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Ever feel like calling it quits from the hobby?

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by RICKY~RICARDO, Mar 25, 2013.

  1. grease4life
    Joined: Apr 24, 2008
    Posts: 234

    grease4life
    Member

    Think about it? I quit everytime I run out of money or enthusiasm. But sell my tools... Never! Building and working on cars and basically anyting else I get my hands on, will always be a big part of my life and I couldnt imagine walking away on my own free will for good...

    Sent from my DROID device using the TJJ mobile app
     
  2. Edsel58a
    Joined: Jan 17, 2008
    Posts: 804

    Edsel58a
    Member

    I have thought about it and just having my "normal" car.... but I think giving up breathing would not be as tough to do
     
  3. 40fordtudor
    Joined: Jan 3, 2010
    Posts: 2,503

    40fordtudor
    Member

    Like ChevyGasser said I plug into the HAMB daily and am grateful for it. I have one finished (??) car and no plans beyond that so I keep it real simple. Borderboy--lose that bad idea. What you contribute matters. Stick around.
     
  4. PossumJR.
    Joined: Oct 26, 2009
    Posts: 423

    PossumJR.
    Member
    from Walls,MS

    I have NEVER once had the thought of giving it up! I MAKE time and if i dont have the money to buy what i need ill trade for it. You can do alot of thing on a hot rod without any money. Seems to me all the guys that whine about not having "time or money" are just trying to find an excuse to quit. I cant imagine one single day without a hot rod in it. My wife would not even allow me to quit it all together. She knows thats my stress relief......If you consider giving it up i question how much you really love it anyway.
     
  5. Okie Pete
    Joined: Oct 29, 2008
    Posts: 4,968

    Okie Pete
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    A Older Friend/Mentor told me focus on one piece at a time , not the whole project . Get that part done move on to the next. Then it doesn't get overwhelming .
    He had cancer and a 47 Indian Chief project . He said that the Chief gave him motivation to get up and do something everyday . He didn't finish the Chief , but he gave it a good try.
    I have several unfinished projects . I get one running then another takes my interest. Only time I thought about throwing in the towel was when a Bull got me down . Took a hard blow to the head . It changed the direction I was going . I went from hit and miss gas engines to old bikes and cars .
     
    Last edited: Apr 4, 2013
  6. superjunkman
    Joined: Jul 21, 2006
    Posts: 965

    superjunkman
    Member
    from Austin, TX

    Sometimes I feel like switching cars but I get over it.
     
  7. tomic
    Joined: Jan 8, 2008
    Posts: 120

    tomic
    Member

    just went through that. for me, i realized i was tired of the same old same old. also, i basically no longer had any "car friends". they were all -- umm, sorry if i offend anyone -- over and over re-creating, or searching for, etc, cars they had/wanted in high school.

    for me, high school was 40 years ago. the last thing i want is to re-create high school. seriously. cars changed, good and bad, i love my early-60's little Ramblers, but man cars of that era are primitive, i love wrenching that era but we'd all be choking to death if cars on the road were all like that today.

    culture changes too. in my high school, making horsepower was still sort of an unknown, required effort, etc. today, crate motors. multi-hundred HP in econoboxes. power's no challenge. time to move on.

    I MOVED ON. I'm making a roadster -- from a unibody. it's a challenge of a different sort. acheiving stiffness, (adequate) safety, improved handling, styling, etc.

    i'm ditching all the 'requirements' that i adhered to without really thinking. i hotrodded an old Nash Rambler inline 6, going for speed via light weight, custom 3-link rear suspension, etc. I'll do a project page once i get the uni stripped and ready to dip.

    the cars "we like" is tied into the culture you grow up with as a teenager it seems. there are exceptions, but it's no surprise that 'kids' that drooled over fast imports when they were 14 are now buying them and making those go.

    my father never understood why i didn't get all hot and bothered for his Model As. He never got why i liked 60's cars. for each of us, it was the stuph we could get our hands on and hack up, drive, crash, modify, improve, ruin, etc.
     
  8. The Bomber
    Joined: Dec 10, 2005
    Posts: 548

    The Bomber
    Member
    from mass.

    done it several times,but went back, got sick of it, and did another hobby, then, took a break from that and went back to cars...have to do something for pleasure,might as well be cars, prices are making it harder though
     
  9. Zandoz
    Joined: Jan 23, 2012
    Posts: 305

    Zandoz
    Member

    Well, I did call it quits...for 35+ years. It's one of my biggest life regrets. After college I got a "Time to set all this car nonsense aside and concentrate on work" speech from my dad...and I bought into it.

