Has Anybody Else Lost Interest In Their Projects?

I like building them more than driving them. In my garage, I'm happy to tinker around, on the road..I'm constantly watching everyone else pull out in front of me, and zoom up behind me....

 

I'm ready to start something soon.

 

I bought the cab for a 32 pickup about 15 years ago and seriously started collecting parts a few years later. Construction is going on 10 years now. It's spent a few years here and there in other shops waiting body work and paint but for the most part it got worked on in fits and starts in my own barn. Realizing I would not live long enough to ever get it up and running at my pace I got a professional friend to work with me one day a week. I get homework for the next week and that has been going on for about a year. We have missed a couple of deadlines so far and both are suffering a bit of burnout right now I think. It's about ready to yard drive and there is no reason it won't be out this coming spring, save for terminal burnout. Frankly, I'm surprisedI still have the interest I have after all these years.

 

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Hopefully this is a picture of my 32 pickup. Otherwise I am continuing to have brain farts

 

To help keep myself from losing interest, I focus on it as several smaller projects- fix the rust in the bottom of the car, fix the exterior rust, fit the new driveline, etc.

I even break these into even smaller sub-projects. I just finished up making center body braces, so the next sub project is installing the driver's side center brace and rear footwell.

With cold weather coming, it's going to be harder to stay productive, but I plan to keep plugging away- I want the bottom of the body rebuilt and be able to take it off the frame next year.

 

Only unfinished one I ever sold was my '40 Chev coupe. Put a big block Mopar wedge engine in it, and torqueflite, then drove it around town and at the drags back in '68. Went in the service and sold it before I left because I didn't want it sitting outside rusting away for 4 years. I've always regretted not keeping it ever since.

 

Here you go.

 

No,during the week I make a list of what I'm gonna do on the weekend.Most of the time I get it done,that just lights more of a fire.I fired my 292 six last weekend that stoked a hell of a fire.Just about got the chassis done,then the body work starts,that will be another story.

 

When I stated my T, I was on a mission. For all practical purposes, it's done. When a local cop crushed it, I knew I'd get her going again. I still find things to change or add. Even with little or no money, there's always SOMETHING that can be done. Even if it's just browsing in a catalog, something productive can be done to keep interest.

If I had another project, I'd still do it the same way. Like a man on a mission. I guess I'm just passionate about cars in general. Having dreamed of owning one for so long, it was easy to stay motivated.

It's sad to hear that, for whatever reason, you lost your passion. I hope you get it back. You also state you have more than one project going. Dude, that's a major part of your problem.

 

O/t car, built it 4 or 5 years ago, put a different engine and tranny in last winter, had issues, tore it down, got it running again, tranny not shifting properly, got a free th350 and now I need to be rebuild the th350 before I sell this thing. I'm completely over the car and know I'm gonna take a loss when it does sell.

 

63 impala hardtop bought when 16 now 31 and still have it frame off, bought a 50 and 51 international pickup got 1 done hope to bag and finish the other then back to the 63, but with a house, wife, and 2 kids who knows lol

 

never lose interest but sometimes i lose my motovation.....

 

I can't imagine not being out in the shop.. Been doing it so long I really can't imagine not wanting to be doing something..even small tasks.
Family calls the shop my apartment..
I work in an office..the shop is my therapy..
Today my son and I cleaned out two garages..then pushed a car from one..then uphill on my gravel driveway into the other as it will be our father son project..
I needed room for the 53 Stude coming to join the XK120..
I have built cars and sold them and regretted that..but needed the money.. Home..kids..life..business.
It took many years to finish the Jag..but I did bikes..and a couple of "money" cars..
Now..I think I would probably just die..if I wasn't out there at least three times a week..

What would I do..
Surf the 'net ?

Ah..too much of that just keeps me away from the shop..
So..less net..more cars..

 

Well said! If we lost interest we'd most likely sell the project.

