I've let it get so bad that the projects and stuff I've ac***ulated doesn't bring me happiness; it just means there's more stuff waiting to be done. Things are now up for sale. -Bill
I could never understand how anyone could handle multiple rod projects at once. This would drive me insane. I have seen maybe one or two guys who could do this and actually get stuff properly completed - most guys just get bogged down and never get the details right on anything. It's just like being in a place with a dozen beautiful single women....you're working 2 or 3 at a time and end up not connecting with any of them. My current project is into its fifth year - it is a complicated car and I do 100% of the work myself, but the thing is getting old. I need to get it done. I really can see how some guys have an internal time limit where they have had enough and need to do something new. I can't imagine having 2 or 3 cars incomplete at 5 years.
There's something that keeps resonating about this thread...................wonder what it is? Naw, I couldn't possibly belong to the same club.....................not me. Frank
Hey F&J,..... why do we built cars as a tribute to the early years of Hot Rodding ?,.... I think it's because we remember these cars from a time when we were young, and life was not so complicated,.... For us, a time when owning a Hot Rod would mean everything in the world to us, we had one focus in life, and life was simple and good,.... I guess it's our attempt to stop the clock or just slow it down a little,.... To re-live the glory years,... Re-capturing a cruise on a warm summer night,.... Back to a time when a "big deal" was wanting to ask a girl out, and being nervous that she might turn you down, And when she said "Yes" realizing you don't know how to dance good, and the dance is next weekend. trying to buy Beer or Cigarettes when you were under age,.... When we felt 10 foot tall and bullet proof . Before the things of life made us look so much like our Dads,..... I guess each project car,.. rolling, running or finished,.... is like a 4 wheeled time machine to a lot of us guys,..... I think a lot about my Dad, Brother, and Friends that are gone now while I'm working on them,..... and that part feels good.
Hey Pal !, We better hope that we don't both ***ume room temperature around the same time, and our wife's have "The Auctions" close together,... just the redistribution on weight all at once like that, could cause the state of Michigan to rise out of the Great Lakes, or cause the planet to spin out of it orbit !
It feels like you had been watching my progress (or lack of) over the last 2 years before posting this! I am in the same boat, overalalizing things, second guessing my decisions. I some times catch myself just standing in the garage with 10 different things running thru my head, realizing that Im not accomplishing anything. Im not sure if it is due to my becoming more detail driven (****) as I get older, or if Im just losing it! Im hopefully getting back heavily into a project after dealing with life things off and on for a couple years...maybe things will get better once Ive had my hand (and brain) back in it for a while! Its kind of the****utic knowing that its not just me going thru this!
There was a thread some time back where a guy used this ****ogy: He pulls out a tape measure to something like 75 inches to represent an average lifespan. Then asks the guy with a million projects how old he is and then shows him on the tape, how many years he has left. If I remember the post correctly, the seller then promptly sold everything except one 32 roadster which he completed and now enjoys. That for me was a powerful ****ogy but I can't get one car done much less a half a dozen.
I get this way, get stuck on one problem, can't do anything else, just stuck in "think" mode vs "doing" mode. I still work a full time job, hang alot with my kids and grandkids, so time is precious. Then I finally get into the garage and I sit on my A-- - it pisses me off. So, a possible solution - and it's been talked about before - take a small thing and work on it for that project. Whether fabricating a small bracket, cleaning up something for paint, or just plain organizing the garage around the project, you are at least moving forward and it helps to keep you focused. At least you won't beat yourself up about it afterwards, lamenting about all the garage time lost ...
Well according to my calculations,......... I only have to live to be 183 years old to finish them all ! And that Ain't bad !
Alright you guys are just using some reverse psycology to get me to unload all of my projects, aren't you? Well it almost worked, try again at a later date!
I'm breaking my self imposed vow of silence to say "Yes, I know exactly what you're talking about", which is why I'm going to keep my yap shut on the Hamb until I have ACCOMPLISHED something, instead of just dreaming, thinking and yakking about. Back to work.
I know I am odd, I hate having more than one project or even a project and a running driving older car at the same time. Have never owned a car I could not bring myself to sell, its just a hunk of metal in the long run. I also get totally bored with a car once its done. Focus Focus Focus is the only way to finish a car. Doesnt mean you to have to work on it all the time either, sometimes sitting in the shop day dreaming is fun and good ideas come from looking and thinking. Slim the herd, heck if you have 8 projects slim it to 3 or 4 that would help I'm sure. And the Nova wagon in background of my avatar is gone now, just didnt interest me anymore so I am back at one.
I was going to post something like this as soon as I was done ****yzing the situation......... Led Zeppelin IS blues with a little Octane booster.
i have recently come up with these rules for myself- 1) ONE active project 2) ONE "on deck" project - planning and parts collecting only 3) when money is tight, all parts money goes to active project 4) cross off AT LEAST one item from to do list each week 5) no work on project 2 until first project is a driver 6) re-read rules 1 and 2 this is the only way i can keep moving along without getting frustrated... i love this **** and i'm gonna keep it as enjoyable as possible... sometimes i catch myself eyeing another project and realize i'm just asking for trouble... there's only so much time and money to go around.
