How thorough do you all build you projects? I find myself completely stripping the suspensions and undercarriages of projects I work on and completely detailing areas of a car that you will never see. I cannot bring myself to just bolt things together, I usually de-burr, grind off flash, chamfer holes etc. Sometimes I feel like I am wasting time when I should have cars on the road. Anyone else have the same problem?
your wasting time.. I spent hours detailing one of mine.. then I drove it.. theres good, and then there's good enough..
I am starting to think this way as well, because the first time it is driven in the rain, alot of work is lost.
Same here- the bottoms of my cars are as nice as the top. I'm into the details. It's a curse. I should build a custom. Hoods closed- undercarraige a mess & it's all cool.
Yep, I do the best job I can do, and usually wish it was better. There is no such thing as "Good enough". Just got to thinking and if I buy a car, flaws don't bother me. And if something happens to a car/scooter after I get it on the road, it's no big deal. Just gotta make one I'm working on as nice as I can make it. And, coincedently, once it's finished(sometimes before. LOL) I usually loose interest in them pretty quickly. Larry T
It all depends on wich project I'm working on. Seems like there always is the 1 project that I think it's worth going the extra mile on. And then there always ,always the 1 that you just have to get it running as quick as you can to line it up in front of your buddys house and SMOKEM, till his old lady has enough and tells you both just to get the hell out of here. Then its you and your BUD and??? PRICE-LESS Now thats what I'M Talk n bout
I'm getting worse with my obsessiveness all the time. Unfortunately, its a joy killer, to an extent. It's now never good enough, thus either mandating a lifetime of mediocrity, knowing I could have done better, or a lifetime of hard-*** work, that most people will never even notice, all while I never drive my ****, since its always apart. I THINK I remedied the sitch, however...I bought my Ranchero and I'm putting it on the road absolutely "AS IS"... Other than wheels/tires. Because........If I START to touch it....well....I'll keep going. And, it seems these days...going, and going, and going.... In the case of the drag truck, since other than the few times a year it will make it out to the drags, it will live a life of indoor leisure, parked, safe and sound and not racking up miles, and road dust, I feel as though I need to go a little better than, "acceptable". I think it can be REALLY, truly nice, if I can spend another 9 mos. to a year on it. I'll leave my pickyness to the truck. And probably NEVER get to my pile of Model A parts, at this rate!
theres the truth.... i have had cars where i spent hours s****ing /primering/paint stuff you'd never see. drove it and it was totally covered with god knows what....... my current coupe is a good enough car....no show piece, just good enough to drive , beat on , and have fun with......
Are you building for the Ridler or are you building for a fun car to drive on Saturday night? Everybody has to establish their own compromises. I've known lots of perfectionists and often they are not drivers. Their cars either never get done because they can't live with some obscure detail that just eats at them or they keep changing stuff to be "better". The ones that do get finished in excruciating detail are afraid to drive 'em. They aren't fun anymore. Do you really want to have to wax your driveshaft? Not me. Clean and detailed does not have to mean OCD. Only youn decide what is enough.
Mine looks good from about 10 feet away. I am not that thorough. I put it together and drive it. It dosen't matter too me, I just want to drive it. Mechanically I'm pretty **** about things. As far as the out side goes, as long as there are no rust holes and I have a pretty nice set of rims and tires I'm happy.
I am just as happy to sit in the shop at 2am on a saturday night and work on **** no one sees as I am driving my cars. So generally the only way I ever get a car on the road is to throw it together.
I work on my car when something is keeping it from being driven. When it's on the road all the time nobody is going to know or care that the bottom of your steering box is spotless. Nope, I'll never win many trophies but I get a lot of thumbs up going down the road.
OCD OCD OCD OCD OCD OCD OCD OCD OCD <<<<<<<< ME. It's a good and bad curse I have. But you learn to comprimise based on the use of the vehicle. I am currently building a 53 chevy 5 window for a customer. It is probably the most tame thing to ever get done at the shop and he thinks it's overkill. I'm sometimes saying to him...." How stock do you want your truck?".......and to my self... with the four link, coil overs, drilled out crossmembers, finned valve covers, barry grant six shooter, mustang 2, stainless rams horns, power steering , ac, heat , ipod dock, tilt column , super t-10 w ratchet shifter, seats w heat and m***age, electric windows, new fire wall, 3 new fenders , new bed,.....sobig deal if I want to build some one off inner fenders to hide the a/c lines and the heater hoses........so **** 'em he's getting the stockers. Just can't win em all.
After spending 6 years building the last ride and having one in the paint shop that I have been working on and off for 20+, I'm trying to see how fast I can get the current project on the road. Everything I build is to drive and the older I get the longer it takes the aches and pains to go away from countless hours of bending over cleaning, grinding, sanding, painting and polishing. Sitting in the drivers seat cruising down the road is much more relaxing nowadays.
