Search This Blog

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Lost in the Wilderness




Remember the scene in the Steve Martin movie 'The Jerk' where he walks off, mumbling, taking the chair with him? 

I feel a bit like that lately... with too many things going on my brain feels muddled, and an old quest has (perhaps) bit me in the ass. 

Most of you know I recently bought a 1969 Spider, which was a very good deal, and was something I'd been looking for ever since one slipped through my fingers in 2008. These cars have always 'spoken' to me, and this one was SUCH a good deal, I just couldn't say "No". 

...but I broke two of my own cardinal rules. 1) Only own one 'project' at a time, and 2) don't get two cars that are too similar. 

My '74 Spider is the project that'll never end. Something I never foresaw was that after modification on top of modification, the required little continuing adjustments never seem to end. You modify one thing, then something else has to be adjusted around it, and then a third thing isn't quite what you expected. It's tough to know when it's 'done'. 

In the meantime, I have so little time that it's just too easy (and too damn much fun!) to drive, so I end up never WORKING on it. The '74 has a dozen small projects that have been hanging over my head too long, making me crazy. That damn exhaust braket rattle will drive me around the bend soon, and with less time than ever for my Fiat 'habit', I haven't even had time to open a box of parts I recieved a few weeks ago. 

With the '74 projects behind, the new '69 needing attention, the 'ole Wagon felt like too much - so the poor thing languished, only to eventually be sent off to be "out of sight & out of mind". That wagon deserves a better owner than me.

I collected a number of parts off the '68/'69 series cars for my '74, but I know in my heart it'll never 'really' be an earlier car, and darned if that damn '69 doesn't just have charm coming out it's ass. It is a shockingly different driving experience, and not just because it has a fraction of the power my '74 puts out. That little 1438 motor is surprisingly 'spry', and I can't help but think that after rebuilding the carb & giving it an electronic ignition & good tune, it'll be remarkably better. 

The '69 needs a lot of work to bring it up to snuff, but in a VERY different way from my '74. The '69 is sooooo close to stock, it's really easy to measure & list what it needs. That line is VERY blurry on my '74, which will NEVER be stock, and likely never 'done'. 

So what do I do? 

My original intention was to spiff up & buff out the '69 for an easy flip, early in the summer. The proceeds would help get The Great White Wagon back in service, which would then mean I'd have time to wrench on the '74 guilt-free. (And the clouds would part, and the sunbeams would shine down on me while the angels sang!)

...in the meantime...damn, I love driving this '69... 

After all I have done & gone through on my '74 (and all the bruised knuckles of everyone who helped!), can I even imagine selling The Beast? Would it be absolute lunacy to even consider selling the '74, and keeping the '69??? 

Or do I need to just focus on one project at a time, some day arriving at that mythical nirvanna where all the cars just need periodic maintenance? 

Sometimes, that's the part of the Fiat Ownership Quest that always seems to be one step too far...or one step inside the looney bin...