Been there, done that, have the T-shirt!! My daily driver is a '78 NYB with
73,000 miles, all original, and in show condition. While I do garage the car
every night, it's out almost every day to work, errands, etc. My wife's
daily driver is a '73 NYB sedan with only about 52,000 miles and faded
original paint. It sits in the driveway (so she can keep HER show car, a '72
Beetle, in the garage)and rarely gets washed. When my '78 is being serviced,
I use her '73 unless the weather is really nice, then we have four other
show cars to choose from. We have nothing newer than the '78 NYB, however.
Ross Klein
'56 Imperial sedan
'78 NYB 4 dr.
'Life's too short to drive 'ordinary' cars"
----- Original Message -----
From: <TheTanSedan@xxxxxxx>
To: <mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, April 02, 2002 2:38 PM
Subject: IML: Sole Car/Daily Driver Problems
> I'd like to throw in a little about the 59: My sole automobile has been a
> 1971 Chrysler I've had since 1994 (original to family, I've known it,
driven
> it, serviced it for a lot longer than I was/am its owner). At title
> transfer, the car had 78,000 miles, was rust-free after a life in Arizona,
> Colorado and southwest Texas. Still had many original parts underhood one
> would expect to have been replaced, and everything worked albeit with
> increasing difficulty that age, not mileage, had affected. As I was
living
> in apartments until three years ago (and for many years previous with
another
> car) I can state unequivocally that having a place to take it apart for
more
> than a few hours is NECESSARY. I've known others for whom their old car
is a
> second or third automobile, and the necessity of getting it ready just to
run
> to the grocery store or to work is alleviated when one runs into the
> INEVITABLE "can't fix it just now" because of: faulty parts, unforeseen
> deterioration which demands attention, not having the right tools, simply
> bungling the job, etcetera. I like to kid my wife that she married me to
> have someone to snuggle on the couch with and keep her toes warm at night,
> without a doubt (wink) I married her for having a garage big enough to
build
> a bench, store tools and parts, AND (most importantly) a lockable
workplace
> where I could take apart the entire front end/driveshaft/rear axle to
replace
> every wearing part, clean and paint after careful inspection, determine
> future jobs, and generally just take my time. I didn't (and don't ) have
the
> income to hire out this work. My two cents worth is to rent a place to do
> this, get you a little parts chaser you don't have to do anything to
beyond
> scheduled maintenance, and figure it'll take you two to three years (and
> 15-grand) to rebuild, paint, etc, everything on that 59 to make it into a
> safer, reliable daily driver. But face the fact that it'll never not need
> something done to it. Even if you replace every single inch of wiring in
> every single component. That's just the way it is. (And I for one love
the
> fact of a 59 regularly prowling the streets, it is an excellent goal.)
Best
> of luck
>
> Ross
>
>
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