As above, make a point to do at least one small thing a day, even if its cleaning the workbench. I read several years ago an answer that Alexander Calder, the sculptor, had to a question as to how he was so prolific. He said he made it a point every day to go into his studio and do something whether or not he was inspired at the time. His point was being in his studio then inspired him. My garage is my "studio", I suspect I am not alone in this feeling.
Haney, hit it on the nail. As long as you can do something every day it will get done. If the funds are low. Just do what you can with what you have till you can move on further. Now I need to get back on the 29 also as I have been off the car since last year due to lack of funds.But I have plenty of sheetmetal and srtucture to build on the inside.
I hate to say it, but why do people tear shit all apart then let it sit and die. This is a prime example. 10 years, and your still not motivated? It's over. If you have to ask on a public forum how to get motivated to finish your project, then it needs to go. I'm sorry, but that's the truth. The drive to see it running and driving should be enough to get you out there to do SOMETHING! Not having enough time is a very poor excuse. My job keeps me on the road for a good portion of the year yet I still FIND time to hit the garage and do shit (I have 2 kids and a wife). Start burning the candle at both ends. Spend time with the family unit, then hit the garage until midnight or so. You will be red eyed and tired, but you'll feel better about your project. I wish you the best of luck but I fear that you are past the point of no return....
You have to motivate your self. Think of it this way If you see your self driving it than you will. That all that any one can do. As for me MY DAD STAYS on My ASS as well as my Son they keep me on track. Like others have said just take small steps and you'll get their.
Are you in over your head? Many projects turn into someone elses projects. Everyone's been there. It happened w/ me & my 55 Chevy. Went to a NHRA Twilight cruise in 2001 & my car was picked for the Parade of Champions by guest judge Lynwood Dupuy before the NHRA Finals at Pomona. 4 cars were picked each month out of literally hundreds- 24 total. It was 6 months off & there were a few things I wanted to do to the car. Should have waited..... A rust bubble turned into a fist sized hole filled w/ steel wool. Removed paint on that side of car & found a boatload of bondo hiding a gouge down side of car from headlight to tailight. What started as a scuff & spray on a door turned into "While we have it this far, we should do this...." Turned into a nut & bolt frame off build. After I missed the parade of champions (what a dick I was!), I took a month break from the car. Basically I turned a 30k nice cruiser into a shell worth maybe 4k? Wife thought I had flipped out! Should have bought a shell & built that! After that month of soul searching- I got the fire going & hit the car hard. Start to finish full frame-off build in 16 months- including the month off! Would I do it again? Fuck no! Almost killed me & nearly cost me my marriage- and my sanity. Too old for Overhaulin' builds.
I,ve found a picture of a rod as close as dammit to where I want to be,lookin,at it inspires me to press on,I havn,t set a completion date,though.
Pir8Darryl is right, invited four good friends (guys that were good) over oneSat and transformed a '58 Ford truck with a worn out 292 and T-98 intoa quick truck via 425 Olds and variable pitch 400, DROVE it out of the garage by 8PM. Provided beer, food, band-aids and music. If you can't swing that the suggestion about one part at a time is next best, do a door, then the hood.....
Motivation isn't the key, it is the level of sickness. When you go to turn out the lights in the shop and think of something else that you could try and go back and have at it. You're there. When you listen to somebody else's critisisms and instead of getting defensive you try to see it from their perspective. You're there. When you're buddies say they saw your shop lights on at eleven oclock on tuesday night, you're there. Motovation is what you need to run a 4 minute mile, building a hot rod is something you do without concious thought, you just do it. You don't make a plan because plans just go right to shit whenever you loosen the first bolt. Look at Buckeyes' avatar, that little piece of bronze was given to him because he stayed up and did 'one more thing' before calling it quits, his garage light was on many nights and there wasn't concious motovation , he just did it. You don't think about it.
EXACTLY ! ! ! I have witnessed too many cars torn down to the rib cage ! ! the doofs will even take the window regs outa the doors and pull the dashboards out. They will then sit apart until the guy dies. I recently purchased a 1966 olds 442 this way, gave it to hamber coldwar for helping me on my coupe. NOW IT SITS OVER THERE IN PIECES ! my coupe build was all coldwar had left in him i guess ? ? GET HOT COLDWAR ! ! !
