BonzaiDuck
Lifer
- Jun 30, 2004
- 15,727
- 1,456
- 126
I came up in meager circumstances, and this has tutored my choices between fixing an old car versus discarding it for a new one.
I will admit my shame here and now. I inherited a 1964 SS Impala. After driving it from CA to the east coast in 1972, the piston rings were shot at about 110,000 miles. In 1974, I bought a remanufactured engine for it, and got transferred to Texas, where I had the transmission and carburetor rebuilt. Just before returning to the mid-Atlantic, I visited a former teacher in Colorado for Christmas, and found myself cruising at 125 mph on a Sunday returning through north central Texas. And thank God I didn't get caught in some small-town speed-trap, or I might have served time in Hunstville. But I only remember hearing Elton John on the Chevy radio:
And I think it's gonna be a long, long time
Till touch down brings me round again to find
I'm not the man they think I am at home
Oh no no no, I'm a rocket man
Rocket man, burning out his fuse up here alone
So I returned to the east coast, and acquired -- briefly -- a girlfriend who had been a checkered flag girl at Daytona. By this time, I'd upgraded the entire suspension of the SS. All the upholstery had been repaired, although you could see the patches of vinyl tape which I'd sprayed with vinyl paint. Red and white interior, bucket seats, and a cream-colored off-white exterior paint job. The original SS chrome hub-caps, chrome hood locks, new brakes and good tires. Daytona girl said to me, "I think you may get rid of this Old Beauty Queen soon enough." My self-esteem and common-sense was at a low ebb. When the heat-sending sensor for engine temperature went bad, it was in the middle of winter, snow piled all over my condominium parking lot. I could've repaired it myself with a $20 part, but the thought of crawling around in the snow put me off. I traded in the Impala for a song, with only some 30,000 miles on the short-block 325 engine.
Tell me I was stupid! Every day since that time in 1977, I call myself stupid! If I'd held that car for another ten years, I could've had $25,000 for it easily! It was a collector's item!
So ever since then, I've tried to recoup what I lost by giving my used cars tender loving care. And to me, replacing an engine in a car is just "no big deal." It is amazing how you can resurrect an old clunker and give it double life.
The Mazda 3? I looked that up. You'd have to tell me what year it was. Maybe it's time for the junkyard. But I just wouldn't throw a car away for mere temperature sensor, and if the engine needed repair, I'd consider overhauling it. You have to think about how many more thousands of miles you could squeeze out of it with a new engine -- and without a girlfriend making off-the-cuff remarks to influence your bad decisions.
Just my thoughts on the matter. . . .
I will admit my shame here and now. I inherited a 1964 SS Impala. After driving it from CA to the east coast in 1972, the piston rings were shot at about 110,000 miles. In 1974, I bought a remanufactured engine for it, and got transferred to Texas, where I had the transmission and carburetor rebuilt. Just before returning to the mid-Atlantic, I visited a former teacher in Colorado for Christmas, and found myself cruising at 125 mph on a Sunday returning through north central Texas. And thank God I didn't get caught in some small-town speed-trap, or I might have served time in Hunstville. But I only remember hearing Elton John on the Chevy radio:
And I think it's gonna be a long, long time
Till touch down brings me round again to find
I'm not the man they think I am at home
Oh no no no, I'm a rocket man
Rocket man, burning out his fuse up here alone
So I returned to the east coast, and acquired -- briefly -- a girlfriend who had been a checkered flag girl at Daytona. By this time, I'd upgraded the entire suspension of the SS. All the upholstery had been repaired, although you could see the patches of vinyl tape which I'd sprayed with vinyl paint. Red and white interior, bucket seats, and a cream-colored off-white exterior paint job. The original SS chrome hub-caps, chrome hood locks, new brakes and good tires. Daytona girl said to me, "I think you may get rid of this Old Beauty Queen soon enough." My self-esteem and common-sense was at a low ebb. When the heat-sending sensor for engine temperature went bad, it was in the middle of winter, snow piled all over my condominium parking lot. I could've repaired it myself with a $20 part, but the thought of crawling around in the snow put me off. I traded in the Impala for a song, with only some 30,000 miles on the short-block 325 engine.
Tell me I was stupid! Every day since that time in 1977, I call myself stupid! If I'd held that car for another ten years, I could've had $25,000 for it easily! It was a collector's item!
So ever since then, I've tried to recoup what I lost by giving my used cars tender loving care. And to me, replacing an engine in a car is just "no big deal." It is amazing how you can resurrect an old clunker and give it double life.
The Mazda 3? I looked that up. You'd have to tell me what year it was. Maybe it's time for the junkyard. But I just wouldn't throw a car away for mere temperature sensor, and if the engine needed repair, I'd consider overhauling it. You have to think about how many more thousands of miles you could squeeze out of it with a new engine -- and without a girlfriend making off-the-cuff remarks to influence your bad decisions.
Just my thoughts on the matter. . . .
Last edited:
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