I put a TV with cable in the garage, stereo and now a old computer, enough to cruise the net. I put on Speed or some how-to program on and sometimes just sit and watch and find I pick up something to clean or fit, and it snowballs from there. As long as you are surrounded by stuff, you will screw with stuff. In the house, all you have is a butt to scratch and wife to talk during the good parts of a show.
for me its scheduling, If I am on a big project I try to work on it 3 hours a day , the same three hours, I try to work from 4;00 to 7: 00 every night until I am over the hump, then when you get closer the momentum ususlly keeps me going. I know not everyone can spare that much time . just try to find somthing that works for you. Also if I hit a wall I sop and clean the shop, gives you a new perspective. the Idea of a party is good too, I have even done that for freinds who have stalled projects, last month we hauled a freinds jeep to my shop and had a three day marathon. we didnt finish the thing but it runs and drives now and that got the owner motivated again. jon
You have a great head start as you picked a project thats easy to get parts for. These trucks are like a blank canvas to paint on. Car shows, HAMB, magazines, friends trucks,etc... will motivate you. Bite-size pieces also keep it easier. Sometimes a little accomplished work will keep you going, like paint the dash or something. Sometimes buying parts keeps you going as well. It is easy to buy too many parts and overwhelm yourself however. I've done that before! The family that doesn't understand your hobby will be first in line wanting a ride!
With a business and a young family, I've found it hard to get much done. I had two project cars and was getting burned out trying to work on both. I'm down to one project now and I try to get something done every few months to keep myself motivated. If there is some progress, at least it's going in the right direction. For example, I'll be happy this year if I get my back bumper and Kaiser guard plated and rebuild my 9" axle. That's not much by most guys standards on here. I personally don't find that going to shows and shooting the shit with other car guys does much to get me motivated on my project. The worst think I did for my motivation was make a list of everything that still needs to be done and put in estimated prices.
I'm 21. I'm a full time college student and part time youth ministry intern. I have literally no money to spend on my '29 A- Sports Coupster. And yet, every night before I go to bed, I day-dream about me driving my roadster down the highway, blasting past all those soccer mom suvs and old people are giving me the "gawdawful youth these days" look. I day-dream about going on road trips with some chick next to me. I do occasionally go out back and sit in it, on top of the seat-mount and imagine I'm looking at the '59 Impala dash that I will eventually be there, and the Sun Tach on the column. I imagine shifting that 4-speed or 5-speed should I get lucky, and each carb opening on that motor. And the Salt Lake Headers making all of those va-room noises right next to me (even though I'm legally considered deaf, I can still hear above a certain decibel level). Then when I'm awake, I grime about how my roadster is out back and not in the garage and my dad goes "Get my '48 Cab done and I'll let you put it in there." So, needless to say, I'm busting my butt on that cab right now, while working on small portions of my Model A. Don't look at the amount of work that you need to do, but look at one part as everyone says. I'm working on the driver side door right now, capping it off and replacing the bottom half of the door. Since I can't afford patch panels, I'm making them out of my dad's old '48 bed sides. Then once that door is done, I'm gonna sand it down and paint it.. that's one part done. Next will be the other door. Then I'm gonna build the frame out of 2x4 tubing that I got.. quite a while ago.. Good luck!
