unfinished/abandoned projects? (NOT including house renos or mame/arcade cabs)

[danny_galaga]

so what abandoned projects have you guys got kicking around? i'm curious to know. other than house renovations and ongoing mame/arcade cabs since we ALL have those  ;)us lads always have something unfinished that irks our wives/girlfriends/mums or all three!! heres ONE of mine:

about 13 years ago i built a model boat using a weed-eater motor. at about the 90% completed stage i tested it out. total failure! this was the first time i used fibreglass for a boat hull. i miscalculated and built it way too heavy so it just wouldn't get up on the plane   . the hull is more solid than a one man canoe and probably weighs as much.
a couple of months ago i remembered it was still kicking around downstairs so i lined an old crate with plastic and filled it up with water. got it running after maybe 5 minutes  . despite its shortcomings it still sounds awesome...
specs:

motor- 22cc stihl brushcutter with homemade water-cooling inc. water cooled exhaust manifold.

hull- fibreglass with 0.8mm aircraft ply veneer

weight- lots!! at least twice what it should be

future plans- all it needs is stacks more power. one day i'll find an electric start 50cc scooter motor and use that. that oughta fix it  

[danny_galaga]

engine bay

[danny_galaga]

ubiquitous forum topical size comparison  

[Tailgunner]

Cool model.

Reminds me of a boat project my father did back when I was a teen. This was a 18 foot bass fishing boat, dad wired it up like the B-47s he flew in the service. The end result was so heavy that a 175 HP motor couldn't get it up on plane.

As to mine, the "jeep" I posted in the car thread started as an engine swap in a Toyota Landcruiser around 1992. It hasn't run since.

[Crazy Cooter]

I'll only list a couple.  Non "abandoned", just taking longer than I would like.

1- Model Airplane.
Total fight time is about 25 second split between 2 completely out of control attempts.  I built it my self (semi-finished kit) and just can't get it to fly straight.  Of course I didn't follow the recommendations that beginners should not use this type of model (Messerschmitt) because I figured "how hard is it to fly a plane?"

2- Turbocharged Civic.
1992 Honda Civic sedan.  T3 turbo .48/.63 (on workbench), *RSR  slant back exhaust (on car), will be using Uberdata chipped ecu, johnny racecar intercooler, JC Whitney mandrel bent charge piping, and a garage fabbed downpipe.  Will street tune with an undecided wideband.  Will retain 100% stock appearance.

3- 1967 Chevelle restoration project.  It's at my parents and they are looking to move, so this project is on hold.

4- Routed slot car track.  Joint project between my brother and I.  Modular so it can be transported in a S-10 Blazer.  Still getting materials for this one.

[GGKoul]

I bought a 1966 Type 34 Karman Ghia that I was planning on restoring... but it never happened.  www.type34.org for more information.

[danny_galaga]

ah yes. cars  . i had a beach buggy with new everything sitting around for over a year, about 85% complete. used to drive it around the block. it seems like it's that last 10% or so of a project that is the killer  
came in handy in the end because when i was on a working holiday in canada years ago and i ran out of money my dad was able to sell it for me for $3000. phew, thanks dad  

[Daniel270]

I bought a 1966 Type 34 Karman Ghia that I was planning on restoring... but it never happened.  www.type34.org for more information.

3 years ago, I bought a '71 VeeDub Beetle with the intent of doing a full restore to it...  Apartment manager I lived said I couldn't keep the vehicle there unless it was running and tagged, so I asked a friend of mine to let me keep it there..... it stayed there for about a year while I struggled with locating parts and tools.   Soon after the first year passed, that "friend" told me they were going to move and I needed to either sell the car or find another place to keep it.    So, I sold the car for what I paid for it, only to find out that they just wanted me to move the car off the property... the "friend" hasn't moved and it's been 2 years since I sold it.

[Setabs]

1968 VW Beetle have had for almost 10 years.  The body is at father in-laws shop sheilding gas from the harmful

1972 Plymouth Cuda - Wifes car she has had for about 6 years.  Spent first year taking it apart and doing body work.  Buisness picked up at her fathers shop and she quit working on it.  Its now used to hold loose items form other cars.  

[Stingray]

I have a 1971 Triumph GT6 that I can't really call abandoned or unfinished... it's not even started. I promised the wifey that I'd finish remodeling the house before starting another car. It's the damn house that I think I'll never finish.

-S

[HaRuMaN]

1979 Nova custom...  I'm supposed to be restoring it...  

Even my webpage dedicated to it is pretty much abandoned.

http://www.geocities.com/novaman1979/nova.html

[Gunstar Hero]

1969 Mustang coupe. My first car. Drove it for 7 years, decided to "resto-mod" it. Parked it. Dammit. Still gonna finish that one someday.

5 RC cars/trucks from my summer/fall RC obsession a couple years ago. 3 still work, 2 are in pieces. Should just sell them. Well, I know I'm giving one to my little brother.  

Finally about 20 various unopened model cars (mostly Mustangs) from a brief resurgence of my early teenage love of model car building about 5 years back. A couple nice anime robots as well.

Heck, with my track record, I'm glad my MAME cab is as done as it is!

[danny_galaga]

haruman: just looked at your nova site. emissions controls certainly had an effect on power didnt they? your car has 5 hp LESS than my 6 cyl car i posted in crazy cooters thread  

(of course the potential is a tad higher for more power in yours though)

edit: you mention a problem with detonation on your site. detonation is different to pre-ignition and is much worse. fix it now if you havent already!! can be very damaging. i did learn about all this stuff years ago, from memory pre-ignition is where there is something igniting the fuel before its supposed to (like sharp edges on carbon build-up which glow white-hot). detonation is an uncontrolled burning of the fuel (which might be from engine running way hot and too lean a fuel mixture). anyway, find out for sure yourself...

