Ever feel like calling it quits from the hobby?

I would love to say "NEVER!" but that's just not true for me anymore.

I feel more like it's being taken away from me step by step. In 202 I had the chance to retire with my full pension and took it. We had raced for 30 years by then. Time came to give that up when I retired, my team partner is 7 years older than I am and he wanted out. Sold both race cars, the enclosed trailer, 5 engines, gear sets, tires/wheels....everything associated with our race team. In 2012 I was still going to 40-60 races, swap meets and shows a year. Started getting involved in USAC Silver Crown racing with an old high school friend, he died this past winter so that's over with now.

Started spending more time and money (amazing how much money you have when you walk away from racing and sell everything) on my street rod/hot rod style stuff after 2012 and was really enjoying it until this time last year. That's when we found out my cancer had returned.

Last year, 4 races, 2 swap meets and no car shows. Big change. Just don't feel good enough most days to do what I used to. Also in a bad state of mind many days.

My other hobby is buying/selling/trading old cars and parts. I've done fairly well at it, basically funding my '32 build out of selling off my garage inventory and trading/selling and making a little off of each deal. I've funded that build with basically no money coming out of my pocket other than what I sold off from the garage. Now the time is here that, even though I want another "project type" car, it's not a realistic goal to have another one. The wife keeps pointing out (rightfully so) that I don't have the energy to finish the 2 I have (the '32 5 window and a '62 short bed big window unibody pickup). She's right, but it means I will be giving up another part of my hobby. This is really hard for me to do.

From being fully immersed in this hobby to just trying to finish a couple of cars had almost defeated me. I often think of selling what I have and walking away. Can't do that, I still love cars and I'm so upside down on these 2 projects it would be admitting defeat and I just can't do that. I need to fiish and drive these 2 rides. For me.

Tough to think about, but that time comes for the big percentage of us. My difference is I have been told the window of my expiration date. It messes with your head when you hear those words come from the doctors. My gut says go buy a '55 Chevy I've had my eye on, my heart says I really want it, my brain says the wife is actually right on this one.

Ever gone to a swap meet with basically no money and you see hundreds of things you would want to buy..... but have no money on you? Ever go to a swap meet with a pocket full of money and found absolutely nothing you wanted to buy? That, in a nutshell, is my life right now. My pocket is full but I can't/won't/shouldn't buy a single thing. It's killing this hobby for me and it makes me want to call it quits.
SPark

 

My sympathy for your condition, that really blows. Sorry to hear that. but man I have known several people that outlived by many years the "estimate" by just doing what they love.

So Dammit get to it, you can't take the green stuff with you and smiles are good for the soul. Everybodies Soul yours and those around you. Share yourself, your experiences, and your fun stuff all while making new memories for those that love you.

- Tim

 

I have been to swap meets, auctions and garage sales that have let me down but I know there is a swap meet right around the corner so it keeps my hopes up .. I am always looking for the next cool part or project. Not because I need it , just because. It is a internal desire I wish I had a hold button for , but alas I will be stuck looking for that next cool piece.

 

TERPU said it all, take that extra green even if farming out some work, and get the 32 drivable and drive it as a daily.... you won't regret it,.... You will get people gathering where ever you stop..... You get raised fists from oncoming drivers...all good stuff for boosting the immune system.

I shared my hotrod with others late today. UConn college girls doing graduation photo shoots with it. I feel pretty darn good knowing they actually wanted the hotrod in some of the photos of their last few days before heading out into the "real world". I might put some pics up tomorrow...maybe not.

 

Ya know, F&J; you made those girls' day. They'll long remember that. Very kind of you. Marcus...

