Hot Rods Have You Ever Hated a Car by the Time You Were Finished?

I restored a 69 camaro pace car. I like them at one point but not after staring at it in my garage for two years. woof!

 

Could be worse, just imagine a Plum Crazy Challenger in your garage with Freebird blasting (13 minute version).

 

Yep, put alot of work into my 65 rambler just to find out that I really don't like driving it......
I'm guess I'm more of a early to late 50s style of guy.
Probably going to put it in the classifieds soon.

 

Years ago I hated a winter beater, broke the clutch fork ball off. Drove it most of the winter without a clutch (no garage in Minnesota winter) I shut it off at red lights, put it in 1st gear and start it in gear on the starter. Also got good at timing lights and shifting gears like a big truck.

 

Sounds like the Model A coupe I bought that was billed as a "survivor" in the ad. Drove about 16 hours round trip to bring it home in a single day. I should have looked at it more closely before I bought it. The more I got into it to build my Model A hot rod, the worse it got. I did end up with a Model A coupe but only after buying another, much nicer body and different fenders.

Lynn

 

I am currently hating my 39 Plymouth coupe. After bouncing around from a couple different builders that take forever you just want to puke.

 

No, but some I was glad when they were gone a 1961 Jaguar 4 dr sedan comes to mind and a 58 Buick Century 4 dr hardtop that was so ugly I sold it to a neighbor.

 

I don’t have one that I’ve hated before I’ve finished it but I’ve hated a car before I made the first payment.

 

I had an OT car that was too much power for the axles and I'd routinely grenade them along with a couple transmissions. At the time there wasn't aftermarket parts for the application. I was Frankensteining everything to no avail.

I had a blast in that car but every outing was Russian roulette. That car and I probably had at least 6 flatbed rides... most of them in the middle of the night.

There has been a couple times I've missed it but soon after I remember all the blown up parts I got really good at changing. Hahaha.

 

I come unglued when i run into issues that are out of my element.
If it were easy everyone would be doing it…there are scant few who will complete a full restoration with their own hands.

 

I recently had a '40 Ford that I hated 5 minutes into owning it. When I was done, it was a decent car but during the journey.............yikes.

 

^^^^ What he said.
My 40 coupe turned into a PITA after the flathead took a dump.
What is a nice car in many respects wore me to a nub correcting and modifying previous poor work. But I guess that is the price you pay for buying a used car.
It’s the time spent on it that I can’t get back.
I have other projects needing attention that I can now finally get back on.
Not so fast there.
So now the wife decides that we need to be closer to family at our age, so now a move is in the future.

 

Absolutely. My 61 Olds was an absolute nightmare build from beginning to end. That it was even a "build" was the main problem. The expectation was that I was purchasing a fairly well-done car that would be ready to cruise and enjoy. The reality was very different, and after 4 years of work and tens of thousands of dollars, the car finally became what it should have been in the first place. The disdain that I had for the car made the project very difficult. It's hard to find motivation when it's not fun, but I saw the vision of the end result and stuck with it, and I'm glad I did.

Now that the car is done and I can just enjoy it, my opinion of it is starting to change.

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/the-consolation-prize-61-olds-super-88.1267254/

 

It sure turned out great, Joe!

 

Thanks man, I appreciate that.

Again, I think it's an issue of expectations that colors what the opinion of a car is, not necessarily the scope of the project. If your expectations of a car is that it's a reliable, running and driving vehicle, and it turns out that there are major mechanical issues that necessitate a total overhaul, then it's likely that you'll have a poor opinion of the car. Similarly, if you buy a car that you think is going to be an easy project, and it winds up having substantial rust issues where you're replacing quarters, patching a frame, or needing a full repaint. There too, expectations are falling short of reality, which is disappointing.

On the other hand, if you buy a car with the expectation that it will be a decent driver, and the car ends up being a great, comfortable, reliable car that provides you years of enjoyment without significant cost of ownership, then perhaps your expectations are exceeded.

From my 61 Olds project, I learned two lessons that so far I have held to;
1) Don't buy the in-between car. Meaning the car is decent/nice but not really up to snuff. You wind up paying for a car that needs nothing but you end up doing and paying for all the same work you would do if you started from scratch. It's the worst of both worlds. So either buy a total project, or save your money to buy a high-quality, well-built turn-key car. There is virtually no middle ground. When I bought my 57 Nomad, I knew going in that while it was complete with the Nomad specific parts, it needs everything else. So when I'm replacing full floors, quarters, doors, trim, everything mechanical, etc., there are no soured expectations. I signed up for a complete project and I got it.

2) Don't get caught up in projects that your heart isn't set on. Seeing a full build through from start to finish is a monumental undertaking most people, car enthusiasts included, do not have the stomach for. Let alone the resources of tooling and funds to outsource what they can't do themselves. So if you're going to be involved in a project, then it needs to be something that is on your "bucket list" to help motivate you to finish it. My 61 Olds is awesome car now and I'm glad I have it, but the truth is, I never aspired to own a 61 Olds and with the time and money I poured into the project, I could have made some other cars I've always wanted to own a reality.

 

I agree with everything you said and this is certainly not my first rodeo. Sometimes, your heart changes after you've jumped into the deep end of the pool.

Not one thing fits on this 34 Ford, which means I am doing a lot of work I didn't anticipate having to do...... This too will pass. I just hope i like the car when i am done.

 

HAHAHA OMG that’s horrible.

I hated my 59 Rancho shortly after I bought it, having cooked the engine due to a trick temperature gauge. Then I built a replacement engine and enjoyed it for a summer. The following winter I went down the rabbit hole and it got sentenced to garage jail for almost 10 years. Then one day things changed for the better, got it back on the road last summer. Now all I want to do is go for a cruise.