i've been working on my 50' for about six months by myself.. when i retired a couple of years ago i decided i wanted to re-do a car my way. first off i knew i wanted a V8 so i've already changed out the rear, got a M2 front, homemade trans cross member installed. i've got a firewall mount master cylinder and brake pedal and an ididit column to still be put in. last night i completely striped out the dash... anyway, you guys working alone on your cars, do you ever feel overwhelmed? this is my first project and there's days i feel i'll never get it back on the road....
I think we all get overwhelmed sometimes. I am building my car from the ground up. My advice is, When you start to feel overwhelmed it's time to stop, Put the tools down, Pull up a chair a crack a beer, Relax and look at your project and imagine how it will be when your done. It helps you to calm down and realize it can be done. It takes a lot of patience and time but you will get it done.
I've gone thru the exact same thing with my '49. You do get overwhelmed.. you look at it and say "is this thing EVER going to be on the road"... that's normal. I'm doing it all.. and to make it worse (or better depending on how you look at projects), I've got another project sitting right next to it that needs to be done too. The trick is not to be in a hurry. Set a deadline (realistic) for yourself and work towards that. Take it A PIECE AT A TIME.., and if you don't make your deadline.. then set another one a little farther out. Main thing is to just keep moving forward. It will eventually get done and will be on the road. Every time you finish a task tell yourself that you're that much closer to your goal. Again, I think it's important not to worry too much about it's current state.. just keep working towards a goal.. it'll happen. I've set May 27th (My birthday to finish mine) and I've got a LONG ways to go. But I'm sending out invites to my party and I'm calling it a "Hot Rod Unveiling/Birthday/50's costume party"... nothing like putting pressure on myself, but I like you have been working on it for 2 years. I let myself get distracted doing other things. It's time to focus and gedderdun. Good luck and take pics!
yes, this. I also like to concentrate on one component or system at a time. Get the engine done all one shot, little at a time. Get the brakes all done in one shot, little at a time, etc... instead of bouncing around all over the car.
Hey Gman, it feels like dragging an anchor at times, trust me check my post best of times...worst of times!! I took 2 weeks away from mine over the summer and it really helped to get some perspective. Also set a time frame, but don't get too bummed when you miss it cause things pop up. Keep going at it one small project at a time and it will all come togehter, besides my greatest motivator is the first fire, or taking it around the block for the first time. But just keep at it, everything will come together and you will feel great about the work you've done!!
Helps me to get the essentials done first, Fuel system, drive train, braking. Then I register it and drive it no matter what it looks like around some backroads occasionally. That keeps me moving along with the progress. Money seems to be my biggest stumbling block.
What everyone is saying about breaking it down into small mini projects is crucial. That way you feel like you're making progress through lots of small victories. Make a list of a few realistic goals, finish them, them make another list. If you have a list with 250 things on it, fuhgeddaboutit. And when I feel overwhelmed, I usually just get away from the car altogether for a while.. Maybe go back and find what it was that had me inspired in the first place, pictures, old Hotrod movie, whatever. That way after a while of not seeing your car, when you open the garage for the first time in a week or so, you'd be surprised how bad ass your own car can feel all over again.
The first step in not getting overwelmed is ,concentrate what your working on at the moment and just make sure it doesnt effect the next step.
We have been working on our HA/GR project http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=189651 since June of 2007. Had a few setbacks.......open heart surgery in January '08 to repair a blown out valve.......retirement onto social security creating a serious lack of "race car funding" and just plain frustration of the "it will never get done" kind. When you get to that point I find the best thing to do is go into the "engineering mode".......head for a comfortable place with a pad and pen or pencil and start doodling ideas and listing the next steps you plan heading into in the build. I rebuilt an airplane over a 3 year plus period and scratch built another over a span of more than 5 years. The secret is to know that it is worth the effort and try and do something every time you can work on it, however small that may be and sooner or later, you run out of things that need to be done. Don't let people asking when you plan on having it finished bug you.......just say "Tuesday" and never say what week, month or year.
I find lists to be helpful..... one long one of everything that needs to be done can be daunting, so I break it down into smaller tasks, then list what I need to finish that task and go after it, one thing at a time. Each time you complete something, cross it off the list. Before long you're at the bottom of the page! It also helps you focus on what's more important, and get those things done first. Driving it around for the first time is a huge motivator! It took me 4 years to do the rustoration on my O/T Jag, there were times that I thought I'd never get to the end of rusted out panels, but eventually I did - and I still remember the first time I fired it up!
