Hitting the wall, we've all been there

[ccq8le]

Just take the time away from it..... winter is coming... When spring comes your head will be clear an you will be ansy to get cracking on it. Hell as time goes by you may have a new idea or find newer parts or a different way to do something and when the time comes to get back in it you will know...

Nothing is fun when you're forced to do something.

I have hit my walls too. (Blew up a rear end in my old Bronco and Snapped drive shaft and axle shafts and even blew a hole in the bottom of the rig all while in the center lane of the freeway) That same week my dog died and I lost my grandma a few days prior. I didn't know if I had it in me to get the Bronco going again.....

But 6 months later after sourcing parts and rebuilding (and actually hours of using a dremel to cut out the old gears)...... I got it working again and felt like a million bucks driving it. Knowing all the fruits paid off and that nothing can stop me...... I have had that Bronco over 20 years now and have put over 200,000 miles on it myself (it now has 330,000) and I feel if it breaks again I will fix it, and some day my son will drive it and when it breaks..... he will fix it.

Believe me ..... you will feel that million dollar feeling the day you get it going again..

Good Luck You got this!

 

[IronSnake]

Alright, I'm not going to tell you to keep it or sell it. I think you are the one that needs to decide that. I will however share a bit with you, if you have read my thread on my 85 you know that it was like watching a bipolar woman that lived Groundhog Day the week she started PMSing. I loved that car, I hated that car, I got excited I would giggle like a school girl, I was so upset I wanted to part it out, I felt so proud, I felt so let down. Now that its 99% done and my Dad came out to do the first fire on it, I literally shed tears after it fired up. I cant explain the feeling. I have so much sentimental value wrapped into that car now that my honest to god number to let it go is probably $90k. It puts a smile on my face every time I go look at it, every time I start it, every time I drive it.

I don't know what tie you have to your car but just know that once its finished, in the end and all buttoned up the way you like it. It will be worth it.

Few additional comments, if you have the means to sell it and buy a new car cash. do it. I hate payments and refuse to have payments on anything so that would be a deal breaker for me. But at the end of the day, will you be happy with a new mustang that looks just like every other new mustang on the road?

Tony,

I've been following along on here, Insta, and FB. No doubt, you've had your struggles. It appears that if you want a top tier fox, it takes time, effort, emotion, and struggles. I'm well aware of the fight it is, but social media kind of gives a false notion of what it takes to really do it right. In some cases, folks post a picture of "finished", but never tell you that it took them 3 times to do it lol. Anyway, I can only imagine what it meant for the GT to fire up. As much as I've hit "the wall" of sick and tired, i've hit "the wall" of achievement too. Like getting it on all four wheels and rolling it outside for the first time in a year. Firing it up for the first time. Driving it for the first time. and more.

Those moments made it worth it. Beyond a doubt, couldn't have been happier. The hardest thing to survive are the bad moments though. Takes a lot to push thru. I appreciate the kind words/advice.

Funny thing is you mentioned your father. Mine helped me find/build this one. And as he gets up in age (60) with "okay" health so far in his life, the value in that time spent together means more and more to me. I've sold just about every project car we've ever built together. Selling this, buying something new, and moving on kind of scares me. I don't want to wish I had something back that his hands touched after he's gone. I'd like to have that for me/my kids.

Which in the same vein, low and behold dad heard I was fed up and burnt out. I didn't step foot in the garage since saturday. He called me last night and asked if he could come hang out in the shop with me. Bring me some tools/parts. So he did. Naturally he used his old man wisdom, convinced me to install the bypass, and tinker. We tinkered, drank a few Coronas, hung out, and took it for a ride.

Since the wedding is in less then a month, I'm slapping the MM coil overs/CC plates up front, getting it aligned, and sticking a fork in it for now. Drive it some and enjoy it. Come back to all the broken stuff later lol. I don't plan to buy anything else for now. Maybe buy an 11-12 GT at some point to have something newer/nicer to drive. But the coupe is staying.

 

[Rare40th]

@IronSnake Ironic you mention your old man. Same reason I have held back from selling my 04 so many times. I have this instant regret because I wonder how I would look back on it in the future if/when something happens to him. The car came into the family because of an Uncle who would later pass and it's almost been a constant reminder of him and my pops.

Hard part is the thought of the things I could use the money for. I have been through a lot of stress and money with it over a few years and I'm at the point where I feel like the moment I turn the key on somethings gonna break on it. I have no confidence in that car which sucks. The last two years it has maybe 450 miles put on it? All last year I replaced quite a few parts cosmetically to kind of restore it and detailed it inside and out so it was cleaner than factory. All for it to sit and collect dust....