Wow, 10 years and you have a bare body on a frame, no wonder you've lost interest. I always have a project going, and they seem to take longer than they used to. I thought it was becaue I'm slower, but I've lately come to realize that I'm just picky-er than I used to be. My roadster has been 2+ years, my wagon took 2 years, the '48 took 2 years, and the T'Bird took 2 years. When I was younger, I had a different car every year. That seems like a long time, but when I add up in my what else I've built while those things were going on, life, work, other recreation, it's not so long. And, my cars are nicer now, I'm doing frame off's, more detailed, more care into fit and finish, it all takes longer. No matter what I'm driving, I'm imagining myself driving the next project. Right now, the '36 is driveable, needing only paint, the seats upholsetered and the top. I drove the '51 wagon into town to drop off some patterns at the glass shop this morning, and the entire way, I imagined I was driving (not the nearly done Hot Rod, channeled, modified style roadster!) the '47 Diamond T one ton pickup. I haven't evern really started it, and already I'm thinking of building a very light, banger powered roadster from scratch for gas mileage and cheap fun. It's a disease... Don't mean to sound catty here, if you have been a decade and all that's happened is that the truck got dismantled, it's not a project, it's yard art. Set some goals. Don't look at the entire project as a whole, it will be insurmountable. Take one step at a time, complete that, go on to the next. Building a car is a series of small tasks, when you finish the last one, it's done. Try looking at in that way, and you get a sense of accomplishment with the completion of each task. Get the chassis done and up on wheels, with operable brakes and steering. Get the engine/trans in, get it running. Get the body on the chassis. Get the fenders done and mount them. Get body work and paint done. Do the interior and install it. Glass, wiring, go the DMV and get it registered. There, that wasn't so hard, was it!
Read a book on motivation. One that explains why we do what we do, not one full of cliches. It's not "psychobabble". It'll explain things in a way you have probably never considered. Then I think you'll be better prepared to start making changes. The problem with these threads is the person hardly gives any info. There could be a million reasons. You're the best person to figure it out. I think the biggest mistake made on most people's project is taking it all apart. Thanks, Kurt PS- To put it into car terms- it's like rebuilding. You have to get an idea of what's wrong first (troubleshooting), then figure out what it's going to take to fix it (research, homework, etc.), then you start fixing it (action).
Lets face the truth. You are right. You'll never live long enough to see it finished. Sell it off as is for what you can get for it and buy a runner. There are some people who can spot a rusty piece of metal sticking out of the ground and build a beautiful '32 roadster out of it and obviously you're not one of them. So circumvent the pain and buy a runner. How do I keep motivated? I keep telling myself that if Garlits sees this he'll come out of retirement.
Started my first build in 74, finished it in 80,6 years. next one got in 81 and finished it in 90, 9 years, had a couple easy ones in between but the deal is that I was young and had alot of other stuff going on during those years. I kept my last one ( 1940 Chev 1/2 Ton ) till 93 or 94 & sold it. I did'nt get another one till last year because I realized I did'nt have the patience to take on a project I could'nt work on every day. Now I'm 61 and semi-retired,( 2 or 3 days a week and it's great ) I think alot of guys take on to big of a project and lose intrest because ther'es no time, at least thats what happened to me. Either sell it and get a running car you can work along on or like someone else said,one step at a time. After all the best part, at least for me, is the building part. Just a little insight from an old guy having the time of his life! Just do'nt give up.
I never leave the garage until I have planned my next step. This way I visualize, plan and mentally prep myself for the next garage experience. I hate walking into the garage and feeling overwhelmed with the 'I don't know where to start', so I select the job, get out the parts and lay out the tools. When I walk in next time... BAM I'm working and making progress. ALSO... I believe a car gets built a half hour at a time more than it does in a bunch of Saturdays. So if you think you don't have the time, TURN OFF THE TV for a half hour (or more) and do something. An hour a day, each day adds up to more than a full week of work.
I finished my O/T car 5 months ago.I did a complete teardown and rebuild/mod of the entire car in 8 months. My approach was a LOT of planning and organization first. I spent a year saving up all the money i would need, set up a workspace and sourced and bought all the parts and outside labor I would need for stuff I can't do myself first, with a an additional 'problems' budget for all of it. Then I bought the car. 'phase 1': tore it all down and bagged, boxed and organized all the parts. 'phase 2': cleaned, rehabbed and replaced all the parts that needed it and grouped them in assembies.-dedicated at least 4 hours each night to do this 'Phase 3' sent out the stuff I couldnt do myself, IE machine shop work and powdercoating 'Phase 4'-told my wife to leave me alone for 1 month, and took vacation from work and just got down for 14-16 hours a day and stripped and repaired the body, frame rails etc all the way. This was the brutal part. I lost 20 lbs and probably gave myself permanent cell damage. Phase 5-reassembled all the cleaned, rehabbed and replaced 'units' on to the clean rolling shell of the car.Minimum 4 hours a night every night 7 days a week. total time to rebuild entire car: 8 months. been driving it since. now I am planning a second project and will repeat the process. I think the real key is having all the money and crap you will need all lined up first so that when you start, you dont have to stop until its done. You definately need to put your life on hold for a while as well.