    A couple of years ago, in forced retirement due to health issues, I came to my senses. I started planning and acquiring stuff towards something I wanted to do from when I was a preschool kid watching my uncle...I want to design and build my own car. My choice is a simple but unconventional T modified/track roadster. Now, just as I'm about to go from planning and acquiring to building , I have to think about calling it quits again. I waited too long. The health issues are now to the point that I don't think I have it in me to continue the project.
     
  10. I have lots of days where I feel the patient is not responding to treatment, still would never pull the plug.
     
  11. gimpyshotrods
    Joined: May 20, 2009
    Posts: 23,264

    gimpyshotrods
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    I closed my shop. Now I consult, and work on my own busted little fleet.

    My current day job pays 5x what I ever got paid working at any shop for someone else, and I don't have to get dirty.
     
    49ratfink likes this.
  12. Had a discussion with one of my neighbors who is approaching retirement, he said: "you have your old cars; but what am I going to do when I retire; I have no hobbies; I just worked all the time". Kinda makes you think.
     
    1927graham and They call me Bob like this.
  13. Gman0046
    Joined: Jul 24, 2005
    Posts: 6,256

    Gman0046
    Member

    After retirement is the perfect time for your old cars. Beats watching TV.
     
  14. Vonn Ditch
    Joined: Aug 8, 2013
    Posts: 106

    Vonn Ditch
    Member
    from LA

    Done that twice.
     
  15. stimpy
    Joined: Apr 16, 2006
    Posts: 3,546

    stimpy

    haven't gotten the garage clean enough to quit .. but with medical issues at the moment , I might not have a choice as it keeps putting me behind .
     
  16. Gas Giant
    Joined: May 14, 2008
    Posts: 402

    Gas Giant
    Member

    I find that, for myself, it sometimes helps to take a break from it. When I start getting agitated and frustrated with my car, I'll walk away and start taking the boat out on weekends, or kayaking, etc, and after awhile I'm itching to work on the car again.

    Its what works for me. One size doesn't fit all, of course.
     
    GreenMonster48 likes this.
  17. I have always wanted a roadster, and when I retired I built one. I have always had some kind of car/ hobby going on, but now I have the time to really enjoy working in the shop. Don't think I could ever give it up. Bob
     
  18. Atwater Mike
    Joined: May 31, 2002
    Posts: 11,625

    Atwater Mike
    Member

    Can't. Been in it since I was 10. Got my first Model A frame at 12, then the '33 Plymouth roadster at 13.
    Hell, puberty didn't happen until I was gas welding...Mom helped me get a '36 three window, I chopped the top before I was 14.
    Started on my '30 roadster when 14, drove it at 15.
    Built and flew some large control line planes at that time, drove the roadster to the school to fly...
    Imagine: Channeled 'A' roadster, detailed 276" flathead, trunklid partially blocked open, half the wing of a large P40 Warhawk sticking out...3 other planes in the passenger seat, my bud right behind me in his channeled 'A' Coupe. (his F4U-5 Corsair was partially in his trunk!)

    The kids on bicycles asking, "Hey, you guys have those zorchy rods, and why the model airplanes?"
    I told 'em. "Well, we HAD to have some way to bring the planes..."

    Model planes are a nice deterrent from too much every day building chassis, engines, and '39 and LaSalle boxes!
    So nice to come in and shape, sand, and glue some stuff 'til it looks great.... knowing there's a bonus:
    When you're finished, you can fly it!

    My daily driver is my '55 F100. I also have an '84 BMW Coupe...(the last of the pretty ones, like McQueen's ride for BMW of N. Amer.)
    But I feel like somebody else driving the BMW...people look at it and think different thoughts than they do about my F100...:D

    Can't quit, if I did:
    No more '27 Hiboy, no more tub; no more '23 turtledeck, or '47 sedan, or '54 Coupe, (there's MORE!)
    Imagine me in a Nissan, or a Hyundai. :p It would be 'life changing'!
     
  19. olscrounger
    Joined: Feb 23, 2008
    Posts: 4,770

    olscrounger
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    I want to give it up after every build is done. I really get going when one is in progress and put in 40-50 hrs a week. Get frustrated and short of patience and say no more !!! My wife just laughs and says "sure you will". Said that 3 40's ago--am over that again and on the lookout for another project-haven't worked on one for a couple of months now--at 72 I can maybe still do one more-who knows? Sticking with 40's (done 13) as I don't know much about others except Trifive's-always wanted a 32 5 window but not familiar enough to attempt one.
     
  20. Even in my lowest point in life I said NEVER.
    I had no money, a terrible job and a family to support.
    Got a 75 Pinto and put a 302 in it for way less than a weeks pay which wasn't very much.
    I never quit the hobby.
    The day I die my projects will be completed and then I'll quit.
    Someone else can pickup where I left off.
     