 

I maybe shifting gears here ..
It’s something about eating and sleeping this stuff for a good 50 or so yrs
Anyone would have thoughts of throwing in the towel
Heck I get troubled when some one calls a life’s work a hobby
There is times when I just say
Sell everything and pool the money and go buy something
And at that point I sleep on it
The next day I’m back to brain storming and working out the problem cause I can’t see myself driving someone else car
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg!
All sorts of things can derail you in this stuff
Not getting into what drives us to do this, because it would be the same as juggling jello without a bowl , we are all different
Yah, have to ask you self
What or better yet who are you building for
That is what regulates were we go
The money we spend .....
The work we do ......
Losing site of what brought us here can be just the thing that details us

Well that my 2 cents
Adjusted for inflation ,
And tomorrow I will start again as it’s been every day
Hope you don’t quit
Cause it sounds like ya want to keep going on
Other wise you wouldn’t have posted it in the first place
Your not alone


Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

I quit and sold my ride over a year ago after being told not to by a couple HAMBers. I got violently sick. Went out and got another one and started feeling better, So I went out and got another. I'm feeling pretty darn good now

 

I think about it every time I work on the car...LOL,
Every time I bang my shin on the rear fender lip as i try to squeeze past it in my to small garage
Every time I have to move at least one car and a motorcycle to get the car out and go for a cruise
Every time I am working on it and it is fighting me every step of the way
Every time one simple fix snowballs into a "project"
Every time I notice another flaw in the car that I will "need to get to one day"
During these times I remind myself of a few things...
1. It worked/ran once...it can work/run again
2. A man built it so a man can fix it
3. I have a house, with a garage, with toys inside that I am passionate about and I should be more grateful and less of a whiny bitch
Then I go for a ride and the sounds, and the smells, and the thumbs up, and smiles from people, the folks at the gas station asking questions, the kids I let sit in it... and I think, what else on earth can do all of that? And i couldn't imagine life without my little car.... but that's just me...
Chappy

 

Hell no. If I had any sense I'd sell all my cars and pay off my mortgage, but what the hell kind of fun is that?

 

Just like @Bluedot, I picked up a "little book" and was instantly hooked. What I learned, I learned from friends older brothers because my Father had no interest in what I was doing. I spent practically my whole life moving from place to place, state to state and sometimes out of country for jobs. Managed to go dirt tracking for awhile but the wife and kids always took precedence so I never got to build a " Hot Rod " that I wanted. Never lost the interest and finally, at the age of 74, I'm on my way to getting it done. Not having a network of friends, it's been a struggle to find parts and information until I found this group. There are days I wonder why I started my project and then there are days like yesterday when I got my "shop find" engine running for the first time. It sat under a bench in a local machine shop for years and I made a deal for it. He needed a run in stand and I needed an engine. I built the stand and tested it with the engine. Hearing it run made up for all those days when I thought about forgetting the whole thing. I'm ready to get on with the build. I hope you can see the video.

 

I've been feeling that lately. I never thought I would, I've been crazy about cars since I was really young. But lately, I just haven't felt like working on mine. I'm not sure what it is, but its probably a combination of being tired and stressed. I'm at a point where I'm not enjoying myself at all when I do work on my car - I am at a point that I hate the type of work that I am doing (I hate sheet metal/body work. I mean HATE it) and I have to force myself to go work on it when I finally do find the time.

I'm not sure what I am going to do. I may sell my Bel Air and go buy something that is a lot further along, nearly done, and maybe just needs some mechanical work. I still enjoy doing that.

I guess my talent could never match my ambition, and I'm getting to the point where I just wanna turn wrenches or hop in and cruise. I guess I'm not giving up on the hobby, just taking a different approach...

 

At 71, my hope is to finally finish one. Been trying since 1971,always seem to sell them. Even with the health problems, , OCD,bought on about mind bending desire to little details,grown kids saying,Daddy why do you mess with old cars? Buy a new Corvette and enjoy yourself !!!!!!!!!. I have never thought about quitting, when I’m not in the garage, I’m thinking about what I will do next. Like some Corvettes, but not the same. Working on a project keeps the old body going and desire to finally finish.

 

You guys will love this.
Last week, my grandson and daughter came into my working bay to look at something not related to cars. We talked and when they finished on the way out, my 11 year old grandson kept walking out without looking up.
I heard him say” I love how this garage smells” didn’t crack a smile and left the garage.
I just wish he lived alittle closer to me.
Yes, this is one reason why I’ll never quit. And the answer is.
Yes, I’m working on him.

