Projects How do y'all refill your motivational "tanks"?

Clean the shop up.....After 30 min. you will want to go back and work on your project. Cleaning the shop sucks.

 

I used to waych this video when I was first building my T Bucket. Now, I watch it about once a week or when I think about how insane this shit is. It says it all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXU3N9wT3u0

 

That's why they make alcohol......burp. Walk away for a week or two. I have to. But then again i work on cars all day for a living.

 

Yep... now just get to it.

 

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.Tim hit the nail on the head. I have to agree with him. In fact, there was a time when Tim's 53 ford project was sitting, waiting for money and parts. I picked him up in my buddy's 56 F-100 and we enjoyed BTT50s all weekend. He drove on the way home and that thumpin' 402 big block chevy put a smile on his face. All he could talk about was what he was gonna do to his 53 when he got home.
Great therapy!

 

I have not done a good job myslef lately. At work I have a picture on my computer wall paper of the overhead view of the Rust Revival. My goal is to make it to that show in my 52. While at work I study this pic and look at the cars in it so much I about have it memorized. I get really cranked up to get home and start working on my car. then when I get home I have a couple things com eup and before I know it all I want to do is sit down in the recliner. Right now my 52 is buried in the garage and that does not help either. I need to get it back rolling so I can move it to my work shop and hopefully that will help me get back into it. I really want to drive it to Rust Revival. I also get sidetracked easily and lately have gotten back into R/C dirt oval racing. Wife says I am 50 going on 10.

 

Parts deliveries get me motivated. The Brown Santa visits year-round and when he brings me those presents I unwrap them with that Christmas morning feeling and can't wait to play with my new toys. When I run out of parts, the best motivation is to get more parts.

Warm weather gets me motivated. Here in the northeast my garage work slows down in November, stops for January & February, and picks up again in March/April.

It's the "little victories" that count. Break the job down into chunks that you can get done in one night. If something frustrates you, then walk away and switch to something you can get done that same night. Never go to bed angry. When you sleep, you'll solve the frustrating problem in your dreams and get it done tomorrow.

 

Since I do this shit for a living the motivating factors are like a gnat. Sometimes it's financial, sometimes it's aesthetic, sometimes it's the task I'm simply in the mood for. Since I stepped out on my own almost a year ago I overlooked something that sucks the life out a project. Working alone. The term "lonely" seems like a candy-assed word resevered to candy-assed people. It's not. When you can't share something with a friend or loved one it's meaning becomes blurred. I've instituted 2 fixes to cure that intangible. 1 is that at least 3-4 days a week I'll go out for breakfast or lunch to the same place and socialize with the usual suspects. Some of the patrons are also vintage car types or hot rodders, some not. The other is getting a close and qualified friend of over 20yrs to help me 2 nights a week on the paying jobs. Losing my dog while I was at Hershey this year was a real ball buster. It hit me harder than I thought, mostly because I wasn't here and it left Mrs. Highlander to deal with it alone. 2 Sundays ago we adopted another and I'm training him to hang in the shop with me.

Like anything, shit gets old. You need another view, another perspective sometimes. I'm hoping for a winter that leaves us ass deep to a tall Indian in snow so I can pull the trigger on my sled again. Last year I didn't pull the rope in anger at all. No snow, no horsepower, no arm-rippin accelleration for hours on end. I need that shit! Without that I'm liable to go back into a serious addiction which can be very damaging...DRAG RACING.

What many of us find is how much any of these activities cross over to the other. "Sleds and traditional hot rods? You've lost your mind Highlander!" Well, not really. I gotta paint it this year (not really bit I do), I gotta re-calibrate the drive and service the pulleys (mechanicals and math calculations), I want to upgrade the suspension (fabrication), and I woudn't mind some new seat foam (upholstery). Shifting focus. Personal interaction with like-minded souls. Money. It's not easy to manage, but it's not immpossible either. The other thing to get "back in the groove"? Flip something. Buy a parts car for what you need and sell the rest for a profit. Buy a quick fixer and drive it around as you fluff it up a bit for profit. Profits pay for the affliction. The "juice" is something new to screw around with. The danger is tht flipping can become addictive. That's all I got and it works for me...sometimes.

 

After all these years I finally have a clear picture in my mind of my '30 Roadster finished, even the color, and upholstery details. Why bother actually finishing it? The wiring is a big mental hang up, that shit scares me. A wiring diagram in color might help, but I've never seen one I understood. Every part of the project is stalled for lack of money, 50-100 bucks to get to the next step that needs another 50-100 gets real old. Selling extra crap that is around here helps clean out the clutter. Maybe some sheetrock and shelving will be my winter project. I guess I could sit by the wood stove and work on the stamp collection. Bob

 

I stick a fork in a electrical socket.

 

For me it's blind obsession. It's all I think about, and the fact that I don't have another car to drive , (borrowing the teenage daughters car sucks). Although somedays I would like to role it out into the driveway and burn it to the ground.
I think if we were honest with ourselves about real time lines. Most of us probably wouldn't start new projects. It's the oh yah I'll just rebuild the whole car, (shouldn't take more than a week or so) mentality that drives most of us.

 

I disagree about motivation. I think motivation is everything. A motivated man can move mountains. It's all in your head.