneer (rough shape, and not OBD2, but OBD1, and a Fuel Injection conversion possible? he thought).
While I always liked the Jeep Grand Wagoneers, it wasn't quite what I had in mind, but then, I really, really liked the first generation Bmw X5 (at least from minimal contact with one 15 years before), and had nearly bought a 2002 in the '70s, and wished I had for years thereafter. Maybe this was my (last) chance to have a BMW!
3+ years later, he hasn't started work on that Grand Wagoneer (he bought it anyway), but he deemed the BMW restored/repaired enough to meet my needs, i.e. "
a back-up vehicle, with AWD or 4WD, able to transport 4 people (at times) in all weather, and on gravel/dirt roads if needed to pull my 2222 lb home-built trailer". I already have two 2WD trucks (not really good on ice/snow/mud), and two FWD vehicles (better in foul weather, but not on dirt), and only two (GMC truck and Cobalt coupe) can transport four people. Since most major systems on the X5 have been addressed, leaving minor fixes and personal touches for me to do (at 70, with bad back & knees, I don't like "major" projects much, anymore), the BMW X5 is just what I wanted/needed. I hope my old Chevelle will enjoy a new life.