Hope you enjoy it and it keeps you happy, or if you sell it just know it's going towards something that's positive and MAKES YOU HAPPY.... your dad would rather see that then see you unhappy even with a car you guys have a hand in together

 

[DSG2003Mach1]

Tony,

I've been following along on here, Insta, and FB. No doubt, you've had your struggles. It appears that if you want a top tier fox, it takes time, effort, emotion, and struggles. I'm well aware of the fight it is, but social media kind of gives a false notion of what it takes to really do it right. In some cases, folks post a picture of "finished", but never tell you that it took them 3 times to do it lol. Anyway, I can only imagine what it meant for the GT to fire up. As much as I've hit "the wall" of sick and tired, i've hit "the wall" of achievement too. Like getting it on all four wheels and rolling it outside for the first time in a year. Firing it up for the first time. Driving it for the first time. and more.

Those moments made it worth it. Beyond a doubt, couldn't have been happier. The hardest thing to survive are the bad moments though. Takes a lot to push thru. I appreciate the kind words/advice.

Funny thing is you mentioned your father. Mine helped me find/build this one. And as he gets up in age (60) with "okay" health so far in his life, the value in that time spent together means more and more to me. I've sold just about every project car we've ever built together. Selling this, buying something new, and moving on kind of scares me. I don't want to wish I had something back that his hands touched after he's gone. I'd like to have that for me/my kids.

Which in the same vein, low and behold dad heard I was fed up and burnt out. I didn't step foot in the garage since saturday. He called me last night and asked if he could come hang out in the shop with me. Bring me some tools/parts. So he did. Naturally he used his old man wisdom, convinced me to install the bypass, and tinker. We tinkered, drank a few Coronas, hung out, and took it for a ride.

Since the wedding is in less then a month, I'm slapping the MM coil overs/CC plates up front, getting it aligned, and sticking a fork in it for now. Drive it some and enjoy it. Come back to all the broken stuff later lol. I don't plan to buy anything else for now. Maybe buy an 11-12 GT at some point to have something newer/nicer to drive. But the coupe is staying.

good to hear you've settled that for now.

part of the attachment to my car is my late grandfather helped me to get my Mach, thats probably the biggest stumbling block to letting it go. I actually typed out a "whats it worth" post on FB the other day and after listing it all out plus the responses to the car I realize I can't let it go. I just need to make time to fine tune some things and let it rip

 

[blownfox]

You will have issues with any car you mod. I'm currently fighting an issue with my 03 Cobra. I cannot load revision 15 to the car. I can load R14 but R15 errors out every time. The tuner has even provided a couple of new files for r15 but my X4 will error out every time. This car has been fighting the tuner due to the MAF not begin calibrated as advertised (what sucks is i bought all new parts to avoid those problems). At this point, I just want to get my car home and go back toworking on it once we get our house built. Sometimes I wish I had left the car with the stock blower and fuel system or bought a 16+ GT.

Your fox is dead sexy! Foxes are old car and require more maintenance. Mine 93 Cobra was a nightmare.

 

[Coiled03]

Tony,

I've been following along on here, Insta, and FB. No doubt, you've had your struggles. It appears that if you want a top tier fox, it takes time, effort, emotion, and struggles. I'm well aware of the fight it is, but social media kind of gives a false notion of what it takes to really do it right. In some cases, folks post a picture of "finished", but never tell you that it took them 3 times to do it lol. Anyway, I can only imagine what it meant for the GT to fire up. As much as I've hit "the wall" of sick and tired, i've hit "the wall" of achievement too. Like getting it on all four wheels and rolling it outside for the first time in a year. Firing it up for the first time. Driving it for the first time. and more.

Those moments made it worth it. Beyond a doubt, couldn't have been happier. The hardest thing to survive are the bad moments though. Takes a lot to push thru. I appreciate the kind words/advice.

Funny thing is you mentioned your father. Mine helped me find/build this one. And as he gets up in age (60) with "okay" health so far in his life, the value in that time spent together means more and more to me. I've sold just about every project car we've ever built together. Selling this, buying something new, and moving on kind of scares me. I don't want to wish I had something back that his hands touched after he's gone. I'd like to have that for me/my kids.

Which in the same vein, low and behold dad heard I was fed up and burnt out. I didn't step foot in the garage since saturday. He called me last night and asked if he could come hang out in the shop with me. Bring me some tools/parts. So he did. Naturally he used his old man wisdom, convinced me to install the bypass, and tinker. We tinkered, drank a few Coronas, hung out, and took it for a ride.

Since the wedding is in less then a month, I'm slapping the MM coil overs/CC plates up front, getting it aligned, and sticking a fork in it for now. Drive it some and enjoy it. Come back to all the broken stuff later lol. I don't plan to buy anything else for now. Maybe buy an 11-12 GT at some point to have something newer/nicer to drive. But the coupe is staying.

