Gym? No, My Muscle is in the Parking Lot!
Welcome to this week’s post on Choice Classics. I am very excited this week to announce that I received a new GoPro camera from my beautiful wife for my birthday! What does that mean? Pictures and videos are coming your way! I aim to use this to try to get some pictures and hopefully short video clips for you all every week now! For this week, I am going to show you some pictures I took with the new camera at an awesome auto shop that has a restaurant and bar attached!
Guess what was sitting outside? Not one, or two, but five sets of sweet wheels in the parking lot! A 70′ Dodge Challenger R/T, 55′ Chevy Bel Air, C3 Corvette Stingray and two beautiful Chevy Camaros. What a wonderful sight to pull up to a restaurant and see a nice array of muscle machines! Each one of these creations tells us a story. Unfortunately, I didn’t the chance to meet the owners this time in order to find more about their stories. I promise that as we continue along together in this wonderful journey that we will dive deeper into the history of these magnificent machines. If you haven’t noticed already, our company logo has a 69′ Camaro as the forefront. This wasn’t a random choice, I think that car is one of the most beautiful of the era and is one of my favorites. Someday (hopefully soon!), I will own one of these amazing cars. Don’t worry, this won’t be the last time we talk about the Camaro.
Back to the restaurant. How cool is it that on a Sunday afternoon one can go to a restaurant and find so many sweet rides in one place! Now I know you might say, “Well it’s obvious that classic cars have to be at an automotive shop”, and sure you might be right. It is part of the appeal of the place. You get to go and eat some good food, have a few cold beers and see some cool cars. I think it goes further than that. It creates a place that always accepts the showing up of a huge crew of classic rides and their owners. It is a win, win. Good for the business and good for the owners to come together and share more experiences together. I am going to wrap this up with some pictures of the cars I got to see with my new camera. I hope you enjoyed this week’s post and remember, stay classic!
Just Put Her In the Garage!
The garage. A magical place filled with a variety of things. Some people choose to fill them with their daily driving cars. Some choose to fill them to the brim with boxes of memories of family, friends and life experiences. While others fill them with the best choice of all: a classic car and tools to work on it! Yes, this week we are discussing every classic lovers dream of having a top notch garage. The greatest thing about car lovers is the individuality of what we want. Every car owner has specifications not only for their vehicles, but also for the safe place to store them.
From the floors to the cabinetry and the tools within them, all owners have specific desires for how their garage is to be set up. Two post lift or four? What brand of air compressor and tools? How many sockets should I buy? All of these questions begin popping into our heads as we think of what our dream garage might be. For some of us, myself included, we even go as far as to add a lounging area or bar area to make a man cave attachment. The coolness level continues to increase the more we brainstorm. With great ideas however, comes great cost. Many of us can’t afford to deck out our dream garage all in one go. That’s why I suggest patience! Do your research and find good quality items whether it be your tools, flooring, or accessories. Being able to buy one decorative sign now helps lead to a sweet setup in the long run. You don’t have to avoid starting the process because of lack of ability to do it all in one go! Just do piece by piece until you are finally at the desired outcome.
Thanks for tuning in this week and again I apologize for the late posting. Feel free to comment on this post or on any of our social media outlets on some of your great dream garage ideas! The more ideas we share with each other can spark even more creative thinking. Until next time, stay classic!
Gotta Love Spring Time!
Ah spring. The sun is shining, the birds are chirping. The smells of exhaust and sounds of fine tuned horsepower fill the air. That’s right! Today we are going to discuss something every classic owner should experience at some point: the rebirth of the winter project. For those who have never heard the term (which I hope that all of you have), the winter project is a vehicle that you purchase towards the end of summer or in the fall in the hopes of working on it all throughout the winter. I say “in the hopes” because sometimes we get sidetracked or run out of funds during the process which unfortunately delays that spring time reveal. As we have just entered spring time officially, many car owners across the world will be bringing out their vehicles from the safety of the garage to enjoy in the sunshine. This gives them a chance to not only enjoy the fruits of their labor but also allows for them to show off their beautiful vehicles, regardless of stage of rebuild.
I know for my Jeep it was quite satisfying working during the winter and having it in the shop during that time so that I could enjoy it to its fullest during the spring and summer when I could put my top down. And boy was it worth it! That first time driving it after having the transmission and engine rebuilt was superb. As I have talked about before, I took her on a two week, 4,000 mile trip right after the rebuilds. This gave me the best opportunity to get to know her in a newer light and all with the wind blowing through my hair. While my girl is nowhere near being complete, that winter was worth the waiting and the work and money in order to have such a fantastic spring and summer.
Let’s talk about the future. I know for some of us (maybe even most) the money part is the hardest obstacle that we come across when considering purchasing a winter project. It not only takes the funds to purchase the vehicle, regardless of its condition, but to also then purchase parts or pay someone to do work on it throughout the next few months. This then creates a situation where the deadlines to meet before spring can be too far out of reach. Here’s a secret: enjoy the experience. I know that it can be infuriating when it comes close to spring or even summer time and our project isn’t even close to being complete. That’s okay! I promise you that the experiences you will have once it is done correctly and in the right time will make up for all of the patient weeks and months of waiting. Don’t go broke trying to complete your project either. It is not worth it to be unable to pay bills and ultimately have to sell the project anyways in order to make up for your loss.
