Unexpected Surprise
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Joined: Sep 2016
Posts: 129
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From: Milwaukee WI
Unexpected Surprise
Hello! I'm Steve and it's nice to say I've got another vehicle I can actually enjoy. I've recently begun telling a very sad story to friends - a story about the horrible life I've been living for a few years now.
Rewind back about 8 years and I had just married into my first toy that I could actually call my own, a Jeep Wrangler. Sadly, the Wrangler was used extensively in Wisconsin and was a total rust bucket, so it didn't last very long. Because my wife had learned to drive in a 2001 Ford Focus, she thought it'd be awesome to own one and so while I waited for my next toy to come along we bought a 2002 Ford Focus. Not long after I got a hold of a 2004 Mustang (nothing too special, just had fun with it). Then I bought a 1998 Ford Contour SVT (just a vehicle that was more enjoyable to drive than the Focus) so I could teach my wife how to drive a manual without killing my Mustang. Decided that since she didn't care enough to learn and didn't want to drive my car anyways, I could just upgrade to a motorcycle. So I bought a few bikes - a Suzuki TL1000R, Yamaha V Star 650, and a ZX-14 (hit a 140+ mph in a 1/4 mile!) and enjoyed them in the lovely San Diego weather until it was time to move back to Wisconsin. Then I got an old F150 and a Jet Boat that would do 90mph on the water, only to then move to a big city and not have room to store the boat, so I got rid of both of those. For the past two years I've been telling everyone that after all of these toys, the only thing I still have is that damn Ford Focus that just won't die no matter how much I beat it up.
That all changed a few weeks ago, though not under happy circumstances. For the past year or so a close family member has been fighting cancer and couldn't even enjoy the car they loved. As one of the only family members that had any interest and time to put into the car, I was given the chance to take it home and make it my own.
And so after two years of suffering, I now have a 1987 Corvette sitting in the garage. She needs a little work done to her, though with just 115k miles on her it's mostly just seals and some maintenance work. The idle is a bit rough and I noticed today that gas is leaking at one of the injectors. I figure this will be a great time to rebuild the Throttle Body and either replace the injectors or just put some new O-Rings on them. While that's happening I can finish replacing all of the weather stripping and put fresh fluid in everything so I know the condition of it all. That and some new tires and I should be good to go! If anyone knows of some better tires than what Walmart and Amazon currently stock, please do let me know where I can find them!
I don't have much in the way of plans for the car beyond fixing up what is wrong with her and ensuring that everything looks good. I'm currently finishing up a degree in Computer Engineering so money isn't exactly free flowing. I will be keeping my eye out though because I'm always a fan of having more power - though the wife would prefer I do so with something that has air bags. :-)
Anyways I'm glad to finally have joined the forums. I've already done a lot of reading here and learned quite a bit. In fact, one of my favorite purchases so far came about as a result of a discussion about the brakes from Power Stop (I bought a Z23 kit). I can't wait to start working on the next project so I can learn some more!
- Steve
Rewind back about 8 years and I had just married into my first toy that I could actually call my own, a Jeep Wrangler. Sadly, the Wrangler was used extensively in Wisconsin and was a total rust bucket, so it didn't last very long. Because my wife had learned to drive in a 2001 Ford Focus, she thought it'd be awesome to own one and so while I waited for my next toy to come along we bought a 2002 Ford Focus. Not long after I got a hold of a 2004 Mustang (nothing too special, just had fun with it). Then I bought a 1998 Ford Contour SVT (just a vehicle that was more enjoyable to drive than the Focus) so I could teach my wife how to drive a manual without killing my Mustang. Decided that since she didn't care enough to learn and didn't want to drive my car anyways, I could just upgrade to a motorcycle. So I bought a few bikes - a Suzuki TL1000R, Yamaha V Star 650, and a ZX-14 (hit a 140+ mph in a 1/4 mile!) and enjoyed them in the lovely San Diego weather until it was time to move back to Wisconsin. Then I got an old F150 and a Jet Boat that would do 90mph on the water, only to then move to a big city and not have room to store the boat, so I got rid of both of those. For the past two years I've been telling everyone that after all of these toys, the only thing I still have is that damn Ford Focus that just won't die no matter how much I beat it up.
That all changed a few weeks ago, though not under happy circumstances. For the past year or so a close family member has been fighting cancer and couldn't even enjoy the car they loved. As one of the only family members that had any interest and time to put into the car, I was given the chance to take it home and make it my own.
And so after two years of suffering, I now have a 1987 Corvette sitting in the garage. She needs a little work done to her, though with just 115k miles on her it's mostly just seals and some maintenance work. The idle is a bit rough and I noticed today that gas is leaking at one of the injectors. I figure this will be a great time to rebuild the Throttle Body and either replace the injectors or just put some new O-Rings on them. While that's happening I can finish replacing all of the weather stripping and put fresh fluid in everything so I know the condition of it all. That and some new tires and I should be good to go! If anyone knows of some better tires than what Walmart and Amazon currently stock, please do let me know where I can find them!
I don't have much in the way of plans for the car beyond fixing up what is wrong with her and ensuring that everything looks good. I'm currently finishing up a degree in Computer Engineering so money isn't exactly free flowing. I will be keeping my eye out though because I'm always a fan of having more power - though the wife would prefer I do so with something that has air bags. :-)
Anyways I'm glad to finally have joined the forums. I've already done a lot of reading here and learned quite a bit. In fact, one of my favorite purchases so far came about as a result of a discussion about the brakes from Power Stop (I bought a Z23 kit). I can't wait to start working on the next project so I can learn some more!
- Steve
Last edited by slhawkins; Sep 14, 2016 at 11:38 PM. Reason: I hate spelling errors!
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