[Joesmallwood]

I'll weigh in....

The question I have, is why do we have old cars? In my case, I'm on an ever present quest to learn things, to do things, to be frustrated with things, and to feel satisfied that I improved something at the end of the day. As you know, I want it to be an old 911, but feel "modernish".

I have done all the same things - replaced the entire suspension, rebuilt my engine (twice), added EFI (on my third generation/evolution now and have rewired it four times), stripped and redid all the interior, sound system, redoing my electric a/c "again" now, etc... I've done zero paint or cosmetic things because it's OK enough - for now.

Truth is, I love the process (like I think you do, too). And, for me, this car is now a glorious thing to drive. It handles great (to me), the engine is F'n fabulous now (still has some quirks, but so did my F150 Platinum that I sold because I hated it - boring!), it has all kinds of little things that catch my attention, make my list, but don't "need" to be done TODAY. I could drive this car across the continent tomorrow, if I wanted to.

I thought I would want a more refined car to "sport" around in so I bought a 2003 M3 for my daily after I sold my truck. I love it, but it's boring and it'll be sold in due time. I eat, sleep, breath modifications to my 911, but I also make peace that I could go months without touching it (and I have), if I choose. Just drive it..... My frustrations with it are self induced.

My a/c install is my latest puzzle. I have spent HOURS reading, studying, buying, tweaking, etc, in an effort to make it "modern". Truth is, once it's done, I'll likely never use it, but I'll feel satisfied knowing it is "right" and I learned something along the way.

I've had to "slow down" a bit with my process so I can take a little more in and also not get "obsessed" with the pace of the continuous improvement. It also allows me to think through things a little more before pulling triggers. My ECU is an example. MS3X. I've had a love hate relationship with this POS for four years, but the truth is, it's pretty capable. It's my ability to understand how to use it that's been the problem. It now runs like a modern car - starts, idles, gets decent mileage, dual afr (now that I got my head out of my a$$ and wired them correctly), idle up with a/c on, etc, etc, etc. I could throw my laptop in the trash and never use it again, if that were my style, but it isn't. I had a laptop hooked up to my F150, also.

I could be wrong, but I think the challenge of taming your car is what keeps you going! Hahaha... If it weren't for that, what else would you have to do?