I just have to ask......

Having a well sorted crappy car is my life. I will polish turds until they shine. I will vacuum every ounce of crud out of the floors and trunk. I will wash the windows, go over them with paper towels, newspapers, rags, anything until they are sparkling clean. I'll remove many layers of oxidation to bring back some color to a dash pad or an armrest. I'll polish the lens over the gauges. I'll polish the chrome around the lights or the grille. I'll clean all the gunk out of the wheel wells. I'll shampoo carpets and seat upholstery. I'll dredge all the tree funk out of the trunk lid drain area and the cowl vents. I'll use whole bottles of Armor All on single door panels.

I may be a fool for always choosing to drive $500 POS cars, cars no one else wants, cars of questionable mechanical integrity, cars that are a few loose screws away from the scrap heap, but I'll be damned if they won't look as nice as possible while I do so.

Incidentally, Rev, using your analogy, I drive 2's and 3's thinly disguised as 6's

 

Hear, Hear!! That just makes good sense to me!
I have a couple of replacement door panels that I need to recolour before I can put them on my wagon. Of course the colour of the trim paint that is available is just different enough from my interior trim that I'm going to want to recolour all of it an not just the replacement pieces. THE MRS is having trouble understanding why I would want to put so much time an effort into my car. I'm pointing her to this thread!

 

I'm so happy to read these fine wagon reports. Everything I drive I try to keep well maintained and looking decent. But I built our 55 Chevy wagon as my "minivan" wannabe. Back in the late 80's when I bought it and started the project minivans seemed to just come out. I decided that I wanted an older wagon to haul swapmeet junk home in yet wanted it for cruise nites and an occasional local car show. So that's how I built it.
Actually when I bought the station wagon it sported a brand new all red paint job and had a 350 with Borg Warner 4-speed. I was gonna only do a little minor adjustments here and there. Well that new shiny red paint apparently was put on outside in an Illinois dust storm by a visually handicapped old man. In reality he was a young 4-wheeler lover who just got in a hurry.
I ended up tearing it down to almost a body-off and nearly built a show car. I stopped being so fancy when I remembered why I bought the wagon. Just because everyone else was doing it I swapped a perfectly good stock 55 rearend for a Nova which is just a cheaper name for Camaro.
Sure, first time out I won first in class and many other shows. It sorta was a show car. But after many miles and smiles it's gone from a 10 footer to a 20+ on a cloudy day. It's been around Lake Michigan twice, the Smokey Mtns, and spent lots of nites in campgrounds and the work parking lot.
But we love it even more than before. As for the hot 350, like a fool I traded our wagon and it took three years to get it back. Since then it has had a sick 307/Powerglide, and the used 305/200R4 I swapped to.
I'll swear, when I drive it it's just a car and I forget why I'm getting thumbs up! My biggest problem is explaining "It ain't a Nomad!"

 

I mentioned this thread to my wife.

She said that my wagon isn't visually challenged...
but anyone who likes my wagon is DEFINITELY visually challenged.

Funny lady...

 

Blasphemer!!

 

I try to always thank people for compliments.

From aqnother board.

 

Look closely at this picture. Intersting. Wonder if the fish were biting?

 

Biting...perhaps.
Smoking something...definitely.

 

thats a Hallmark card

 

Back in the early 90's had an S-10 blazer that I showed, lowered, big system, custom interior...etc. Usually a couple of days before a show I would detail it, wash frame, suspension, engine compartment, wax, wax inner fenders, bottom of hood, on and on. Then day of show I would carry 3-4 gallon of water in a sprayer and do it again. I would spend 2-4 hours at the show detailing again. If I saw a truck come in looking better than mine I would start again. Now we, wife son and I, go to the cruise nights and a couple of shows a year in our wagon. I wash before we go and then touch it up after we get there, but not like I used to!

 

wax inner fenders, bottom of hood<<<<-----------Chevy5seven you were a sick puppy. I have done a lot of cleaning and waxing. But never the inner fenders. Maybe the inner hood once when I was ill!
When I saw cars pushed off closed trailers and owners waxing the tire tread, after making sure there were no tiny pebbles, I stopped entering shows. New cars never looked that good!

All at the cost of driving the truck and trailer there, motels, entrance fees, etc. for a $7.00 plastic cup with a tiny car on it. Not for me!