Anyone else thinking of giving it up?

[Scrubby]

With gas prices to hit $3/gallon this week and no end in sight, is anyone else thinking that it is not too wise to throw money into an old truck that gets 10 mpg?

I've been a die hard "I can afford a lot of gas without a car payment" type of guy for a while, steadily working on my '71 suburban and '72 blazer and daily driving them. But, I am starting to see where I might not be able to afford to fix them up and drive them. And when I get them fixed up, will I be able to afford the gas to enjoy them? Will they be worth anything fixed up since they will cost so much to drive?

I guess the question is, at what gas price does this hobby not make sense anymore? Anyone else thinking like this, or am I just being stupid?

[phlegm]

I am lucky enough to have a honda for my driver, the Truck stays parked until I need mulch or something now.

[bowtie]

I haven't driven my BB all year, but I sure enjoyed looking at it...

[mocwon]

That's one of the main reasons I went fuel injection. But, even at 17-19 mpg I might end up driving the type of vehicle much maligned by many on this board, a Japanese import....

[panhandler62]

My truck isn't my daily driver. I have a Grand Am that get 30mpg for that.

I sometimes get discouraged at the $$, lack of skills, resources, and time etc. on my part that seperate my rust bucket from the polished beuaties I saw up at Carlisle this summer, but it will take more than some greedy OPEC weenies to kill the dream for me.

[69Goody]

If I was concerned about throwing money away, I'd have bought a new rust free truck that didn't demand that I put aluminum heads, lumpy cam, and a guzzler of a carb on it.

Luckily, my daily drivr is a Honda Accord.
However...if it gets too bad...I think they sell diesel crate motors now. The future of big power.
It is depressing to see the prices as they are...but I just spent a buck on a 12oz water bottle and 3 bucks for a gallon of white cow excretion.

[pjmoreland]

I've driven my truck on a daily basis for the last 12 years. About three weeks I finally gave up and purchased a compact car. The truck will be sitting in the garage waiting to be restored. Pretty depressing. It's hard to believe I was paying $0.79/gallon for gas just a couple of years ago in Colorado.

[CHEVYE]

i'm shopping for a cheap 2-3K rice burner right now. it's a sad moment indeed but i live 42 miles from work and i figure it will pay itself off in 6 months to a year anyway.

[Musclerodz]

Right now I am stuck driving a crew cab dually daily at 10mpg and I can't afford to buy anything or sell what I got. I do have a 95 Camaro V6, but it has lived in the shop the last two months. Both my projects I am building are fuel injected and have overdrive trannys. The 68 Camaro will easily do 25mpg. The Blazer i am hoping for 18-20. I have thought about throwing in the towel, but won't. I am on the verge of throwing in the towel on flying. Gas has alway been high for airplanes but the price of everything else has got so bad that avgas is about the only thing I can afford to buy now. And I am a liscensed aircraft mechanic and have a pile of airplanes I could build. That should tell you how bad it is getting.

Mike

[sneakysnake]

Build a trailer Queen.LOL

[72MARIO]

My 67 is My DD at about 12-15 MGG on a good fill I full get 15MPG. I really could not afford to put fuel in it and drive to work if I had to support a house and family.

On my way to a show last night I noticed a 95 cutlass. Started thinkig man that must get near 25MPG that would be nice.

Fuel is a 1.20 per liter today. I tought when I filled up with 91 at 1.11 it was pricey. Oh well I just finished the truck and I may as well get a few more miles on it.

[boraxman]

Ya I thought about giving it up, but whos gonna buy it? This is really the case with my boat, its nice but who wants a big block boat you cant afford to put gas in

[Jim_PA]

Originally Posted by 69Goody

but I just spent a buck on a 12oz water bottle and 3 bucks for a gallon of white cow excretion.

Yeah, but you don't drink 25 gallons of milk or water per week. Never really understood that analogy.

[navybear70]

Perfect time to put 'er in the garage and make all those repairs/upgrades you've been dreaming about. See...problem solved!

[67ChevyRedneck]

I know how y'all feel. My truck was parked last feb. cause the 700R4 blew and I was still broke and in college. I bought a 00 z71 to have "reliability" so the 67 sat. I recently bought about 300 in parts for it and am trying to save up for a BO's tranny, lock-up kit, and TV kit. Why spend another 1200 on the truck just to get her running again (still needs some bodywork and paint) when I won't be able afford to drive it more than, say, once a week? VERY frustraiting. I used to drive her daily in HS. I loved it. Had the truck for 9 years and I can't bear the thought of letting it go.... so maybe get her going, have some weekend fun with it, and wait for the hydrogen fuel cell conversion kit to come out! (or whatever else they come up with )

[tomatocity]

My truck is a project and I have not been driving it. I have a 1993 S10 as my DD.

[stllookn]

You spend money on entertainment like golf, movies etc. I look at my truck as entertainment. For $50 in gas I can get lots of driving, cruising and grins...just having fun.

[chevyguy_72]

Thats the great thing about mine. I love to drive it but i have my 03 Maxima to drive when gas is nuts. I saw 3.29 / gallon today.