Ditto. That is my outlook on things to a "T". I spend hours upon hours on the small stuff making everything that I build as good as I possibly can. I have given up on the cleanliness of the undercarriage once the car is on the road however. The only reason I spend the time on stuff is because it gives me satisfaction in knowing that even though it is covered in grime it is built 100% correct and is as sound and safe as possible.
I like to spend alot of time on mine too but I, for example, will sand blast and paint the A arms if I am changing the cams or pins or bushings. The way I see it, If it is already out it only takes a few extra minutes to do that and why would you put it back on looking like it was just pulled out of the bush? I will compromise by driving it in primer even though the engine compartment, underside of the floor, interior and trunk are all detailed. My reasoning is that over the winter I caould block it down and paint it. Even though my last couple cars I sold in primer and never got around to painting.
I have a good friend who has been working on the same car since around 1990. Seriously. It will never, ever be good enough for him. When he dies they will sell it in pieces for 1/10 what he has in it. If it were my car I'd have had it on the road in 6 months. (It was a complete, driving, pretty nice car when he started in on it!) I always take that as a cautionary tale: if a car is complete, safe, looks good and is a pleasure to drive then it is good enough. If you are paralyzed and can't bear to take it on the road until it is absolutely perfect you are too judgmental. Relax a little and DRIVE IT! (By the way, you aren't walking around shows and cruises looking at other people's cars and picking apart every little detail on them, are you? If not, why are you doing it to your own cars? And if you ARE, why??)
Usually at a show- no matter how perfect the car looks to some- I look at it & think to myself- man if that was my car, I think I would change................................... It's a curse.
Deciding how far to take it is every bit as important as choosing parts that go into it. I'd even go so far to say it's second only to budget as the most overlooked aspect of a build. Those that are willing to address it realistically tend to get the most enjoyment and value out of their rides. Both in the garage and on the road. But it also takes balls to stand up for your decision, and a lot of guys lack them and aim for nth degree finishing to try and please critics. To me that's no different than making a rat rod for shock value. Neither builder really gets the personal journey that should be at the middle of it all.
I make it a safe driver, then make it look good to me. Beyond that I'm not a detail kind of guy. I'm detailed on my mechanicals, but not over the top. If it's there and it works, I leave it alone. My rule is I won't drive it unless I'm comfortable putting my whole family in the car.
1. There is factory finish which gets the the car down the road without problems. 2. There is sandpaper and paint and maybe a hit here and there with a file or grinder pad that get the car down the road without problems. 3. There is filing, grinding, polishing, smoothing, hammering, dollying, paint, powdercoat, which get the car down the road without problems but do it about 2 years later than the guys working like the factory or non-obsessive hobbyist. Nothing wrong with any of the three approaches since no one can really tell the difference between 1, 2 and 3 running down the road. After all, a ch***is is only observed from ground level, gr***, mud, garage floor, show stadium floor.
I admire the work that goes into most of the cars on here, especially the really nice riveted frame work that looks like Henry did it. But I've decided to try to bring my next build to the level of quality of a nice race car build, so I'm welding the joints. As Delbert McClinton said to Don Imus,when Imus asked for guitar lessons, "You haven't got enough time left."
I spent years driving a project and got sick of people asking me when it was going to be done....So I blew it apart for final fit finish and paint....things snowballed.....ALOT I ended up sectioning the truck and repairing alot of damamge I didnt even know was there...BUT I made a deal with myself, Due to the fact that I have never finished a project, I told myself....NO MATTER WHAT I dont care how long it takes, It's going to get finished and not see the road until it's DONE, gloss, chrome, trim everything. I've realized through this frame up journey that I like driving much more than detailing, BUT I'm sticking to my deal, I'm gonna finish at least ONE in my life....gloss chrome inside and out and complete that vision that's in my head... Once it's done, I'm taking a break....I'm not starting the next project till I feel like it, wheather it's a year, or ten.... There has been a few times where I had to stop myself from going forward on a certain aspect of the build, recently the frame smoothing, I could have put 150ish hours in it....I ended up putting bout 40 hours in it and called it good....bottom line, it's a driver, it aint perfect, but it's the frame you wont see it and it's gonna get dinged anyway...that said It's still damn nice. Now when it comes to blocking....I'll be at that for months.
I always tend to overdo things, wrapping every wire behind the dash, making sure all radio wires are an equal length, things like that. But really, it does show a lot about the guy building the car, so keep it clean and overdone. I hate seeing the cars out there that were thrown together just to say they're done.
This reminds me of the perfectionist posting On my 39 Chevy, I did not overly detail the underneath of the car, as its fat and sits low. On one but the road sees the floorpan. Rustoleum black. My 32, on the other hand, did get some gingerbread underneath. One for the challenge, and two for me. I wanted both sides to be nice. Floor pan is polished annodized aluminium with louvers as well as a gas tank cover. Polished stainless exhaust. Red rear, driveshaft, engine/trans. The next 30s car I build will be not as detailed. Its just the path the next one will take me. 33 Chevy 3 window will be lower than the 32.
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