Fwd: My '59 Woes

I would like to thank those who offered their comments on my '59 engine rebuild. They are deeply appreciated, and I wished I lived closer to all of you so I could get some personal help with my '59. The truth is, I personally do not think it needs an engine rebuild yet, and probably has another few years of relatively care free driving left on it. I should have probably bought it to my Mexican mechanic who I go to for all of my Nissan repairs, who is very reasonable, and always does a very good job, but when it comes to the Imperial which I plan on having the rest of my life, God willing, I want an excellent job. I took this week off work with the intention of devoting it to getting the Imperial running properly once again. Whenever I bring my car to the mechanic it involves a lot of juggling of my two automobiles, and taking the bus to get home, or go pick up one of the cars I left at the mechanics, so it all becomes a day long ordeal, and sometimes there is a few mile walk involved to get to where the bus comes. Not that I don't need the walk, but it all takes time. I am also entering the time at work where we get extremely busy, and my time is going to become even more limited, since I will most likely be having to put in some 6 day weeks. My first mechanic, who was very good, and did excellent work had been telling me from the start that the engine needed a rebuild, but since I now have no arms or legs left after paying his repair bills, I am going elsewhere. The point is I am worn out going from mechanic to mechanic to find out what is wrong with this car, only to be told the same thing every time, which is why I came to my decision to just get the thing rebuilt. Unfortunately it comes at a time when I am trying to pay off bills rather than create new ones, but if I want to keep the car, I also have to keep it running with my current living situation, and with the prices of real estate in Southern California soaring by the thousands daily, it doesn't look as if my living situation will be changing anytime soon. I have as Hugh suggested been thinking about painting the engine compartment while the engine is out, but I haven't even decided on a final color I would like the car to be. I have narrowed it down to two colors, either Sandstone, or Metallic Turquoise Gray. I tend to shy away from metallic colors, since they are so hard to touch up, but I love the way the Turquoise looks on the Ruffalo convertible, and it would sure look sharp on mine with the black band across the roof. Then there is also the thought of doing the suspension work in front while the engine is out. I would then have everything mechanical done on the car, or redone anyway. I will most likely be without the car for the next six weeks, so I will have a little time to make these other decisions. I am pretty good at painting cars, and would think nothing of doing the engine compartment, but then I would have to have my parents illegally smuggle in some lacquer again from Arizona, since I hate working with urethane, not to mention its cost. These are things I will have to think about in the coming days. Sometimes I think, why didn't I just shell out the money for that fully restored '59, but then I would be missing out on all this fun. I also would not be helping the poor '59 that I found and fell in love with turn into a swan once again, and get another nice '59 back on the streets again.