I was thinking it’s funny looking back, at just how much has changed since I first joined this site 11 years ago at. From having way way too many cars to work on (12 at one point with 3 kits cars) to now with just the Landy to maintain (lives most it’s life in a garage being pampered) and two very ordinary family cars which need hopefully as little attention as possible!

In those 11 years…I built my house, got married, had 2 kids, lost all my free time! Sold my motor bikes, scrapped or sold all of my cars. Bought and rebuilt my landy over a ridiculously long 4 years, after that decided to never do another rebuild or kit car again!

And now after going through all that I’ve moved back to my original love since I was in primary school of building wooden RC planes which I can’t think why I ever stopped, but decided that will be my main hobby from now on……

So how have things panned out for you? Hopefully you still enjoy the garage life more than me…

Joined when it started, had multiple girlfriends, settled with one, she moved in, had two children, redundant a couple of times, now self employed, moved house, finally got the double garage and..... it's right beneath my son's bedroom.

Still not finished the kit car but still plan on doing so and making a concerted effort to make time.... 17 years after i started

Since I joined, I bought a Fury, drove it for a few months, then moved to New Zealand. I exported the car a year or two later and it's still not registered! 3 jobs, 6 houses, and an engagement have all made for slow progress.

quote:

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Originally posted by Mr Whippy
. Bought and rebuilt my landy over a ridiculously long 4 years,

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Can't think of a thing that changed for menu the last 13-14 years....

When I joined I had just started university at Warwick studying for a masters in Manufacturing Engineering.

I started collecting parts and built the car during holidays from university and had almost finished it when I left in 2007.

Since then I've had 5 jobs in 4 different businesses. Started as a Project Engineer buying machine tools, then moved to a different company as an Improvement Engineer, then progressed into Improvement Manager and took on maintenance too.

2 years ago I moved again into a Quality Management role in the parent company of 2 separate businesses, but working across both businesses. Last year the parent company went into administration and I was part of an attempt to form a management buy out during that time, which was sadly unsuccessful. However one of the 2 businesses was purchased and survived. I am now Manufacturing Manager in that business in the Airport Security industry and reporting to our corporate offices in Los Angeles.

In the same period of time I've had some 10 different motorbikes, 2 of which I have scratch built myself. And I have also had 14 different cars, everything from an MX5 to a Chevy Silverado. This year I treated myself to the first brand new car I have ever owned, a BMW M140i.

2 years ago also marked a significant transition in my personal life, those who remember me prior to that will understand what I mean.

Compared to when I joined an awful lot has changed for the positive with me!

Nothing out of the ordinary for me. Apologies for being boring! - 3rd child, moved house, got a dog, changed jobs a couple of times, got older etc. Nothing to complain about though.

[Edited on 19/7/17 by SJ]

Fairly routine for me - was working as an IT contractor when I started the build yonks ago, had various long contracts that earned me some decent money, then had a couple of full-time jobs. It wasn't until early retirement that I realised how stressed I was commuting into London every weekday - basically, although I was usually working a 35-hour week, commuting turned that into a 60-hour week (sometimes with work brought home). That, plus the frequent days when the trains were in a mess, really wound me up.

Now? I fiddle around with the Locost fairly often, occasionally think of selling it, but then relent and keep it. I also play with 3D printing fairly often, and other such stuff.

Basically, I'm having far too much fun now I'm retired!

Built, drove and sold an MK Indy
Moved house twice
Got married
Had 3 kids
Dreamt of building another car
Bought a 205GTI
Suffered a head injury
Acquired epilepsy from head injury
Cycled to Paris
Ran running races
Both my sisters got married and had kids
Tried (and failed) to persuade my dad to retire
Mum retired
Went to Le Mans with 2 brother in laws
Nearly moved house a 3rd time (head injury put a stop to that one)
Converted integral garage to another bedroom
Oh...and been to work
Met a few fellow LCBers
Had questions answered by LCBers - a great source of knowledge!
Don't think I've belonged to anything as long as LCB (15 and a bit years)

Nothing earth shattering really, but life goes on I guess

[Edited on 19/7/17 by nick205]

In 12 Years:

Bought the book
Bought a house
Built a conservatory
Had first child
Got married
Bought the "new" book
Built a Haynes chassis
Built an extension
Started refurbing and acquiring parts
Changed Jobs
Got a dog
Bought a part built fury
Started dismantling Fury.
Adopted a second child
Started Rebuilding Fury
Bought a new house
Decorated new house
Sold Haynes
Still haven't finished Fury.

[Edited on 19/7/17 by joneh]

Coming up to 14 years on this page now, though not as often as it used to be! The usual happened, house, wife, kids, bought and sold a few kits. The current one hasn't be out in 2 years! Broke it on Islay, done about 5 miles since fixing it.

