Why don't projects ever get finished?

Cause people waste time online talking about em

 

my problem is i allways find another one that i really want im an addict to cars (my only drug)
my o/t roadrunner ive owned since 1993 it still looks like it did in 1996 cant tell you how many cars ive bought since i got the runner

i have plenty of vision i know exacly how i want each of mine to look but then i hear of another car "that doesnt need much " and i go look KNOWING i shouldnt

then if its one of the cars on my highly desirable list and CHEAP i imeadiately see it how i want it to be and then .......the cycle repeats


i really need to get down to one especailly since ohio is about to throw all of us union guys out on our *** basically but prolly wont happen (me getting rid of all but one)

i got a guy that wants to sell me a 50 chevy fleetline REAL bad .....it will prolly end up with me

i get a new project get all gung-ho about it then something sets me back wether it be a higher priced part it needs or just the weather going from summer to winter or something (i dont really have a garage at this house thats usable ) it would be more useable if i didnt have 2 projects allready sitting in it (ones my 57 the others my girfriends 69 stang) cant park them out side cause they are stripped to just primered shells and the city i live in and the neighbors dont look to kindly at "junk" like that


enough rambling..... my junk will probably never get done but i enjoy the hell out of em ....NO im not a hoader if somebody came up on my driveway and wanted one of my piles if they made a serious offer id sell it (just to fill the hole with another one )


the diffention of insanity is......keep doing the same thing in the same way, but expecting a different result.........

 

Hey I worked on both of mine a little yesturday.

I have an excuse but alas it would just be an excuse. Ya know about excuses don't ya, they are like a sausage the skin of the truth stuffed with a lie.

 

I profit from those unfinished projects......Ill get the car in a million parts and put it togther some times running some times not and sell for profit or keep.....but I to have those just unfinished projects as well sitting in the corners of the garage, for me its time and energy and the money to finish it is always what the next project cost to buy so it doesnt get done

 

It's kinda cool to have a project to work on cause there is always something you can do, when you want to but..........agreed, ya have to have one to drive as well.
If I don't have some kinda parts mess in the back of the garage, well, it seems kinda lonely!

 

The build is the best part? wha?

The reason you "build" is to drive.

 

....I've notice that a lot of my friends have two or more cars ...one or more is done and is driven...the other is a project.. I have a 37 ford coupe project for 6 years now....my friends just come over a visit and hang out...its become a social meeting with a lot of talking and not getting work done....trouble is we go from each other garage to garage....Guess my the reason we get nothing done is that "Old farts,like me...rather talk and drink beer than working on them.....

 

Not for I. The longer it sits the more anxious I get to work on it! Damn snow!!

 

Plan the FINISHED project! And write down the plan.

Now break the plan into sections (i.e. engine, transmission, body, ch***is, etc.) Determine YOUR wants for each of the sections. WRITE DOWN YOUR WANTS! Now, find a friend who has lots of experience in each section, and ask them to critique your plan over dinner.

You may decide to revise one or more of the sections.

Once you have finalized your plans, begin to build ONE section. Stay with that section until completed (its OK to pick up some parts for another section that magically appear for much less than you expected to pay, BUT put them aside and stay with one section at a time).

Alternately, you may do "stages".

My 1974 GTO is finished, licensed, and I enjoy "stage 1" (overall weight 2800 pounds).
Stage 2 is 2700 pounds, and I haven't started this stage.
Stage 3 is 2500 pounds, and I need to win the lottery first!

By the way, "stage 1" took me 28 years! The four sections were engine, ch***is, body, and interior.

Jon.

 

thats the problem..... i seem to always have atleast 3 or 4 going at once. have one that is probably a month from driving , yet it has been sitting for a couple years....have a late model o/t project rolling along now , that might see the street by the end of the year. if not it will see the for sale sign.

 

LW, I prefer the term " bench racing "

 

I agree, to keep the momentum up, you have to be continually thinking about it, or at least always have it in the back of your mind. Also, I find that when everyday **** stresses me out, I transfer my thoughts onto what I have to do next on my project, and that de-stresses me.

