Does anyone else have this problem?! Are you always collecting stuff...BIG stuff like engines, axles, transmissions, etc...for projects that you plan to get to "someday"?? After a while, do you find yourself tripping over six engines to get to that pile of wheels over in the corner of the garage and asking yourself "Why do I save all this junk?!"??? I sure do...although I'm trying to make a conscious effort to change!

It's a difficult road to recovery, to be sure...but I think it just MIGHT be possible! Just the other day, my buddy was parting out a Dodge truck, and I was eye-balling the engine and asking "Does it run?". He said he wasn't sure, but that the guy he bought it from claimed it did. I grabbed a breaker bar and a socket and discovered that the motor turned over freely by hand...usually a good sign! My friend then pitched the standard offer..."If you help yank it out of the chassis, it's yours for the taking!"!!

Now, I have NO immediate NEED for this motor...but how do you pass up yet another FREE engine that's complete from air cleaner to oil pan??? I kinda had a few ideas swimming around the back of my skull as to what this particular motor might be perfect for...but I forced myself to walk away and kept muttering under my breath "You DON'T need this motor...you DON'T need this motor..."!!! It worked...for the moment!!

I'm sure that I'm not alone in my tendency to collect and start on multiple projects at once, and that can lead to all sorts of junk accumulating and nothing ever really getting DONE, so...as I've said...I'm TRYING to mend my evil ways!

I think it may be a question of focus. Right now, my primary goal is to build a nice daily driver "resto-mod" Mustang that I've been gathering parts for over the past year or so. The car will be close to stock, with all new mechanical components and just a few upgrades, such as a T5 transmission and better wheels and tires, along with a custom, one-off steel hood. It's going to serve as my commuter and parts hauler once completed, and that should free up time, space and money for the pursuit of OTHER, more involved projects...like the dreaded "Dustang"!!

(Picture a 72 Duster powered by a small block Ford. I hessitate to mention it at all after seeing some of the reactions to 'The Orphan' Mustang project car...but it just came about one weekend when I had maybe just a little too much time on my hands! The car needed a motor, and I got to looking at the funky oil pan on a 302 engine in the garage and thought "I bet that will fit the Duster's chassis!". Within a few hours, I had the motor mated to a C4 I rebuilt some time ago and lowered it into the Plymouth's engine bay. Fits real nice! Soon enough, some custom mounts were whipped up, a little surgery was performed on the tranny crossmember and there the car sits with it's mutant motor! Of course, it's a long way from being 'done', but the hard part is over with...just gotta finish up the Mustang project and then dive back into the Dustang!)

Ya know, I bet my buddy still has that Mopar motor available...just in case I ever decide to switch the Dustang back to full Chrysler status one of these days...maybe I ought to head over there and scoop it up...I think it'll fit between the 351 Cleveland two barrel motor and the 400 Chevy core over there in that far corner...

I mean...how do you say "NO"???

 

The answer is - you DON'T.  Never say no to car parts.  Especially any "gimmies".  The reasons I'd list:  1) some of these parts are not getting any easier to find and you might wish you had it later.  2) YOU might not need it now but a friend or someone else you meet might need it.  3) If we all follow this unwritten rule, you can always pass it on!  4) If you collect enough and some of it really is junk, recycle.  I did it some old motor parts and misc stuff - it came to 1200 lbs at the scrap yard.  I collected enough to buy the wife and I a nice dinner.  

I just wish I had the space to collect anything, I'm pretty sure if the manager of my apartment saw me trying to jam an engine into my apartment i would get some pretty funny looks.    

It's incureable so face facts and make some more room. I've got 8 bb mopars stacked up in one corner, a 530 hp 440 on the stand. About the same number of transmissions and rear ends. (Give or take) My garage is a nightmare in the daylite and a possible deathtrap in the dark. Dave  

You have a friend on a farm with a BIG barn and ask him  for a corner. That's what I do!