Misc MusingsA little side note/ mental field trip.. I always wonder what kind of person the guy is behind a given build log.. is he a noob? retired? an engineer? 1st car? 15th car? what does he do for a living? I find the builder mindset very interesting- when we tell/show the average person what we're doing, they usually just can't grasp the idea- a car out of tubes??.. In my case, I explain that I pro-actively sought out a clown car pile of poo, and proceeded to take apart a beautiful street bike and combine the two.. The reaction is always "Why?!" -usually followed by compliments about how I'm a mechanical genius doing what no one else has ever done (even if for no apparent good reason)..
The Why? I don't know. My best day is being left alone and working on my project for hours.. Am I antisocial? -probably. Years ago tried to turn off my interest in old cars/bikes: too much time and $$.. I lasted about 6 months and went a little nutty before my wife suggested I "Find something to do in the garage- stop denying what you are; you're a car guy and it makes you happy." (cool wife, huh?). Anyway, in my case, some little corner of my brain
needs to do this- this fabbing/polishing/puzzling/fitting/fiddling.. Admittedly there's got to be a bit of ego in this too.. I like the attention an unusual/rare/cool car brings- and I'm very, very proud that I have the ability to build it myself (as opposed to those that buy someone else's work.. nothing wrong with it, but it's clear when you talk to an owner about how such and so was fabbed, the builder-owner can give you a 20 minute soliloquy on it; and the buyer-owner just shrugs..). Probably later in life I'll want to get off the garage floor and let someone else do the work, but I'm not there yet..
A Genius? Why, yes, yes I am! HA! You guys know all too well that this process is a ton of trial and error.. most things I have to build 2 or three times before I get it right, and even then I often still think about how to change/improve/fix it.. There's no genius about it, but I occassionally approach clever.. Also, I've known for years that I have a bit of an obsessive personality, which is actually a benefit for these long-term projects.. As you know, it takes just that person(ality) to spend 3 hours on a bracket that no one will ever see, decide it's 'ugly,' pitch it, and make it again.
Sane? Only because of the hobby. No matter how screwy the job gets (my last career abruptly ended Sept 5, 2008 due to the recession
), or what else in life goes awry, my silly little obsessive project is there to provide 'garage therapy'.. Truth be told my old car habit keeps me home and honest (my last mistress, the voluptuous "Effie" ('53 F100) was admittedly a bit more attractive than my current affair with petite little "Ennie"). I'm lucky my wife is so tolerant of my daliances
That's enough musing- back to the build..
_________________
Dean
1972 Honda N600 Restomod "ccrunner's N600 VFR800 repower"
1963 Volvo P1800 Restomod
http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=163091959 Berkeley SE492 Restomod...
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19397"ccrunner's 1960 MGA coupe Restomod" found on MGExp.com