Gadgetech

I've had my car for a little over a year now and I've put about 3500 very expensive miles on the car. The wife has not been really happy about it but I like the car and there wasn't a cost to acquire the car itself...but I feel like I need a gut check here.

Car now has just over 193,500 miles on it and in the last year I've gotten:
1. Oil Change and Check-up - $75 or so
2. New tires: $650
3. Replaced cracked intake manifold with a fairly inexpensive unit, 1 new coil and 8 new spark plugs: $850
5. Found out positraction is going out so I am getting that repaired and decided to throw some new gears in there as well: $750

Total: $2325 give or take a few bits of change

Will need:
1. New driver seat foam and new front seat covers: Est. $610
2. Headlights: $280 if I go OEM due to being super picky
3. Convertible Top in the next year or two: $1350
4. Tuner to correct speedo for new gears: $400

Assuming no other needs that's about $4900 if you add up what's been spent and what is needed. Not sure what the car is worth if I had to purchase it but I can't imagine it'd be worth more than that.

I like the car, it has sentimental value and it's a hobby which I classify as wasted money anyway b/c my hobbies aren't really all that practical. The guy doing the work on my car seemed to think it was beneficial to keep it and upgrade as needed but his opinion may be biased. He did tell me that the car looks like it has 70 or 80K on the clock b/c how well it was cared for so that's a positive but I'm just curious if this is in line with what others have spent and if you would keep this car or sell it and recoup what's been spent.

I'd love to build up the motor or do an engine swap, lower it, offset rims, exhaust and fix things up here and there but there is a small streak of practicality that keeps wanting to butt into my ideas. So am I crazy or what? Like I say I need a gut check b/c I can go on spending money ad nauseum. I'm okay being partially irresponsible just not absolutely nutzo.

unitedwestang

It may not be the answer that you want to hear, but we can't really tell you. That's a decision you will have to make. To me it seems that what you have replaced are normal wear items for the most part. Yes it may have a bit of miles on it, but if it runs well why not keep it. I don't know how many people are looking for high mileage Mustangs if you would try to sell it...
But what I can tell you is that there are plenty of people on here that have dropped a lot more into their cars. As the saying goes, "you gotta pay to play".

Derf00

My .02 cents. A hobby or any type of activity is not a financial investment unless you will be getting a return on that money.

So, the question should be, can you afford to keep spending money on your hobby? I don't think any of us can answer that for you. It's up to you and your GF to discuss and depends on your financial situation and goals.

Gadgetech

I'm okay with spending money on it and it seems as though it's a great platform to spend money on, just thought I'd get some feedback from others. Price of admission is worth the show IMO as long as the show is relevant.

Thanks for the feedback!

tracyballard

Stick with it, or you will never know how it would have worked out. You might try some cheaper parts though. I understand O'reilly's has a replacement seat that is fairly decent and only costs around $200. And you can get brand new replacement headlight assemblies off ebay for around $40 each, bulb included. (Some uninformed types might tell you to avoid ebay for some reason, perhaps because they think ebay is "risky" to buy from, but if you buy from ebay you have more protection as a buyer than anywhere else you can buy. If you screw up the part entirely through your own lack of knowledge, ebay will still make the seller take it back and give you a full refund.)

needmorespeed

My thoughts, cars are money pits. That is the bottom line. They depreciate (a few don't but this isn't a collector car) and you will rarely get your money out that you put in. This is just a fact of life. Some hobbies cost money, and racing/cars is an expensive hobby. If it puts a smile on your face to drop the top and listen to the motor wind up, then it's worth it. I say keep it, and do the work yourself, that's how I can get away with dumping money in upgrades on my car AND keeping the wife happy.

Honey, the mustang needs new shocks, so I am going to get this nice set of double adjustable ones.

See how easy it is.

Lackey'sGT

If you are looking for seat covers, I would look at TMI too, I want to get the Mach 1 style seats they have and if you don't care that they are vynle instead of leather you can get them for around 450 dollars and then the foam is another 150 or something but overall pretty cheap for what you end up getting.

Here is a link to the replacement covers:

http://www.latemodelrestoration.com/...eat-Upholstery

Gadgetech

I plan to get my seat foam through LMR. My factory interior is tan and I don't want to tackle that change so while I've thought about using the Mach1 seat foam and vinyl, they don't make it tan. I just don't want to mix and match too much.

Found out today that someone cross threaded a bolt that holds the spider gears together so they had to add that to the bill...another $50 but not a big deal.

Here's the Old 3.27 gear:



Here's the New 3.73 gear:

unitedwestang

If they're talking about the pinion shaft lock bolt that's a common deal. Not that its cross threaded, but that it breaks. Kinda sucks they charged you $50 for it though considering its a $3 bolt, and I would assume they have the tool to get it out which should take 5 minutes....

Gadgetech

The $50 is for a used replacement set of spider gears, not just the bolt. I wasn't clear in my comment. I think the bolt being cross threaded caused some other issue. He recommended just replacing spider gears and all with a used set that's in better shape. I don't recall the whole convo.