While purchasing your dream classic vehicle near mint condition seems more appealing, sometimes buying a project for cheaper and getting to work on it will result in even better experiences. This creates an opportunity for that vehicle to truly be your own after putting your own blood, sweat and cash into it. Additionally, you get to see the process of going from old to new over time and that can be extremely rewarding! This process can be a solo job or even bring in family or friends to create those shared bonding experiences. I hope to have many more winter projects over the years and hope that I not only get to share those experiences with my family but also with other lovers of classic vehicles. After all, that’s why I’m here! Sharing stories and learning the history of these amazing metal machines and their biological counterparts. Let’s here it from you! What are some of your favorite winter projects? Whether they are past, present or future wishes, I hope to learn more about your special vehicle. Until next time, stay classic.
Show Her? I Barely Know Her!
Today I want to talk about something all classic lovers enjoy, car shows. As enthusiasts, it is exciting when we get the chance to attend a classic car show. Getting to look at all of the cool vehicles regardless of age, make or model. For me, the smell of the gasoline and exhaust brings about so many great memories. There are so many of us out there that relate the smell of gasoline or burning oil to fond memories of childhood, or our kids or just a dream vehicle that we own or someday soon will own.
Car shows are a great place to network in your local area and find other enthusiasts who find joy in coming together and just discussing the history of themselves and their vehicles. That is part of the purpose of this blog. We are going to be finding everyday car owners and getting to know them and their special vehicle.
For the longest time I didn’t think that my Jeep was good enough for a show. Recently, a friend of mine told me that by just having a car you can share in the experiences of being in a car show with other owners regardless of the condition. If it runs and drives and can get you to the show, why not take it? Share those experiences with others and talk project progression! Who knows, maybe a fellow owner will give you tips and tricks on where to get better parts or how to overcome certain obstacles in the rebuild process. Life is about building relationships and creating experiences. Finding others who share your similar interests makes it even easier to create shared experiences and to build new friendships. So my promise to you my readers is that I will take my CJ to an amateur show this summer (as long as I can get her street legal…). Not only will I bring my Jeep to a show, or multiple if I can, but I will also be writing posts about some special vehicles that I see at these shows!
Let’s hear it from you! What are some of the best car show experiences you have had with or without a vehicle? Feel free to comment on the blog or on any of Choice Classic’s social media outlets. Thanks for tuning in to this Sunday’s post! Sorry it is a little shorter than normal however, keep an eye out for Wednesday’s post! We will have a special vehicle to discuss and show you all. Until next time, stay classic!
Parts, Parts and More Parts
Today we are going to discuss something that all classic vehicle owners need: parts. I can’t count how many times that I have had to make trips back and forth to the parts store during a segment of one of my projects. Why is it that as soon as we find out what the problem is, what part we need and purchase that particular part, we then need a specialty tool to install or fix it? I think there was one day were I went back and forth to Napa ten times! Anyways, we will talk tools another time for now, let’s stick to parts.
Let’s talk suppliers. There are generally two sides to where one might acquire needed parts: Brick and mortar or the internet. First, let’s talk about brick and mortar stores. As most of us know, going to a brick and mortar store such as Napa or Autozone can usually get us a part that we need desperately within a matter of minutes. However, in some cases these parts are out of stock, or the store is closed at an hour in which most of us are working on our project. How do we combat this? I attempt to figure out all of the parts I am going to need for that particular stage of the project and get them either the day prior to or maybe even the weekend before. This allows me to make sure I have everything I need so that I can just begin working and hopefully finish whatever the step is without having to go back and forth to the store.
Now what about the internet? The first thought that comes when attempting to purchase vehicle parts from an internet source is time. It takes whatever standard shipping times (on business days of course) for parts to arrive. This means there has to be a lot of forethought to what you might need and hopefully be able to acquire the parts that will fit and work properly. I have used sites like usautoparts.net or rockauto.com to get parts which has only been a positive experience. They have nearly any part you could think of and usually ship in a reasonable amount of time. I would use these sites for things like body parts, latches or upgraded parts. One may even acquire parts from your every day person with sites like craigslist. This can be very useful because you can find others local to your area that have a similar love for the vehicle you are trying to restore. This also leaves more room for bartering and hopefully a great discussion on each other’s vehicles. The problem with acquiring parts this way is the fact that you could get something that works or maybe not. It can be hard to trust people nowadays. Not to say that I haven’t purchased parts this way or even sold them, I just highly suggest that you use caution and know exactly what to look for in a part that should be working properly so that you don’t lose out on a decent amount of cash for something broken.
The last thing I want to talk about in regards to parts acquisition is going through a locally owned mechanic. I built quite a good relationship with one of my local mechanics and went to him for nearly everything when I was getting my Jeep’s engine and transmission rebuilt. I became such a regular at the shop that we all knew each other by name and the service was outstanding. He always knew exactly what I would need and where he could get it for me. If he couldn’t find it he referred me to someone who could get me what I needed. I highly encourage all of you to build a relationship with a local mechanic, whether from a big name shop or a mom and pop.This not only helps you find the best place for parts, but it also gives you someone who you can refer all of your friends and family to. More business for your mechanic means better relationship for you and better deals on any work that you get done with them.
Let’s hear it from you! Where do you generally get your parts from? Where do you find the best deals or the fastest services? Feel free to leave a comment on the blog or on any of our social media pages and we can continue this discussion. Thanks for tuning in and remember until next time, stay classic!
choiceclassics.com 