 

i had a similar thing happen divorce/lost the kids/lost my house ,sister died from cancer,mothers now got cancer,,,and the only thing that has kept me sane has been going out into the shed and working on my projects,,,,even if i just sat there and drank a beer and looked at it,,,sometimes i felt lazy for not finishing it,,,sometimes id imagine suiciding the doors ,or some times id realise id fucked something up and redo it completley,,,,my enthusiam has been lost many a time,,,,but when you see a similar car on the street that you think "your own vision" is way better than,,,youll end up back there working on it,,,ive got too many projects at the moment but they are all basically rare cars so find it hard to part with any........he who dies with the most tin wins!!!!!
Guys rarely talk about feelings when things get tough,,,but if we meet a fellow gear head we will talk allday regardless of our problems,,,it is pure escapism,,,,sound like you need a dose,,,,,,

 

I started my coe last year,I bought a motor and transmission this month from a friend,He only delivered the trans.
He is a mechanic so I asked him to rebuild the engine for me.
If it wasnt for that transmission I would have sold the coe...
I was losing interest in it..
There is a lot of small things missing but I believe that when the engine and transmission are ready and installed,everything will snowball and Ill get it running.

 

I have always had mood swings and it drives me mad.....I spend years building a car and then instantly lose interest and sell it on.I used to think that the thrash in the closing weeks to get it finished ,followed by the feeling that I`ve got nothing to do now, was the problem...then I`d go out and start again and then think "what have I saddled myself with all this hard graft again for"....
Anyhow, I took a breather and decided to build a 32 roadster using as much original as possible..even at the outset I knew in the back of my mind that it would bug me using a Brooky, but I kept at it...one day I went into the garage and totted up in my head how much I had sitting there in cash and what would be needed to finish it....conclusion being that I could have bought a gennie if I had waited and saved the money up.So I broke it all up and sold it off , believe me, some people got the bargain of a lifetime on some of them parts..but they are only worth what people will pay I guess.

I thought about how to go about finding a gennie deuce roadster and after finally locating it and agreeing price etc, I bank transfered my life savings across the Atlantic to a total stranger via two banks(his local small town bank did not recieve overseas transactions, so it went through a big bank in New York )and waited to here that it had found his account.As it happened, he was a sound bloke and we had a good working relationship throughout.The car was picked up and shipped, and delivered to my door....great the car I ALWAYS WANTED, had arrived and in superb condition.The euphoria lasted a couple of months and I started doing bits to it, but found that it was just too nice to molest, I felt guilty after it had survived all these years c/w original motor.So it sat in the garage and my interest waned until i sold it.

I`m trying to go cold turkey at the moment as I have the money sat in the bank gaining crumbpence in interest and my itch to hunt is still bugging me....it does my head in.

 

Yup. lost interest a couple times....do you know how hard it is to get rid of a wife when your interest wanes? No one else seems to want them either!

 

I've never lost interest in any of my cars, I'm down two one 70% done and 90% done when there done that's it no more new projects. I'm going into a maintain mode. I sold all my extra parts from passed projects at the last five swaps meets here and make $5K. I'm tried period........

CRUISER

 

sure! haven't we all at some point? typically i think it less losing interest as something more pressing develops that pushes it to the back burner. if you look at my profile you will see what i mean. a mutlitude of reasons delaying finish, some real and some imagined. but then i don't think it will ever be finished, always thinking up something new to try. but isn't that half the fun? the other half being the rumble which sets my heart rate up. this is how i get my cardio workout!

 

Really hard to keep up,when $ are very low.

 

I've owned my truck for close to 15 years or better. Been in my family for atleast 30. I drove the wheels of the thing had tons of fun beating on it and other cars. Used to haul stuff, move and do things that make trucks fun. Been stuck in the mud with it, broke the timing chain in it and lost interrest in the thing more than once. Two years ago pulled the motor for a rebuild and now the motor is thirty miles away and in peices. I miss my truck each day. I loose interrest when I don't have time or money. Then I go looking for something to breed my interrest. The more I look the more I wish my truck was running. If you don't loose interrest at least once in awhile you don't have desire to continue on. Worst part is just looking at it sit. Knowing that you could drive the stupid thing. Somedays I think just buy a motor and drive it then I think about the things I need to do to get it back together.......boy. Even worse is when I'm at the gas station in the mornings freezing my butt off and some guy rolls by in his hot rod on the way to work. Kinda depresses one.

