Who is affected by DSM's? Options

[turbohcar]

I know it's kind of an odd subject but, I got to thinking yesterday, who does my car affect? Well first of all it affects the relationship between my girlfriend and I, it affects how much time I spend with my family and friends, and it directly affects how many times the people at the bank see me from week to week. Who knew a simple car could influence so many more people than just ourselves (the enthusiasts)?

My girlfriend is convinced that it is the biggest reason I find excuses not to come see her when the car is running good. She absolutely positively HATES it. I think part of it is because she knows that if it had woman parts, I wouldn't leave the house. My family usually only sees me when I'm in the garage, eating, or sleeping. It's pretty much all I do when I'm at home. I think they are beginning to despise it as well so I have to make sure it's running before they kick me out. And the people at the bank, I think they just get tired of seeing me altogether. I'd like to think it also influences other DSMers who might see my car. Someone might view my profile and think, I'd like to do that with my car.

I know for a fact I wouldn't have the friends I do here if it weren't for my DSMs. The community here at DSMCentral is like any other I've ever experienced. Such good people here.

Who does your car affect? Does it directly affect the people you know? Just how big of a role does it play in your life?

[turbohcar]

See, I told you guys, your car has more affect on people than you know^^^.

Lets recount these statements and see if we can work them out.

Its not so much that I hate the car...it is more that I am jealous because it's sexier looking than I am. I swear if Brett could he would sleep with it because I don't give him any. The car takes money...of which takes nice things and nice dates away from me, but it treats him better. The car also takes time away from me and makes me feel like its number 1 in his book and I should be worshiped constantly. It's not true that the car puts him in bad moods that I have to deal with because he is always cursing and throwing things across the garage when he's mad and in the end, the car gets punished. I also don't know much about cars...which frustrates me alot because I have the attention span of a two year old. I also try to give him money for the precious car but he doesn't take it because he's proud of his and feels that it's all that he has to show for in his life so far.

Just playin Annie

But seriously, I'm not sure about you guys, but I do know that this project is pretty much the only thing in life that I have to show for myself that I did and nobody believed I could. I found the darn car abandoned at an old grain elevator just outside of Bloomington. I asked around to see who owned it and a neighbor gave me a phone number to call. I called the number and the man that answered was very rude and stated that I should come meet with him at his work if I wanted the car. The next day I stopped by his work, at the grain elevator in Towanda, and waited and hour and a half in the waiting room just to talk to him. I went in, asked him how much he wanted for it and the condition, and left. I asked my dad that night if I could buy it (since my last car had broken down on me) and he replied no. It was too much work he said. Basically, it was in such poor shape it really needed an entire restoration and he didn't want to do it. He then helped me buy a FWD Eclipse GST Auto the next week and all was good for the moment.

About six weeks from when I had originally talked to him about the Talon for the first time, he brought it home on a trailer. He went behind my back, collected the same information I had, and purchased the car from the guy at the elevator. Not only that, he didn't buy it for me or as a project car, he had bought it for my brother who didn't even want to learn how to drive stick shift. Still, I kept my composure in hopes that I would one day own it. He took it to a friend of his and had some work done (brakes, front axles) and was going to drive it to work until my brother got a liscense and then it would be his car. The first day he drove it to work, it crapped out on him on the way to work. Little did he know, but the ECU took a poo, the caps had corroded the board, and he was only getting fuel to the cylinders. He had it picked up and towed it home and there it sat for the winter waiting (to be taken to the scrap heap I assume).

During this same time he and my mother were having marital problems. This was a long time coming so it's not so hard looking back on it now. Actually, it was perfect come to think of it. While he was fighting with my mom over possessions (after he got kicked out of the house) I took the Talon under my wing and started work. With some help I properly diagnosed the problem, put a replacement ECU in it and it fired right up. That's when things started snowballing. It started with a new engine. When dad heard that I had put a new engine in it he threatened to take it away from me and saying that he didn't really intend on scrapping it. Now he had really pissed me off and I wasn't about to back down. I threatened to have a mechanics lein put on it and he'd never see me or the car again. Needless to say he came to reason and regressed after being told what an A..hole he was. He still won't give me the title unless I give him $500. Not as a birthday present, not as a Christmas present, only if I've got the money.

Ever since the new engine I've been putting part after part on it for two and a half years. Right now, it's the closest it's ever been to complete. I've got a whole new drivetrain under it, new engine, different interior...basically the only thing that's original to the car is the wiring harness and the chassis. All the work was done by myself with some help from the machine shop with the engine. All the parts were bought and paid for with my own money and no one else's. No one else has bled, screamed, or cursed so much about this car than me. It's the one thing I have to show for myself. The one big thing I can say everyone told me I couldn't do and yet here it is, a product of my own hard work and perseverence... no one else. To me, it's much more than a stupid car, it's everything I've ever worked for. And now that it's so close to completion, I'll admit, some things and some people are getting pushed aside. Which, Annie is probably the one who suffers the most. That was the whole intent on this thread, to thank those that get pushed aside for their patience.

Thanks for listening.

Brett