Mav's Lifted 1985 Eagle Wagon Limited/Sport Stroker - Picture Heavy! - 04/09/10

[Sunny]

So I just had a MASSIVE reply typed up, but my laptop wasn't plugged in and I didn't realize it and it died.. lol..

Anyways, sorry to hear about your predicament...When it rains it pours though.. right?
I had this huge thing typed up.. now I'm trying to remember it all.. lol..

I guess basically you just need to prioritize and budget really well.. one of my friends is a financial planner, and she's always talking about it.. I guess this is when it comes in useful hah.. Basically, cut out anything non essential for a while..

As for vehicles, it sounds like the escort would be the cheapest to fix up with a set of used tires.. they're cheap, and they're a lot more safe than bald tires, especially if you have kids.. Most tire shops are pretty good at inspecting them before they put them on, but if you have any doubts, check inside the tire yourself just to make sure there's no ply's showing, and the tread or cord's aren't separating, etc.

There's a bunch of different ways you could try to make money, depending on how financially strained you are...
I was in a similar situation a few years ago, and I sold some extra car parts I had, and fixed some of my friends cars for a lot less than a mechanic would charge.
I needed money to buy parts to fix my own car, and I owed a friend of mine some money, and I really hate owing people money so I wanted to pay them back ASAP.. so those were my top two priorities.


I'll throw out a few idea's I've had / tried to make some money.. lol.

Scrap metal: I've made a few grand doing scrap metal on the side, aluminum and copper seem to be some of the best bang for your buck metals.. I wouldn't bother with steel unless you've got a truck.. You need a lot for it to be worth anything.. but things like scrap aluminum rims and stuff I got about 15$/rim last time I dropped a set off. I also picked up an old set of aluminum service boxes and got over a hundred bucks a side... but you could fit rims and stuff into your car.

Garage sale: When I moved in with my room mates a few years ago, one of them lost his job not long after. We ended up having a garage sale, and he made enough to cover his rent for a month and a half, and I made like 200$ just selling stuff I didn't need anymore.. or like tools I had triples of.

You could advertise cheap car painting on the sites I listed earlier aswell, you might get some customers.

Sell higher dollar items on said sites aswell.. stuff that doesn't really fit in at a garage sale.. My sisters bf owed her almost a grand and he ended up selling one of his guitars and spare amps to cover it... or maybe you have some good shape parts you can sell on those sites, or ebay.. or even here, if someone needs them... I have a friend who makes her living selling stuff on auction sites.. she's not a millionaire, but she makes about what I do and I have to work my  off in a shop.. lol

Online surveys: It sounds like a scam, but one of my room mates makes an extra 50 or so bucks a week, for about an hours worth of work online / week. You just have to find a reliable site, some of them are scams.

http://bluerectangle.com/ if you have any books or textbooks laying around, they'll buy them back from you.

Being college students my room mates and I have found out lots of neat little ways to make money on the side.


Either way, I hope you get it all figured out and get your eagle back up and running.

[Mavericke]

Thanks for the help man, it's stressful but I'm not too worried about being poor... I'll make it all work out one way or the other. I'm going to work on selling some more parts... I have some comic books to sell.

I finally got another laptop and an HD camera (not sure if I mentioned that before) and I fiddle with video editing so I'm hoping to start making some cash on the side by shooting weddings and special events. And also by converting VHS for people to DVD on the cheap end.

I've also got a fulll PA setup for my band and a box truck to haul it all around in... now that I've got the laptop, all I need to do is get some DJing software like PC/DJ and go out and make some funds DJing.

I can't make any money working on cars until the cement is laid in my barn... it's too complicated and crammed in my garage to do major car work and/or painting. Plus, the band is jamming in there.... so, no go.

[Sunny]

If you've got a box truck, you could definitely do some scrap metal.
Theres usually ads around here online for people that have some they want rid of, or drive around and I find a lot dumped on country roads.

Either way, hope it works out!

[Mavericke]

yeah, lots of guys around here do that... there's not enough money in it to justify doing it in my opinion. I work a full-time job so there's not a whole lot of time I could dedicate to it. The time it takes to drive around and find the scrap plus the gas used... it just doesn't weigh out in my opinion. We had a severely rusted Eagle out here and after stripping everything of use and even saving some body panels that were in "ok" shape... we chopped the rest up and scrapped it and only got like $40 for like 12hrs of work, quite a bit of oxy/acety mixture and several sawzaw blades. I lost money on that deal.

But yeah, I have some other options... were not on the streets yet, so we're doing ok for now, but something is gonna have to give real soon.

[83Eagle!]

You'll get it all figured out Mav.  You always do.

[Whuntmore]

Ok Mav, any updates?  any new pictures?  I'm getting pretty frozen over here...

[tougeagle]

yeah, lots of guys around here do that... there's not enough money in it to justify doing it in my opinion. I work a full-time job so there's not a whole lot of time I could dedicate to it. The time it takes to drive around and find the scrap plus the gas used... it just doesn't weigh out in my opinion. We had a severely rusted Eagle out here and after stripping everything of use and even saving some body panels that were in "ok" shape... we chopped the rest up and scrapped it and only got like $40 for like 12hrs of work, quite a bit of oxy/acety mixture and several sawzaw blades. I lost money on that deal.

But yeah, I have some other options... were not on the streets yet, so we're doing ok for now, but something is gonna have to give real soon.

They must be cheapin out hardcore.... I see somewhere between 25-40 cents a pound for it here...

[Mavericke]

No updates as of yet. Took it in a couple weeks ago to have the exhaust done and they said they wouldn't do it. Wanted me to change the manfiold myself and THEN they'd do the exhaust... bah... I can run straight pipes myself. I didn't want to do the manifolds. But oh well. That will be put off awhile longer.

The next thing will be gutting the interior again. Not happy with the dash modifications I made so going back to original. Also, need to rip out alot of it to paint. I have to pull the seats to weld the old holes fom the roof rack. Thought I could get away without doing that, but I'm j ust too afraid the welding splatter will get all over the seats and burn stuff... so I figured if I'm going to go that far, then I might as well pull it all out and get it prepped for paint. So that's the next step.

Oh yeah, I got everything for the front end. A new stabilizer shock and new stabilizer links, and bushings for everything down there so I can start driving her again. The plan is to get to this early and get it finished up before the meet, but I have Pat's car to do as well AND the Jeep needs a lot of work as well. IF IF IF I get everything in plenty of time for the Meet... I'm going to drop the 360 in it. Time will tell. Stay tuned.

[shanebo]

That was no small undertaking!! Very nice!

[83Eagle!]

Should be easier to work on this time around since now you don't have to drive it while working on it.

[Mavericke]

Yeah no kiddin... AND, I'm not working... so that frees up some time, lol!

[83Eagle!]

still no job leads?

[Mavericke]

still no job leads?

Just... don't ask, lol! I don't think there is anywhere else I can turn in an ap around here except McDonalds and though it'd be a waste of my talents - even they aren't hiring.

[amc78concord]

Mav's Back! =D

[Mavericke]

Yessir, I am! Just spent the last couple of hours catching up on my emails, LOL!