Miserable decisions...
Posted: August 16th, 2008, 7:16 pm
So the time has come for me to go back to school. I have 1 week (this coming week) before things roll into high gear for me.
I've spent the summer trying to restore a beat up MX3 GS. The car is leaps and bounds from what it was when I bought it 3 months ago. My problem, however, is that nothing has seemed to go right. I've never done this before, but I did TONS of reading beforehand, and was very careful with everything. I ran into problems almost every step of the way, or always found something else that needed to be fixed or replaced, spending lots of time and money where I didn't expect to. (I didn't think the car was in that bad of shape)
Now I'm pretty positive my car has a bad headgasket. Great. Dropped a ZE in there w/ nice expensive fluids, and just my luck, the oil is milky, the car overheats, blows white smoke, and seems to eat coolant/water. Awesome.
I have a few options, most of which cost me time, and more money.
1) Sell the car as is, and lose alot of money. I don't think people would want to spend the money I put into it, even though the money was almost ALL on parts, no spoilers, bodywork, interior stuff, etc. It went into replacing everything from the engine, to axles, to brakes to balljoint and motor mounts. Lots of stuff.
2) Try to see if the engine place will honor the warranty. Take the engine out Monday get a new one Tuesday and put it in, hopefully ready to drive by Wednesday. Who knows if the problem will go away. My brakes are squeeky as is, and it seems like my brake booster isn't working anyway, and the brakes are just manual...(nor is ABS working.)
3) Same thing as 2, but trailer the car up to school w/ engine in the back of it, or in place, just w/ no lines hooked up. Try to fix it up at school. Who knows if I'll have the time to get it running.
4) If they don't honor the warranty, I'd need to rip the thing apart. Replace the headgasket/waterpump and t-belt, and get the heads milled down to spec. Prob spend almost as much money right? I might as well just buy another block, maybe a millenia ZE and save some money, swap the cams when I have more time?
5) Bring the car to a shop and have them fix every little problem with it. Prob spend another 2000$ + that I don't have.
6) Bring the car into storage and work on it next summer, or whenever I have the time.
7) Insure for lots of money and drive off cliff, report car stolen
Disregard option 7.
All of these options suck. Doing the work by myself take forever, as I have very little experience with this. Would anyone be able to help me either here in Albany, NY or up in Potsdam, NY? Up in Potsdam, I'd have more flexibility with time. I'd be able to pay gas, and provide a place to sleep and food/beer. (Potsdam is just south of the Canadian border by Cornwall.)
I've spent the summer trying to restore a beat up MX3 GS. The car is leaps and bounds from what it was when I bought it 3 months ago. My problem, however, is that nothing has seemed to go right. I've never done this before, but I did TONS of reading beforehand, and was very careful with everything. I ran into problems almost every step of the way, or always found something else that needed to be fixed or replaced, spending lots of time and money where I didn't expect to. (I didn't think the car was in that bad of shape)
Now I'm pretty positive my car has a bad headgasket. Great. Dropped a ZE in there w/ nice expensive fluids, and just my luck, the oil is milky, the car overheats, blows white smoke, and seems to eat coolant/water. Awesome.
I have a few options, most of which cost me time, and more money.
1) Sell the car as is, and lose alot of money. I don't think people would want to spend the money I put into it, even though the money was almost ALL on parts, no spoilers, bodywork, interior stuff, etc. It went into replacing everything from the engine, to axles, to brakes to balljoint and motor mounts. Lots of stuff.
2) Try to see if the engine place will honor the warranty. Take the engine out Monday get a new one Tuesday and put it in, hopefully ready to drive by Wednesday. Who knows if the problem will go away. My brakes are squeeky as is, and it seems like my brake booster isn't working anyway, and the brakes are just manual...(nor is ABS working.)
3) Same thing as 2, but trailer the car up to school w/ engine in the back of it, or in place, just w/ no lines hooked up. Try to fix it up at school. Who knows if I'll have the time to get it running.
4) If they don't honor the warranty, I'd need to rip the thing apart. Replace the headgasket/waterpump and t-belt, and get the heads milled down to spec. Prob spend almost as much money right? I might as well just buy another block, maybe a millenia ZE and save some money, swap the cams when I have more time?
5) Bring the car to a shop and have them fix every little problem with it. Prob spend another 2000$ + that I don't have.
6) Bring the car into storage and work on it next summer, or whenever I have the time.
7) Insure for lots of money and drive off cliff, report car stolen
Disregard option 7.All of these options suck. Doing the work by myself take forever, as I have very little experience with this. Would anyone be able to help me either here in Albany, NY or up in Potsdam, NY? Up in Potsdam, I'd have more flexibility with time. I'd be able to pay gas, and provide a place to sleep and food/beer. (Potsdam is just south of the Canadian border by Cornwall.)
(says to self, "now he knows he's screwed, sh*t"). 