Is it just me or does spending money on your hot rod ever stop. A hundred here five hundred there a few dollars on this. It never stops does it??? In the last couple years I have spent more money on my car than I care to mention. Last year when I parked it for the northern winter, it was sweet, looked great, and did a best 12.8 at 112. (77 camaro sbc driven everyday it didnt rain) All I was going to due to it was change the heads from world to afr, swap cams, and carb. A simple winter task for under 2 grand. But you know how the rest of the story goes. I ended up completely rebuilding the motor,(which only had less than 7,000 miles on it) the whole front frame, brakes, ect, ect, ect. And I didnt do all that for under 2 grand. What is it with us and our hot rods that makes us have to keep improving them??? My hot rod is an addiction stronger than any drug and some how I keep poring on the money even when I dont always have the extra cash to do it. I JUST CAN NOT STOP!!! Do I have a problem and need to call DR. Phil or am I just another true hot rodder with oil in my blood a cam shaft for a brain and a fuel pump for a heart?  

Curious, with only 7,000 miles on the clock, why did you end up rebuilding the motor?

Look at it this way, the money you spend is helping ot keep people working and get the economy through these troubling times. And it's better than giving it to the government!  

Yes you are right about keeping the economy going. Glad to do my part and by purchasing things I love. All I can say about redoing a new motor after 7000 miles---MORE POWER!!!!!! Its additive and once you have some you just want more.. It never stops.. Besides what else is a car guy to do in the middle of northern winters that still keeps me in contact with my car???  

If Dr Phil finds a cure for it don't post it because I don't want to know!

 I think that this is a hobby for some,and is more of a passion for others that we cannot get enough of,I have been doing this since I was 16 and took my first trip to Jegs.

 The money I spend may seem excessive to some but it gets me closer to how I picture the end result(which changes constantly!),but there is no price I could put on rumbling into a car show with a NASTY hotrod that turns every head as it rolls by,I have had as many as 13 people at the car as I get it parked waiting for the hood to open to see "what is in that thing",that for me makes it all worth while,the money,the long hours.....if you have seen the Cadillac commercial that asks "when you turn your car on,does it return the favor....YES!

  My list of additions during this past winter-MSD 7-al3 w/pro power coil,4340 straight cut planeteries,vasco input shaft,aluminum wheel tubs,aluminum flooring in rear of car,and most recently a Holley hp 950 alcohol carb-a street car on methanol...sweet!  

Well said... You are so right about it changes constantly. This may be why we love it so much. Seems like in life there are things you just have to do--go to work, mow the lawn, fix this or touch up this around the house, ect, ect. Most of those things we must do are usally done the same way everybody else does them and its the same things everybody else does. But when it comes to our cars its whatever we want how we want it and it doesnt matter what some one else would do. Its the ability to build and create something and step back and admire it for ourselfs (showing it off is cool to). I pat myself on the back everytime I improve my car and I only do what I do to it for my own gratifcation (spelling?). But like you were saying it is a great feeling when people gather around your car and have 50 questions. I live in a small resort town of about 800 local year round residents and several thousand in the summer. Of the local and seasonnal residents most know of my car as the orange camaro with black stipes and know me as that "guy" with that car. Its kinda cool that your car can be more knowen than you.  I to love the rumbling. I feel like Pop-Eye on spinach when I start up my motor..  

RiverRat77 it is nice to know that there are guys out there that feel the exact same way about cars I do. The fact that when I get my paycheck I don't see money for rent or food, I see how many times can I drive to the drag strip this week and what can I buy for the car with the left overs.

It defiantly is an addiction, to the speed, power, freedom, gratification. Put it this way the longest I was ever in a serious relationship was 4 years and towards the end I started to lose interest. Now I have had my Wagon 9 years now and I get excited just thinking about it. Thats nine years that I have, with out exception, looked forward to driving her wheels off every day.

I think there is a point in every gear heads life when you realize that when you still live at home at 25 due to how you spend on your car, Theres Fast Orange in the shower and no one in the house thinks twice about it, that car you were just taking the heads off of this week is still out back a year later accompanied by even move spare/junk parts, that you have to realize that this is no longer a hobby but a full on lifestyle/addiction.

And it is great when strangers approach your car with stories that they have heard about it, (I have apparently embarressed a few Camaro and  Mustang owners> ) But I am more than happy to show them whats under the hood, what I've done to it, what I am going to do, ect.

It all comes back to one thing, Building Freedom with you own two hands.  Really fast Freedom.  

I have been on this hobby for years and no, it doesn't stop.  Whats bad is I have more than one I am dumping money into. I have the paycheck to do it, feed the kids and still make bills, but my wife doesn't share my passion. She basically thinks I'm nuts, but she can't argue. I have not lost one dime on any of the projects I've done. Most have gone for more than what I have in them
My problem is that I finish one up, enjoy it for a year or two, sell it, then plunge into another one. Since I can't pass up a deal, when I find another great find, I can't let it go.  Are all my cars finished? Nope - but in good time.
I always have one on the back burner, one I'm working on, and one for sale.  I look at it this way - some get off on fixing up houses, I get off on fixing up cars. Could be worse, and it keeps me out of bars and taverns,
So keep it up. I'd say it's a healthy addiction.

Bowser