I'll be 60 in 3 months. Bought my 914 new in '72 (I was 25). Other than factory-required maintenance for warranty, have done everything myself.

When the car needed to be repainted in '79, I pulled everything from the car & delivered a tub to the painter. When the heads needed to be re-valved, pulled the motor, etc. ...all those other things through the years too.

Now, I'm simply trying to drain the fuel tank & remove the motor/trans. Something i used to do in 30 minutes!!

My knees won't cooperate & my bach scream to quit! Even with dorky kneepads on, they scream!! Can't wait until the motor has to come out!

Am I the ONLY one who's ageing here?

No - I won't farm the work out. If I can't through it, the 914 goes (after 34 years?).

Any secrect potions out there?

plan a BBQ and let some of the younger guys do the hard work for ya while you flip the burgers

Aleeve

Even though you can be a cantacerous PITA, I would come out and help you if you need

Seriously, Aleeve is pretty good for the older/rhumatizm crowd.

I'm 65 and build a 904 kit car using a rusted out 914 as the parts car. I'm
slow getting thing done but I know that it going to be done right! My son can't
wait for me to get it done, he thinks he's going to drive it, the joke on him as
long as I can get this tired and acking body in it I'm going to drive it.

I plan to drive it as long as the good lord will let me. In the mean time I'm enjoying myself as much as I can work on the car to get it to suit me.

I keep a bottle of asprin and a good shot of the good stuff handy to take
care of the other problems.

Keep the car and enjoy working on it as long as you can.

Pat, I don't know what your scedule is, but I have some time off between xmas and New Years. I'd be willing to come east one day to help if you have time off too.

Zach (Who is just south of York PA)

You should have the royal treatment and deserve it being seasoned and a die hard teener beaner. If ya can keep the suds going and get some beef on the grill, they will worship you! As for the pain, since they will follow every instruction you give them, you could pound a few back and have fun with it yourself. You can be the commander in chief and be the lord of the special snoss.

Pat,

Besides Aleve or Advil, you might want to pay a visit to an orthopedic surgeon. Maybe it's more than just arthritis setting in. I had arthroscopic surgery on my right knee about 8 yrs ago (I just turned 53). The surgeon just nibbled a teeny little bit out of my medial meniscus. It's hard to believe that such a small tear can cause so much pain. I can tell from time to time that there is new stuff floating around in there. Probably getting on time for a second 'scope.

Skip

If your knees and back (or is that bach) won't take it any longer, buy a lift, have it installed and learn how to use it. They make working on the car much more fun (you need not crawl around on the floor like a dog).

You should have saved enough on maintenance over the years to afford one (about $3,500 new installed). You can even get them for low ceilings (but they limit the height you can lift them up).

Lifts also make it easier to apply wax to the inner wheel wells and muffler. They make using q-tips on obscure places like brake caliper bleed screws easier as well.

I know because I have a lift. I bought a house that already had one and a large shop already built.

Mechanical memories are just like a rust free long on a 914. Full of holes.
Don't wait. Do all those things you put off doing later NOW.
Things like getting a 914club mug. They will hold lots of secret potions.

I'm 65 in a couple of weeks. I find that I can do just about everything I did when I was 45........I just do it a lot slower, and maybe better. I do have a 4 post lift. Doing everything laying on my back on cold concrete is no longer appealing. If you have at least 9.5 feet of ceiling clearance in the garage, get a lift.

Secret potions? Water.

I'm serious. The laundry list of ways you help your body by drinking plenty of water is incredible.

Your body heals faster, mind is clearer, etc, etc... all by being well-hydrated. Back and joint pain can be caused by dehydration.

So many people live being a quart low that they don't even know.

[thread hijack]

Rusty, Are you back in the country now? When did you get back? Are you headed toward KC any time in the near future??

[/thread hijack]

Let me know if you want help.

I could come out on a weekend.

Of course I don't really know what I doing.

Just ask Evil.

All I do is collect parts.

I don't have a real 914.

Even though you can be a cantacerous PITA, I would come out and help you if you need

i'm 52, same back and knee problems, aleve is o.k,this is better... this summer i almost gave up on my 914. dr. evil came up and fixed everything. i actually thinks he likes us cantankerous old farts. even if he can't spell. hey mike, getting close to the engine drop. miss you

I'm just south of King of Prussia. I don't have the Evil expertise, but my knees and back are working pretty good. Let me know if I can help.

It's amazing what simple H20 can do for your body...

To quote Hank Jr, "The hangovers hurt more than they used to."

I found that Denial works wonders.... I just ignore that I'm getting older

But when that fails....

Bought the Harbor Freight work mats to help with the cold concrete. They are also great for the hot asphalt at the track.

Bought some safety glasses with built in reading glasses

Agree with taking Aleve. They work great for golf too.

Accepted that I'm not as agile or quick, but know more now and do better work!

I also know when to 'sub' out work that I just can't do by myself anymore... or host a BBQ!

BTW, the words to Pink Floyd's 'Time' make alot more sense than it did when I first heard it and was still 'convinced I was indestructable'....

That's not an option...................won't work at our age(57) since you'll be constantly having to pee from which no work gets done on the 914

I loved to work physically hard my whole life. You just have to learn to cut it back a few clicks each year; but I know, it's tough to do! Regular excercise works wonders. I go to the gym in the mornings' before work, and feel great (and look pretty decent too). You don't have to over do it, but rather do it regularly. Wife does 6 day a week and it shows, but she's only 47. BTW, Glucosamine works great for the joints (especially the knees) when taken regularly, at least for me.

