The Road To Hell Is Paved With Good Intentions

So, first things first I recently got my old Nissan D21 pickup back from my friend Murderstang. If you remember a few posts ago I exclaimed that hell had in fact frozen over and I had sold my Nissan D21 that I had owned since 1995. Long story short, he wanted a bigger truck and i was in the market so BAM Nissan is back. now on to the story...

Bought the truck on Saturday and was so excited to get it back. Murderstang had done some keen upgrades and work to it while in his care. I knew i couldn't drive it and would have to wait to title it until the dreaded DMV was open during the week. No biggie, i can wait. So the first available time slot for a much on the go person was Wednesday at 8:15am. Read all about what i needed in hand and off we go to the DMV.

So, remember the title of this post (see above...)? Yeah, we couldn't remember if BOTH names were on the original title or if it was me or the misses or ????? I was all like "Leave it blank, the kind employee at the DMV will help us straighten it all out". Flash forward to the bureaucratic kick in the nuts i received as i handed over the papers with glee, just full of joy that i would get to drive my truck to work that day. See unbeknownst to me and the misses this tiny blank space on the title meant NO TRUCK FOR YOU! The government sponsored paperwork Nazi had seen his opening to dash the dreams of said wannabe hotrodder that sat in front of him.  And DASH DREAMS HE DID!

See, the truth is any government agency exists only to spread pain and agony on the citizens and blind them with confusing haphazard red tape and nonsense. This keeps the general masses from realizing that their wages and buying power have been on a steady decline since the 1970s whilst cost of goods and services doubles about every 15 minutes or so. With a grinch inspired smile he handed back the title along with another paper that had to be filled out from my friend Murder Stang (who by the way works 2 jobs and is insanely busy). Knowing the chances of me getting this crap filled out within the next year or so is about the same as me going and punching out Mike Tyson the rage builds and my only recourse is to leave and try to limit my cursing to 100 or less.

So, long story short never ever expect any help from any government employee. If they had come into their position with joy in their heart that has long since been crushed by angry confused patrons and overbearing unbending laws about their useless pieces of paper. Whether leaning on a government shovel or sitting behind a drab grey government cubical your encounter will be unpleasant. Just try your best to avoid at all costs.

Vios Con Dios Muchacho

Wasn't sure if I was going to put this up here but then I was like "haven't posted in over a month... better post something ya lazy bastard." SO, last month I said goodbye to a faithful friend of mine. The Nissan D21 pickup that has been with me since 1995 has gone to a new home. We had been through hell and back together, now our paths have separated.

The last few years my old truck seemed to spend more time up on blocks than down on the road. It was a great tight runner day in and day out until I went to be a stranger in a strange land for a year back in 2011. After that year of sitting it ran a bit rough. Not the engine but all the little crap that builds up on a 20+ year old vehicle. I fixed the brakes upon coming home, then the clutch got tight so I bought another car and pulled the transmission... then summer hit and the truck sat. Then I finally finished that up and then got the bright idea to replace the front end bushings as I was mostly just aiming the truck not really steering. As soon as I pulled it apart things took a turn for the worst in my life and again the truck sat. So it sat and sat and sat... hating the Whos.

It became the sad reality that I wasn't really driving my old truck and it needed to go. As I finally finished up the work on the truck my friend Murderstang said he was interested (he also pretty much helped me actually finish the front end job). My neighbor also wanted it but that would have been a bad idea... the day finally came and the truck went. I did my best to hide my feelings as I handed over the keys and took a slug of my beer. Even writing about it now has me feeling sad, saying goodbye to an old friend is never easy. This whole post probably has most people scratching their heads and wondering what the hell is wrong with me. Well, a lot but hear me out.

My father, god rest his soul, never got attached to things. He was WAY smarter than me in this regard. In his life a truck was just a truck... use it, get rid of it for better one, wash/rinse/repeat. That is kinda the natural progression and much more accurate for a hot rodder. Getting attached to something inhibits you from cutting it up and blowing it apart and flipping it for something lighter and faster. Hell, in the month that Murderstang has had the truck he already made it look better, fixed the stance and made it a way better truck. He gave it life and made it breathe again. Long story short, gonna try to be more like my dad... gonna try to become less attached to my vehicles. It will be tough but maybe the lesson will be the next awesome car is just around the corner. Until next time all you wannabe hotrodders and actual hotrodders keep the beer cold and the rubber side down.