I have been working by myself for 30 years & it can be daunting. I just stay focused on seeing the project to the end knowing I will be proud to say "I did this all by myself". Here lately my health isn't so hot & I have been trying to get help, can't even pay people here to do it.
it IS tough. these are some great ideas guys! i've been considering joining a club so i can have a close up support crew! ;-) ...and maybe even find someone to swap out work with. (my biggest problem is too many ideas/projects and too little time and money)
Solid advise.. exactly how i have been going about my A build for the past 2 years..one step at a time and try to do something no matter how seemingly insignificant it is..its one more step toward the final out come
You may be disappointed with trying to find "club" support. The reason I'm solo is due to the fact the most either want to drive their own or work on their own and don't really have time for anybody else. Too click-ish too. If you ask for help you may hear nothing but cricketts. I wish you luck if you go that route. I'd rely on yourself and motivate yourself to gedderdun before looking to a club for help. I'll never join another one. But that's just me.
Make a to do list....it will help you stay on track. Remember- How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time....
3 years in on my 1st project and it was a ground up build- I am an idiot first off; but like they say- I just have to imagine myself in it cruising- and I know my daughter (9 months old) and I will have tons of fun together with it.
I never feel overwhelmed because I think the build is the best part. I'm not in a rush to get it on the road. Have a plan and don't stray from it and it'll be done quicker than you think.
Three words of advice for you: Make A List. A "to do" list is the only way it'll get done without you feeling like you're in over your head.
Agreed with the list..I list all the items on a white board and cross them out as they are done, each item is a small project that can be done in a day. If it cant be done in a day I break it down into smaller projects. It is supposed to be fun, but I have been doing cars for so long sometimes it feels like work, and then I just walk away for a few days until I am excited to work on it again. You can see my list for my 65 olds when I was building it through my windshield on the upper right
Been there. I put up a big whiteboard in the garage and listed everything. Stuff I needed to do and stuff I needed to buy. Then I crossed things off as I went. Worked great, made me feel like I was making progress, and it kept me on-task, When I had a few minutes to work, I'd look at the list and find something on the list instead of inventing a new task...which would never get finished in that few minutes, and end up making more work for me in the long run. It was also good for keeping track of the "Oh yeah, I gotta remember to..." sorts of stuff. Just starting the list: Closer to completion:
Everyone has been there. When I get frustrated at a lack of progress or get stumped on how to make something work, I shut the shop lights off and let it sit for a day. A fresh set of eyes makes a world of difference for me. I find though that I need to do one thing a day on it so at least I feel I'm making progress.
Overwhelmed? Yes, but kinda in a good way. Took me four years to get our roadster on the road this last spring. First run down the driveway and I knew it was all worth it!
ill work on something other than the car. i have to do stuff or i go mad but sometimes its not the car. Sometimes i need to relax so i dig a hole or clean the shop or make some art or some crap, to get centered.
dry erase board is the way to go, you wouldn't believe how helpful they are. Especially when you take a day or two off and then forget where you were at
Like the T Man says, break it into small jobs, micro bites. Helps to use the box it method, all the stuff I need to do this job is in this box including instructions, details etc., next box has a whole new thing in it, when the box is empty you might just be done. All the instructions go into a filing cabinet with that cars name on it.
I bought my car as a previously dissassembled basketcase so yeah, I feel overwhelmed all the time but I try to keep looking at it as a series of little jobs. If you buy a driver and can keep it a driver while woking on individual parts it's a big help motivationally. The farther you take it apart without completing any tasks, the less likely it is that you will ever drive it again. I'll tell you one thing that you probably won't hear on this board and that is, the more you deviate from stock the more complicated the build will become. It is much easier to rebuild a stock front end then to install one from another vehicle or a kit. I know this is a hot rod board but there are a lot of extremely talented fabricators here that can engineer anything and make it look easy. The problem with that is that it's easy to overestimate just how much you can do and up taking a project so far to apart that you just lose interest all together. Some other tips I can think of are to bag & tag parts parts as you go and take a lot of digital pictures. The pictures thing may seem trivial but 6 months after you take something apart its nice to have a reminder just how something came apart. I've also heard of restorers refurbishing assemblys as they come off the car. The thinking being that at the end of the day you have an organized group of parts ready to put back on the car rather than a bunch of rusty stuff piled in a corner. All you can do is take a little at a time and keep pluggin along.
My first rod (32 Vicky) took eight years, thought it was drivable in about four, The next one only took six years. I have to juggle work and family into the mix, but things did hang me up for months sometimes. I was never short of ideas, but many of them didn't pan out once the work was done, so I'd start over. Now my welding/tin-bending/engine-building skills are better since I re-did things so much. It's the bumpy journey of building/inventing/testing. And really it never ends.
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