This is when I first got it, it is a lot better now, but still far to go. Fixed missing bumper, side trim, other fin was crushed, carburetor blown, radiator shot, bad alternator, wrong lug nuts, brakes, tires, hub caps, no speedometer, valves way off, timing 10 degrees out. Etc.
It's a dream though. I suspect you understand. That's my 67 Camaro in the background. I have three years of work left I think.
This is what Baby looked like when we first got it. Well, hubby had already replaced the original hubs and brakes with wheels and disc brakes by the time this photo was snapped.
It looks a LOT better in the photo than it did in reality. It sat, neglected, in a shed for 18 years before hubby found it. We didn't do a frame-off restoration but it was just shy of it.
Hang in there. Before you know it, you'll be turning heads as you cruise along in your classics, making people wish THEY were lucky enough to have one too. Some will go all out to achieve that dream, like we have, and keep the classics alive. :-)
Back in high school the spinster lady next door had a 57 Bel Air - a copperish/brown with white in the wings and trim. (She lived with her widowed sister that drove an early sixties Impalla).
Her 57 was immaculate - literally the little old lady that drove it to church on Sundays - in the garage the rest of the time. It was perfect. IIRC it was in the high teens on the mileage. Visiting mom and dad during college I would always make a point of asking her about the car - but she was never ready to sell.
One time (1981 or 82) I asked her about it and she said “Oh - after my one doctor’s appointment they decided I shouldn’t be driving anymore. I sold it to a nice Christian man.” (Yeah - I bet that nice “Christian” man offered her $500 just to get “that old car” out of her garage.
However, having said that - probably for the best. Not sure if I would have had the foresite and knowledge to know how valuable it was/ would become and I probably wouldn’t have taken care of it the way it should have been. I only hope the guy that bought it took care of it - it was a real treasure.