Projects Every get sick of it, or burned out?

Hello!

Been busting my a** for the past year working on several projects...T5/disc brake conversions on 2 cars, front end rebuild, clutch, tranny rebuild, etc., and now I just don't feel like going into the garage.

Been wrestling with an electrical problem on my Galaxie, and I just cannot seem to chase it down, getting frustrated.

Ever feel like saying "f*ck it" and walking away for a few months?

Chris

 

Few months? I've got cars that have sat out in the garage for YEARS. Having them is the fun part, if you want to wrench on them or prime/paint something fine, do it when you are in the mood. There is no pressing reason to finish them. Bob

 

Yep but normally when I walk away from a project its for good .....sold!

 

Sure,,distance myself for a little bit and then start again ,ask myself why do I do this shit ? Answer is because i have done it all my life and I like it....

 

yes

 

I always think that this is nothing you haven't done before only I've never been this old before. Takes twice as long to do half as much as I once did. One thing remains the same though, still usually have to do it twice.

 

Only when I know something is wrong but don't know exactly what it is.
When that happens its a road block to progress.
It could something stupid too that I may be in denial about. Some rework that winds up being a 5 min project that will sideline things for months.

 

Yep....it happens. It seems like what works for me is setting a fixed amount of time (like regular working hours) I'm going to spend on the project and then quitting when I said I was going to. A few days or weeks of this generally gets me back to the place I can work on it as long as I want, but sometimes sticking to the set hours works better.

 

My "Beulah" after doin for her since the mid 60s -- I can't DO for her now too painfull!

 

Lame post.... But I hear you.

Maybe ask Spock for some help.

If it was easy everyone would do it.

 

Ugh.... That is not good. Always liked your posts. Take a breath. You'll be on the road again

 

It really could be worse.

 

My roadster was an 8 year project.....many,many times it seemed like an 8 yr sentence instead.. I'd get so "over it" and would just lock the shop and hope the elves would cart the whole mess to the dump..
But , I'm fortunate to have some really good friends that would drop by, jack my lazy ass up and insist on my finishing..
Usually they would have a different slant on the solution to the problem that shut the project down..
Another set of eyes or a different idea would result in a renewed effort..
I still think that taking a break every so often is necessary. Sometimes the best ideas and methods come when you're away for awhile...
And a few good friends with different solutions help tremendously...
....just my $0.02
Stan

 

Never! Never have, and I can't see that I ever will. Even when shit is going completely wrong and I can't stand what I'm working on, I'll come in at the end of the day, pick up a stack of old magazines and dream of what I'll build next. Been that way since birth, and in a few months that'll be 50 years.

 

Thanks Saxon -- *I'm* still "On the Road" w this --

and tDAY I got to help THIS fella --

 

Yeah, suffering from it now. I went on a cruise recently and just have not been in the mood to get back to it since I returned. But like the 37kid said, there is no rush to finish it. It will be there when I get back in the mood.
Just don't get a wild hair and sell it, you will soon regret that move.

 

Yes--but I try to focus on the ride that will be there. Took 6 years for the Model A V8. Just this past weekend i unearthed a pickup truck I parked in the barn about 40 years ago. Had much of the work done on it then but a whole lot of life happened. Seems that when I was youg, I had some time but no money, then when I got married and a house and work kids and stuff, had neither money nor time. Now I finally have a little time and some money to get back to work on this long dormant project. I hope it doesn't take 40 more years or someone else will be finishing it for me.

 

Working on cars can't be the only activity you enjoy doing, go do some of the other things you like for a while. Its fall, gotta be something around the house / yard that needs done, take the significant other somewhere and build up some brownie points, go see a band play live even if theyre not very good, catch up with friends. Don't get so burnt out you're not enjoying it.

 

Been 2 years but I'm finally getting dirty again

 

I don't have burn out near as much as I used to. Maybe because I'm enough better at it now to actually see progress in a reasonable time or because everything else in life burns me out so much the cars are where I go to get away. Either way, I would take some time off then just work through it ( Nothing like the satisfaction of project success).

 

I like the work/build part better than the drive part now that I am older. Time in the garage is what I want to do. No schedule, no boss (except maybe the wife sometimes). Just me and stuff in the shop making more stuff!

 

Ya brother I hear ya, been working and spending $$$ on my 32 off and on for close to ten years. some days it was hard to stay enthused but its almost done. Have faith and keep moving forward, its ok to take time off to regroup, you own it, don't let it own you.

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I've worked on machines as a hobby most of my life.
But after driving her daily for almost 5 years, I bailed on my Plymouth for some 20 years. I almost never touched it in all that time.

Now I'm normal again & I work on it a bit every day.

(I had 3 other cars and a boat & several computers to work on in those years, so I was always normal. I just wasn't normal with poor Edith d' Plymouth.)

 

The way I deal with "burn-out" in my twilight years is to switch off to the "honey do" list at the first signs of boredom/frustration/etc. I have found that I get tired of that list a lot faster than I get tired of working on car and look forward to getting back into my shop. My "honey" will verify all of the above.

 

so what kind of electric problem are you having?

 

When I get that far along on a project it is time to sell it and start on another. The fear of watching it burn to the ground is a major turn off. Bob

 

I brought home my project 2 years ago September. A chassis less 32 coupe ...having a small garage I had to get that frame done before the rainy season...I don't know where the fire in me came from but I was waking up hours before work getting even little things done before I had to leave for my real job in construction...then back in garage till I'd fall into bed....when ever I did start to burn out. I'd garb a beer,go into the house , and turn on the TV...click....crappy sensationalist news. Click....bad canned laugh sitcom. Click .... constant corporate barrage telling me to buy shit...within ten minutes I'd be back wrenching and thrilled to be there...
Now I don't wrench as a profession so that probably makes a big difference ...so hang in there...you'll get back that fire soon. I'm now driving the hell outta my coupe got it on the road last month...just before the rainy season

 

You are fine. Get away from it and relax. You can not preform unless you are relaxed. If you feel guilty go clean up your shop. Go see your hot rod buddies and they are itching to help you. This is what makes to hobby fun.

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For sure members burn out, just on trying to have cool running car.

Who doesn't here?
Life gets in the way, tastes change.
Ive walked away from a few projects.
Walked away from the Hamb for about 4 years..

Just some thoughts to readers...

Sell all your projects have one nice running classic car. Be done with that one, then start a new one.
Or if your just a hamb reader aspiring to have a cool car. Save up as much as you can and buy the most complete project car available with the money you have. Save up a bit more and just get a driver of some sort.

 

hell there's a long term Stude that was a running 6cyl truck that I was going to V/8 that I walk by every day....motors in....was stumped on a 4 sp bellhousing.....when I have a few 5 speeds I keeping for what???.....any way sometimes I just sit on a fender of one gazing at the others and past the time with em'......