 

Here's my take on the 'feeling'.
I've been a petrolhead for as long as I can remember. As a kid I used to take the lawnmower apart and try to put it back together so that it would run again, not always successfully. My Dad took me to the local speedways and hotrod shows, because he knew that's what I liked. He was a panelbeater but not really into modified cars.
When in my teens I did all the usual stuff trying to hot up cars and hanging around with the local speedway blokes but then girls and mortgages came along. I kept tinkering with cars but tried to keep to a budget.
Fast forward 30 years and the kids are off our hands and I had more disposable income to tinker some more. Nothing sensational but enough to keep the interest up. I took up drag racing at age 54 and have been racing my avatar for the last 8 years and still grinning.
Now to the point. Lately I've felt that anyone that's a 'petrolhead' is starting to be looked down upon by a portion of society. I know that it's been that way for a long time but the demographic is different. It used to be that older folks would think you were just a loud revhead and not to be trusted. Now, it's you are trying to ruin the planet with anything that isn't earth friendly or something that they would be seen driving. The scary bit is these people are getting louder and if you try to justify your actions you get howled down. I just want to be left alone to tinker on stuff without feeling like a criminal.
In summary, these feeling of wanting out of the sport, hobby or whatever are really a form of depression. So keep tinkering because this is what keeps you getting out of bed.
Right, I'm heading down to the shed. I've got to finish putting my spare race engine together.

 

Yes I want to quit on days like today.
Been thinking of getting a temporary exhaust for the COE for the initial start up/carb setting and overall checklist after you build a car...
My son got in the coe with me when we drove the first times ever and put a smile in his face but it was too loud.
I really dont have the extra 500 to get a good system install and if I did,it,the coe would have to be trailered up and down shops to get quotes and finally getting one installed...no thanks..
So today I get up early to cut this used dual system
.
First its a bit rusty,
second,one side has a 90degree bend to the manifold the other almost a 45..
Third, flanges are smaller than the manifolds
4th,spent 4 hours looking for donut gasket and a shop to bend an exact match of my 90.
5 hrs and 30$ later I start working.
6th,l get welder outside,wind picks up.
7th,wind finally settles down,weld,burn my left hand loosing my balance.
8th,run out of wire.

Plus all the tool misplacing,getting out and under coe,tack-check-cut-tack bs...
Im done...

 

“Charter member of the great unwashed” hahaha good one Lou…as I too am a charter member.I’ll have to remember that one and use it if you don’t mind

 

Nope it’s a hobby.

 

When I retired that was pretty much the time to slow down on the spending.... I realized I could never afford to have the car I would like to build...It isn't the 1950's anymore and old 392 blocks are not cheap... I always wanted to build a front motor fueler but kids and a wife got in the way... Now it will just be a dream....Yep I am letting most of the hobby go....

 

It's in my blood, it's the air in my lungs, it's the metal in my eye.......it's life. My daytime job is the hobby, I might slow down here and there (and as I get older).
But, to answer the original question.....................No f'ing way.

 

I put a mini split in my garage, heat in the winter, cooling in the summer, dries the air so no condensation. Made more progress on my truck since that went in than the previous 5 years. Of course I retired also so a bit more time but lately I have been getting so many calls from old customers I have been working almost full time again, as well as the household duties that I picked up since the better half is working such long hours.
When i get time now to work on the truck I try to pick a job I can do to see something checked off the to do list,
I might not have time to prep it for paint but I can run the fuel line etc.

 

I've always had a few collector cars, in varying states of completion.
Usually I have at least 2 that are road worthy, that gets me behind the wheel..albeit not 100% done, but close.
In addition I always have at least one major project car in the works.
There are times I consider narrowing it down to just one that I can concentrate on, and take to a different level (I think how much simpler my life would be, less space required, less dollars tied up, less problems to resolve, etc.) and in the future I may do just that, but for now I keep plugging away.
I like the idea of having a project to keep me busy doing something, even if the project isn't car related.
The older we get (I'm 66), it seems it's easier to blow things off, and in our minds justify staying in, and watching the TV, being on the computer, etc..
I can see where it can lead to a form of depression, I'm of the belief we are wired for the need of accomplishing tasks, whatever they may be.
My advice would be to devote at least 1 hour a day in the shop, even if it's only staring at that project, or cleaning/organizing, it may end up being the jump start needed to get you back on track.