Good call. Glad to hear you made a decision for your own reasons. Sometimes, indecision is worse than anything.

 

[Hunter98SVT]

I've been in the same boat.

I have 2 cars torn apart. The Cobra is still waiting to get painted. Every time I roll it into my paint booth I have to roll it out because of other peoples projects (not that I'm complaining about business) but the car has been apart for well over a year now. And it need a lot more than just paint.

And my foxbody is down to a shell. Engine is torn apart, have all the 408w stuff I need like heads, stroker kit, intake, etc. But no time to take the block to the machine shop and have it gone through and bored. Oh yeah, it also need painted too!

I get married in two months so I've been saving for that. Congrats to you on yours.

All in all when these cars get done, and yours is already badass, we'll turn around and look at it while walking into a store and just think **** yeah. Worth it.

 

[scott9050]

Dumped my 90 hatch in 2005 after 7 years and thousands spent..... Still regret it.

Sent from my SM-N950U using the svtperformance.com mobile app

 

[CV355]

I can completely relate. If you've hit a point of exhaustion, you need to determine if there is an end in sight. Will the cost to finish exceed the gain?

I've been learning the hard way that any decision that results in less stress is USUALLY the best one. When I made the decision to sell my '00 GT instead of finishing it, I was sick to my stomach for months. But as soon as that thing sold, there was a major sigh of relief.

Perhaps the decision is to just give it a rest for now? Maybe to sell? That's up to you. I got tired of dealing with my Mach 1 this year, so I'm done until January on that thing.

 

[Revvv]

Could be worse. My first mustang was in the body shop for 6 months. They told me they couldn't get parts.....for a Mustang. Just let that sink in.

I've been waiting on a windshield for 2, going on 3 weeks.

Granted, I am a jerk and demanded that my insurance company replace the parts damaged on my car with OEM parts. They whined and cried, and then miraculously began giving allowances for OEM Ford parts.

No, not salvage yard parts. New, in the box parts.

Sent from my SM-G930V using the svtperformance.com mobile app

 

[Revvv]

Hi IronSnake - boy do I have a thread for you!

https://www.svtperformance.com/foru...minator-and-68-miles-later-its-broke.1115089/

I'm also rebuilding a 3000GT - and broke a bolt in the block. Tried an extractor and broke that. Had to grind it out - went to far and into a water jacket. Threaded and JB Welded a stud into it and then cut the stud to the right length. Tonight I was going to finish the engine but couldn't figure out the tensioner mounting... oh wait, it needs to bolt into that area. So now I've had all motivation sucked out of me and I need to cut the stud off, grind it out and re-JB Weld a new stud. SIGHHH

View attachment 1508711

View attachment 1508712

I have always like the 3000GT. One of the first new cars I purchased was an AWD turbo Eclipse. I regretted not waiting for a 3000 to be at the dealer.

Impulse buying was learned that day. That Eclipse was a lot of fun though.

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[Revvv]

My 350z has been sitting since november.

tag expired.. same gas in it... convertible top barely works.. needs paint.

I hate the car, but yet I dont sell it.. not sure why I dont sell it either..

I finally gave my truck away. I didn't sell it, I gave it away free and clear.

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[blubyu87gt]

Good looking fox man. I've been through quite a few of them but have always had at least one in the garage since I was 20. So of course I agree with you keeping it.

I had the same thing happen on an old 90 GT I was driving. Man I was pissed too. Nothing more annoying then spending damn near a day pulling that stupid thing out just to have to do it all over again.

Regardless, your decision with the heater core issue is:

a) Let it sit, possibly for months, until you get time and whatnot to fix it and be sour about it the whole time....

b) Bypass it and have it back on the road in 15 min and enjoy the car.

Dude you're in South Carolina lol it's not as if its exactly cold out here. Shit it's only cold in the state for like 3 hours a year lol. Quit kicking the rock you stubbed your toe on and enjoy the car. Even if it's with the heater bypass. I promise it wont be the end of the world. Plus it's totally reversible. Or be pissed off at the car while it sits in the garage for something that could be resolved in 15 min..... In the end its your choice.

Oh and go do a doughnut in the thing. It will make all lifes problems go away. (Unless something goes horribly wrong lol)

 

[crazycarlo]

Oh man I don’t know how I missed this thread haha. As someone who has seen numerous foxes and I have seen yours up close and in person you have the cleanest fox I’ve ever personally seen. You have put countless hours into it and money.

With that being said I know where you are. That’s why I sold my Eaton swapped cobra. Honestly I would bypass the HC for now since you don’t need it right now haha. Then drive it. If after the wedding you dread doing the HC still and all you can start getting your for sell ad together. Plus by the fall end of the year car deals will be everywhere maybe.