What unfinished project(s) eat at you?
- Thread starter Jfaustus
- Start date
In addition to all the other stuff, my wife and I - along with one of our boys and his wife - are buying my folks’ place. They had it built when I was 6 and I grew up there. In the back of the barn is our old 1950ish Gibson Super D tractor. It looks a lot like this one, except less paint and more rust. (Pic stolen off the web).
It hasn’t run in I’ll bet 20 years, maybe 30.
Our boat was given to us, so was free. There are a number of boat adages or sayings, B.O.A.T. Break out another thousand. Definition of boat: A hole in the water you throw money into, blah blah blah. But there is another one. “There is nothing in the world more expensive than a free boat.” I always thought, that’s funny! That’s a good one, haha………… No, it’s absolutely frickin’ true! No question!
Cheers…………………..Todd
RunOutGroove
Addicted Member
It's that free stuff that you really gotta watch out for!
I've always thought that it was cool how stuff like tractors are meant to last nearly forever. I don't have any friends that are farmers, but the closest I have to that is a couple I know in MD who have over 100 acres of land and when those fields need to mowed (for hay for their horses) my buddy uses a tractor that I'd guess is older than we are. Why can't more stuff be built to last like that? I guess there's stuff like my Marantz 2270, which gets daily use and works very well (with just a bit of work being done on it) and is nearly as old as me...
I’ve had the same thought but I’m not there yet. Stubborn, and also pretty early on the learning curve so every project for me is as much a chance to learn and get better as it is about the unit itself.I’ve decided to send my unfinished projects on their way “as is.” I’m an old man, I want to spend the time I have left listening to music, not futzing around with crippled audio gear.
Reminds me of the old adage, “ There’s nothing as expensive as a cheap Mercedes. I was tempted by one, until I found out there was a raft of scheduled maintenance that hadn’t been done and brake rotors were $750 - each.
RunOutGroove
Addicted Member
That seems crazy to me... so I had to look up prices on Amazon and sure enough, there are some Mercedes brake rotors that cost that much. After those ones came up though, I checked other options for one of the models that came up and there were 3rd party options for far less. I guess the thing is, is that if you own one of those cars and don't want to spend a fortune keeping it running, don't expect to be buying genuine Mercedes parts for it...
This was one of those 12-cylinder models. The mileage on it was very close to 100K. Passing on it was the right decision at the time, since I ended up buying a 2005 S2000 instead that’s now worth twice what I paid for it.
My friends/neighbors regularly used to get free, hand-me-down cars from his father’s business—always 2-3-yr-old company cars: Mercedes or BMW sedans or SUVs with very low mileage, although once they inherited a Mustang Indy Pace Car—which his Dad bought on a whim.
My friends would use them a couple more years and then, as another one arrived, they’d want to move the older ones on. Usually, they’d trade them for goods or gift them to odds-and-ends employees of theirs (yard workers, handymen, an accountant, housekeepers), as part of payment for work.
My friends would also often loan me their vehicles for various trips—and the Mercedes, built like tanks, and the BMWs, which handle beautifully, were great fun to drive. But they’d also sometimes offer them to me at very low prices. My wife regularly turned them down. But once, when we were thinking about getting a new car, they wanted us to take a 2012 BMW X3 with very low mileage for @$6K—IIRC—Blue Book was over $25K.) It was a fantastic deal.
My wife and I seriously considered it, until I brought the car—in perfect condition—to my mechanic. He was fine to service it, but he showed me a breakdown of what it would probably cost to maintain over the next five years, compared to my Subaru Outback. Then I talked to my insurer. I realized that I could afford the car, but not the premium gas, the insurance, and the upkeep.
I had a similar experience when I brought my first McIntosh preamp, a C28, in for a service (mostly just replacing light bulbs) in NYC—a little ground-floor, Mom-and-Pop stereo service shop in Midtown Manhattan. The sign on the wall listed the brands—from Fisher and Sansui to Marantz and McIntosh—that they were authorized to service, with prices by the hour. McIntosh was at the very top of the list—at double the hourly rate of Marantz.
My friends would use them a couple more years and then, as another one arrived, they’d want to move the older ones on. Usually, they’d trade them for goods or gift them to odds-and-ends employees of theirs (yard workers, handymen, an accountant, housekeepers), as part of payment for work.
My friends would also often loan me their vehicles for various trips—and the Mercedes, built like tanks, and the BMWs, which handle beautifully, were great fun to drive. But they’d also sometimes offer them to me at very low prices. My wife regularly turned them down. But once, when we were thinking about getting a new car, they wanted us to take a 2012 BMW X3 with very low mileage for @$6K—IIRC—Blue Book was over $25K.) It was a fantastic deal.
My wife and I seriously considered it, until I brought the car—in perfect condition—to my mechanic. He was fine to service it, but he showed me a breakdown of what it would probably cost to maintain over the next five years, compared to my Subaru Outback. Then I talked to my insurer. I realized that I could afford the car, but not the premium gas, the insurance, and the upkeep.
I had a similar experience when I brought my first McIntosh preamp, a C28, in for a service (mostly just replacing light bulbs) in NYC—a little ground-floor, Mom-and-Pop stereo service shop in Midtown Manhattan. The sign on the wall listed the brands—from Fisher and Sansui to Marantz and McIntosh—that they were authorized to service, with prices by the hour. McIntosh was at the very top of the list—at double the hourly rate of Marantz.
Lavane
Lunatic Member
You can do both.I’ve decided to send my unfinished projects on their way “as is.” I’m an old man, I want to spend the time I have left listening to music, not futzing around with crippled audio gear.
I have 5 smaller systems setup aeound my bench at the moment. A couple just have adaptor cables to plug an old smart phone into for streaming. Another has a turntable, and yet another has a carousel CDP. 
Things are usually cheap or free for a reason. I think most people have a story about something they thought they were getting a screaming deal on and found out otherwise.
My husband is building a new pair of speaker stands for my Wharfedale Lintons which will also house, in each stand, one of my Adcom GFA-565 monoblocs.
RunOutGroove
Addicted Member
12 cylinder? That sounds like a maintenance nightmare! Not only are there likely to be very few mechanics that really know those engines, but the parts and labor are going to be more.
Gigantic
A big, big love
I built this from scraps in my woodshop and spare parts as a proof of concept. It works, with a frequency response of 32Hz to 20kHz and take up far less space than my main horns. I got critically ill a year ago and may never be able to return to work full time, which means I'll also likely never finish this project properly with good materials and a nice level of polish.
I have way too many unfinished projects, but lately I've been trying to thin the herd.
The only one I've been on the fence about is an '89 Comanche. It needs a complete restoration, and while I can do all of the work myself, I don't really know if I want to put the time and money into it. Also, it's a 2WD, and if I'm going to be keeping it, it needs to be a 4x4, so that adds extra expense.
The only one I've been on the fence about is an '89 Comanche. It needs a complete restoration, and while I can do all of the work myself, I don't really know if I want to put the time and money into it. Also, it's a 2WD, and if I'm going to be keeping it, it needs to be a 4x4, so that adds extra expense.