Projects Do you have too much on your plate?

Why unwired?? I thought wiring was your forte. You know you love it. Can't drive one without wiring.....

 

If you ask anyone that knows me YES! If you ask me NO!

 

Have you been talking to my wife?!!!!

 

Maybe. HRP

 

True, but looking at a finished project would be something I haven't done since the Riley 4Port Sprint Car in 1975. Bob

 

No, to me none of it is work......I have a job for that. My non work life is consumed with thoughts and dreams of old junk.....wrenching on them, driving them, even breaking down and fixing them on the side of the road. I can't stop it, sure it's slowed down as I get older, but it won't stop. No kids, no friends, just a dog, my girl and cars.......

I do realize that all the parts and cars I have will have to go at some point (either before or after I die). I don't know if it's the cars themselves, the era they represent or my dented brain....but I can't focus on anything else.

 

I have three projects at my house, untold amount on the ranch. Collected “ stuff” all my life, with the intention of rebuilding them when I retired. Haven’t got a thing done in the six years since retiring. Didn’t realize that after fifty years of working on “ stuff”, it wouldn’t be as fun at an older age as it was when I was a kid.
I am a professional procrastinator, since now everyday is a “ Saturday “, I put things off. Sleeping late, Price is Right, Gunsmoke, Rifleman seem to occupy my days now. Then it’s off to the club to socialize with friends. That with traveling most of the Summer months, nothing seems to get done.
There’s a group here in town called “Procrastinators Anonymous “, that should be able to help me!
Ahhh, might check it out next week.

Bones

 

I have so many, that I forgot 2 on my list! '49 Ford Truck cab & my '49 Merc. How the hell could I forget my Merc?

 

Over two dozen runners and no kids....not to mention my vintage bikes or tractors or.....somebody commit me !

 

Well... Let's see...
My '50 Panel truck the "Zupanel" just needs the fuel system, ignition, and brakes done and it'll be a driver. I hope to debut it at the Dirt Drags next summer.

The '57 F100 is after that and I plan on fixing the rust then painting it, installing a dropped axle, sorting out the wiring, and reupholstering the seat and making a tonneau cover for the bed. It's pretty much a field truck that is pretty solid and a runner, just needs everything to make it KOOL. I should be able to get it done over the winter and be driving it next summer as a daily.

Next Spring I hope to put a new set of wheels and tires on the '40 and put a few finishing touches on it. It's a great driver as is but it needs a few things before it's next long trip.

After that is a '49 Mercury. This will be a multi-stage 3 or 4 year project. I got it from a farmstead in ND this year. It needs rockers, some of the floors, a nice chop, and a few custom touches. Good news is I've got a lot of parts for it, including a fully chromed '49 dash, a '54 Desoto grille, a flathead short block that just needs a cam and heads, Kaiser bumper overriders (I still need two bullets)… And I've got the tools and skills to build it from the ground up, but I know I'll have at least $15K into it by the time I'm done. I plan on having it sitting pretty, chopped, and in primer by the fall of 2019.

I'm also collecting parts for a '65 Mustang fastback I got from my uncle this year... It will get a crate engine, some neat wheels and upgraded brakes and suspension, but I'm leaving the patina'd body alone and just replacing the grody stuff in the interior like the headliner, carpet, visors, and that's it. Hopefully I'll get started on it by the end of 2019 and have it driving by the spring of 2020.

Somewhere in the middle of all this I'm going to get my '64 Chevy van running. It's a really nice van that just needs the fuel system gone through and a fresh 6 cylinder installed.

And yet I'm looking at buying a trio of '36 Ford sedans... One to turn into a "tub" (I've got a good flathead for that with all the goodies) and a bunch of other neat parts collected for it, one for parts, and one to turn into a 3W to test my metalworking skills. Both of those are in my 3 year plan.

Then there's the '59 Thunderbird. It's a driver right now, but needs a poor man's rebuild on the 352 and ball joints installed up front. I really want to keep this car because I love driving it so much, so I'm just keeping it running and enjoying it while I can, but the plan for it includes a Larry Watson style paint job, new interior, and the aforementioned rebuild on the 352. I have no time frame for this one.

