Tuesday, December 11, 2018

2018 year end wrap up

2018, for Nigel, was not great by a wide margin.

I had to tear down what was essentially a new engine due to build quality issues.  After spending an idiotic amount of time negotiating with Chico to get replacement parts and paying an additional $1500 to rebuild the engine with better quality parts, I'm hoping that the engine issues are behind me.  I won't really know until I put the pan back together and install the engine but there's a whole host of self-inflicted problems to resolve before that can happen.  And the whole thing depends on my desire to work on the car.

The IRS conversion is started but there's still a lot to do before it's done.  I'm not thrilled with the overall fit of the parts but I'll work with what I've got to get it back on tires before I get too picky with appearances and finish.  Speaking of finishes - I'll probably strip the rear arms of powdercoated paint to fix the shock collars, then paint them again...so I'll have wasted another $240 by having that done only to strip it all off.  Knowing that I'll have to spend the money again is incentive to just leave the car alone.  I'm tired of spending money on this car.

The 'open tasks' include figuring out where to put the oil cooler, running the lines and then taking it all back out of the car again for paint and fabrication to be completed...then I get to put it back together (again).

The carpet I recently bought was returned to the seller and I got a refund for the carpet - it cost me over $100 to test fit it to the car and send it back.  I'm not going to fuck around with carpet until the car is ready for it...and, admittedly, that's looking a long way off at this point so I don't have to even think about it for quite some time.  I am no longer buying parts and, for the first time in years, I'm not even looking at parts for this car.  Other than reconnecting with a few friends - I've no interest in going to the VW shows or scheduling my family vacation to California around the big show weekend in June.

In a few short months, I'll have owned this car for FIVE years and the longest trip it has taken was 20 minutes long on a new engine that never ran right.  Nigel hasn't left the driveway of the current house since it was driven into the garage by Jim when it showed up in May 2018.  I suspect that it'll leave this house in ~ five months on a trailer, still on the body cart.

My priorities are changing as my life changes and this remains one of those areas where I'm just not getting a return on my investment - either in 'time well spent' or 'enjoying what I'm doing'.  It's hard to monetize those two very subjective terms but I know that the return on what I've spent is what I'd characterize as highly disappointing.  The 'joy' in this hobby, for me, is no longer there.

I've sold off a majority of my excess parts and what I haven't sold will go back up for sale in the Spring - the divesting of extra parts will continue until I'm done.  If I decide to sell this car - I'm wholly finished with the hobby. One way or another, 2019 will be the year to make something happen.  The good news is that it can't get much worse.