Ever get the feeling that a car isn't done with you yet?: Classic Cars forum: Classic Motorsports

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March 11, 2010 8:12 a.m. BoxheadTim HalfDork

As part of the move prep I've been making some effort to sell my 911. I figured that with me going back to Europe once or twice a year it didn't really make a lot of sense to have $20k in automobile form sitting around as that would buy a nice classic in the US. So I was starting to advertise it.

First thing, I couldn't find the title. I never had this happen, and I probably owned something like 50-60 cars, if not more. Not once. Nevertheless, first paperwork snafu. So I order a duplicate.

Next I try to prepare it for some photos - ad without photos doesn't work, right? Battery in, wander off to get the tax disc (our equivalent of a tag) that turned up in the post two days earlier. Only that I can't find it. Tear the house apart, it's gone. Finally, several hours after I stopped searching, I discover that it's pinned to the board that has all the 'urgent' letters pinned to it. I was standing right next to the board but I couldn't see the darn thing. Of course by then it was too dark and thus too late to take photos.

This morning I had to move the Integrale as I had tree surgeons around and didn't think it looked better with a tree stuck through the sunroof. This car normally starts immediately, this morning, it wouldn't. On the second try it coughed to life on two pots, then three, then four, belching out a huge cloud of oil smoke. I guess that goes well with the dipstick that tried to climb out of the tube during a 500 mile journey.

I bet that if I turn the garage upside down, the 911 in there is hiding an Integrale shaped voodoo doll.

For some reason I'm beginning to think that someone's trying to tell me that this car isn't done with me yet or vice versa.
March 11, 2010 9:49 a.m. André Rousseau HalfDork

She's trying to tell you something!

I'm trying to decide if the GT6 is going to be pissed with me for putting her in Storage all winter and working on the FIAT.
March 11, 2010 2:25 p.m. Andy Reid Auction Editor

I definitely get the not done with me thing. I got Facebook friend request from the buy who bought my Bentley Brooklands and about how he is considering selling it an would I be interested in it. The same day I found the spare key that had been lost for 2 1/2 years and the factory service manual set that was also lost.

I think that car may be coming back home.
March 12, 2010 8:00 a.m. racerdave600 Reader

I have also experienced things like that, especially with the 240Z I have now. Every time I think about selling it something strange happens and I don't. Now I have the wife telling me not to sell it. I'd really like to move on to something else, but I suppose I'm keeping it a bit longer. It's like a dog that shows up at your door....
March 12, 2010 10:30 a.m. André Rousseau HalfDork

My wife has forbidden me from selling the GT6. She reminds me I'd regret it in no time.

She has also told me the FIAT is my 1 and only race car and is still annoyed I used that card on her. hehe

A.
March 12, 2010 11:48 a.m. carzan Reader

That's actually happened a couple of times to me. The first time it was an '81 Malibu that I had aspirations of an engine swap that never happened. I decided to sell the car instead and placed an ad. Previously, the car had never, ever failed to turn over. It might not always start since the engine was so worn that the plugs would foul, but it never, never, never failed to spin. The first potential buyer showed up and I hopped in to start it and...nothing...not even a click. I frantically fiddled with wires and explained that this had never happened before which I'm suuuuuure he believed. He left with a parting statement along the lines of "Yeah...um...let me know if you get it going." Oh yeah, after he left, I went inside to get my multimeter. When I came back, I decided to give it one more try and, of course, it started right up.

The second was and is my DD Jeep Cherokee. I had owned it about three years when a friend of mine decided he wanted to trade his full-sized Chevy PU for it and bugged me for months. I finally gave in as we were doing work on the house a truck is handy for hauling supplies/materials. He came one night and we traded keys and started, but luckily didn't complete the paperwork. He drove the Cherokee home, but I had a bad feeling and put the paperwork aside just in case. The next morning, he called and said it made it to the end of the driveway and quit and it wouldn't restart and did I have any ideas? "Nope", it had never failed me the entire time I had it. He tinkered with it for weeks installing new sensors, new ground wires etc. He finally gave up and called me to see if I wanted to trade back. I was finished with that phase of the house work, so I told him "sure" and he hauled the Cherokee back on a trailer.
I found and repaired a broken wire (that day). It was the 5V line to the TPS and MAP. Two years later, I'm still driving it. I'm considering parting with it, but I fear the consequences...

Oddly enough, despite sitting undriven for 4 or 5 years, with a new battery, my '73 GT6 started right up and drove itself onto the trailer of the new owner with nary a hiccup. I guess it had had it with my neglect.
March 12, 2010 8:40 p.m. M030 HalfDork

This car:

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/reader-rides/3304/

I used it as my DD for two years and it was a great car. Never a moment's trouble mechanically. Then, I decided to do the bodywork and paint it because, "it deserved it." The project took three years and I got bored with it and want to sell it.

Since it's been for sale, I've had to replace the: transmission, radiator, rear calipers, fuel lines, throttle linkage and more. Every single time it's ready for sale, something else breaks and incapacitates it.

These things never break all at once. They happen one by one, seemingly randomly, whenever the project is "finished" and especially if someone is coming to look at the car. I'm beginning to really hate that car...but I get the real feeling that it just doesn' t want to leave me.
March 12, 2010 8:51 p.m. 4g63t Reader

Yeah, my Eclipse. I bought it in 1993 with 30K, and bent valves. Put it together and drove it another 150K troublefree miles. Sell it to the lot guy at the job. He owns it six months. I get it back dead and resurrect it. Sell it to my roommate. He falls asleep at the wheel and knocks a gardrail down. He then drops it in front of my house with the LF wheel stuffed into the wheelwell. Where it sits. For a year. I resurrect it AGAIN. That thing is a boomerang!
March 14, 2010 6:04 a.m. BoxheadTim HalfDork

Well, it certainly doesn't appear to be done with my wallet yet. I pulled it out of the garage yesterday for the first drive of the season; started first turn of the key, ran fine.

So I drove it to the gas station, filled up and it won't start again. Cranks like mad, but doesn't fire. My guess is that it's the DME relay - I hope it is because getting it recovered to my specialist isn't going to be cheap as I found out that the breakdown cover I have for it only covers tows to a local garage. At least they towed it home...
March 15, 2010 8:10 a.m. racerdave600 Reader

In my Porsches I always carried a spare DME relay, you never knew when they were going to quit.
March 15, 2010 11:55 a.m. BoxheadTim HalfDork

I should've known to carry one but didn't. If swapping out the DME fixes the issue I'm definitely carrying a spare one.
March 15, 2010 2:52 p.m. racerdave600 Reader

I learned my lesson when it wouldn't restart with the wife in the car. She took it ok, but I think that was the spark that initiated the Porsche sale.