Customer service.

[ProudLib72]

17. I'm with you on this

I scrounge the pick and pulls for parts. I look through Craigslist for parts. The interesting thing about my vehicle is that a huge aftermarket world exists for it, but they don't make some of the more mundane parts.

Here's an example of the lengths I go to: Last summer I bought a kit to convert my rear brakes from drum to disc. That was fairly straight forward. Then I needed to come up with something for an emergency brake. They make a kit for that, too. It consists of a manual disc brake system that goes between the transmission output and drive shaft. Easy. However, it meant I needed just slightly longer bolts for the drive shaft. I looked everywhere. I finally went to Fastenal and ordered the bolts.

I'm at the point where I cannot take my vehicle to a dealership. They simply won't understand all of the modifications I've done. I either do the work myself or rely on my buddy who owns a shop that does fabrication and repairs on these types of vehicles.

If you want to own an older car, you need to learn how to do the maintenance on it yourself or have friends who can help. The dealerships rely on the fact that exactly 0.5% of the population will take the time and learn to work on their own cars.