[ orange52 ]; Each of us, whether we recognize it or not, are responsible for our own attitudes and motivation. Successful hobby is a personal thing, first. Interaction with others about my hobby is very important but on a different level. Your comment about what family and friends think tells me something. That might be your clue. When I feel that external influence is negative, I jump in my shell, shut the negative out, and concentrate on what Old #ONE wants, by going out to play with my hobby. It just might be possible, but you haven't recognized it, that you are enjoying the car as it is, with all of it's possibilities? If you never 'finish' it, but get some enjoyment from having it and planning it, that's okay. I know a guy that has one stashed away in an outbuilding. It's been in the planning stage for 20 years. Only selfish people knock his motivatin for doing(or not) nothing(anything). In his mind he's doing what he wants. To him it is a personal thing. When somebody questions what you are doing, (including friends and family) or why you are doing it, and you feel negative about their input, next time ignore them. There's a tool/rule I used in management, it applies to personal life also. PUT GOOD NEWS IN WRITING, BAD NEWS IS TO BE ONLY A MEMORY.
Then do the frame first . Get all the crud off , check to make sure the frame is good and paint it ! Now keep going ONE piece at a time and one day you will be driving the truck down the road and wondering how you did it !
First thing, you MUST like to work on old cars. I set goals; "I want to have this fender in primer today", then a more lengthy goal; "I want to have all four fenders in primer this week", then a longer term goal; "I want to have these fenders primed, blocked, and bolted back on this month". Realistic goals. If you run into a snag or get "sidetracked", no big deal. Very satisfying when you can go into the house knowing something has been accomplished. NEVER look at the whole project. You'll sell before you finish. Break it down into smaller "projects". Ask everyone to give you a coupla hours of uninterrupted "man cave" time a day.
Try taking photos every week and to show them to someone who might say " Well let's see what you got done ".
it is all about DETERMINATION! it took me about 18 years to finish my first project. i was not about to let someone say to me, "you sold it because you gave up"? work on it a little at a time. in my defense though, kinda hard to work in the garage in the summer here with no air conditioning.
Fundamental disconnect between you and family and friends. You need to demonstrate how much you want that project by doing labor and clearly communicating why. Some people will not support what you're doing. You're going to see them differently from then on. Other people will step up to fill the gaps and suprise you with generosity of time & dedication to your goal. They've just been waiting to see some dedication outta you, nobody wants to help with a loser project that never gets finished. IMO you're fighting the biggest roadblock of all right now because you don't want to confront the people issues. The only thing that will build momentum is sweat and communication and waiting for the rest to fall in line. No more excuses about facilities or tools or time or money. There's always something you can do on today's budget with a sh*tload of labor. Good luck
It's pretty hard to add anything to this thread that hasn't said. Lots of great advice from different points of view. I went through the same thing with my 66 Shelby. Bought it for 3400.00 in 78. Nice car. a 2 footer. Drove it for 5 years and then decided to do a "ground up" resto in 1982. I was going to do a 100point perfect GT 350H. Disassembled the car over 5 years. I started to realize I was in over my head. Went through a divorce, moved to another state. Trailored the whole mess from Kansas to Minnestota in 1984. Got married, had a couple of kids, life goes on, car's still sitting. I'm getting depressed and discouraged and kicking my self in the ass. 2001 Car's sitting in my garage on a dolly I made at work so I can move it. My younger brother gets involved. He's more driven and motivated than I am. Things start to happen. We get the unibody dipped, find someone to do the body work and reassembly. By 2003 the car is done. The Car is beautiful. Not 100% but close. We show it thru 2004. Win a few trophies. Sell it and split the money. It took 20 years, it was worth it but I wouldn't do it lie that again. Lessons learned. My burning desire besides getting the Mustang done was to get a street rod. Buy finished street rod. I just want to drive it. I had to admit to myself I was over my head. Didn't have all the skills, time or money to finish the car and needed help. With my brother's involvement, it got done. Like Clint Eastwood said "A man's gotta know his limitations". We're all different and approach things differently. Perfectionism, the blues, family, personal issues, time, money. All this stuff can get in the way. Just seeing reality is a big step. Shit or get off the pot. Now want to build a RPU from scratch. I have more expereince and life knowlage. The people, knowlege and projects I see on the HAMB are highly motivating. Just listen to the good advice here and take some of it with a grain of salt.
I lived in the west valley for 24 years and I built several cars in the scorching summer heat. My last race car I had to build in my driveway because my garage full of stuff and another car. I would get off work at 10p and get home around 11p. I would get up at dawn and work until noon or so. Cool off a few hours, and head to work. I did this for about 5 solid months and finished my car 3 days before the points meet at Firebird. There were several days that I didn't want to work out in that shit, but I wanted that grade point for the Winternationals the next year. The hot, the cold, the this, the that...if you want it bad enough you will find a way to get it done. Adapt, improvise and overcome. I can't tell you how many times I have worked in my old Phoenix garage sweating like a melting snow man. I saw the light at the end of the tunnel and it was NOT the train. I wanted to go faster and no one was gonna do it for me. At least not for free. Think about what could have been done already with all the time you spent making excuses. I think you have already defeated yourself though.
