When to stop

[charlie D]

I started thinking all I needed to do was replace a heater core. That led to pulling out the front carpet, it was wet and stank from the antifreeze and mouse urine. Then the heater box was nothing but holes and rust, the blower motor was frozen shut so the whole of the heater was replaced and it was a pain to install. Meanwhile, the heat shield that had been installed elsewhere used a foil top and jute base which was also soaked and stank. The cowl and floors were supposed to have had Lizard skin applied when the carpet was replaced. It was all flaked off. So Damplifier and some Dynaliner go in. Meanwhile, since the dash is split and sticky, may as well replace it, along with the instrument bezel that was cracked when the shop installed the electronic ignition, something about getting the tach to work. When I pulled the battery the battery tray was rusted thru, so I removed it to find the inner fender rusted thru under that. Patched in inner fender and replaced the battery tray. Saw a funky looking patch on a wire going to the engine block ground, reached down to look closer and a wire from the alternator fell off in my hand brittle as all H. There is more, like now I get to trace down the other shops work work to figure out why the heater blower motor won't turn off, why there is only one wire connected on the front of the starter solenoid and what the maze of new connections are behind the dash are meant to do. Everything I am touching is turning into a "may as well do it now".
So if you have suffered thru the whine, when do you decided, "it works, leave it alone"? My German heritage pushes me to " do it right or regret it later".  Sometimes that's a curse.
Charlie D

[2112]

I think you need to get a rotisserie.   

[Don Johnston]

No matter what you think about fixing something, it only gets worse and requires far more than originally anticipated.  Might as well get started on the entire project.

[Bigfoot]

Conundrum

[deathsled]

It is rewarding though as items get fixed or replaced as it is one less thing to worry about.  There are a finite number of parts on a car.  It has to end somewhere.  There are a hell of a lot of parts mind you...roll forth like a Tiger tank I say.

[CSX 4133]

We have all been down this road, a "simple" job turns into a full on trial and tribulation. With every success you will eventually see light at the end of the tunnel..... hopefully it won't be from an oncoming train. Good luck, soldier on.

[Don Johnston]

Kind of of like the problem that I had with garage that stores the toys.  Replaced the aging and poorly working garage door.  But that made the paint look bad from years of neglect, so had garage painted, but now the roof looked like crap.  So roof repaired, but what about the inside walls tha were cracked and moldy..  Better paint it.  Then the floor looked awful in comparison so it had to be done.  But in moving out the cabinets, things fell apart so they had to be replaced with new stuff from all those catalog pictures.  Damn that garage door replacement was expensive.

[Bill]

I started thinking all I needed to do was replace a heater core. That led to pulling out the front carpet, it was wet and stank from the antifreeze and mouse urine. Then the heater box was nothing but holes and rust, the blower motor was frozen shut so the whole of the heater was replaced and it was a pain to install. Meanwhile, the heat shield that had been installed elsewhere used a foil top and jute base which was also soaked and stank. The cowl and floors were supposed to have had Lizard skin applied when the carpet was replaced. It was all flaked off. So Damplifier and some Dynaliner go in. Meanwhile, since the dash is split and sticky, may as well replace it, along with the instrument bezel that was cracked when the shop installed the electronic ignition, something about getting the tach to work. When I pulled the battery the battery tray was rusted thru, so I removed it to find the inner fender rusted thru under that. Patched in inner fender and replaced the battery tray. Saw a funky looking patch on a wire going to the engine block ground, reached down to look closer and a wire from the alternator fell off in my hand brittle as all H. There is more, like now I get to trace down the other shops work work to figure out why the heater blower motor won't turn off, why there is only one wire connected on the front of the starter solenoid and what the maze of new connections are behind the dash are meant to do. Everything I am touching is turning into a "may as well do it now".
So if you have suffered thru the whine, when do you decided, "it works, leave it alone"? My German heritage pushes me to " do it right or regret it later".  Sometimes that's a curse.
Charlie D

Charlie,

    It's never done, you stop when you don't enjoy it any longer.

Yes, it really is that simple.

Bill

[TJinSA]

Charlie, we share that gene that cant find a way fr0om going in to fix them while I'm there.  Tearing into stuff you've fixed already just risks damaging m0ore than what you're going in for.  I've tried taking the car to fix something, and they inevitabpy say, "...while you're at it... oh we found this..." In the end I question whether it was done right, what did they let go l'd preferred fixed then, I'm not happy how something was done,etc.  BUTif you take it in to get 'X' done, and keep it at 'X+ a lttle. That will keep you enjoying the drive in the car longer/sooner.  Jot down major issues on your time table and dont look past that for a year, then reassess.

[68GT350roadracer]

Try to keep it drivable, so you can enjoy it. I would definitely replace the wiring. It could cause a fire.

[roddster]

  Do it until YOU are satisfied.
  There is the old story:  Everything you do takes longer than you thought, and, everything costs more than you figured.

[Bossbill]

...  Meanwhile, since the dash is split and sticky, may as well replace it ...

Uh, no. Finding one is very difficult and very expensive. Keep it and see if you can find someone to repair it.

The repops are abysmal.

[557]

At least you're not working on a modern car.Things can get REAL complicated there...Enjoy the journey.