 

My last few aquisitions have been complete & sometimes, running cars. This way I have something to drive & can keep chasing parts for the incompletes. I'm not sure if its getting smarter or lazy as time marches by! I admit - " I have the Automotive Attention Defficit Dissorder" AADD.........

 

Sure,

At one point my brother and I had three project cars going on nights and weekends. But he was in high school, me right out of college and working part time. We had a full time garage out of out parent's house, much to their dismay. We had a lot of spare time and a lot of energy. It was a lot of fun and I wouldn't change it for the world.

Fast forward a every few years, I am working 65+ hours a week, then renovating my first house and going to night school, then getting married and moving to the city w/no garage, my brother is working full time and got his masters, he just got married and is moving out of state.

Those fun projects end up turning into work. At the end of the day looking in that garage looks like just another chore to do so it gets put on the back burner. I sold two incomplete projects at a huge loss, but I knew that I would probably never finish them.

At one point we had 8 old cars within my brother, myself and my dad. We now have two. My fiance loves old cars and has had a few herself but we both know that another car isn't in the mix right now, and might not be for a good while. I think its part of the reason why a lot of retirees are getting into the hobby after years of hiatus because now they actually have the TIME and MONEY.

 

ive never really lost interest.just get tired. i had a really bad bike wreck in 05 and it left me knida crippled up and in constant pain 24 hrs a day. but when i get tired of workin on my projects i come and stay on the hamb. sometimes for hrs at a time. after reading all the things you guys are doing it kinda gets me fired up again.so i take another pain pill and out to the shop. i had to close our shop to the public because i can no longer do it.but i still try to do all the work on our own stuff.may take me 10 times longer but ill keep pluggin away and some day things will be done. someday!but i do want to thank all you guys for the hamb. people like porknbeaner and all the rest of you.it is the hamb that helps keep me going.i see what you all are workin on and think well he did it so can i .you guys make me jealous so i go and try to do one better. lol never seems to happen but it sure is fun trying.so thanks guys. keep going on your projects so i can stay inspired. ken

 

At 60 with a few hundred builds under my belt includes helpin paintin and assitin, I,m find in it tougher to stay on task I used to turn out a finished one in a month I did a duece hiboy in 2 weeks one time I canot get to finished any more they all go 3/4 done losing my passion , dont get that exited any more must be age, everything looks the same now, had more stuff goin on 3o yrs ago, hope it come back moola has alot to do with it and not listen to the old guys about lifting and working safely my old body payed for cant see that good knees are shot as is the back lot tougher now if you told me I would be workin with a hoist 20 yrs ago I would have said your nuts I dont know how I got by with out it....just my 2 cents

 

I guess it’s also so easy to get into the habit of sitting on the couch with a coffee and saying.” It’s too hot , or cold , or too late to go out in the garage...and the habit grows.. easy rut to get into.. besides health of course.

 

Bomber, did you notice this thread had its last post almost Eight Years ago? I look at my car projects, still enjoy having them. Bob

 

I haven't lost interest in my project, but more of had to sideline it to do other projects so I can be set up to get it completed. Added additional room to the shop so I can move around efficiently. I look at the project every day, it's a bit overwhelming at times just looking at the amount of mostly body work it will take to finish it. But then I look at how far I've come with the engine and chassis, which are both ready as soon as I get the body done. Hopefully by Spring I will be able to drive it down the road for the first shakedowns. A few health issues have gotten in the way, but that's just the way it is. Come January I will have had the project going into the 4th year. Not too bad for what I started with. I work alone, and sometimes I think that if I had some friends with similar interests, we could tag team this thing and get it on the road. Anyone in the North Texas area that want to team up on some projects, I am always ready!

 

Lol no I didn’t.. oh well better late than never... glad you still have and enjoy them.