I too had a stalled project. Sold it bought an old truck that drives 'now building fixxing and up dating all the while driving it. I love it and wont sell it. Get over what your buds say, buy a driver and enjoy. Lifes too short. Good luck
Don't presume you ever have to finish it. (Nothing I hate worse than the question, "When ya gonna finish it?" My answer, "Maybe never. My hobby is building cars, not driving cars.") Do it at your own pace and only when you want to work on it. Nothing burns you out quicker than working on your project when you don't want to work on it. If you do that it soon turns into real WORK. Read the HAMB to get your motivation to work on it.
My car has been an on and off for 9 year project (was a running driving car when I bought it). first few years I chopped it and drove it then 4 of the years I did not touch it as I remodeled my house room by room, then built a Teardrop trailer from scratch (frame and all). About two years ago I jumped back into the car heavy, started collected more parts and started the 2 door conversion. Motivation is hard when you own a business and have a "Honey do-lists" so long you wonder if anything will get checked off! I try to get an hour a night in and a full weekend day. Like most have said already, if get out in the shop even for a lil part of the project, it will make you want to keep going. I hope to drive the car this year ( I say that every year tho, so... sigh)
Also a good motivater is to make the interior bearable to the more tender gender so you can get funky in it from time to time.
This is what I do too, I have 6 projects going and driving 2 others all are in different stages of being done. I get pissed or bored or stuck on a part(money or locating ) I move to the next one and do a little, it really keeps you from getting frustrated ....nothing like cranking up the tunes and digging in. Sometimes even if I just go down and stare at them and do a little brain storming, its still progress..........
I recently received a PM asking if I'm making any progress. I'm happy to say that I am making progress. I have cab mounts ready to be installed and I've dismantled my S10 donor down to the frame. I have the next two days off so I'm hoping to get the cab mounted this week and new tires on the truck. Thanks for the info, the advice, and even for the smart ass comments.
1.. Go finish some aspect of the project... always a good motivator. 2. Plan, design, or make something trick / original that will set your project appart from all the other clones out there (be they street rods / traditional rods / customs, etc.). So many look the same as the others. 3. Do something you are pretty sure will make it faster, or corner, or brake better when finished! Gary Gary
I get a little done each day and am happy with the progress. Just don't tell yourself I'll weld the frame today and mount the driveline tomorrow or you get discouraged with your perceived lack of progress. I'm mounting seats and trans today. Bye.
The HAMB and the occasional "how's it coming long" pm or post from guys like Mercman, K13, Bad Bob and the 10 or so guys who routinely ask keep me going. Right now I'm waiting for my body shop person to finish painting my car. The last time I got out of old cars it because of body work, I hated waiting and I hated excuses. So of course this time I bought a car that had 50 years of body work and to top it off it's customized. But a 49-51 Merc is one of my top 5 dream cars of all time. Once I get it back, I won't let it sit a day I will drive it even if the interior and other stuff is not done.
Find a kid in the neighborhood that wants an old truck to work on, give it to him and get on with your life with what interests you.
Don't let them come back... tell their parents what your doing could be dangerous, they won't be allowed back... Let everybody know this is important to you, you have 10 years of commitment already invested, let them know you are serious about getting the truck on the road. Nobody cares what you plan to do, only what you've done. Also, to your family and friends, you have a POS project... Just think about the day when you can be the complete asshole and pull up in front of their houses, knock on their front door and point at your truck in their driveway... It's F-U-n fun! I've been doing it since March after having a POS project that people are tired of me talking about for 13 years... The most common response is "I never thought you'd get it done!" I've actually been the smartass who said "Yeah, well thanks for that vote of confidence after the fact." ...People who actually like you will be proud of you. It doesn't have to be perfect... Just safe. It just has to stop and steer and go... Nice can come later. Did it need to have the wheels painted to stop or steer and go? Do something that does make it go stop or steer or go... Once in a while, reward yourself with a "this is gonna look cool" project and paint the wheels, or the dash, or cut a coil out of a spring... etc. Here's the outline of your to do list: 1) STOP 2) STEER 3) GO Now GO OUT THERE!!!!
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