[nu2-72]

When I bought my diesel people asked ,"What I would do when diesel was $3.00 a gallon." I said, "Watch them spend $3.25."
Gas and diesel go hand in hand just like natural gas and anything else.
I told my boss the next time I call in it won't be sick. It will be broke.
I guess I see it this way. If I give up everything I enjoy because of price, I would give up everything. How much does hunting really cost per pound, or fishing, or old trucks?
I am going to do what I want. And when I die, I can say that I have no regrets. I did it my way. Maybe not as often as I would have liked but I will not give up.
I guess it is a dominoe thing for me too. If I quit, how does Tim Christian, Wes, GMC Paul pay their bills? They go under, we all lose. I pay enough now for people that won't pay their phone bill or gas bill or drive away from the pumps or steal or whatever.
I can't sit on my ars all day.

[smbrouss70]

Originally Posted by nu2-72

I am going to do what I want. And when I die, I can say that I have no regrets. I did it my way. Maybe not as often as I would have liked but I will not give up.
I guess it is a dominoe thing for me too. If I quit, how does Tim Christian, Wes, GMC Paul pay their bills? They go under, we all lose. I pay enough now for people that won't pay their phone bill or gas bill or drive away from the pumps or steal or whatever.
I can't sit on my ars all day.

AMEN, Brother!

[Dano69c10]

My turn to rant, vent etc.

Everytime I want to give up, I remember the gas shortages in the 70's. All these guys sold their big block and small block muscle cars and bought imports. Then came the 80's and 90's came and all those guys were at car shows saying "I used to have one like that" or "I wish I never sold that car/truck".

I kinda like to think that my L-6 69 c-10 over the long run saves me money, but that's not the reason I bought it.
-I like being able to maintain that truck without having to take it to a dealer who charges extremly high prices to do any work the vehicle needs.
-I like paying lower prices on engine parts etc. I like driving that truck because I can hear every noise that the new trucks drown out.
-I like hearing the wheels on the road, the 250, the creaking bed, and all the noises old trucks make. I like the steel dashboard, the bench seat, the 3 on the tree, and the fact that my truck sounds like truck.
I bought the truck for that old truck experience. I bought that truck because I still believe every household needs a truck (dump runs, Home Depot runs,furniture store runs, helping out family and friends who don't have trucks). I also have a 79 BBC crew cab dually, but I also have three kids a wife and all the necessary stuff that they require so I won't be selling that either. A Honda Civic just won't cut it. I might put a stroked small block or stroked V-6 in it if things get much worse, and keep the Big Block Engine in the storage shed.


I also figure on a monthly basis;

new car payment + new car insurance premium + gas (yes, smaller/new cars still run on it) > gas for old truck + tiny insurance payment

overall;
new car repair bills > old truck repair bills

Alot of you guys have great looking trucks, and have spent alot of time and money on them. If you are going to throw in the towel, then it makes sense to get out there and use those trucks and all those parts you bought. When the truck finally needs another restoration put it to sleep or sell it cheap. If you sell it now, that's a big waste of money IMO and you won't get what you put into it.

I'm just driving my truck and enjoying it, I don't think I'm going to put any big money in it ( I was going to do a v-8 swap, fuel injection, disc brakes, full resto etc.). I'm probably just going to paint it myself (so its one color) and then just keep it running until it gets hit by a rice burner.

On the other hand, in Japan I heard that almost all of their vehicles are diesel powered, from small cars to large vehicles. I think if someone was smart, they would look into getting some of those small car/truck diesel engines into the states. Then we could transplant some 4 or 6 - cyl turbo diesel engines into our trucks. That would be a great help and at least you'd be able to drive that classic truck. Of course one day the fuel is going to run out, but let's cross that bridge when we get there.

Lastly, any of you guys who want to "give up" and get rid of your SWB 71-72 (disc brake) chevy trucks give me a call.

Thanks for letting me put in my $2
Dano

[gangforward]

Daily driver is a SCION xB - 30-38 mpg. We love it, in fact we're thinking of getting a 2nd one. My wife and I fight over it all the time. Once got 41 mpg with a 40 mph tailwind in wyoming.

[jhow66]

I am with "Dano" '. Just came back from making a parts run (wife's '99 Cavalier) to get parts for my son's '72 BB Blazer (I have 502 BB '72 Cheyenne) and saw the new gas prices-3.09 for reg--3.29 for 93 (my kind). When I got my 1st car (I am 70 yrs. young) gas was .17 a gallon. You would pull up to the pump and say give me .50 worth and they would clean yor windshield and check your oil. When gas got to be .50 per gallon you heard the samething you are hearing now. I notice that all that are still alive from that era are still driving. So I say "keep on trucking".

[Jakes-66-K10]

Originally Posted by Dano69c10

On the other hand, in Japan I heard that almost all of their vehicles are diesel powered, from small cars to large vehicles. I think if someone was smart, they would look into getting some of those small car/truck diesel engines into the states. Then we could transplant some 4 or 6 - cyl turbo diesel engines into our trucks.

They do have these in the states. Volkswagon 1.9 TDI, just under 50mpg! Driver found!

[hilljob26]

i dont know,i look at it this way,with my 2004 silverado payment,insurance and gas,i spend about 750 a month on 1 truck,if i just had to pay the gas for my 72,it might reach 200 a month,i dont know about you all,but 200-300 is alot better then 750+ dont ya think,i just get sick of paying for a truck,id much rather pay for gas,i look at it like buying the beer for my truck every week,i mean if beer gets too high,are we all going to start drinking old molwakee,heck no,we going w/ the good stuff,thats just my .02