What part of a Hot Rod build do you find the most difficult???

My wife.

 

I have a lot of patience, I have finished every project car started. I like doing the wiring. I'll wire a car all up and then a friend comes by and checks everything out for me. Most of the time he finds a couple of things to correct.
The hardest part of building a car is things you don't want to do. It's hard to get shops to do things in a timely manor and not put you off tell next week.
When in high school building models, I was the only one of all my friends who would finish a model. Won a lot of trophies back then at the World of Wheels shows.

CRUISER

 

the part im at now. making it all work together. I've got the engine/trans in. rad mounted. now to wire and plumb it all. I'm pretty good with a soldering iron. but, oh boy am i feeling overwhelmed and a bit intimidated. This is my first large scale undertaking like this.

 

Having to take the engine out after the first start up to fix a tiny oil leek
when all I wanted to do was drive the shit out of it..lol

 

I've desided my Roadster will never get wired in my lifetime. I'll run the conduit inside the boxed frame rails and plan out were things will go under the dash, but someone else can run the fuse.

 

I drive it first, then fix that little stuff the following winter. Like right now I've got a residual pressure valve leaking, but it's not getting fixed until next off-season! Plus my speedometer doesn't work and the blah blah...

I also try to alternate tasks that I enjoy with those I dread. Like one day I'll work on brake lines (ugh - gotta get UNDER the car and do tedious work), then the next I'll install the radiator shell or something equally rewarding that feels like I've made big progress.

 

Money, time and sometimes motivation.

 

Focus for sure. I have a two week rule. Once I get a car going under it's own power, I only keep it down for upgrades for two weeks max. That way I get to drive a lot more but I never seem to finish a car. I need a new rule....

 

anyone else fall into this catagory i have trouble finding money to finish a project but i allways seem to find money to buy the next one ......... i need help

 

Research:Old parts take forever to find what you need , then before using old parts if you have a question or need info you spend days finding answers . So many people give you an opinion or what they believe it to be true in a matter of fact like manner and alot of the time they are bullshitters who dont know what they are talking about. Sometimes restorers know the answer sometimes older mechanics occationally older racers . We need a good vintage tech article archive with info from back in the day ! Anybody found any ?

 

Yep, got a yard full of future projects, every new project puts the current further behind funding wise.

 

For me is trim. Both taking off and putting back on. Some of it is so fragile. I always end up with atleast one piece of wavy trim due to being bent slightly.

Thanks,
"Skrach"
My Vintage Blog:
www.VividlyVintage.com
My 55 Chrysler Worklog:
www.Pop's55.com

 

Right now I am struggling with getting my ebrake lever correctly ratio'd so as to having in the middle of the car bewteen the seats but with a intermediate lever system under the floor that pulls up smooth and not too heavy, just like a production car setup.
Never have been able to get is feeling right on past projects.

 

For this second project trying to find the back cab panel. So I decided I will be building the whole thing from another panel to make it look proper. And now looking for the floor braces for a model A again I will make things happen I am to impatient but I am jazz to start on this one.

Frenchy

 

Hardest part for me is finishing the little stuff after I get it running and on the road.....
Cheers.........

 

I really like doing to work and problem solving, I find it hardest to find the money or compromise to stay within my means.

I tend to be a "well, while I'm here... or I've already got this half apart..." kinda person.

 

Paying for it. Time. Finding the right parts. Effort.

 

I've decided the hardest part for me is hooking up my T700 tele cable to the carby and getting it to work correctly. It has cost me much time and some money and still it dont work right...

 

The difficult part?

My build being my first ever ground-up build so I spend a lot of time researching what it takes to do it right. That and the lack of knowledge of how to build a car but that's getting worked on throughout the course of building my A. No complains though..

 

At 70,I agree with you on that,next is bodywork and paint prep because my indurance is kinda low.

 

The hardest part for me is getting the picture in my head as to what I want it to look like. Once I get that picture it is fairly easy to get there, but without that picture I just go in circles. Right now I am looking at the fugly ass end of my 60 f100, I dont like the way it looks and I have no clue as to what I want to do with it.

 

The little crap drives me crazy. You know....the parts that don't come with the screws, clips, etc. You have to wait while your re-order comes, and having to fab so much little stuff, spacers, brackets the list goes on because almost nothing fits well without modification (read extra work) OK back to work! Why does this trans mount have threads in it for a friggin metric bolt???? GO FIGGER!!!!!

 

the last 10 percent

 

Just did that five minutes ago. Its about +8 C, time to get off my ass. Didnt really do much today other than go out and formulate a plan for next weekend, which is, Finish off re-wiring and improving the lighting in the shop, fix the pressure switch on the compresser, push the chevy II out, pressure wash the front clip, push it back, put it up on four axle stands, pull the front suspension/subframe, start cutting the old floor out, hammer a new swage in the replacement floor pan where it goes up to the tunnel about 2" back from the originals so I can weld the original trans crossmember mounts back in in a position where the 200R4 will fit, cut the spot welds out holding the factory trans crossmember mounts,weld the new floor in, and weld the original trans crossmember brackets in over the new swages, so the engine and 200R4 will slide in, all the while looking like chevy did it that way. I figure in actual fact, I will probably get about as far as cutting the rusty floor pan out. But hey, after no progress all winter, its a start.

Oh yea, I forgot, I still havent replaced the stolen welding regulators, so I guess I wount be welding any floor pan in. But hell, I dont have a prayer of getting that far anyway, who am I kidding.

 

.......Getting enough money to pay for it...

 

Without a doubt, the single most difficult part.

 

Ironpile im 32 and i hate crawling under them.. Its my least fav. too also not gettin BURNT OUT on it.. Only sometimes this happens but i start real strong and when its down to only wiring and plumbing i stand around for a week and drink beer and look at it cause im so burnt out on building it and just keep telling myself im in the home stretch

 

knowing when to quit and start another project.

 

The fifty dollar daily parts runs

 

Coming up with money when it is needed. With my wife in school (yes she is a 62 year old college senior) it's hard to have extra bux when the project needs them.
I did send Dwight Bond a money order today for the adapter and goodies to hook the T-5 to my 8BA. Now all I need is something to put that combo in.