Wannabe Hotrods Excuses Excuses Excuses

Finally got back to laying under that beast of a Nissan Pickup. Lets just say that the "record breaking" temperatures that I heard about on my local TV station day in and day out severely stunted my front end repairs. I am thankful to get back on track... but part of me thinks I might not be able to cut the mustard in the Hot Rod world. What am I talking about? let me explain....

I am not sure if I have what it takes to build a hot rod frame up, that is thousands of hours and probably hundreds of problems. I let that truck front end replacement that should by all accounts have taken me MAYBE 2 weekends end up taking me months! Now there were many things that kept me from getting out there but those are all just bullshit excuses. Reality is I lacked the motivation to get my lazy ass up and get laying under the truck. So how am I going to build a bad ass hotrod? Good question!

In my defense mustering up the desire to work on a Nissan Pickup in the dead of summer while grieving the loss of my father is quite a bit different than wrenching on a 32 highboy or building up a kit shelby cobra. Right? Maybe, but maybe not. The country is filled with garages housing cars that were ripped apart and left laying in pieces never to see the light of day again. Hell, my first attempt when I was a kid ended just that way (see blog post like 1 or 2 or something like that). I am a much different person than I was back then... or am I?

I will say one thing I do very VERY well is fix things. Without sounding arrogant I am pretty sure I restore things very close to the level of Ricks Restorations (see reality TV show that may or may not still be on the air, great show but like all reality shows got a bit to goofy focusing on shenanigans and taking away from the awesome work being done). That is what makes me think my best course of action will be to get a running driving car and just restore it section by section. But after years of cleaning up and fixing what others have done to the machines I restore I would be lying if I didn't say I would be apprehensive. I got so tired of fixing broken pinball machines I bought one new from the factory just so I could see what it is like to have a machine that is actually CARED for, it is glorious. So maybe a Factory Five kit car is the way to go. Sadly this debate will not end here but I do have major concerns about my gumption, my drive, my sticktoitiveness! The last thing this world needs is another beautiful Hot Rod rotting away in a garage with shit piled all over it. THAT I cannot create, so what am I gonna be? Builder or a Loser?

Hot Rodding A Non-Hotrod?

So, currently I am saving up my meager pennies toward my bad ass hot rod. While I sit and wait I figured why not work on my old 1994 Nissan Pickup. It already has a pretty bad attitude with a hotrod black paint, full moon wheels and a nice throaty exhaust. After consulting with my friend MurderStang about it my choices were sell it, fix it up and drive it or make it a monster. Obviously I am going with option C.

I do need to get some things in order on the truck before the Rodding begins. I fixed a few of the little bothersome things a few weeks back... general maintenance stuff. Then I ordered all new bushings and joints for the front end. That sucker is LOOSE! (insert prostitute joke here if you please). So luckily I waited until Florida reached the temperature of the sun before I decided to do this.

After I get done replacing wore out parts that have no intention of leaving where they called home since 1994 the suspension will be tight, the paint and body mean and nasty looking and the interior... eh, it'll do. Last bit of tidy up I will need to get the top end worked over. I would pull the motor completely but I am going to try to cheap out. See, me and MurderStang have developed a dubious plot of bolting a turbo on the old Nissan. Should make a tidy little sleeper with another 100+ HP under the hood.

I am looking forward to it, I have been with this truck since 1995 and have grown quite fond of it. Making it a bad contender will be great. I had thought about ripping it out and going the SBC route but that is a bit ambitious and probably at that point would not even be used as a truck anymore. So until the top and turbo tails get into place I best be keeping my eye on the temp and drinking lots of gatoraide until I can get these god damn control arm bushings out of this god damn front end.

until next time... Wannabe Hotrodder OUT!