Projects How do you get yourself MOTIVATED to work on your project?

For me its getting out in my own little world,,,,no stress,nobody *****ing at me,and no dead lines to meet......Maybe its heaven,,,,

 

older i get, the harder to finish projects.1991 started a dream car i drew pix and built car from SCRATCH,full size wood&foam plug,english wheeled alum body,tube ch***is,4.6 ford eng,was new in 91,just got it running, but car just sits ready for paint . since i started it,was only going to take a year or so. i have in the mien time built...76 land cruiser,swampbuggy, VW thing,34 coupe,new garage,model A, rdst. pkup,house,fish camp, moved 5 houses,another model A,started 34 cabriolet,getting parts for 34 rdst and 27 T coupe,blacksmith shop,houseboat,and other projects. i just sit and look at my dream car and dream, cant get started again.....HELP....

 

If you have 'writers block' or "HAMBERS block" and can't get re-started try this....
Get for 4 big *** sheets of cardboard to hang on the wall and start making lists of jobs...
the reason for 4 sheets? ...1.body , 2.paint , 3.trim, 4.ch***is.
that way you wont get one long list and get snowed under.
how to write your lists?...imagine a time line from today... the lists should not have any order...just list everything by its category, every job , small or large.
just grab a beer and start writing on the lists, spend an afternoon at it.
Now when you are finished just sit back and do nothing but get a time line in your head.
Set a realistic goal , not for each item but just the day when you are going to turn the key and head off down the road... tie it into an event / holiday, whatever.

start tommorrow by just doing 15 minutes in the shed, pick an item on any list and get into it....15 minutes a day couldnt hurt could it?

after a while you can consolidate the list (s) to a single sheet.

Remember the old saying... IF YOU FAIL TO PLAN , YOU PLAN TO FAIL.
sounds corny ? you bet it is ! but it works.

I always finish off the day just sitting and looking at the car, pretty soon I see something thats needed and not on my lists, log it.


enjoy.

 

Are you looking at this as a Job or Fun??
As many have said do one thing at a time, Grinding, wiring, Bondo etc.
When I ***emble and engine I do one thing at a time. I will bed the crank and the next day I will put the rings on the pistons, Next day i will install the cam. You see nothing big but in a short time alot gets done. Make it fun not work.

 

I'm getting motivated by HAMBer's & others saying " so you gonna sell me your old car?"
My project has been dormant for so long that I'm in a process of re-discovering the car, and I like doing little clean- up, organising & planning jobs right now.

 

" Soooooo, you gonna sell me your old car?"

 

When I go inside the house and find out there are chores to be done...well that's enough to motivate me to stay in the garage and work!

 

what helps me is if i have pics on the wall of cars that look similar to what I'm building, If you can spend even a few minutes doing something everyday you'll get into it more, it will get done.

 

Wholly ****!!! Thats a mess!! I thought I was bad.
Hoarder!!!LOL!!

 

When I go to shows or meet-ups and see the other cars...and I know my car will get there some day, all I want to do is go home and thrash on it. I know it's hard to find the energy sometimes especially after a busy work week (yeah yeah I'm young but I still have a stressful job!), but after I get some things done I feel a lot better. And best of all I have checked one more thing off the list of things to do!!

 

True, it's really bad in there. I need to organize it.It's kinda like how a little kid sweeps everything under the bed.

 

Funny, my nephew and I were having this conversation yesterday out in front of the garage. He was commenting how my car seems to need "one of everything" and that while he thinks it's way cool that I'm doing it, and he loves helping, but he would be totally overwhelmed by it.

I told him it's like eating an elephant. It can be done- one bite at a time. That wasn't enough for him. I explained that within the first two days of owning the car, I had outlined the whole project in about 7 phases: make it a "driveway runner," make it roadworthy, rust repair, body mods, final bodywork/paint, interior, and driveline upgrade.
Other than the first two, there's not a set order, and the different phases will overlap at times. Each phase is broken down into individual jobs.

I'm also one for a fairly organized shop. I'll often clean and put up tools after an individual job, even if I'm going to keep working on that particular day. That just works best for me.

I also have another motivator. My Mother-in-law LOVES old cars. She was tickled to hear about me getting the Chevy. She had a '51 Chevy back in the day, and her's was even the same color that mine was originally. (No, I didn't get lucky and get the car that she once owned- her's was a deluxe with a 235/PG. Mine's a Special with 216/3speed) Unfortunately, she also has non Hodgkin's lymphoma. I REALLY want to take her for a ride before she leaves us.

 

Im lucky to have a good motivating friend...and the H.A.M.B.

With it being over 100* all summer i didnt get sh*t done. It cooled down a bit so i was sitting out last week staring at my "ground up build" thinking of what i need and what i didnt have (MONEY). and my bud rolled by in his 55'. I was over ****izing some metal work i need to do so he goes and says "Man you mind fu*k your self too much". we went out in his to a weekly morning car show.

A couple of 6,500rpm launches later, about 2 dozzen thumbs up's, Plus one 66 mustang under the belt. Powershifts powershifts powershifts. and i was all but ready to tear into her again.

ridin back he asks "so is all the headaches, pain, grief, anguish worth it to be sittin at a red light in a 55 chevy??? YUP, SURE THE FU*K IS...

I get back, look at the car and hear, "They'll never see that in forth gear".
a week later my front ends goin together, body bushings done and should be droppin the motor in a month.

Just have fun. and remember why we do it.

 

Well I do feel better than when I started this thread. No, didn't do a thing on the Roadster but I did move stuff and found my refilled welding tanks, filled a garbage can with unwanted stuff. Found **** for eBay listings. Found misplaced parts for other projects. Once I build a crate for a friend, I'll be welding on the Roadster. Hitchhiker's photo looks just like the other side of my ba*****t.

 

LOL! Oh, OK...
Well at least you can feel like you're saving the planet with that light bulb...Providing you don't break it, releasing the mercury in it.

FYI, those bulbs are known to short out and ignite for no apparent reason other than being on.

 

It's not always lack of motivation. Some people confuse procrastinating with careful planning.

Sometimes you just have to step back for awhile and re-think your approach.

 

Right on. Clean and uncluster-fu*ked helps. keeps you from getting frustrated as quickly!. small or not you did something right?
just remember, while your crawling through boxes of rusty and dusty parts pullin your hair out. Just tell yourself "Livin the dream"

 

Bud light.

 

As stated earlier here, plenty of time for rest once they seal me up in that box, and I think of Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys who stayed in bed for years! Not me! Fu@k That! As my dear departed father told me growing up, "lazy and stupid folks have to try twice as hard to get by, you better get busy!" Thanks dad!!

 

If you have the engine in it, start it up. That's what motivated me to just get it running and on the road as fast as I could. Granted it still needs some work as they all do, but the real motivation came when I heard it fire off. Nothin' like the smell of burning fuel out in the shop. Press on, you can do it......