 

Not sure. Car-less now, kind of looking. EVERYTHING has gotten so expensive & parts not available has me ready to hang it up. At 77, I'm liking messing with my Lionel, American Flyer & Marx trains more.
Time & $$$ will tell. Oh, then there is the wife....

 

It,s more than a hobby for me.
I would not have been the places I,ve been and met the people I,ve met(both good and bad) if not for the cars.
So I,d say my answer is no

 

I quit one time for about 5 years. Started playing golf. Golf is the only thing I've ever done that the harder I worked at it the worse I got. My OCD and golf did not Gee haw. So after a frustrating round one day, I said, "F this! I'm going back to doing something I'm good at and something I feel good about." Fortunately, I retired with enough savings to allow me to continue. So, I work in my shop nearly every day. It's in me.

 

Yes, sometimes. Seems like working on them is not as enjoyable as it used to be.

 

Every third day.

 

I am currently on my 5th version of my absolutely last car.

 

one more, one more!

 

Hello,

Ever since those early days of walking around our old Westside of Long Beach neighborhood and seeing this cool custom Ford F100 Truck painted a Candy Apple Red or for some, a Tahitian Red color, it was all amazing. The idea of a work truck, now customized as a vehicle driven to neighborhood shop everyday and parked on the street for all to see was something we had never seen before. The shop owner was a family friend, but since he was our parents’ age, we only knew of him as a shop owner.

From that point on, it was all reading, drawing, creating plastic hot rod models and modifying anything that moved in our backyard. It was addicting and I have to thank my older brother for the ideas and discussions with a younger me, since he saw an enthusiastic little kid enjoying the different aspects of the hot rod/drag racing world.

From those early 1950 Westside of Long Beach days, throughout high school, college and then getting on with our adult lives, it was the idea of being involved in any way we could to keep the feeling alive. Driving down the So Cal coastline in my high school Flathead Ford Sedan Delivery with two surfboards, was the epitome of surfing road trips for teenagers. Then as we got older, the nighttime cruising around in a cool, but very fast 58 Impala, just made the world an enjoyable place.


Jnaki

Our hot rod/drag racing world had some ups/downs throughout its lifetime. We adjusted the best we could as we entered our future adult lifestyles. Hot rods always played a part and when I met my future wife in college, that just sealed the deal. Here was someone that actually liked hot rods and driving in one as much as possible.

Well, it was a 327 powered 40 Ford Sedan Delivery with A/C, a red 65 El Camino or her own 62 Corvair Coupe. Guess which one usually became a daily driver as much as she could pry away the choice away from me…

So, now during this pandemic, we have been taking our local errand trips to make sense of this whole predicament for all of us and the best way to cope. Both of us have liked hot rods from our past, so now we have been in the conversations about getting another hot rod for these weekly errand runs around our So Cal area.

It would just be a good way to be “out and about,” doing our thing. Two old folks driving around in a 1940 Ford Sedan taking photos, cruising around the coastal beaches and getting some ideas about our future, as well as our granddaughter’s future, too.

Calling it quits? Nah… there is too much history and ideas still bouncing around in my head. YRMV

 

Since 2013 I have done 5 projects. I despise rust and body work is creating a dislike in me. Mostly because I'm not very good at it any more. I'm good at rust repair because I can weld. I don't enjoy that part. However, I'm old and I look at everyday as "another day to go shopping for fun". I want to build my stuff so there's the answer in the end. The hot rod hobby covers lots of area. I could see a monster miata in my drive real easily. Still about mods and personal choices. Everyone gets enjoyment from different versions of this hobby. When something ceases to be enjoyable, is it time to change directions or step back and see what has happened to it?????