  21. wicarnut
    Joined: Oct 29, 2009
    Posts: 9,052

    wicarnut
    Member

    Everybody has that feeling from time to time, working/building/fixing on cars can test a persons fortitude. Just a suggestion, always works for me, take a break from the building part, have another running car and go enjoy the fun part, car shows, cruises, events, etc, the people are the best part IMO. Remember to take time for fun, All Work and No Play makes for a sour, crabby, bitch of a person, that nobody wants to be around. FREE Advice from an "Old Timer" 60+ years, car crazy and always remember, free advice is sometimes worth the price you paid ! LOL !
     
  22. robyyo
    Joined: Sep 8, 2005
    Posts: 238

    robyyo
    Member
    from Orange CA

    The thrill was gone so i sold my projects and I took a step back for the past year, now I'm back, refreshed and ready to go. I'm glad I took the time away.
     
  23. sawbuck
    Joined: Oct 14, 2006
    Posts: 1,909

    sawbuck
    Member
    from 06492 ct

    i have two hobbys .salt water fishing in the warm months ...in the garage cold months ...northeast weather breaks it up ....i look forward to both .
     
  24. 56sedandelivery
    Joined: Nov 21, 2006
    Posts: 6,695

    56sedandelivery
    Member Emeritus

    Sometimes you just hit a brick wall, and can't get anything done. It's really discouraging. I bought a small journal, 302 rotating assembly from a guy on another site; NEW standard bore 302 pistons, rings, bearings, crank turned, etc. He was taking his block back to a 327 (he thought, and was told, it was a 327 when he bought the short block). I did't think I'd have any problem finding a standard bore 327, small journal block. I've looked everywhere, and a fellow HAMBER has turned me onto a NOS block, but it's $$$. Discouraging? Big time. Everything else has taken a back seat to finding a block. I've even said I'm just to to sell all the parts, and let someone else deal with it. They say the hunt is half the fun, and since I don't really hunt..................I'm going to stick it out a little longer. It'll happen, sooner or later, and then it will all be worth it, but it's still discouraging. I am Butch/56sedandelivery..
     
  25. Gman0046
    Joined: Jul 24, 2005
    Posts: 6,256

    Gman0046
    Member

    Every time I start to get burned out it seems I find another project which gets my interest back up. I know if I get out I will regret it.
     
  26. Jimmy2car
    Joined: Nov 26, 2003
    Posts: 1,707

    Jimmy2car
    Member
    from No. Cal

    HRP said it best. It becomes part of you.
    What else would I do? I have no idea.
    I don't play golf, don't have any interest in much of anything else
    I just love messing with the Hot Rods
     
  27. Was fascinated with airplanes as a youngster, then saw a chopped and channeled Model A Coupe when I was 13 (1958), that got me hooked messing with cars till 1982. When Ultralight Aircraft came into their own, I built 4 airplanes ( Ultralights/Experimentals) bought 14 acres of land (Ohio), put in a 2,000' grass runway and build a 50' x 90' hanger. Life/flying was good for 25 years, the downside was occasionally loosing friends to the sport I loved, it finally got to be too much, sold everything in 2010 and moved to a quiet, beautiful lake in Minnesota, rebuilt the small garage and got back into hot rods. At 70 years old I couldn't be happier, put 5,000 miles on my Model A (avatar) this summer, this is where I finally ended up in my life, a comfortable, satisfying existence. I love my Model A and the people I've met, been a great year. Oh, by the way, I NEVER obtained a pilot's license (certificate) flew all those years and never got a ramp check!!!
     
    Last edited: Sep 22, 2015
  28. olscrounger
    Joined: Feb 23, 2008
    Posts: 4,770

    olscrounger
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Lots of interesting perspectives here. As stated earlier I do get a little burned out from time to time but not for long. What I find interesting is that I get a lot of calls from folks about 40's (a few here on the HAMB) and enjoy helping them via phone, photos and diagrams etc-and send em a few pts too. Sometimes these are ongoing from initial to completion over an extended period. Have been helping a young fellow in the Midwest for quite a few months and he is near completion. I really enjoy this part a lot. Last night I was on the phone with two guys leading them thru aligning hood/fenders via pics and advice--spent about 2 hrs but they got there (almost)-I will finish the fit and a few other items for them next week when they bring it here--glad to assist these younger guys in the hobby and pass on pts that someone needs.
     
  29. Doctorterry
    Joined: Sep 12, 2015
    Posts: 686

    Doctorterry
    Member

    I'm on fire for cars. My life is literally playing guitar at church on Sunday, and scrolling through craigslist during school and working on my car on week days. Hot rods are life!!!!!
     
  30. I seldom fell like calling it quits but I do get discouraged from time to time. The stuff I won isn't really in the way so when I feel like I am shoveling shit against the tide I just take a break and come back to it later.
     

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