Twenty years and counting

[MOPAR FANATIC]

  Very very nice ride skid440,once you get her done the wife won't lwet you sell it for anything. 

[CUDA JAS]

You're not alone, and kudos to ya for hanging on to your original ride!  Bought my 'cuda in '88 and drove it for just a few months when one of the freeze plugs developed a leak.  Knew that to do it right I should yank the motor and change all of 'em.  If I was going to yank the motor, I should do a rebuild to run on modern gas, ie: lower the compression and put in hardened valve seats.  Too much $$ for a young dad, so it sat ... until 2004!  Now I'm lovin' it and it's like a new ride to me!

Right there with ya!!

I bought my cuda in Oct 91.  drove it for a few weeks, and put it away for the winter.  Rebuilt the moter over the winter and spring, (high school auto class) and started the body and paint, took all sumer and finally drove for a few weeks that fall.  Spring of 93 I finally got to drive the car all summer. Man I drove it everywhere.

Well, that fall it was put away and has not been on the road since. Life just got in the way.

I have since got married and had a kid, and have one one more on the way.

My wife, has been great and has never insisted that I sell the car.  She has never even had a ride in it.

The car is now in my garage and I am finally working on it again.  I look forward to driving it this summer (hopefully)! But in the meantime I sure am enjoying working on it!!!

Keep at it man, you will enjoy the car when you finish it!!!
 

[skid440]

Wow! I can't believe its been since January since my last correspondence.  For me it seems like years.  Since then my wife of 15years and I are divorcing.  Its been very hard to put it mildly since we have two young boys (Mopar Fans).  If you read earlier, this is my first car and I've owned it since I was 17.  She originally valued it at 28 thousand but we have moved down since then.  Good or bad I have kept every receipt on this since day one so I had a very good accounting of all the money put into her since our marriage began in '92.  Anyways, the bottom line is I get to keep it.  I finally got a house and it has a great garage (Two-tandem).  I spent some time prepping and painting the floor and walls.  Here she is in her new house.  Once I get the parts all found from moving it is finally time to fire this thing up after so long.  I will post progress as it comes.

Also, I'm not bitter or anything but she always said she supported my time in the garage but during the dissolution, she was very bitter about it.   This whole thing has rattled me.   I am obviously not the only man with a car project that has taken a long time to complete.  She really trashed me for not finishing it by now but she just doesn't understand about restorations,  to me its alot about the journey as well as the finished product. 

I am so close here, I just  need to button up the top end and fire it up.   Wish me luck


John

[MEK-Dangerfield]

Sorry about all the personal problems. Women, go figure     The car is looking good. Let us know if you need any advice on anything there. 


  Mike

[ksierens]

Well I can certainly relate since I have owned my car since I was 17, and I'm 47 now, and it has pretty much sat in a barn since the early 80's.  I start the restoration a few years back, and probably have a few years to go.

Looking good.

[70RAGTOPR/T]

Boy can I relate.  Family comes first.  Now that my wife and I are suppose to be empty nesters I'm suppose to be able to work on my car.  Those of us that have young adults know that we parents are looked upon as ATM machines.  Fellow parents can you feel me.  As for your car  keep at it.

Here are two good ones.  First statement is from my daughter.  She made this statement after we just moved her out of her grad school apartment.

"Dad and mom I got a job in CA. can you help me move and can you lend me some money to get started out there"

"Honey our son doesn't have enough money for his rent and school books.  Also since his car needs new tires why don't we get him a set."

Quotes are from "Diary of a poor challeger owner",
Walt

[Bullitt-]

skidd, Nice to see you nearing your goal, though I'm saddened by your breakup, hope the car was not your main issue... We need to see that Challey running & driving soon as you get-er-done.  I'm just getting a good start, almost 2yrs now, on my 1st car from '75. Not a resto just a makeover and hope to have it street-able in the not too distant future. 
Wade/bullitt99

[moparmaniac59]

Hey John,
Great car, and nice job on the resto!! Sorry to hear about the split. My wife isn't too fond of my cars, but she knows it is my only outlet as I don't bar hop and don't have time much anymore for my other passions such as hunting, fishing or camping. So I burn rubber and smell like gas!!  Hope the best for you and family!! keep us posted.
 
                                                      Matt B.

[skid440]

Hey all,

On October 8th, a buddy of mine and I worked all day finishing up the top end of the 440 and we fired it up!  Man what a day that was.  We were able to run it in at ~1300 rpm for 20 minutes.  We had a shaky start because the 727 has sat for a number of years dry so we kept a close eye on fluid levels,  started with 6 qts of ATF.  Oh, we cranked it for 30 seconds and realized that my fuel pump fitting was not seated (flair fitting to pipe thread)  OOPs.  Lots of fuel on the ground.  Then the aftermarket trannycooler I installed leaked all over the place.  I need some advice on this....  Oh and I didn't torque the valve covers so oil leaked onto the tti headers in the rear and started a flame up.  Remember the fuel on the floor?  Well I avoided setting the car, garage, house on fire.  If you look at the earlier pic, she is on blocks and wouldn't have rolled out of the garage very easily.  Bottom line is the cam is ran in and the car is a runner.  I even put it in gear and the real wheels moved in the right direction!!!  Man this has been many years coming.  Lots more interior and other things left but she could be on the road as early as this weekend!

THANKS to all of you who gave me support on this web, especially after announcing my divorce.  You all are great and smart mopar heads.  I will post pics when I get a chance.  I only had time to snap a couple as we had some fires to put out.  John

[MEK-Dangerfield]

John,

  First time fire-ups are always scary, as you just know there might be leak city. It sound like these are all fixable though. Good luck with it. 


  Mike

[hezzel]

Best luck to you and hope everything goes well...

[LAA66]

 I know where you are coming from as far as the wife goes. In 87 I blew the motor in the Challenger so decided to repaint the car while the engine was out. She didn't like the fact that my spare time was going to be spent in the garage and not out having fun all the time.(her kinda fun)

Not long after it was a trip to the big D, and I don't mean Dallas. Looking back now, I think it was the best thing that could have happened.

     

[moparman11]

You are coming right along, hang in there, John

[cudagirl4406pk]

Nice to see you still have your challenger alot of people get into money or family crunches and lose that ride.My husband has had his gto since 1988 since 10th grade and vows never to give it up.

michele

[KoriAhola]

What great news that it's running!  I'd like to know how it feels to drive it after that long of sitting.  Just hearing the engine must have been hard to resist taking it down the block and back.