I am at a point that I can not get myself to do anything on my project! I think there are a few reasons, first it's a car that I really dont wan'tand feel that even if I chop and lower it as I planned it still won't be the car I want. The second reason is now that it is summer I spend 10 times more time on the seat of one of my bikes than I do in the garage. How do you guys keep your motovation on your projects and have you ever built a car when you knew it wasn't the car you really wanted? Maybee I'm just a bitch and need to get back out to the garage!
You gota have the love first, or the project is doomed. Admitting that you don't love it is the first step toward recovery. Do more ridin and rethink what you want/need for a four wheel ride, and then send the one you don't down the road.
take a break, its all you can do, ill go hard at it for a month or two or three, then ill find my self not going into the garage for a week or two, or more then ill get fired back up on something. JEFF
change the way you are looking at the project. make it into something that will sell and move on to something you really want.
I have to agree. Plus get your project somewhere to where it is easy to work on, not all jammed in. I hate being in a tight area while building a car.
Yep...it's like a girl you're no longer interested in. She might be nice to look at, but if she sucks to be around...she's gotta go. You're never gonna change her.
Hey, Off it, ride your ass off this summer, and when the ice and snow return next winter, and you've got time to think, deside just what it is you really wanna build! Any project that you're not 100% on board from the gate, becomes a job, and not a passion! Always keep in mind, it's suppose to be fun, life is short! " Meanwhyle, back aboard The Tainted Pork "
Since you don't have any love for this vehicle, you could use it to learn with. That way if you make a mistake, no big deal. Or just post it for trade and see if someone offers you something a little more interesting to you.
I never intended to do it to sell but I have to admit it needs to go to a new home. I built a new garage to work in last winter and it was the first thing I moved into it after my tools but since its not the car I want I don't beleive I will get it to the driving stage.
My bike projects get finished before my cars/trucks. I get my motivation from some old dudes I know (in their 70's I am 47). Those guys kick ass building things. As the 'kid' it took them awhile to give me tips even tho I have known them all my life! I have started several projects that were not what I really wanted. The only cars I ever 'finish' are race cars. Everything else is just a work-in-progress. I like to ride in my junk so I try to get it running,driving,stopping THEN work on the particulars. YOU AIN'T ALONE. But I am sitting under the a/c instead of workin now! we got 103 deg today! woo hoo! peace
I loose my mojo a lot. There hasn't been very many cars I've been motivated on enough to keep working on. I found though usually when they are able to be moved under their own power I am more motivated to work on them.
You answered your own question,you don"t like so put it up for sale or trade it for something you really want,what is it anyway? It is time to get on the bike and go.
Ok the first thing you need to do is buy yourself a case of your favorite beer and put it in your garage and say to yourself, "ok everytime I do something productive to this pile I get a beer!" And you can't have a beer unless you do something to it!
I believe that my time and effort are the most valuable things I have when it comes to a project. I started out building a custom '56 Ford F-100 a few years ago. Once I realized the amount of work it was going to take to get it how I wanted it, I decided that the car I really wanted ('36 Ford 3 window) was what I should spend my time and money on. The truck went outside and have been working what I want ever since. Build what gets you excited! Period!!!
I say get rid of the car that you don't have a feeling for. I built a car once that everybody liked but me. I never felt the connection to it or whatever it is. I made it through the build largely because I farmed out the bodywork and paint that I had zero interest in but even when it was finished and I was driving it I didn't like it. It even felt weird getting compliments since they didn't mean anything to me. I tried to be graceful but felt phoney even saying thanks. I felt relieved when I sold it.
I agree with Jeff......give it a break before doing anything rash. If after several months you still don't wanna mess with it, sell it and get something that makes your blood BOIL!.. This coming from a guy who screwed around with several projects before actually going to the top of my bucket-list and scoring a 34 ford coupe...one piece at a time.
