Liberty is an inherently offensive lifestyle. Living in a free society guarantees that each one of us will see our most cherished principles and beliefs questioned and in some cases mocked. That psychic discomfort is the price we pay for basic civic peace. It's worth it. It's a pragmatic principle. Defend everyone else's rights, because if you don't there is no one to defend yours. -- MaxedOutMama

I don't just want gun rights... I want individual liberty, a culture of self-reliance....I want the whole bloody thing. -- Kim du Toit

The most glaring example of the cognitive dissonance on the left is the concept that human beings are inherently good, yet at the same time cannot be trusted with any kind of weapon, unless the magic fairy dust of government authority gets sprinkled upon them.-- Moshe Ben-David

The cult of the left believes that it is engaged in a great apocalyptic battle with corporations and industrialists for the ownership of the unthinking masses. Its acolytes see themselves as the individuals who have been "liberated" to think for themselves. They make choices. You however are just a member of the unthinking masses. You are not really a person, but only respond to the agendas of your corporate overlords. If you eat too much, it's because corporations make you eat. If you kill, it's because corporations encourage you to buy guns. You are not an individual. You are a social problem. -- Sultan Knish

All politics in this country now is just dress rehearsal for civil war. -- Billy Beck

Tuesday, February 07, 2017

What Have I Gotten Myself Into?

So, I like to watch those car restoration/modification shows.  You know:  Restoration Garage, Overhaulin', Detroit Muscle, Engine Power, Counting Cars, etc.  My wife has asked me on more than one occasion why I watch that stuff when I don't do any of that.

Well, I've always kinda wanted to.

Long, long ago when I was but a lad, my brother had a book on popular engine swaps, and one of them stuck with me - a Pontiac 215 cubic-inch aluminum-block V8 into an MGB.  Not quite twice the displacement, more than double the horsepower, and with a Muncie 4-speed, 50 lbs less weight.  My dad had owned a Triumph Herald with a 1500cc Spitfire engine equipped with dual Weber carbs.  I was too young to drive it, but I remember that car even now.  My brother rolled it.

But the idea of stuffing a V8 into an MGB has always stuck with me.  Turns out, it's a very popular thing.

So I bought an MG to stuff a Ford 302 and a 5-speed into.  And, because I need the garage space and cubic dollars to restore & customize the MG, I sold my Mustang.

Here's what I had, a 2011 GT 5.0:


And here's what I bought:


It's a 1970, with all the niggling problems that you'd expect from a 47 year-old British sports car, but it does run fine.  As I described the experience of getting it home from across town:
That was exciting. No brake lights, no turn signals, one mirror that vaguely worked, no instrument lights, a speedo that doesn’t even vaguely work, it was dark, and thankfully I forgot my sunglasses.

Don’t think I’ll be taking it to any car shows soon.
Rust issues appear to be minimal, but we'll see once all the paint comes off.

Now I'll have even less time for blogging.  But you'll get progress reports here.

UPDATE, 2/8/17, @3:14AM MST:    OK, while I can be a fool, I am not a complete idiot.  I don't fit in this car.  Literally.  Getting into and out of it is (if you're watching me do it) a comedic act. My size 13 feet and six-foot corpulent frame just aren't designed to bend in the ways necessary to climb behind the wheel of this thing.  After two pretty much sleepless nights (see the time stamp of this update) I've come to a conclusion - I've made a mistake. Given my size, I'm not too small of a man to admit to a mistake.  Now to minimize the cost of that mistake.  Further updates as I try to dispose of this white elephant.  Dammit.

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