How many of you are perfectionists when building a car?

I call myself a 90% person. It's my opinion that the final 10% takes as long (or longer) than the 1st 90% of the build....and is the 1st to go away almost immediately after the car's put to use. Making it a waste of time for me. I'd rather be driving, than driving myself nuts making sure all the bolt heads are facing the same way.

 

when I was in high school , I was in auto mechanic's class , and I was taught by a great man , his name was Eddie Crews , I was riding a '65 SS Malibu , black primered , decent car , and I was talking about "giving it a quickie cheap paintjob" he answered in words that I will never forget I guess...."Let me tell you something son , I doesn't cost any more to do a good paint job than it does a shotty paint job , all it takes is a little more effort and time." I think about those words every time I am working on the body of a car in my garage...

 

Life is too short to be a perfectionist.I would rather spend that extra time cruisin.Dont get me wrong I do envy the folks that have the time and patience to follow to perfection but it aint me.MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE

 

I'm with ya Groucho ...

Someday I'd love to do one 100%, but life gets in the way. So, I'll continue to do my 90%'s and enjoy the hell out of them!

 

Mabye I misled you guys , I dont do 100% , but , I do the best I can , :the bodyman's motto: "Work hard , do your best , let primer and putty do the rest...."

 

i would say im probably a 90% as well. sometimes i wish i could be like my machine-ist friend and nitpick but sometimes you have to get shit done

 

Why do you think my life is filled with half finished projects, cars, house,landscaping? Sure there is the lack of money part of the deal, but I also have a perfectly clear vision of what I want the end result to be, if it isn't getting there I stop and start on something else. Bill Oexle was the guy that tought me the basics of auto restoration back when I was doing a '27 T in High School. I'd painted the headlight buckets and thought they looked real good and showed them to him. He wanted to know why I didn't paint the insides. I told him the reflector and lense would cover it. "Somebody will see it some day when they take it apart, and judge your work at that level of finish." was his reply. To this day I think of Bill when someone says "Nobody is ever going to see that." This train of thought only works on personal rides, you could not make a living building for others cars to perfection.

 

I know a guy exactly like the machinist freind you have.With me working 6 days a week at my job and family time i dont care about perfection on anything anymore.Im with you ,i just get it done as best i can with what i have to work with on my budget .I'd rather have something on the road that i can enjoy now than wait 10 years for perfection .My shit may have some flaws in appearence and fit but not function or safety ...

 

For me it has to be 100% or nothing.I am a perfectionist i suppose.I wont roll out unless its perfect for my tastes,because as soon as you do some dumb ass will pull you up on the thing you let go and give you a hard time about it.I know to ignore them but i would rather have it done then be arrested for beating the shit out of a dumb ass.

 

"I know to ignore them but i would rather have it done then be arrested for beating the shit out of a dumb ass. ".......Damn , coffee hurts when spewed thru your nostrils.....<!-- / message --><!-- sig -->

 

There are certain things/areas on a car that I'll do once --twice--no, maybe three times until I get it correct (at least in my eyes) and safe for the highway...the rest of it will be 90-95%...I feel the majority of the car I have to be 'comfortable' enuff with in order to "show" it off. Safety is always the 100% solution.

Want to see my 5 1/2 year build, from start to finish, go here:
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=329070&highlight=the+best+55+caddy+build

R-

 

my dad was a perfectionist,just the way it was and the way it is.Igot tired of doin shit over.I have no regrets,do it right the first time and be done with it.I don't have the time to do shit over

 

A true perfectionist never finishes a car.Its never going to be good enough for them.Thats why he will have several unfinished projects.He gets frustrated on the progress and just starts over on another or redoes the one he is working on. I have had one for over 10 years just needing minor corrections to be drivable but I keep starting new stuff.The lasted project is just going to have to go together as good as it will,I am tired of never finishing things. I don't have the money or the ability to truly build one the way I want it to come out.

 

It is amazing that everyone claims 90%. What a joke! Get real.

 

I don't really care much for "perfection". Perfection leaves no room for character.

 

"perfection is the enemy of good"

 

perfection is character

 

Well put 56Don. I think that's a problem for a lot of guys. They are always looking to make something that is already done by 99% of the other guys standards just a bit better or slicker.

In the past I had always been the guy thrashing 18 hours a day for three or four weeks to get the project back up and running so I could drive it to some major event and then I would end up driving it for the next year without attending to the little corners I cut and didn't finish in that thrash. This time I'd like to have everything done and done as right as I can get them before I take it out and drive the wheels off it. That means spending that extra three hours sanding that fender or the extra few hours getting each door gap perfect or as close as I can get them. And then a few hundred hours of block sanding to get it as close to right as I can before I load it up an take it down to a friend who will put the paint on it, I hope I get a buddy deal but I'll gladly pay his price to have it right.

Perfectionist, maybe but It's more that this time around I want it right and to not have those unfinished or unattended to items be there as they were in the past. And I don't really want to be sitting in a cell with Hombres Ruin saying" boy howdy, we sure gave those mouthbreathers a licking for badmouthing our cars" either.