best advise was posted here before , pick three things to accomplish get them done pick three more, works like a champ.
I use a list as well. It helps a lot. Good friends that are motivated also helps. I have a buddy that is always working on his projects. Before we started hanging out, I never could finish a project. Being around him for years made me realize what a worthless slacker I was and it motivated me. Now, I finish stuff that I start on. It also helps to set a definite realistic deadline. I set a deadline for my last project where I had to have it to a certain point by such and such time (car shows work perfect for this). When you tell others, they usually say, "Yeah, right" and that is another good motivator: Proving others wrong!
Take a big project and break it down into smaller ones .A big job is really just a bunch of small ones!
It's all perspective. I know a person who did a ground up build on a truck that for the most part, a lot of the work was done in 30 min intervals. He was a busy person, owns a lawn care company, makes great money, but works long hours. He basically allowed himself 1/2 hour a day before cleaning up after work to get something done. The weekends he saved for bigger tasks on the truck.
Get together with a SMALL group 3-4 others. Rotate working one day a week car night at somebody's house. We do Wednesdays. This gets you: 1. Thinking cars every week. 2. Planning stuff for your week to keep the guys busy. 3. Makes Skill sets you do not have available to you. 4. PROGRESS! There is nothing more motivating than seeing your stuff progress. With the RIGHT guys, they work harder on your stuff than they do on theirs. If you return the favor, the group works! Oh, keep the chat down till AFTER most of the work is done. One other point.... you WILL work on yours as well on off nights because if the guys come over and nothing's been done you WILL feel embarrassed ....and that won't happen twice!
Very well spoken. My last project sat for three years (after my first kid was born) and I got so down on it I ended up selling it. I bought something that I can drive while I am doing stuff to it. My wife even likes the new one, don't know how that happened.
Motivation should not be an issue if you REALLY want to build something. For me; money (or lack of it) is what makes a project slow down. While I'm saving for a major piece, I'll be on the body or doing frame work - anything that doesn't require much more than labor. I wouldn't buy another car or anything else thats going to take money out of the build either. Also, it's swap meet time again. It's all good.
What's to prevent having a running klunker to enjoy, whilst working on a project too? Sometimes a short drive around the block gets the blood flowing, the interest up> back to the garage we go!
Wow, this really took off. I appreciate all the great advice. I went out to finish painting the wheels I'll be using on the truck and the garage filled with elementary kids again! They found somewhere else to play once I started using that "stinky paint".
I had the same problem, had a '64 plymouth sport fury in the garage for a long time, 1988 to 2007. Wife bought me $1200. in seat covers and foam to light a fire under me but it did'nt work. Ithink now it was not going to be nicest or the fastest and I was so anal about perfection that I would rather have nothing than less than I wanted. So I sold it. I worked 30 years building Case dozers and combines you have to see sub assemblies, If I had done a bolt an evening I would be on my 3rd set of tires by now.
Well there ya go then, when they come around spray somethin' "smelly" around and they will leave lol.
When I want to get a project done.. I make it a point to do 1 thing a day on it. No matter how little it may seem..after a while it will all start coming together.
Nobodys hero is exactly right ! ! Every Day .....go out there and do something......dont have to set any records.......just do something. Some days you may only be able to devote 10 minutes. the key is EVERY DAY ! ! Now GO ! ! !
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