[Tailgunner]

edit: you mention a problem with detonation on your site. detonation is different to pre-ignition and is much worse. fix it now if you havent already!! can be very damaging. i did learn about all this stuff years ago, from memory pre-ignition is where there is something igniting the fuel before its supposed to (like sharp edges on carbon build-up which glow white-hot). detonation is an uncontrolled burning of the fuel (which might be from engine running way hot and too lean a fuel mixture). anyway, find out for sure yourself...

Agreed, pre-ignition may burn a piston, but detonation can put a rod through the side of the block.  

[HaRuMaN]

I have't fixed the detonation problem yet, but then again, I'm not driving it any more either.  I don't know what I'm gonna do with the car.  I might fill the doors with concrete and go demolition derby it...

[crashwg]

I might fill the doors with concrete and go demolition derby it...

Is that realy what they do?  That sounds uber-dangerous!

[shmokes]

"friend"

You have to say friend with "quotes" when you talk about this guy because, after a year of this hunk of metal sitting in his yard without you doing a damn thing to it he finally made you move it?  Do you think that possibly, in some parallel dimension this guy is posting something to a message board like:

So yeah....this "friend" of mine aske me if he could store his project car in my yard while he restored it.  My wife wasn't happy about having a non-running car sitting on blocks in the yard, but I assured her it was temporary.  So anyway my "friend" basically just forgot about it.  It sat there for a year while this "friend" of mine claimed to be gathering parts and tools (right...that would be because parts and tools to work on a VW bug are SOOO hard to come by...you know since they are about the simplest car to work on in the whole world, not to mention about the easiest and cheapest to find parts for).  Finally, when it basically came down to losing the vehicle or my wife (not that I didn't personally want the piece of junk eyesore moved out' my yard) I told this guy to move his car and he acts like I've wronged him somehow.

[Daniel270]

Actually, the "friend" was a woman... I asked her before I ever bought the Dub.... and she had no problems with it at the time... what irked me was that she knew I was buying the parts (and keeping stuff for a VeeDub Beetle in a 2 Bed apt is a miracle in itself)....

Now I've got parts and no car  

[Hoagie_one]

--10 half painted fantasy miniatures
--3 half build models.
--1/3 of a stainless steel chainmail shirt done
--In the beginning stages of building a mini-itx PVR system inside of an old SNES box....which will also play emulator games on the TV.
--Behind on my work projects
--Behind on my school homework
--have  5 unfinished PC games installed

etc etc

[Tailgunner]

--1/3 of a stainless steel chainmail shirt done

Butted or riveted maille?

[danny_galaga]

just found some old pics of my model boat 'back in the day'- about 14 years ago...

[danny_galaga]

and once my computer lets me attach the pic ill show you!

[Louis Tully]

.

[Louis Tully]

.

[Crazy Cooter]

1- Model Airplane.
2- Turbocharged Civic.
3- 1967 Chevelle
4- Routed slot car track.

UPDATE:
1- no progress.
2- sold and bought a 1955 Buick.
3- no progress.
4- no progress.

Yep, those should classify as "abandoned".

[mgb]

Man, too bad I don't have any pictures of the VW Beetles that I bought in running shape.  I then had the idea to "customize" them.
My first (while in high school) was a 69 with a hard sunroof.

My second ( about 5 years later) was a 71 Super.

[danny_galaga]

1- Model Airplane.
2- Turbocharged Civic.
3- 1967 Chevelle
4- Routed slot car track.

UPDATE:
1- no progress.
2- sold and bought a 1955 Buick.
3- no progress.
4- no progress.

Yep, those should classify as "abandoned".

I just put my boat on ebay starting at 99 cents 

[danny_galaga]

If only this boat was in a major city. Might have got a smidgen more for it

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/111161368871?ssPageName=STRK:MESOX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1561.l2649

[HaRuMaN]

Lol... I sold my Nova in 2007.  $200.   

[danny_galaga]

You did better than me, the guy who won it for 99 cents cant be bothered to answer my pms, so now I've relisted the boat for FREE

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=111167801108

[danny_galaga]

An ignominious end 

Got picked up within an hour or so, by a guy two houses down. He thought it would be a good project for his godson and him. At least it went to a good home 

[darthpaul]

Lacking time and money, I fear it is destined to be lawn art.

[DaOld Man]

Oh man Paul, you need to drop everything else and work on that Charger! First thing is to get it out of the sun/weather. Is that a garage behind it? Or one of those cheap car port thingies would work.

[macattack]

Or sell it to me!

I have plenty of projects I'm not getting to but this would go to the top of my list along side my 72 cuda.


WWW.Xtremepinball.com

[matt4949]

Oh man Paul, you need to drop everything else and work on that Charger! First thing is to get it out of the sun/weather. Is that a garage behind it? Or one of those cheap car port thingies would work.

AGREED!

[darthpaul]

Oh man Paul, you need to drop everything else and work on that Charger! First thing is to get it out of the sun/weather. Is that a garage behind it? Or one of those cheap car port thingies would work.

I know what I'm going to say is going to upset some of you, yes Ken, that is a garage and the Home Theater had to go somewhere and yes, it had been in the garage.  I've had that car for over 20 years, I'm lucky if I put 5,000 miles on it. I put a lot of blood, sweat and money into it and could never get it to run right and I believe it may be past the point of no return. I'm really considering selling it and get what I can before it's too far gone. I loved that car but it broke my heart so many times 

[macattack]

Paul, ping me if you do decide to sell.

Greg


WWW.Xtremepinball.com