I do enjoy fairly regular whisky sessions with an ex member though (Mark H). All good fun.

In the 13 years I've been a LBer.....
I had a great life with loads of car, bikes, boats and free time. Swmbo was great and also had nice cars. We both earned what could be considered an 'average wage' but we didn't do expensive holidays or have a big house.
Then the current Mrs moved in. This caused the old Mrs to move out....
Then kids happened, closely followed by an expensive house to put them in.
Now I have no money. Swmbo earns just shy of nowt. The kids absorb most of my time and the rest of my time is spent at work or fixing other folks stuff to earn enough money to pay the bills.
My daily driver is a 20 year old ambulance and swmbos car is a £25 Scenic. I still have plenty of toy cars but they're all stuffed in a barn and only see the light of day when a roof tile blows off.
Thanks for reminding me.

Joined nearly 13 years ago, that surprised me when I looked up my joining date.

Same house, same lovely wife many changes of cars but still have the same Defender for nearly
20 years. Although it's a bit of Granpa's brush, original chassis but different engine, box, axles etc.
Wife bough me the first book, I bought the second, tack welded a chassis and collected most parts
to build but.......

Went from employed Quality Assurance Engineer in an high temp ceramics industry to self employed
car mechanic following redundancy ten years ago. Busy six days a week and have never advertised

No kids (too expensive and ruin your playtime )
Two Bengal cats, see above quote !!.

Wow - 14 years for me too.....

So, moved house twice - although 2 were RAF quarters! Bought a house, sold a house - in that order because a sale fell through when we were committed to buy...led to a tense few weeks!

Been where we are for 10 years now!

5 years ago I left the RAF after 24 years and bounced around 3 jobs since - really happy with my current job

Still with my first wife....kids have got old and oldest is about to leave for a higher apprentiship with RR!

Oh, and the car......

Progress has been sporadic depending on workload mainly. At the moment I'm stuck in an electrical rut and am struggling to find the energy to solve it.

Love this place tho and all the help and wisdom it provides!

just over 15 years on here , . moved house once ,one very expensive divorce, ended up back working at the company i served my engineering apprenticeship with 20 + years ago , had a break from kit cars for a few years (concentrated on bikes) but now back building a haynes roadster, nice to see a lot of the old names / faces still around

Coming up to 14 years, I've been a member most of my life

I owe a huge amount to this place and some of its members. I've gone from a child with a deep interest in cars to a senior design engineer at a highly regarded Motorsport establishment, via a degree in automotive engineering, and I really think my time spent thinking about Engineering problems and solutions on here is what set me apart along the way.

So cheers guys!

quote:

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Originally posted by owelly
In the 13 years I've been a LBer.....
I had a great life with loads of car, bikes, boats and free time. Swmbo was great and also had nice cars. We both earned what could be considered an 'average wage' but we didn't do expensive holidays or have a big house.
Then the current Mrs moved in. This caused the old Mrs to move out....
Then kids happened, closely followed by an expensive house to put them in.
Now I have no money. Swmbo earns just shy of nowt. The kids absorb most of my time and the rest of my time is spent at work or fixing other folks stuff to earn enough money to pay the bills.
My daily driver is a 20 year old ambulance and swmbos car is a £25 Scenic. I still have plenty of toy cars but they're all stuffed in a barn and only see the light of day when a roof tile blows off.
Thanks for reminding me.

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quote:

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Originally posted by owelly

Then the current Mrs moved in. This caused the old Mrs to move out....

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When I joined I was a single, twenty something who went down the gym 3-4 times a week and my only concern in life was how many women I could woo into my bed. I drove a Golf GTI/ Since that time I have:

Built and IVA'd a car
Had 2 children.

I have done other stuff but the 2 kids seems to be most significant.

I now drive a 2004 Peugoet Partner Quicksilver - the crappest car in the world. The missus drive a C-max which she crashes daily. I have no time.

Like the OP I to have given up and started making model planes. However it turns out that new tech has made the hobby really cool!

Relative to some members i'm a youngster on here, joined 2010. Not much to report, girl friends come and go, still 'playing' with my kitten as a diversion from my hobby/business of rc car racing. Getting older, eyesight isn't what it used to be, nor is one knee

This is a quite a rare forum these days, mostly genuine people, good advice and knowledgeable which is probably why there's some long standing members. Compared to some forums which seem to be full of keyboard warriors talking c$ap and bitching.

Any way.... back to pulling the engine out of my kitten to rebuild

Ian

edit, and i need to sort out my avatar

[Edited on 2/8/17 by Oddified]