The Agony

This blog has never been shy about spending money on car parts. The title itself is wrapped in the concept that racing, cars, the "gear head hobby" costs money. In all fairness to the hobby, that money does purchase some really neat pieces of steel, plastic, and aluminum. Some of the parts I've bought through the years are a venerable showcase of the evolution of the capabilities of on-demand manufacturing and fabrication utilities.

Despite the cost I've kept quite a bit of pride in keeping my overall costs low by comparison. There exist more than one person that I have spoke with over the years with more investment in their project cars than they had in the down payment on their homes. It also does not help that I cannot stand to do anything that is popular. "Popular" in the gear head world tends to be projects which garner a lot of "me too" reactions. They also tend to be popular enough to inspire companies to offer kits. I am not performing an engine swap for which there is any kit, nor is there any guide, or anyone else with previous experience to help with a variety of conundrums found along the way. This means there will be parts that I try to put together that will not fit and need to be refit. Fundamentally, if I have a question I must answer it myself, no end of Google searches will provide me with a direct answer.

All of these things combined have left me with an overwhelmingly disabling complex. I simply cannot ever seem to get myself to spend money on higher cost items even if I need them to complete my project, include the purchase of a new turbocharger. The old turbo was fine for the Capri. It worked well for drag racing but this car is not setup to simply go drag racing and I wanted something that was a little smaller. After over a week of Google searches, posts on forums, and finally chatting with a local tuning shop I bought one.

Of course, now I'm questioning myself over and over again about the wisdom of the choice. The agony only amplifies itself because I won't know how well it works until the entire car is assembled and running. I need to actually have the car drivable before I can even check that my instincts and research are correct.