Hot Rods Getting Over Fear of Cutting up Parts/Making Mistakes

Im a hack so I just set my standards real low. Then I usually do the job, sometimes redo it sometimes twice but I get it done to the best of my ability.
It never fails I look at the finished product and think I would do this or that different, but thats how I learn...
Now the next project I'll have a little better skill set & little more foresight and I'll try my best again. Repeated that process for years and whattya know im a half decent hack now !!

 

While there are a lot of good suggestions here and I agree with most of them, I'd recommend just getting some scrap and trying it, and NOT trying to think about all those suggestions when you actually do something. Remember how hard it was to learn how to operate a clutch the first few times.........but once you actually did it, it was easy.
If you get too many things in your mind all at once its makes it more difficult.

 

One other thing that has helped me as I’ve gotten older, forget about trying to have absolutely everything show car quality, I guarantee if you do everything to the best of your current abilities those abilities will improve with every car you build.

 

I've had projects that I have redone a few times over the years as my skills and knowledge improved. I teach a metal lathe class at Port City Makerspace; I go through the different functions of the lathe and various tooling for them to try, then let them experiment with it and discuss various approaches with me and amongst themselves. A real confidence builder for them! Many of them come back on a regular basis to work on their own projects, and sometimes tell me they will try something with a piece of scrap and experiment with that until they get the results they want.

 

Welding aluminum is tricky with a mig. I find it easier and better to preheat with an acetylene torch first if it’s thick. If it’s thin just start and keep welding until done or starts getting really soft.

 

Working on car stuff is easy. When you cut it too much or weld it on backwards, you can cut it and weld it back on. Now as to wood - that scares me.

 

Sage advice.......

 

Think every step through.

Make sure you know what to do first, and what comes next, from beginning, to desired end result.

Take your time. Never be in a hurry.

If you get frustrated, or don't know what to do next, STOP! Walk away and give yourself some time to think about it.

 

It's just metal. It can be fixed. Knock on wood, I have never screwed anything up so bad that I couldn't fix it. If you have no experience with aluminum, find someone who does.

Oh, and it is best to have a drink after you're done cutting and welding. Liquid courage is dangerous in the shop. It leads to fender flares, L88 hood scoops, odd tail lights and the like.

 

"F.O.F.U" makes you stagnant and ineffective.
If you have this problem, maybe car building is not for you.
Golf might be a better option............ but what if you miss the hole....

Just kidding. You won't have fun if you don't jump in.

 

I suffer from the overthinking syndrome. I've overcome it regarding cutting up stuff. I keep changing the design in my head. Which begs the question of why didn't I sketch itout first.

Well, I do that for most bits and bobs before making them. It's a valuable tool for making your project come together. And like everyone said, cut and weld. If you do mess up, well just cut and weld again. No big deal. Unless it's wood. Or fiberglass. I can't weld either!

 

My first summer after high school I worked for a commerical electrician as a gopher, his basic intro speech was," you can always clean up a water leak, get another board if you cut it too short, but one fuck up doing electrical work could be fatal." We all probable have a pile of shame parts or parts that didn't go as plan, but learn from them and move forward.

 

Once you become a good welder, nothing you do matters because you can always undo it.

 

I'll be back with photos.

 

It is normal to think things over before you make the first cut. Clean the surface to bare steel, spray on some layout die and mark things correctly. Remember to cut on the proper side of the line you scribe on the metal. Personally I like to use saws not cut off wheels, sharp tools work best. Bob

 

....... wood welding kit.....

 

Agreed…well other than fixing fiberglass. That is almost easier than steel.

 

Low Oak rod, available at your local big box store:

 

Learning new things is "education "
Education costs ....that's tuition .
Studying is inexpensive , an alliance membership costs very little.
Mistakes can be expensive but valuable if something is tried and learned.
Knowledge is priceless!
I have gained so much knowledge from making mistakes and hanging around with you guys here on the HAMB!

 

I stared at my Henry J mocked up for hours before deciding to start cutting to make it a tilt front end. It came out good and I've never had any regrets.

Gary

 

My grandfather was a carpenter. He spins in the grave whenever I get near wood. 8000 rpm!

 

Final resting place of wood working mistakes.

 

No substitute for practice. I customize beaters, so the cost is not such a big deal. Don't practice on a Duesenberg.

