All I wanted to do was flip the axle!

I swear this project is out of control. Yes, I am too much of a perfectionist, I admit, but this has got to end soon.

1) I really only wanted to flip the axle on my Chevy pickup, so I took the bed off.

2) Frame was rusty, so I stripped it by hand , a couple hours at a time (between rainstorms) and painted it as I went to keep it from flash rusting.

3) The rear axle I was putting in was also rusted, so I stripped it by hand with wire wheels and fiber wheels and painted it.

4) The rear axle also needed new brakes...bought a new brake kit and installed it.

5) Had to cut and notch the frame but

5a) my welder was acting up, had to replace the wire feed hose and rebuild the inner mechanism.

6) Was going to install the axle but the perches I had wouldn't work on the tube, had new ones fabricated and I welded them on.

7) Springs were wobbly, so I bought a bushing kit and rebuilt them.

8) Was going to do bushings only but they were so rusted in between that I took the packs apart and repainted each spring separately.

9) driveline was looking really shabby so I stripped and painted it while it was out.

10) went to reinstall driveshaft and found that the NEW pinion is nearly 1 1/2" longer than the old...now driveshaft needs to be shortened (professionally)

11) bought new U-Joints that will be reinstalled when driveshaft is shortened

12) noticed that all soft brake lines are shot, took them off to use as guides for new lines.

13) While waiting for driveshaft I started looking closely and noticed that the frame looked slightly off. I measured the frame corner to corner and the distance off the ground at multiple points and found that the frame is twisted and the right rear corner is almost 1/2" lower than the left rear corner...now it needs to be straightened and not sure how to do it at home.

6 weekends later and I haven't even accomplished my original goal. Has this happened to any of you?

 

Yeah I'm pretty sure you are not alone here.

 

I bought a plastic chevy once, 73' 454 coupe. It needed a fuel tank and rear wheel bearings.

18 months later it was completely restored from bumper to bumper...

 

What bums me out now is that instead of the net minus 4.5 inches I expected it turned out to be minus almost 6 inches and is a taildragger. I was going to do the new drop axle front end after having some fun with it but now I have no choice but to go straight to that when I finally finish this. I MAY get to drive this thing come f FALL...damnit!

 

i now account for these type of situations in my build plans!

 

I'm not sure how to account for my inability to just let things go as they are...I think I have a disease or something.

 

This always happens to me. If i dont think somthing looks perfect, i keep going and going. things tend to snowball down hill till my, "get it out and drive it" date keeps getting moved farther and farther back.

 

Just like working on an old house. Start with a minor wall patch, then discover there's no insulation in the wall. Pull the wallboard off to discover the wiring isn't up to par.
Next, you're down to bare studs and starting from scratch!

 

Probably, but when you're done... you're done, no dilly dallying with odd and end b.s. that keeps cropping up, with you thinking the entire time, "I should have taken care of that when I flipped the axle".

So in reality you're simply saving yourself future grief.

 

yeppers im in that boat also

 

We all have a disease, that is why we are here on the HAMB

 

I told myself this morning I was just going to do a full gasket set on my 283... I noticed a couple grooves in the thrust bearing when I was going to do the rear main, and the next thing I knew I was cleaning the bare block and ordering parts. Just waiting on the main bearings (apparently NO ONE in town stocks main bearings for a small journal SBC) All this in a car I was just going to "throw together."

 

i need to come up with a proper name for this like "the HAMB infinite project snowball", THIPS for short. i too cannot escape the THIPS, last summer i turned a valve cover install into a shortblock and a very large pile of parts before i knew what happened. every time i fix or modify one little thing my wallet screams in fear.

 

got the same problem with my 58. leaking radiator turns into 2" lowering and engine removal for cleanup... im kinda scared to know what will happen next

 

Just listen to the increadilbe miss Judy yell at me for what must be 2000th time as to why her '62 Falcon wagon isn't done yet... 'Course I found, regasketed and painted the engine trans unit, adapted and set up the Weber carb, redid all the wiring, rebuilt and dropped (+ Shelby dropped) both suspensions, fit different wheels and tires, converted it to disc brakes, replumbed nose to tail, painted the engine compartment, fitted a C4 trans from a manual, updated the alternator to internal regulator - all since purchase on Jan. 15th... All this between paying customer cars and hoods. I thought I was doing well! Obsesive? Perhaps...

 

Take a look at my build thread as well as many other build threads, you'll find the snowball effect in FULL effect....

It happens....I ended up sectioning mine as a result of a sitting onna 5 gal bucket drinking a cold Dr. Pepper........course along the way I found a ton of rust, and ended up replacing essentially the lower 6 inches of cab....all because "I'm gonna finish this project once and for all."

 

Man oh man, ain't it the truth! I keep pushing my '51 F1's "on the road" date back a month at a time. Keep finding stuff that needs to be redone or done correctly. The body work? phffft! Found out yesterday my Smoothies are back ordered by a month from Coker. Now I'm shooting for a September 10 car show at a local performance shop, original date was May 14.

 

an attack of the "might-as-wells" you have suffered...

 

heh, yup i know how that goes.....

 

This is why I refer to them as money pit's........it never ends

 

Geez, you can even remember what you originally started with?

 

this can only end badly. i see a full rebuild in your future

 

Hey, and you didn't even get to the point where you install the bed again, and find you have to raise the bed floor, and accompanying braces, to clear the C notch!!!!!

 

dam does this ever sound familiar, probably why its taking me so dam long to get this A on the road..if it aint one thing its another

 

One step foreward two steps back......thats how all my projects start.

 

I did that to a pickup recently (94 Ford). I had to lower the rear shackle mounts to get the rear end back up a couple inches. If you know these trucks, they needed replaced anyway.

 

Also know as the "While I'm at it," or "wouldn't hurt to" disease. Which I would have to believe is very contagious among Hambers.

 

having a conscience is a bitch

 

Axle tube + perch + spring pack thickness was only 4-1/2 inches? ? ? ?

 

Oh yeah. Been there, done that!