Andys

I'm back in the country, but I no longer live in Kansas. I'm in Alabama.

Had lunch with Scott (SGB) and his son last weekend at Hooters... then went to join the whine and cheezers at the dealership for the PCA Christmas party.

They're not 914 people, but they seemed nice enough. It's a pretty active region, too. A few tours, DEs, and a tech session or two planned for 2007.

Evil One,

Cantancerous? PITA? Thank you - compliments accepted!

I took some Alleve this AM & it actually helped. Don't know for sure how long, or whether I'll have to give up Jack Daniel's (Alleve will go first).

I'm off tomorrow, so we'll see if I can get anything done on cold concrete.

Need to get that 3 year old gas out before I yank the motor & that's what tomorrows about.

I can put up with minor aches & pains, but the back has been a REAL problem of late. Just need to get over it.

Howver, that's not to say that a mid-winter barby would be out of the question for anyone interested in booze, food & bloody knuckles. My sincerest thanks to all who have offered help & advice - I mean that!

Now, back to mt PITA self! BTW, PITA? Does that mean you need Prep H to be around me?

Na, Prep H is best for shrinking hemorrhoids, most likely caused by back pressure in portal hypertension brought on by cirrhosis. The venous return is shunted onto the smaller rectal veins as they are part of the collateral circulation off of the inferior mesenteric vein off of the splenic vein from the portal vein.

You dont cause me any rectal varices Its more metaphorical intra muscular pain

I'm down to help you out when I can.

Pain is just weakness leaving the body

Kicked the booze a few years ago, active in the gym and Advil have helped me feel young at 59.
Another thing that is very helpful for achy joints, PALM DESERT. Evertime I am in the desert my sinuses dry up, joints feel no pain, and it is like being at a health spa. That warm dry climate does wonders for the your aging body.
CCLINYOUNGAT59

Healthy lifestyle, work to do, and eat right. Keep up wrenching cars, and turn your body in at 95, all worn out and well used.

I am 68 will be 69 the end of June, my ans. is the lift one . A good four post lift
is in the $2,000.00 range. Take the younger guys up on there offer, ( and some say a membership to this group isn,t worth $25.00) . Also get a VERY good creaper,roll about stool. and a stool for the bench. Ageing but fighting it all the way! Dave

I'm right around the corner from you in Philly, definitely willing to help out whenever!

Stretching may help

Motto,

Live fast, die young, be a good looking corpse.

Age all starts in the head.

Tom

"OLD" does not happen until you have dry dreams and wet farts!

Walking two miles a day and lots of water and Advil keeps me as fit as the youngsters.

Stretching definately helps . . . my Dad had serious back problems since his early 30s (as a result of overexerting it) and a few years ago saw a chiropracter who gave him some excersizes. Now he doesn't have any problems, provided that he does them every day.

I hate looking at stuff 6" away. And lots of stuff on the car is that close,

I know what you mean. The other part of that focus range 16" or so out , close range, is when I gave up and did the tri focal. Did that and ruined all visual ranges trying to read and watch television using those always wrong prescription, trifocal lens. Now can't see any thing.

MikeCool

My current work around is for distance, the top of my bifocals, for reading, the bottom of my bifocals, for the computer, nothing at all and for work and anything really close, the lower part of my bifocals and a pair of loopes. A good part of my day is figuring out what I'm supposed to look out of.

Dave

While we are in this phase of the Garvey 914 geezers getting older. Concerning our eyes, do any of you 60 and older wear contacts. What is your experience on that. Someone told me you get one for seeing near and one for distance. Can anyone explain your experience and if that works well?
60 and older group comments please because the eyes are different from the younger 914 eagle eyes.
Thanks.
MikeCool
Answering Jim, next post down by editing this earlier post. Keeps the grumpys out of my hair.
Thanks Jim. Never knew there was a bifocal contact. Will heed your advice but may want to try the near and distant lens if I get encouraged enough. I put a lot of faith in what some on here do and improving my sight is a big trust.
Thanks,
Mike again.

Mike, I have worn gas permeable (hard) contacts for 30 years. For the last 15 I have had bifocal contacts and they are great.
My wife's Dr. would not prescribe them for her (he said many people cannot adapt to them) so he gave her the "one of each" variety. They were never satisfactory for her, especially at night. After several years of frustration she changed to my Dr. and contact lab. She now has what I have and is very happy.
However, if you have never worn contacts, it might be too much to try them at this late date with the additional bifocal complication.

Too late for that!

I think what bothers me the most is the loss of vision, and the sore joints and the..., and the.........

Bill C

I stand by my motto.

When you leave this earth the vultures come & pick you clean.

Tom

Wrong Tom, That happens while you are alive and especially if you are retired.
Hospitals, Doctors ( especially doctor office visits). Funerals, Prices of Automobiles, Groceries, Prescribed drugs in USA, Medical, Insurance, Oil & Gas prices, Phones, Cable, Credit cards, Funerals, coffee that's not really coffee, mortgage rates, to mention a few.
Latest sucker list includes yuppies paying to hear the radio. That ain't exactly smart thinking when you can still hear music free on all FM stations I listen to or play cd on your car radios when traveling. I remember when TV was free too and then the vultures came.
Back to being old subject. Yep, we are getting older but we ain't really stupid.

MikeCool