 

Having done this a time or two myself. My general rule is....buy the car/project. ***ess what it needs. Save all the money,buy all the parts and just do it. I don't mean over time. I mean just do it start to finish. It really doesn't take that long with all the parts. This way I don't get burned out and change my mind a thousand times during the build....

 

FFT...too ****ing fussy,not enough funds and too little time.

 

i've been guilty of this myself. it seems like something else always rolls along, and the whole gr*** is always greener thing takes over and it's out with the old, in with the new, sometimes before the old project is even finished, and usually at a loss. that's the way it goes.

 

I'm new to car building but have been a fabricator of aircraft parts for many years. I got into building a couple of custom motorcycles for myself that turned into shop queens because I kept changing my plan and not sticking to any plan after a while. I ended up with a lot of "wall ornaments" buying catalog parts that were not what I thought they were going to be and should have built the parts from scratch to begin with, which is what I did. Always have something you can be doing with what you have on hand when there is no shop money in the coffers. This is all advice from a newb on the HAMB, read at your own risk.

 

i think alot is wanting to much. i have seen many good cars and trucks runined. the person gets the project and has big ideas going to bag it chop it. then when they find out how much work they have started they lose intrest.

 

I can answer this one, because with a lot of guys its about the build, and if you finish it, it's not a project anymore.

 

When buying up parts, I always forget to get a...

 

#1 Problem - project hopping and/or trying to do more than 1 car at a time. I am severley guilty of it and haven't finished **** because of it. I think it's a disease...

 

Ditto!
And...
I tried to build a '65 mustang for the wife... Still not done and I have coin tied up in it... But no real interest! Ugh!

 

My experience is lack of money. I see lots of nice rods out there and the guy with it always seems to have enough money to have someone finish what he couldnt. Not always the case but seems to be true a lot of the time.I had to find a customer to support my habit bad habit of starting motorcycle projects and not having the money to finish it like I wanted. After I made enough to support my habit I stopped hiring myself out and just worked on my own stuff.

 

Two things I see as critical, and I see alot of guys that miss the boat on this. 1) have a absolutely clear vision of what the finished project is going to be, and how you are going to go about it. Virtually every detail should be clearly planned out in your mind before you buy ANY parts. Even if you do this, things will change on the fly, but if you dont have a solid plan, you will be going off in all directions. Probably not a bad idea to actually put it down on paper. i actually put together a three ring binder and fill it with pertinant tips, info, parts sources, pictures of stuff that inspires me and pertains to what i am building, ect.
2) avoid trendy or "flavour of the week" type builds like the plague. With the amount of time it takes most guys, myself included, to finance and finish a full-blown project, by the time you finish it, you can pretty much guarantee that trend will have long since p***ed, and a new bandwagon will be rolling through town.

 

Do what I do, post at work. If someone watched my pattern of postings closely, they may notice it slows down on sunday & monday. thats because those are my days off.

 

That last 10% on a project is so difficult to overcome from a $$$ and enthusiasm standpoint. You've got to be focused to the point of being a little nuts....

 

ill agree with the " last 10% is the most expensive" comments. i was in my project for nothing ( after selling parts off it on ebay ) it was running, driving, and even painted. but i dropped 1000 getting the little **** ****oned up to get it road worthy.

 

My wife constantly accuses me of being obsessed. If your not always thinking about the project is just going to sit there. She is always bringing up how much time I spend reading mags and looking a parts catalogs. I said, do you want me to start decorating the house and start obsessing over what color I think I should paint your bedroom. She said NOPE, you obsess over your stuff, I'll obsess over mine.

 

i've got a 1.5 car garage stuffed with 3 project cars, so I know a little about this...

Two things have really hampered me over the years- one is just not enough time. I work a couple of jobs and when it's busy I just don't get into the garage much. Second is that I get to a point where I've got to make the 'final' decisions (cut the wheelwells or not, paint color, etc..) and I get totally stuck.

I can picture the car finished in a variety of ways, so I can't commit to those last details because i'm not quite 100% certain which way is best.

it's stupid.

 

If I finish them, I have to sell them...

And I CAN'T have that!!!

 

simple to many projects....

Hi my name is Steven
working on #4 + dealing on #7
I'm DONE!