Try to look at as education. Tuition costs. Plan on making two or three parts and see how much better they can be.

 

I am reminded of some words of wisdom I heard several years ago and have had them help me when I come across something new to experience. I was chatting with Rod Covell several years ago at his booth at the GNRS. As Rod and I talked, there was a young guy watching a how to tape Rod had made on forming and welding an aluminum midget nose. He built
a buck and was showing how to form the 4 parts of the nose and then weld them together. When the welding portion of the tape came up, this guy suddenly started yelling about the fact that Rod was using a gas torch to weld the pieces together. He was frantic about that portion of the video. He kept shouting, "you're welding aluminum with a gas outfit!". Rod said, "yes that is gas welding aluminum". The guy replied that whenever he tried gas welding aluminum, all he had to show for it was holes and aluminum puddles. Then Rod replied with the perfect and wise answer. He said, " so did I when I was first learning ". Many of the skills we learned came by trial and error. Sometimes LOTS of errors. When Edison invented the electric light bulb, he failed over 800 times. The difference for most of us from Edison is that he used every one of his failures to move forward and learn another way not to repeat. If you use your mistakes as learning exercises and more forward, nothing is lost and great knowledge is gained!

 

The only people who don’t screw up are those who don’t do anything. We all learn from our mistakes (hopefully) Like Hemi Joel said we came in with nothing we will leave with nothing it’s all just stuff. Taking a smoke break or waiting a day or two has worked well for me in solving problems Almost everything can be fixed, hey I use low heat when I weld wood.

 

Thanks everyone for all the reply’s, I really appreciate all the advice. I’ve read all of them.

I won’t be working on the car too much right now because of Christmas but definitely feel ready to start back up on it after the break

 

There's some really great commentary in this thread. It's great to see.

I believe that one of the best aspects of the internet is that there so many good examples of how to do things. Fabrication has improved and evolved so much in our lifetime. That being said, a place like the HAMB is great to ask, to search, to figure out how each step is done. There have been members here who directly impacted the level of fabrication with their build threads.

Also, over the years, quite a few people really developed their skills, here, because they dove into it both learning and doing (and sharing/asking questions).

Me, personally, I enjoy the guts/bravado it takes to cut up somewhat rare parts and use them how someone back in the day might have, when they weren't prized for their rarity or age.

 

Welcome to the HAMB, like the T Head Mercer avatar. Bob

 

Welding aluminum is much different then welding steel.
The melting point on aluminum is much lower, and for the most part, aluminum does not change color as it gets hot, it gets shinny just before it is a puddle on the ground. Then the different alloys aluminum can be will mess you up quickly.

I would advise you get a lot of aluminum welding experience before you would try welding on an aluminum radiator.

Concerned about cutting something of high value up and ruining it? Considering how many people repair really rusted or bent up stuff these days, about the worst you can do is reduce its value. If it really is a valuable part, someone will be willing to fix what ever you have screwed up. Most screw ups are not intentional, but are merely mistakes.

When you make a mistake, learn how to fix it yourself. That is the point at which the valuable lessons are learned. The cost to learn how to repair those mistakes are the tuition costs. When you have learned how to fix your mistakes, you become less intimidated about making them. At that point, you will realize there are not many things that have been created without mistakes happening along the process somewhere. Fixing those mistakes as you go are much easier then trying to deal with them after many compromises have been added to cover up the mistakes.

I have yet to meet a successful person that has jumped into a complex modification process with out first making a plan. The better and more detailed the plan, the better the outcome. Do not be intimidated by some people that appear to be able to just look at something and start cutting and welding that come up with perfection every time. That is their learned experiences in action. They have done the task so often it has become second nature, you can bet they know how to fix their mistakes and can make that look like part of the plan.

I might add that if a complete custom part is being created, its much cheaper to cut up card board and throw it away then it is to cut up steel and then throw it away. That process is a separate topic.

Get out there, make a plan, and cut it up. When (not if) you screw up, bring the problem here and let the guys that have been there before help you learn how to fix it. The more it costs, or the more time it takes to fix the mistake, the better you will remember it. Its all learned for the next time you make that mistake.

 

My avitar was chopped , channeled , sliced . diced , re sliced re diced , body work , stretched chassis 3 motor swaps ,,,all done by me working a full time job , raising a family and buying and selling cars parts to finance the project ...Move towards what you want and you will make it happen...