You bought it because you wanted it. Now you don't? What do you want? Maybe you want to build bikes.... Don't sell the car unless you know what you want. Get it rolling. Maybe you'll want it. If not, and if you know what you want, then sell it.
In my long run of almost 27 years (this is a joke) I have had somewhere near 30 cars and never more than 3 at a time. I change my mind all the time. Last week I traded my 64 F-100 that had been painted for 2 weeks for a 67 DeVille. Why? I have no idea. I will probably trade off the caddy down the road, but it is fun right now. Ride the bike a while, and go on a few 55 mph cruises up and down old two lanes you have not been on. I usually find something that inspires me. You will find something.
I'm a little surprised no one has asked what the vehicle is. Let me be the first to ask ... what is it? Oh, if it happens to be a '37-'42 Willys coupe.....(sorry, drifted off into dreamland there for a minute)... The car I have isn't my dream car ... I had it on the road for 2 years. Took it off the road for 5 and am now working on it again. Been running into trouble every step of the way. I keep telling my wife "this is supposed to be fun, and it don't feel like fun to me right now". I am going to finish this thing, and make it my daily driver for EVERYTHING when there's no salt on the roads from the winter. Sometimes the going gets tough. If you can't justify finishing it, or don't know what good it will be to you when it is finished, then maybe it is time to let it go.
I feel your pain. I'm probibly about 15 to 20 hours in the shop to completely finish my latest ride. I can't get my ass out there to get it done. The car is turning out great and getting rave reviews - BUT... it's just not doing it for me. I'm enjoying driving it, but cannot get motivated at all to finish it. So now what???
Right there with you, if it aint what you love it like you say, might be time to move on to something else. It's can be tough enough when you are really into a car (North Eastern winters can be a bit testing). Still, if you can get out for a blast on two wheels you'll have the whole summer to chew it over.
I have had a lot of project cars that I have decided to sell because either I had more than I could get done before a major move or because the family came first. Red Ram
gotta have love or you just waste all your time and money and possibly ruin the car.like everyone else said off it and do some ridding to clear your head. G/L
my experience has been that when I worked on something I didn't really like I counted every hour and every dollar I spent on it; the longer it went on the more I resented the hours and dollars lost. The projects I like are timeless. My wife will come out to the shop and ask me if I'm ever coming to bed because I don't realize I've been out there since after dinner and it's now midnight. I also don't itemize every dollar spent... it just doesn't matter. An earlier poster said it very well when he said that if you don't like it it becomes a job not a passion. Sell it... it will be exactly what someone else has been looking for and find the one you want.
I have the same thing to a certain extent. I didn't really *love* the car when I bought it...and it's my first build. It's what was available, which was no way to go....paid too much for a car that's too much work. The car has grown on me; however, and I'm finishing it because I don't like things left undone...even if I'm not ultra enthused about it. Even looking around, I have no idea what type of car I would REALLY love to do. A model T? an A? 56 Olds? mid 50's F1? 37 Ford coupe? Who the hell knows...I feel mentally retarded because I don't have a "favorite car" or "dream build".....makes me think I'm broken or something. Since I don't want to admit defeat, I'm kinda looking at it as an arranged marriage....perhaps I could grow to love it in time
ok l'll bite. what have you done to the car? what model, make and year? what were the plans for it when you started? how many months/years do you have spent working on it? for power what motor and tranny are you going to use? Later
A few of you asked what the car is and I got busy so I will answer you today. The car is a 55 Olds 88 4door post. When I bought it the plan was to do a 4dr chop, lower it, shave the handles, emblems, side trim, and put a 53 buick grill in it. After a year I decided to do a 4dr to 2dr conversion and quickly came to a halt on that because I cannot find a donor with good doors and rear quarters. It was to be powered by the 324 that is in it. The 4 dr chop still is something that gets me thinking but I think I have a form or writers block and just can't decide what to do! Riding does clear my mind, so maybee after the sumer is over I will look at it in a different light.