Have ya' ever spent all week plannin' what you were doin' to your hot rod on the weekend just to have them fall apart? I got the body on this weekend, but other than the Chevy 6 clearing the firewall and liking the way it sits, nothing went right. Some days I think I have no frickin' idea what I'm doin'. Looks like another week of lookin' and plannin' for next weekend.
Thats why I have 7 projects going. If money or frustration pisses me off I move to a different one fro a while. It really works out well because sometimes you get dead ended on an idea and you need time to mull it over, what better way than to work on something else. Try it ,even doing an old tractor helps ........keep the faith...it will all come together .......
Yup, you're not alone. I figured I had the rear mounting plates set up right for my new seat, so I marked and drilled the holes for it. Ended up in a spot that I can't access from under the cab, so now I have to redesign the damn mounts. It's always something!
I have what I call "Garage A.D.D."...I will be working on one thing, turn around and think "Oh, shit, I need to do this on the truck!" and ignore what was going on before. Then, I'll be looking for a tool and not find it, but find the tool I was needing for the third thing I had a thought about and go do it...that is why I can never get a damn thing finished! I've been wanting to put the running boards on the Terraplane for three years now. Oh, look, a kitty...!
Yes I think everyone on here that builds hot rods knows how you feel.I know I have worked many hours on my projects only to cut off all the work,throw it in the trash and start all over again. It's all part of building rods!Don't give up it happens to all of us.
hey Patrick 66, that's just a sign of getting old. I spend 20 minutes looking for the screwdriver I just used.
I am so glad I do not have those problems everything I touch fixes itself. I never have to redo things or freshen a new motor because I fucked something up. Or find that I do not like the way something looks and have to spend the whole week redoing it. I love not busting my knuckles and having cracked skin and getting motor oil in my hair. And I forgot to mention the foreign objects the eye surgeon never picked out of my left and right eye from flying metal. I wish I could feel your pain but I love my hobby and have a very short memory.
There I am, turning a wrench, tightening a bolt. Phone rings. I walk over and answer. When I hang up it's time to hunt for the wrench. Where the hell did it go? Then I retrace my steps. No luck. Finally I give up and get another from the box. That night, I get home, get ready for bed and....there is the damn wrench in my back pocket!! This happens a LOT. This is why we older...uh, more mature types have more than one wrench of any given size. The Snap-On guy likes coming to my shop. I wish I could remember if these things happened when I was younger. Remember... Cut it too short and you can weld it back on. But, cut it too long and you are screwed!!
Did a 302/C4 engine swap into a '83 Mitsubishi pickup. No room to place the motor and attach the trans from underneath, had to go in as a motor/trans unit. Got the unit in, fuel lines attached, wiring done, power steering hooked up, shifter assembly in place, radiator, fan and shroud in place, filled with coolant, exhaust system hung and bolted up, driveshaft connected. Put oil in the pan, primed the system and was just gettin' ready to fire it off to break in the cam. Looked over at the toolbox and there on the shelf was the driveshaft that goes from the tranny pump to the torque converter.
Most good hot rodders, if they have a good day, will have some one, wife , good friend , anybody beat them with chains or sticks or what ever so they can feel normal at the end of the day.
Forget the troubles in the garage... yesterday I went to go get a Red Ram Poly motor I had been scoping for the past week. Another guy beat me there by 30 min and had just loaded it in his truck. He gets credit because he was going to stuff it into a 33 Plymouth he was building, but it still hurts. Poof - entire weekend's worth of schemes up in smoke. It's OK, because I got the garage cleaned out, got the flathead-6 tuned, and took momma and the rugrats for a nice, sunny cruise this afternoon. Still... weeks worth of planning and conniving, researching Poly motors and P-18 fitment - gone!
Yeah..Ive done 15 straight hours of bodywork wand walked out of the shop with a car that had more waves then when I walked in.
this weekend i decided it was time to fix my on going brake problems but upgrading my master cylinder and the parts store is out of hardlines
My PLANS included having my Lincoln running 3 weeks ago, I hope to have it going sometime THIS WEEK, if everything goes acording to plan.....
I've had 1 good day in the shop in the last 2 years. ONE. Everything went right, I accomplished more than I set out to do, finished things on time, etc. Usually its a kick in the nuts every day.
I say plan less and play more. When I say play more, I mean go out in the garage and play. No predetermined goals that must be achieved or it's a failure. I plan play time. Usually I go into the garage and then I think what can I do. Some of the nasty jobs I'll take in steps. A little now and a little later. I often bead blast and spray bomb obscure parts that I won't need for a long time just to get that feeling of accomplishment. I just recently spent some time making my plug wires. The engine is still on the stand! I should have been scraping the floor pans underneath but this was more fun. I took the time to cut the wires so that the logos on the wires all lined up. If I needed them to start the engine, I would not have taken the time to be so picky. It's funny how making a set of plug wires can lift your spirits. Now if I can find one old fart to comment on my Pachard 440 plug wires just like the ones he ran in 1963 then I'll really be ecstatic. My buddy and I call it tinkering. A tink tink here a tink tink there after a while there is no more tinkering left. If you make exact plans where you must get the engine mounted TODAY then you leave yourself open for a let down. Keep it fun and not a second job.
The only hot rodders that don't have that problem are the one with TV shows, for the rest of us in the real world that part of the fun. It took 40 plus hours and three different designs to get the Air conditioning pump bracket right on my 54F100 with a 300inline 6. Work days making a custom pickup box only to scrap what I did and build one from scratch, glad I did it's turning out great. have fun jim h
Yes, I just posted on the Micks Stray Kat 500, saying the show was in my plans, but just can't get the project in high gear. Not only a time issue but I have that illness "lack-o-dough". Retail business has been slower than my Suburban at the H.A.M.B. drags, and that is SLOW!! But onward and upward~Sololobo~
do not try, DO! i used to make elaborate plans for every stage of a job... and would get all fucked up on the first step. contingency plans are one thing; have a secondary scheme for whatever you're doing. but as far as A-to-Z instructions? hell no. last week i FINALLY cut the fender flares i need for radiusing my Falcon's rear wheel wells out of the spare front fenders i've been holding for oh about 8 years now? been working on this car since 2001.... 5 different engines in 8 years, hasn't moved under it's own power while in my ownership.... built and removed two full length consoles before settling on a shift tower for the C4. basically, it is my cool-off car for the other projects getting me FUBARed.
Tommy~that is what I normally try to do, go out to the garage and tink tink, but I'd planned some things that take longer. That's what didn't work. But, that's out of the way so I can move on. I feel a lot better with all the support I'm getting though. Thanks guys!
The Jalopy Journal
