History Driving unfinished cars long term - Are you guilty?

Finished cars are for making a living

Unfinished cars are for enjoying
Honestly I bored with them once they’re “finished”

 

As soon as they can go down the road and stop, turn, and backup, they go down the road. I keep working on them till I am satisified. They are to be driven.

 

<------ Does +/- 30 years and counting qualify "long term" ?

 

You bet it does! HRP

 

The reason mine isn't painted yet is because I'm really pickey. I know it'll be a Lotta work taking it all apart to paint it properly so I enjoy it as it is. One day I'll paint it. The two main comments are nice low rider or what color you gonna paint it?

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How about a few more picture! Nice ride for sure!

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That's a strangest looking MoPar I've ever seen.

 

Thanks man I appreciate it! Don't have many...heres the other side and the motor..Just lowered. ..handles and some trim shaved. Motor is original (just cleaned up) and some 2" white tucknroll to be comfy.

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Only 5 years driving my unfinished coupe, enjoy driving it too much in the summer to stop and work on it, and always seem to be too busy in the winter to get to it


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My 57 desoto is hitting the road in rough shape cosmetically. Primered front clip, some original paint elsewhere, holes in the rockers. Original door panels (ok enough shape). Maaaaaaaybe carpet?. Red 68 New Yorker power bucket seats. I’m getting mechanicals good to go first then I’ll drive it and worry about paint once I can rip around in it.

 

Me too. Drove my model A for years "finished" enough to drive and enjoy it.

Cliff Ramsdell

 

I drove my convertible one season without the top. What a pain that was , trying to keep rain off the interior. Never again will I do something like that. The sad part of that is that I never made the top power operated until 5 or 6 years after that. I had the pump and cylinders just didn't install them. Now that the top is power I have it down a lot more than before.

 

Fish or cut bait? If the car is laid up being worked on or in paint jail... no can drive it! Plus a primered car pisses off the neighbors. Win-win. Lots of bonuses go with driving a car in primer, birds can crap all over it, who cares? Spill beer on it, quite okay. Can park it anywhere and not worry about it. I lay wrenches and parts, coffee cups on the fenders. I'm still working on it and paint would get in the way. Painted cars attract attention, from the cops and people who may want your car without giving you $$ in exchange.

 

Yes, all the time. They are never truly "finished"

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When are they ever finished?

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Ummm... yeah.

Uncle gave me a truly junk 32 Vickie when I was 10. I’m 46.

Car has no glass, no paint and a 60 year old apple crate bolted to the floor is the only seat. Sat in a Wyoming field for decades, got it with a couple 40 and 35 coupe shells he actually wanted. Body looks like a pasta strainer, hundreds of bullet holes in it.

Runs, drives, stops and steers. Tie the doors shut and it goes bouncing around the pasture. Way too far gone to actually build, but...

I’m just outside Memphis. Car is still outside Roy Washington. His great grandkids love it.

 

My '37 gets more unfinished every time I drive it, as more running board rubber flies off, and the old paint looks worse every time I look at it. I have a few things that I do need to clean up some engine bay "temporary" fixes(that are several years old now), and will eventually redo interior, but I have no plans to "finish" the exterior, or do much but upholstery in the interior.

 

Guilty as charged,I,d never drive a thing if i didn't.I have put a ten year limit on driving my chopped cars without side glass .nice easy achievable target,but side glass always seem to be the last thing,I have no idea why

 

Hell yes, I wont let not being able to afford a nice interior and paint stop me from enjoying and making memories in our old cars.

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I don't know if I have ever really "finished" a car. Seems like there is always something that I need to finish on one. Either that, or constantly changing what I already have done. I am afraid if I actually finished one to my satisfaction that I would sell it because I enjoy working on them a lot more than driving them. My current avatar still does not have the headliner installed after 20 years...its still folded up in the trunk.

 

Won't go any faster with paint and upholstery, so............

 

just popped back in to check things out and found this post by Danny. mine seems to be in a constant state of unfinished, thou this winter it is getting an interior job..

 

In 40 years, I'm trying to remember if I have ever finished a project. I have two ongoing projects, when the good weather is over and they go into the garage for the winter, I'll work on them some more. I doubt very much they will ever be finished... close but never.

 

Paint, Upholstery, Fresh running gear, I've had 2 out of 3 a few times, that's about it.

 

This time around I don't intend to drive the 48 until it is finished with paint and interior or it will never get finished. Second reason is some poor bastard would die on the spot the first time he said "nice ratrod" upon seeing unfinished.
In the past It never got finished because most of the time it was my only running and licensed vehicle. The winters I had something reliable to drive it was torn down for more changes and would probably have been finished if I had quit making changes.
It did get fresh primer on a regular basis every year it was in primer. Usually a couple of days before the Vintiques show in Yakima every year. A couple of times rolling up to registration with the fresh paint smell all too obvious.
A lot of it for me was just the simple fact that life got in the way. I probably have too many hobbies and interests and am just as happy out on my boat as I am out in my hot rod, Life's too short to be the boring guy who only has one interest or hobby and does nothing else.

 

Define unfin

Signing my name to that great statement...

 

Guilty as charged., Had to do a bit of research to figger out how long ago, but my Hiboy roadster first rolled on a public street 6 years and 4 days ago today! And visually, it is the same today as then, except for a set of new tires.
Only upholstery is on the seats, no other upholstery at all, no floor mats, bare painted metal (hell, at least it's a painted floor). Outside is painted, as it was then, and it has seen more mech work done since first rollout than I like to think about.
Since it is a roadster, it will never have a fancy interior, but I suppose I should at least put some floor mats in it (no carpet, never), put a handle on the glove box door (cut down '35 Ford dashboard) and a glove box behind the door, and some door and kick panels, maybe even something on the bare aluminum rear firewall behind the bucket seats.
But something else always seems to interfere, either work on it mechanically, or something on my '40 coupe, or just plain life where shit happens.

 

Been driving mine for 47 years have put over 370,000 miles on it have gotten twice as many smiles. It needs a lot but it mostly needs to be driven.

 

I just know that I would have been guilty of that so that is why I’m finishing my RPU first.

That way it won’t be a problem.

 

All of mine need something to completely be finished but I'm driving all of them