 

finish your car (or anything else) to your satisfaction - for some thats 90% some more some less. You will be much happier when you quit trying to do things to please others or keep up with the cool kids.

 

I used to be a lot more "perfectionistic" than I am now. About 15 years ago I re-discovered the concept that a car was made to be driven. I have since found that from behind the wheel at 60mph any hot rods is fun. Now I really don't care about all that perfect-type stuff. I appreciate the skill and craftsmanship that go into building a really nice car but it's not for me anymore. Beaters are better IMHO.

 

mechanical yes, cosmetics, eh, not as much. especially if your gonna drive the wheels off it!

 

In my humble opinion i think cars are way "over-done" today. yea they are nice to look at {standing still} but hasnt the pure form of Hot Rodding been lost along the way. My coupe is a 10 footer, it would never win at a show, but it has a certan appeal to me,and the more i drive the better it gets{and i drive it a lot} Dont take me wrong, cars should be built safe,but the attention spent to get every screw turned the same way, every weld seamles and perfect. ect ect ect to takes away from the appeal of a Hot Rod.I ve often said when looking at a "showpiece" ...its way to nice for me,meaning i couldnt help but drive the shit out of it and not worry about a few scarpes and dings.

 

lol fuck that, theres just some things that require a #2 and some that require a #8 or #10 level of effort.

what i mean by that is you'll never catch me sanding the paint down on my frame to touch up a scratch or nick or anything, im just going to paint the damn thing. the calibre of truck im building doesn't really necessitate doing that, also it would not be smart to manage my time like that, my truck would never get done.

on the other hand, when i was doing rust repair, i'd spend hours welding, then letting it cool, then grinding when the patch was complete and checking for stuff i missed then repeating... (you get the idea)

me myself, am certainly not stupid enough to compromise safety or structural build quality. But the bottom line is im building a nice reliable truck i can drive everyday, throw my tools in, drive in the snow...etc you get the idea. maybe later on i'll build one that i need to wax the undercarrige on (or maybe not) but for now i like my hot rods like i like my women; black and used, wait, i mean reliable and low maintenance

 

Perfection is un-obtainable.
We as humans fall short of perfection.
I get as close as I can to safe, reliabllity in my cars.
In our community lives a fellow who makes his living building cars and builds them for himself as well.
He tries to build succesive car with fewer mistakes than he has made in former vehicles.
Bob is very quality concinetious.
He in his best effort has fallen short of perfection.
He drives his cars and has very many miles on all of them. He has no trouble, but after each trip, goes through each vehicle amending what he was not satisfied with.
My lesson from him is get as close as you can and enjoy what you have.

 

I think perfection eludes all of us. I remember a few years back at the Portland Roadster show walking around the freshly done Corvett Nomad built by SAR. The word was it was over the top. I walked around it and thought, for that kind of $$$ you don't get weather strip around the door glass? If we do the best "we" can and are happy with the results isn't that perfection?
I just did a cab corner on my F-100. I started with a prefab corner. It was about as correct in shape to the cab as an egg is to a football. I took the time to re work it and make it as correct as possible. After welding it in I spent 2 more evenings getting it finished. My best friend says that was all a waste of time. He could have done the job in one day and once paint is on it nobody would know. In his eyes that would be perfect.
So what does Perfect really mean? I totally understand painting the inside of the headlight bucket. Yes I cleaned the rust on the inside of the Cab prior to welding in the patch. It will also get painted. I really don't think I'm a perfectionst, I just like to do nice work. I often wish it didn't take so long though.
The Wizzard

 

lol o/t but i did the spring hangers on my f-1 the exact same as you haha

 

I build my cars to be perfect in every way.

That is perfect for me.

There are thousands fo perfect hot rods around.

You can see them at all of the big shows and in Street Rodder and similar magazines.

Out of those thousands of perfect rods there are maybe a few hundred that you will ever see driving on the highway.

And most of them are running some kind of special reliability run or something.

My perfect cars will be driven regularly.

Their perfect cars won't be perfect after the 3000 miles and will have to be refurbished by their owners or probably more likly by some Shop.

My Perfect cars will be more perfect after 3000 miles because they will have any bugs worked out of them and by then they will have a few scratches and some road grime on them and I won't have to worry any more about the finish.

Kind of like my Pickup truck, after the first small dent I just said after all it's just a work truck.

Dick

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Hey Ratroddude, Your Auto Mechanic's teacher, Eddie Crews gave you some great words of wisdom and I especially liked your reference to the bodyman's motto. Here's another one: "There's No Economics In Cheapin' It Out". All my life I've been refered to as "Anal-Retentive" because I always strive for 100% in what I do. But here's something I've learned along the way, don't let the details get in the way of a good job. Do the best YOU can, forget about what others think ... It's YOUR car!
Go pull the header plugs & have some fun!!!

 

I'm more of a "diesel fitter"..... I hang the door, check the lines and say...."ya, diesel fitter"....... LOL..... Merry Christmas.