****DISCLAIMER****
This post and the timelines posted within are for my own reference. Hopefully I look at this in 3 years and see that most of what I wanted to accomplish is done.

On a side note, my motto is "If you've got a lot on your plate, at least you're eatin' good!"

 

Sometimes I want to sell all the projects and buy one good driver.....BUT I can never talk myself into it. I guess I just like looking at my junk too much.

 

Cast in Bronze those plaques would sell well. Bob

 

Three cars in the works, and a 80+ hour/week job.

Yes.

 

Definitely too much on my plate. The only running vehicle in my shop is the oldest (31 Fordor). If I decide to modify the A at all it becomes another project. I don't need another project. All of the other "projects" are either mothballed or need this or that. I just can't find the time to do this or that. Some times the wife comes out to the shop and just wanders around and says "whats this?" "Whats this go in?" I have straight answers for every part she asks about and what project it goes with/in. She just sighs and says "hmmm, when you gonna finish this or that?" Sometimes i think she's taking inventory to see what she can get for the parts money wise when I die...yup too much on my plate.

 

I have had a hot rod or a project most of my life but I went through a period for about 2 years where all I had was projects and no running hot rods and no time to work on them, running my business 60 plus hours a week, taking care of my mom and trying to keep up my place and 2 teenage girls going in ten different directions I was thinking about unloading all the projects and made up my mind to do so.

It is very difficult not to have a running, driving hot rod but it's much worse to have had one for years and then not have one for a couple of years.

Brenda talked me out of selling them all and convinced me to keep one and let the others go, when I did that I was able to get the parts I couldn't afford since I had some disposable cash and I made a little time every weekend to do something, even if it was cleaning a part.

I'm happy to say that was a long time ago and I haven't been without a hot rod since and it beats staring at static art cluttering up the shop. HRP

 

Too many projects for too many years.

 

"Brenda talked me out of selling them all and convinced me to keep one and let the others go..."

Smart move, Danny. A reasonable and do-able solution.

Was gonna say earlier but forgot. The opposite extreme of having "too many cars"...the possibility of over-thinning the herd. I probably should'a kept at least the roadster body/Deuce frame. Selling it didn't make any real difference in the long run. So by any and all means...if a guy can find a way to keep a little raw material for later, in spite of everything...

That's ok. A time and place for everything. That was then, this is now. Plenty of other cars out there. Gettin' the bug again. Maybe I can do something soon. Something just for me, dammit.

Gotta find somebody with too many cars...

 

I even have too many daily drivers.

 

Yes. Can't explain right now, too busy.

 

I can completely relate to this now that I’m over the 1/2 century mark. While I wish I had learned the skills needed to do the restoration (body work, engine building & general fabrication), I never had the opportunity or a mentor around to teach me. I’ve fortunately had a bid of stubbornness in me to keep me from giving up because I’m not mechanical by nature.

Yes, I’ve stepped away from the hobby at times to focus on family & other things. Yet I keep coming back to my passion for old iron even when I try to fight it. It’s a part of me, it’s a part of my relationship with my father and it is painful when one decides to cull the herd.


Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.

 

I have too many projects... but my mind has been keeping them entertained all these years and nobody is bored yet.

 

Yes and yes. The 55 in my avatar is a driver and has been for 18 years. Got it when I was 12 and I'm 36 now. On the waiting list I've got a 57 F-100, a 57 Mercury Monterey, a 54 Lincoln Capri, a 62 Unibody, and a 63 Unibody. That and I'm trying to convince my dad to let me in on his 40 Ford truck which is just a cab and frame but has been that way for 20 years,

 

This is all that's on my plate. Not sure if I will do another project or not. Sure as heck won't be another frame off but that's the only way I am ever satisfied that all issues have been covered

 

My '35 needs a bunch of small stuff fixed, the wifes flatty truck needs some work (the T-5 has problems and the pinion seal is leaking) and I'm in the middle of a non-HAMB build of a V-8 mini-truck for my grandson. Then there is the usual home maintenance but at least the non-HAMB daily gets serviced down the street (I'm not lazy...just too busy)>

 

Always have, hopefully always will. Way to many projects , never enough time... try to always keep a couple runnable. Sweet dreams...

 

jazzi your just a quiter. hahaha