My Last Project Vehicle

[redidbull]

A few weeks back I told my Wife that my 89 F150 will be my last project build. It has been getting tougher to crawl under these cars. I will still be doing maintenance on our cars. Hurt my back pretty bad last week and I still can't do much. My weight lifting and craziness in my youth has really caught up with me. I do have plans to build a drift trike and I think that is the direction I will go. Anyone else feeling old and defeated? Thanks. Jim

 

[lazarat]

I am finding at my age it is a lot easier to fall under a car than it is to get back up from under it.

...but continue I do...

.

 

[Old Iron]

Way easier too get down than to get up.

 

[zzrodder]

Yep, I remember bench pressing the cast iron 4spd Hydramatic up to the Olds engine under my 55 Chev PU in the dirt....
Now when I'm laying on a creeper under a car, it's all about what tool can I find to do the lifting - still dreaming about the lucky guys with high ceilings and lifts.
Then I think about guys like Gene Winfield, still at it in his 90's, and I stop whining.....

 

[kenny c]

redibull: You can't give up. Slow down a little maybe. Stay strong. We need you around here.

 

[bob w]

Yes, my next project will be my last ground up build. Will be 83 when it is finished.

redibull, there will be plenty of maintenance and refinements to keep you busy.

 

[Bamamav]

Some days I feel like I'm 18, some days I feel like I'm 118.

The good days, I try to do something, the bad days, I spend a lot of time on the computer planning for the good days!

It's not always the cars, it's yard work, home work, doing stuff for somebody else. There never is enough time to do everything that needs doing, so I do what I think needs done first, the rest can ride until I get to it.

Doubt I ever do another full build/restoration myself, but there are plenty of little projects to keep me busy.

 

[soltz]

Got to listen to your body. Going slow is not quite stopping but will help.
Good luck with whatever you do

 

[redidbull]

Lots of great ideas and suggestions here. I always get so ****ed at myself for getting hurt and get pretty low. I think I got hurt cleaning stuff out of the basement. We are trying to get stuff cleaned out because we may want to move in the near future. I'm semi retire, work 4hrs a day, turning 65. next month. Wife is going part time in July. We have lived here 37yrs and amassed alot of junk. The F150 has been in my yard for 3 or 4 years and I am tired of looking at it there. I thought about junking it for a while but too much to lose. Thanks for the encouragement. Jim

 

[bob w]

65! You are just a puppy. You could have lots of builds ahead of you.[cl

 

[lazarat]

This is what scares me, and this just happened a few days ago: A stroke leaving a 61 year old car buddy paralyzed on his left side.

He owns a 1962 Chevy Pickup, a 1954 Chevy sedan delivery and he was currently putting his 1964 Chevelle back together. It was just a week ago that we were helping install the trunk lid and hood, interior needs complete and he has all the glass and parts ready for install.

So the other day I helped get hay for his horse and helped secure a ramp for his electric scooter. We are going to get together and help get the Chevelle on the road, hopefully with therapy he will get mobilized and enjoy it.

Translation: It could be worse!

.

 

[lowbudget50]

Wow, thats sad to hear. You guys are good friends for helping get his car finished. Hooe he gets to enjoy it

 

[05snopro440]

The previous owner of my property was your age, and was pretty crippled. Heart troubles, terrible knees, and in addition to this acreage they had a lakefront property 10.5 hours away that the spent the summers at. It all just became too much, so they let go of the acreage.

Comparatively, my dad is 69 and had a major heart attack 1.5 years ago and still does much more than a lot of guys I know who are 10+ years his junior. Age is a number. Look at Bob, he does more than a lot of people of any age.

My dad did his "last build" 20 years ago. I'm starting my "last build" now. Assuredly, both of those "last builds" are BS. If you have the bug, you'll keep doing it forever. It helps keep you young.

 

[Tripper]

I feel your pain! After the coupe build took 4 years outta my life I'm not up for another total build but will be working on freshening up my Nova & putting a MII front clip & new engine in my '57 Ranchero! Hopefully there'll be car shows to go to!

BoB

 

[lazarat]

I just turned 70, but had a heart attack in '08. I might not be here had it not happened on a Sunday. I was working ten hour days 6 days a week, and for that last week I felt like crap with this strange feeling in my left shoulder.

So here is the somewhat humorous long story:

So that Sunday, afternoon right after I had a salad, it started. Having CPR training and a wife that was an RN, we both recognized the symptoms, she decided to call the ambulance. It wasn't that bad, except for the nausea, but:

The ambulance got lost coming to the house, we can hear the sirens but they were on every street but ours causing my daughters to run out and flag it down.

Now I'm on the gurney in the ambulance with the paramedics going "hmmm.." Ok, lets get him in to get checked out, will go to Holy Cross which is closer. Wife says ok, I will secure the house and get there.

As soon as we go around the corner, I crashed. Now the drivers are heading to Broward Health, which is the main place for heart health. Bouncing around over bumps, railroad tracks and twists and turns, the paramedics are yelling ETA and my heart rate which is dropping fast over the radio and it feels like Jack the Ripper is stabbing my chest. Meanwhile my wife is on the way to the other hospital.

We get to the hospital, everybody jumps out, except for one paramedic, but the driver killed the engine. All the power is off, and me and the other guy are locked in the ambulance!

bang bang bang boom boom rattle rattle

Open the door!
Turn the ignition on!
Open the f.. ing door!
Turn the ignition back on!
Open the f..ing door....

Im gasping for air, my life is passing by when the paramedic gets it and runs through and turns the power back on...and out we go.

So as they are setting up the surgery, my wife shows up and asks who do you want me to call?

..."call...my boss.....tell him...I don't think...I will be...in tomorrow..."

No! I mean your family! .....oh....

Bing da bang da boom! A stent is in my heart and I was able to watch it all happen on the moniter. The next day, there are these folks walking around with a video camera, and asked if I wanted to be in an infomercial about Broward Health. sure why not. So I was the star on a half hour infomercial...that I never saw....

Thats my story, and I'm sticking with it

 

[Old Iron]

 

[dutch]

yeah...that...

 

[smallfoot]

I get up in the am whenever anymore. I go out and do a spin and look at all the projects on cue and pick one that feels like what I can get accomplished that day. Some are "have tos". Some are not. I'm living on borrowed time. If I don't just keep on going, I'll probably die. I think it's more mental than physical anymore. My heart attack was in 2015. Unlike most, there was no repair done on mine. When I left the hospital, they had me believing I'd be pushing up daisies shortly. Guess I fooled them..living on half a heart for 7 years..no meds but aspirin. But here I am. Had the heart attack right after getting the 31 on the road. It now has over 50,000 miles on it(probly more on me) and I'm into some replacement items up front. It started to shimmy once in a while due to the degradation of our highway getting all the traffic from a bridge construction project 5 miles away. Nothing but dumps and concrete trucks all day. So I've been going thru all steering related items. First I replaced my steering box with a brand new Saginaw just like the one I originally used to put on the truck. While there, I replaced the steering column U-joint too. Those items where the only place I found any slop at all. Test ride-not them. I used a stabilizer too and that got changed today. That seemed to cure it. I found indications that I hit something hard enough to bend the shaft on the stabilizer and some slight damage to tie rods. All that was cured today. I had already ordered new shocks for the front and they arrived today...I'll get them in tamaly.
It'll be like any other day, If I get up and go, I'll get it done. Lord knows nobody else will do it...

 

[Old Iron]

If we don't do the pushing to extend our time here on earth, no one else will.

 

[05snopro440]

If we don't do the pushing to extend our time here on earth, no one else will.

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