While I wait, fingers crossed, for some good news from the unemployment office, I’ve been making the most of having more time than money. My good friend Ron has an oil leak or two on his daily driven work truck and we’re trying to schedule a time when I can come over and take a look or help him fix it this week. Vanessa’s co-worker Naomi has one of those super nice Infiniti G35s with a set of Brembo brakes in need of new pads and I’m going to be seeing about helping her out as well, but you started reading this because the title hints at a financially struggling bloke doing something that typically requires a lot of money.
Am I really going to build an Evo this week?
Sort of. Pictured above is the 1995 Mitsubishi Mirage, mentioned last week, that Keith bought on Friday. It’s a Craigslist find with a blown headgasket and a broken headlight. Not the most thrilling vehicle you’ve ever set eyes on, certainly, but this little tin can has enormous potential.
How do you make a real Evo out of a Mirage?
There are some who would simply fit the car above with the engine, transmission, driveline, and suspension off an all wheel drive Talon/Eclipse/Laser (aka: DSM, TEL). In effect, that is replicating much of the standard equipment on the venerable Evo of that generation, but Keith took a ride in a true Evo III rally car a few years back, caught “the disease,” and has been collecting actual Evo III bits ever since. In fact, if Keith and I were able to devote a solid week to this project starting at sunrise tomorrow (well, today, as it’s almost 1AM Monday morning), we’d likely have a drivable Evo III by next weekend. I’ve got time, but not that much time.
If it’s not actually getting built this week, why mention it?
This little Mirage represents a blank page of sorts. It’s a fresh start at taking hold of something tangible and using our imagination and resolve to build something great together. While my resume might tell the prospective employer who grants it a second’s glance that I’ve been trying to find meaningful employment in the automotive and/or (preferably and) social media realm within the last couple years, a project such as this sings out with the opportunity to make use of the nearly ten years’ experience and passion for all things mechanical. Each resume sent out that never generates a response is offset by a small victory with this assembly or that little project.
Power is nothing without control.
P-Nut from the band 311 once said to me, “We are all amazing creatures, especially when we think we are.” Times are tough and those individuals with positions to fill are no doubt inundated with ten times the resumes they used to see. It’s much more difficult to find a job these days, let alone the rewarding one that you’ve always wanted, so it’s not a stretch to lose sight of your own worth and abilities. It’s not hard to feel as though you’re a worthless failure based upon a total lack of response from anyone to which you’ve applied, but if you’ve got an old Mitsubishi Mirage that you can start working on towards a goal, you’ve got real, tangible evidence of your worth. To me, it’s about controlling attitude and proving to myself – every day – that I’m one of those amazing creatures P-Nut mentioned. That’s power, right there.
Driggins, you’ve lost your damn mind. What are you talking about?
Keith’s got a Mirage. We’re going to turn it into one hell of an Evo. It’s not going to happen this week (sorry), but it’s going to happen. We’re going to treat this car as the blank page, clean slate opportunity to do something brilliant. I’m going to share the story with you. In the meantime, I’m still looking for a job in a tough economy where all the little birds are singing about imagination, creativity, and working together and I’d like to offer a reminder that people are more than single page, Word formatted documents that aren’t fully read anyway.
In the glovebox:
Working Credo