I use the one bolt rule. I always put in at least one bolt (or do one operation) every time I go to the shop. Or sometimes like this week i set one goal . When i complete it i quit for the day. Today was early before 2 oclock. That way I always make progress and I dont get burnt out. The second quit early thing I used to call THE CABBAGE RULE (Quit while you're a-head) This works for me . I have completed two complete builds and am well along on a third in three years. I try to never think of the big picture long term. (Other than the general plan. ) I dont care when i get it done. i dont care how big a job it is. I just care that i work on it at least once a day if i am home for at least an hour or so. Maybe that will help , I hope so. BTW I have a hundred pals that need somethig too and say if you need help just call. Most mean if you need help dont call me. A couple though have been right there as well. I am diligently sorting out the BSPs (BLOOD ****ING PARASITES) from my circle of folks I help. As we age the hours we have left now actually have a number.Someday is a dirty word and tomorrow is at best unsure. I am trying not to waste the time I have left. I know for sure it is at least a lot shorter than what I have spent so far. It keeps me focused . Don
yep, i have always tried to have two projects going,that way if i gotta spend $ on one i can do free stuff on the other, or burned out on one jump on the other one. Have tried the old "Ok this is what i am going to accomplish today" trick and seems to help a lot.As the build gets closer to done I'll make a list of everything that still needs finished and post it on the wall, as i complete one i will mark it off, kinda gives you a feeling of accomplishment.
were all in a hell of a big boat together! harmsway i met you at dave cranes house. im in the boat with you! i have 3 or 4 projects started of my own, and i took on my brothers car , a 40 hes had for almost 50 years! im trying to stay with it its close, so i guess i will quit whinning and go out to the garage. i think focus on one at a time is the only way, or burn out will take over! OK EVERYONE OFF THE COMPUTER AND OUT TO THE SHOP!
Here's where I am at on projects: 1968 Galaxie Convertible - Everyday driver when the sun is shining, that needs to have some bad body work fixed...someday. Just finished up the engine. 1964 Falcon Convertible - on rotiessere for the past couple of years ...working on it steadily as we try to find sheet metal. Kitchen Re-Model - New Cabinets and floor 3 years ago...slowly getting the trim work done...a couple of pieces per week. Bathroom Re-Model - All done except painting the trim around a heat/ac duct. Has been this way for about 5 years. Finishing the ba*****t - started about 12 years ago....stalled out...too much **** to move around to work on it! Putting up a new storage shed in back yard - this is the only project that has a hope of being completed 100%...wife talked me into having LOWES install it for me...instead of getting the DIY kit...do you think she has me figured out???
It's not so much the welding, that's quick, but figuring out how to make everything fit. I should have just made a frame myself but decided I'd be clever and box and extend the T frame. Bad idea Picking up a Miller Diversion 165 this weekend I think, so that should help keep me in the shop a little more
So no one gets the wrong Idea, I know every detail (for the most part) of every build I do before I start,... The problem isn't knowing what to do,... It's drifting from project to project, and getting off task (as someone suggested before). Anyway it happened again,.. I was at the shop today determined to finish the steering column for the roadster,... when I shut off the lights and headed out to pick up my wife,.. I realized this is what I accomplished. 1. Had a cup of Coffee. 2. Finished off some welds on a different Deuce ch***is. 3. Took the torque tube and drive shaft off a 40' rear end, and measured it and marked it so I could cut it down,... for the afore mentioned ch***is. 4. Looked for (and found) the 34' drive shaft for that ch***is. 5. Got mad at my self, for doing exactly what I promised myself NOT to do. 6. Had a cup of Coffee 7. Walked over to the roadster, started working on the column, all the time thinking about what else had to be done on the other ch***is. 8. Re-focused, and actually got most of what I wanted to accomplish done,... a 1 hour job, and it only took 3 hours to accomplish it (almost) Well,.... at least I am making progress again,... sort of,.. I'll try it again tomorrow,... Wish me luck,.......
I work just about the same way, but I'd add one more: 0) One finished car that gets sold when (1) gets completed. This is because a finished car, if built properly, is no longer a project and I always have something to cruise in. Dang though - I just broke my own rule. I just recently added a daily driver (63 Nova) to my rod (36 Nash). Oh, and I have the 51 Fire Truck for the annual County Fair parade. Yup, I'm just the same as the rest of ya'.
My outlook on this subject has changed quite a bit as I've grown older. It never really mattered what I was working on but I always worked on it as if I was out of time, or just working in a hurry. I came to realize that I was missing out of the fun part of my hobby and building cars was becoming just like work! So it took some self control for me not to put time limits on the things I'm doing and not feeling like nothing got accomplished on any particular day. So my resolve is to enjoy what I'm doing, it doesn't matter how many projects I've got going and helping a good friend is always the best in having fun.
Harms Way, I wondered why I haven't been getting my usual done lately, then I read your post. I was the same as a younger guy, stayed focused got my projects done, usually no mistakes & in a timely manner. Now Im older, retired, & running a shop at the house, when I do have time for my projects, I find myself in a similiar situation, sitting on my stool planning my next move, more time planning than doing, (usually there is cold beer involved). When your dedicated to one project you can remember from day to day exactly where you're at, does that make any since? Maybe i'ts the first stages of getting older, who knows. That said hang tough, sit on that stool and plan, and remember the old saying, Rome wasn't built in a day, in my world that pertains to my projects as well. Later, Billy p.s. it may be a compulsive disorder, who knows, p.s. it may be a compulsive disorder, who knows, p.s. it may be a compulsive disorder, who knows,
I think it depends on how old you are and how much more time to do more than one project. I don't buy green bananas.
Hey Wheelbilly, What I meant was, Early on (when I was young) I would finish weld everything as I went along,... causing big problems when something turned out to interfere with something else, this or that was to long or short,.. or in the wrong place,.... and I had to cut it out and start over. A friend laughed at me and said "Just tack everything as your doing the basic construction",..... when you tear it apart for paint,... thats when you finish weld everything,..... If you screw something up,.. you just have to cut a few tacks,..... My old friend was right.
The Jalopy Journal
