Hot Rods Ever feel like calling it quits for a while with cars???

.....When I get tired of working on cars....I restore a gas pump because I get something done on it..like finish......I have a lot of hobbies so life goes by fast....

 

I sold my favorite ride (o/t '66 Ranchero) When I joined the Navy in '80. (I was 28 at the time!) Got out of the Navy in '84, moved aboard a sailboat and cruised/worked for 10 years with only a motorcycle ('60 BSA) for transportation. When I finally settled down I bought an o/t '69 Dodge Dart big block convertible and was hooked on hot cars again! My rides have steadily gotten older, finally resulting in the '29 Chevy I am presently building. I hope I never have to call it quits again!

 

I knew when I started my latest project it was gonna take a LOT of $$$ and time. When I get discouraged I remember the excitement I had when I first scored the chassis and a week later when I scored the body...both cheap.
I step back with a little personal "television time" when I get overwelmed or broke.
Just don't sell your tools! The interest will come back and always remember.....the family comes first. They'll be time and $$ for car projects later.

 

HA...........no. Other things maybe. Yeah, I'm just sick.

Mark

 

I got burned out a few years ago and needed to take a break, but I was doing it for a living full time+++. My body was breaking down after 30 years of crawling around concrete floors, my hands hurt all the time and went numb, (something called "white finger syndrome", from using vibrating tools all the time), so after 20 years of running my own shop, I decided to make a change, get away from it for a bit...I'm glad I did, the break was nice, cleared my head. My INTEREST never really left, but just taking a break from doing the actual work helped. While my body's still hurtin', it made it so I REALLY enjoy doing the work again, like a hobby should be...and 'cuz the break led me to where I am, working on building my business HOT ROD LEATHER!

Eric

 

i don't walk away from the hobbie I just lay low for awhile, money & time seem to be the biggest ruler of my passion. I have been drag racing in one form or another (builder,racer,specatator) for over 25 years and this past fall I decided to change direction and try road course racing. It was a tough desision but NHRA helped make it alot more easier (too much BS/rules/ money etc). what really sucks is my garage tooling,arts & wall art are all geared to modern & vinatge drag racing...guess I have to get rid of some of it????
I also think if you change up your old routine or take a break you come back with different outlooks on your craft/passion. a few years ago I started messing around with uildng a vinatge sprint car from the 1930's and now I"m restoring a 1940's midget racer, total 180 from the straight line stuff I am used to!
Paul

 

I got hassled by a fuzz officer for no fenders in the rain. I took a couple of years before I stuck them back on and redid the frame in the process. That was a real "back to the fifties" experience. The 3-window looks OK with the fenders; It's just the power trip that turned me off. I drove the car hiboy for 20 years with no hassles. Surely the holsteins must have better things to do than hassle senior citizens with 75 year-old cars.

 

every now and then. then i drive my wifes "new" car and remember why i drive old ones.

 

I was obsessed with cars ever since i could remember. In 99 I had a car fall on me and almost killed me. I lost interest in cars for years. I would buy something and it would just sit. In 05 I went to a show at Farnetti's in Sandhollow Idaho. I was so impressed with the style of the cars and the people at the show. I have been back in to them pretty heavy ever since.

 

When work and play are one in the same and you no longer have any free time to work on your own projects because your always working on other people's junk. Yeah it gets exhausting!! There have been times that I have thought about moving to the beach and renting out surf boards for the rest of my life, but then I am reminded that this is not just what I do it is what I am. You know your getting good when people hate you!

 

Tried to walk away two or three times....Hell my email is NoMoreRods....

Guess what....I now have a 55 chevy that I found on C/L and just couldnt resist...I need more therapy than I can afford...

You are who you are and if wrestling with frustrating 30+ year old machinery is what keeps calling you back...Then at least you are in good company....

 

Theres only 2 things I dont like about people...talking to em and bieng around em!

 

hahahaha

 

I keep a dependable car, even a late model boring one and a hobby car. The only time that I've soured on a hobby car was when I chose a car I ended up not liking or if the thing became a hassle due to not being dependable and it was my only car. Now I have a boring daily and am in the process of finding another car to build and drive. I'm 60 years old now and doing it smarter than I used to but I am just as enthusiastic, only a little slower than I was.

 

I walked out for a bunch of years when i was a professional mechanic, just didn't want to spin wrenches all day then even look at em at night. I ha a '63 Nova SS I went through front to back, just needed paint. Never drove it. Became a garage shelf. I moved to motorcycles and antique gas engines ( spoked flywheels, single cylinder etc) Went back to cars a few years after quitting. Now sometimes I will go do an antique motorcycle or I did a barber chair from 1900, got a pile of gas pumps now for when those times come.

Yup, come back to it and its ok...

 

I feel that it's best to always have at least two operable sets o wheels.
One to drive and one to fix.
Old cars get tlc and new cars get repaired.

 

Yup! I sold my chopped '48 Chevy p/u in 2003 and walked away from the hobby for 5 years. I was burnt out and sick if hotrods. Got back into it in 2008 when I picked up my Essex.

 

Pretty much everytime i work on my wifes truck .I swear to god it's cursed if it can go wrong it will.

 

This is why I build simple cars now. My life is too crazy to mess with things constantly. I'll stand back and admire everyone else's flawless paint or period correct builds or whatever. I'm content with building clean drivers with a single 4 bbl carb.

I'm in HEI mode these days...

 

You can't quit, it's a sickness. You might be able to take a break but you can never quit.

 

Hotel California - "you can check out but you can never leave"....

 

i get sick of a lot of things. old cars are not one of them.

 

Yeah But I got over it!!

 

Got a guy coming over tomorrow to make an offer on everything I have.

 

you cant cause every time you quit you will get on the hamb and get the bug again its addictive

 

Sometimes I do. I just spent some money again today and it was a sacrifice. Always something wrong. Then again... are they ever really done?

 

i tried running away from the whole scene. it completely takes over me. hotrods the music the culture, etc... at one point sold my house, my shop, all my tools, all my cars, all my parts, all my 30's, 40's, and 50's shit. went out bought new house, a suv, corvette, and kawasaki zx-14, listen to modern music, change the way i dress, the whole nine yards..........it lasted 2 years. now i know its a curse, its a passion i can not run from..... its my life.

i will be moving to 15 fenced acres in 1 week that has 3 12,000 square foot shops that were built between 30's and 50's. ill be parking a 1953 kozy coach trailer near the shops or in a shop and living in it. i plan on packing the shops to the roofs with hotrods, parts, and all the cool shit from the 50's and before..

yes before anyones says anything. im crazy. not my fault. just happens that way.

p.s. any crazies out there that dig the scene, got a vintage travel trailer and need a job or space to work on hotrods pm me. yes im fucking serious

 

never !

 

i sold my lincoln and swore i was done working on old cars and blah blah blah...... lasted 6 years, i'm still pissed i sold my lincoln and when i decided to get back into it "slowly" i bought 2 cars in a week, theres no cure for what i have and i'm ok with that

 

never feel like calling it quits, but i do lose my motovation occasionally