Comments by "Thump Er the Sweaty Fat Guy" (@SweatyFatGuy) on "The Actual Freedom of an Old Car." video.

  1. In 1987 I got a loan for $2000 to buy a 1979 10th Anniversary TA. In 2001 I got a $2000 loan to buy a 1992 F150, divorce and the ex prevented me from doing much until 2015. In 2004 I got a loan for $7000 to buy a 1998 Formula and paid it off in 2005. Still have my first car that I bought in 1982, when I was 13, a 1967 Cougar for $450. I am into old cars, most of them are older than 1979. I rebuild then drive them. I can do literally everything that needs done to completely rebuild a car or truck. Been rebuilding engines since I was 8 and started repairing small engines that mom ran out of oil. First V8 rebuild at 13. Learned transmission rebuilding at VoTech school in 1993. Self taught everything else. In 2016 I started daily driving my first complete frame off rebuild, a 1965 GTO. The second and final divorce forced me to delay driving it from 2012 when I got it drivable, until 2016. It was a very rusty parted out rolling shell. The pinch welds were completely gone so there was no way to put front and rear glass in it. The floors were mostly gone. It was a mess, but I drive it all summer now, with a fuel injected 455, spinning a TKX 5 speed and 3.08 rear gears. I have less than $20k in it. I finished the rebuild for around $8500, the rest has been engine upgrades and the 5 speed. Right now I am doing a 71 Mustang, its a bare shell and I am finishing the metal work I started in 2006, and put on hold to do the Cougar which was held to do the 65 GTO. Long story. I need it out of my shop, so it will be getting paint very soon and I have an entirely new suspension waiting to go under it. Need to order rear leaf springs, shocks, and rear drum brake parts. Other than new skins for the seats, I have everything here to make it drivable, not quite roadworthy, but put a battery in and I can move it around the yard easily. I'll finish it later, have some others I need to work on. Last fall I took a 71 Ventura that hadn't been driven since the late 80s, and made it drivable. It needs shock absorbers, door glass, and the interior put back in, might put new leafs under it too. I am taking all the cars I don't plan to do a frame off/ground up rebuild on, and making them run/drive with engines I have had for years to decades. In winter I drive 2000-2007 Silverado 4x4s, they are VERY rusty up here from the salt, so I can buy 2500s with 6.0s in them for $400. Lots of parts on them to keep the winter daily 1500 and 2500 running. I'll be taking the 2007 GMC crew cab 1500, and putting the cab and box on a 2005 2500HD 2wd frame to make it my long distance hauler. It will pull the race cars around, and make it more comfortable for me and my dog to haul my cars off the family farm. Its going in the shop as soon as the Mustang comes out, and I need it done by June. When you don't care if its perfect or not, you can really get a lot done. I don't build show cars, I build drivers and fun cars, so they happen fast. I do it right of course, but there is a big difference between doing it right and doing it show car quality. That difference is time, something I am running out of due to age. I'll be 56 here soon, and a hard life will catch up to me eventually.
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