Projects LONG TERM BUILDS ===== Reason you finished it

Time, money, motivation is there one common reason why you finished a 10-20+ year old build? Not that you have to finish them, just wondering what pushed you to finally finish a project? Bob

 

To me it seems that none of those line up for me at the same time......but when they do, it's game on.

 

Never quit. Repeat. The project is a constant in my life. Hard to remember not having it after 30+ years.

 

I am never done. Tear down when racing ,show season ends , improve and repair stuff over the winter, start tuning and fine tuning in early spring, race, show, repeat all over again.

 

It's like a board game, where you move three squares up, then land on "divorce" and have to go back to the beginning, then advance five, land on "remodel house" and move back two, then get a better job and advance ten, then become a parent and lose a turn, then lose a job and go back two, then a better job and advance 14, then build a house and go back 11, then put the kid through college and lose two turns, then get back in the game and retire and advance only half squares at a time. That took 43 years and you're still $6,000 from having it on the road. Rinse, repeat.

 

I'm still in a long term build, Bought a 30 Sport Coupe body at an auction in 1999, mocked it together with an 8BA flathead a couple of years later. Shoved it aside and built my 30 Pickup with a B motor, worked on the Sport Coupe a little and helped my son with his 88 Mustang bracket racer. Worked on it a little more and found a 50 Ford tudor so back in the corner again. Sold the 50 and bought a 60 T-Bird and built a mild custom, piled T-Bird parts on it. Helped my son with his 67 Mustang GT. Sold the Thunderbird and on the Sport Coupe again, chassis is done and the body work is almost done. Plan is to have it on the street next summer, only been 18 years so far. Got to finish it this time, taking up two stalls now.

 

Ain't that the truth! Except in my case throw in a second divorce at age 61... Oh well; at least I'm back working on the '40 that I've owned since 1970. I finally decided that I needed to get back on it so that I can enjoy driving it while I still have a semblance of health and sanity...

 

I don't know what you mean, "...finish it..." What's that? I know why I HAVEN'T finished it after 12 years, I keep buying and finishing other things!

 

Lack of funds, lack of time, no place to work where one can actually feel like he accomplished something rather than get stuff out and put it back away. Then throw in changing direction too many times over the years on the build.
I've still got to get a real workshop built so I have a place to work and make progress. The plan is pretty solid right now and most things won't change again so that helps. Retirement comes in the next few months so that will hopefully give the time to dedicate to projects. I've been buying parts and stashing the all along so that shouldn't be a huge issue except for a few pieces.

One thing that slows things down a bit but I am not complaining is that I have a hell of a lot of interests outside of hot rods and customs. I sail my sailboat when I can which has only been a couple of times a year but I enjoy it. I'm into shooting air rifles lately. I take a hell of a lot of photos outside of the car show photos guys see here. That to the point that I hope some of the sunrise and sunset work generates a bit of cash flow in the next couple of years. Haven't had the golf clubs out for over ten years though.

 

My dad moved from California to Iowa in the late 1940s. He always wanted to build a 1936 Ford Cabriolet custom like he saw when he was living in Sacramento (Harry Westergard and the Barris Brothers). He bought his dream car in 1957 and started working on it. Being a one income family, having four kids and not making a lot of money kept this project dragging out for decades. He was always swapping his carpet laying labor for labor & parts and searching swap meets for cheap used parts. He finally got old, got broke and decided he would never finish it unless he spent some real money on it which he did not have. He pretty much gave up on it in the 1990s.
My brother and I took the car out of storage in 2005, we got it on the road for him. I am still working on it and refining it but at least it is a driving car now. In the last 12 years that I took the car project over from him, I have easily spent seven times as much money on it as he spent total on it in the 30+ years that he was building it. His poor health does not allow him to drive it but I take him for rides in it.
But I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. In the last 2 years I finally started working on my 1948 Austin A40 Dorset that I bought back in 1976!

 

You can tell the grandkids about taking the old man for rides in the old car...
with any luck they may do that for you !

 

Who said I finished them?

 

I , for once,have the money to buy all the parts and pieces but just don't have the motivation to get started. I keep hoping someday i'll get a itch again.

 

I had my T roadster running, driving, licensed and insured about 12 years ago, but never blew it apart for paint and didn't have an interior in it. Then I got distracted into motorcycles (20+ different bikes in about 3 years), then into airplanes and built an ultralight airplane which was a 2 year project. I still have 4 bikes, still own my ultralight and have 1/2 ownership in another plane, but finally decided the T had been on the car lift long enough. I took care of various things I wanted to change, did maintenance that had become necessary because of non-use, and finally installed an interior. I decided since I've come this far that I might as well blow it apart and paint it. Goal is to have it painted and all back together by late February or early March. As soon as I get it back together I can then get on with the '31 Coupe that I bought a couple months ago. I consider that my motivation....probably what I've needed all along.......like a carrot on a string in front of a horse

Lynn

 

I was taking my time getting my roadster done, and getting distracted by easier to finish side projects. One day a friend simply said "when are you going to finish that fuckin' roadster?"
I didn't give it much thought, just thinking it was just another person trying to get some progress going. Not long after, he got ill & passed away, far too young. I just kept thinking of his words, then I got ill. Fairly serious, but I got lucky and recovered. Worked every spare moment, and got it finished. (Well, registered at least, these things are never finished, are they?) RIP Dean, thanks for the "kick in the arse".

 

The best thing to do is to take a step back and imagine how it'll look and sound when all that hard work is finally done... Makes everything worth it!

 

I finish long term projects because she who must not be named would relieve me of my cubicles if I didn't!

 

Finish?

 

I dont think I have ever "finished" a project,but I have rendered a bunch of them driveable.

 

Interesting stands you have there. What exactly are they?

Cool project BTW!

 

Thanks. They're disk blades, and some pipe. Work great. We farmed, so I had an ample supply of worn disk blades, they've bee holding up projects for almost 40 years now. Handy.

 

My old Deuce sedan beater is a prime example of don't start driving it as soon as it will stop & go,after closing in on 20 plus years the odds are it will never get finished.

That is why when I was building the Ranch Wagon I was determined to wait until the car was painted & upholstered before I ever drove it. HRP

 

I'd change jack stands if those have been the reason a project was held up for 40 years.

 

I keep trying to put all the parts for each project in the same area, might even make a list of what goes were.
Bob

 

I keep buying parts for it plus I'm waiting on someone else to pull their finger out to help with a few things. All these little things are so time consuming. Now I've retirement pending I can hopefully expedite the process.

 

I just started putting this back together again. there sure is a lot of nuts and bolts to these old cars. my motivation is some day I could be moving from my shop with a lift to who knows what... maybe the dirt at my brothers house next to the goat pen.

 

I worked on my 57 Suburban pretty seriously for the first few months I had it (1998), then off and on for 15 years. I finally decided I needed to get rid of all the long term projects that were stuck, so I sold off my 61 belair, and finished the crash repair on my 59 (which I have no intention of selling), then started piecing the Suburban together, so I could take some pics of it and put it up for sale. Looking at it, I knew I had to finish it. So I spent a month working on it every day and night, and got it done.

I don't know how motivation works. But once I have it, I can work my ass off until it's done.

 

I hear ya Jim! HRP

 

If I start something I have to finish it! I know I need a shrink but the only one I went to was crazy!