Projects How to decide when to throw in the towel?

Gotta have some skills,without skills this is an expensive hobby..or a project abandoned.The ones you finish are ones you touch every day...even if its to wipe off a bolt head,you have to touch them every day or you'll find time slipping by and the project never getting done..that being said if your hearts not in it abandon it and get what you want..a driver that needs some TLC perhaps..

 

From my point of view, time = money(spent). I've got a couple customers that have some skills, but far more money. They use their time to do what they do best (one makes Mezcal), gather up the money and spend it on good parts and paying me to do the welding, fabricating, etc. That money funds my Model A project, and we end up with two (or more) hot rods out there to enjoy. I value their input, they like my work. And they have a great time at races like TROG and the Colorado Dirt Drags. Isn't that what this is supposed to be about?

 

I have a Model A project in work since 2003. I will have it driving this year. I work on it when I Have time and of course money.

 

A hidden leak from my dishwasher resulted in me removing 3 layers of old flooring. Refinishing of the floors led to shopping for a new kitchen countertop (which costs about the same as a new engine). After placing order for countertop, we find the old countertop is GLUED down (instead of screwed) leading to major headaches and potential replacement of cabinets (which cost more than bodywork and paint).

I'M GOING BACK TO WORKING ON CARS!

 

I worked on my Ford for close to 2 years to get it running and driving. I think I took off 6 weeks for things like blizzards, the shop was too cold to get warm enough to work or I was sick.

7 months ago the heart attack came along and I initially thought I may not recover. I had a couple of rough months but turned the corner and was driving the car again. That's when I knew I was going to survive. Now the car is better than ever thanks to some good people who believe in me and the car. I'm helping someone else with a LS3 swap into a Mazda Miata.

You need to stick with a project and not have too much of a lapse in working on it. Even if you clean something, sort parts, look up parts, the project is advancing.

 

Absolutely time = money. Most guys like the idea of a Rod. But have no clue on the amount of money and time it takes to actually build one in your garage. A lot of guys are still stuck in 1960 dollars when it comes to buying stuff. So the project just sits for 30 or 40 years until is moved on. My point is actually find a hobby you like and are willing to spend money on for those 30 or 40 years. Instead of a pipe dream of a magazine cover car for $5000. That will never to happen.

 

A guy I share a commercial woodshop with got his eye shot out by a newbie a framing nailer and the corner of a 2X4.

My friend Jen got 4 of her fingers taken by an 18" jointer in our shop 5 years ago.

A guy I know propped his portable Makita table saw up on an overturned plastic garbage can, blade up all the way. Turned his back to get the wood, garbage can collapsed and the running saw entered his thigh, to the hilt. He now hobbles around his pizza store 7 days a week.

When I was a teenager I worked cleaning the woodshop of a brush factory after school. One day a chunk of kick back broke a guy's skull open and he died right there.

My friends' dad just cut his thumb off last year in hobby shop.

I build furniture for rich people for a living. The sooner my day is over and I'm home the safer I am.

 

You can see all that stuff, not the same can be said about electricity, that shit is beyond my comprehension level. Bob

 

Electrophobia? http://common-phobias.com/Electro/phobia.htm

 

I say build what you want, no matter how long it takes.

The journey is more important than the destination.


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So........... did the OP give up on this car or what? It's been a few years.

 

Don't give up ! There's not one person on this site that hasn't thought of giving up on a project. Hang in there and you will eventually succeed !!!


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No, he's still at it. Yesterday he was still looking for a place near him to blast the body. Guess he's still a model A fan.

 

Very true. I remember, after the first real test drive in my last T Bucket, I parked it. Grabbed a brew and thought, "Well hell, now what?". The best time I ever had with it, was building it. I'm lucky to be doing it again, although not as quickly.

 

glad i'm not one of your friends.....i was a woodmachinist for 10 years and am glad to say i still have all my fingers
( and toes)

 

D.O.R. = Dont Own a Rod.

 

My buddy says, "Sounds like a bunch of drunks, trying to talk someone out of AA!"

 

Who owns who? If the car is starting to own you, eg stressing you out when you look it. Move it on out and get something that you can enjoy.


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There are dozens of times in a car project that the temptation to quit is nearly overwhelming. Just have to get the attitude that nothing short of death will deter you. It is really nothing more than a mind-set.

 

I'm still around...I haven't given up. I realize my shortcomings and am working on a way to get the body stripped. Either by chemical dip or sandblasting.

I have set a goal of at least getting the engine running this summer. I need to get the cheap off the car so it looks and feels like a project, not a storage space. I was trying to decide how to do the fuel for the roadster and have decided on a fuel cell in the rumble seat area and a 12v electrical system so I can run a fuel pump to dual down draft carbs. I have to sort through all of my extra parts because I have SO MUCH stuff that I have acquired and it is taking up A LOT of space. I have already organized my garage a bit, so right now it is better than it has been. I am also working on my Jeep Cherokee replacing usual wear pieces, so that's cutting into my weekends, but I like it.

 

Model A Fan- try to stick with it. Sometimes you need to prioritize life and these projects take a back seat.

I purchased my 57 chevy truck project back in 1995 while I was going to college and working full time. I really only worked on it during the summers. I made progress and it took my 10 years to do the full frame off build. I stuck with it and got it done. This all occurred while doing a major home remodel, starting a family etc.

It is also difficult when you are the "go to guy" for friends/family/ co workers who need a hand with: fixing their daily driver, fixing some appliance that is urgently needed, fixing their computer problems etc.

Here is a funny little story: I had blown up the rear differential in my OT C4 corvette and I was under the car removing the entire rear suspension assembly by myself. I had one hand holding the diff while unbolting something else, when the housewife from across the street comes over asking to borrow my toilet plunger. I say sure and I will bring it over in about 30 minutes. She insists that she needs it now since she has a house full of kids for a birthday party. I tell her the best I can do is 30 minutes. So I do take it over to her, but it takes her 2 weeks to return it and only after I see her and ask her about it.

 

to the OP, if you can afford it, just store all your project parts and buy somethin to drive that doesn't need major work, if not, sell the project and do the same, then buy yourself a welder and some tools and start learning some skills, use friends to teach you if need be, or go to a college coarse., etc.... good luck.

 

its amazing how much you can accomplish if only an hour a day.

 

Hello,

Well, for as long as we have been involved in cars/customs/hot rods, etc, we could look back to a great experience. But, after the build on the 40 Willys and the aftermath, we seriously gave it some thought as to what to do next. The excitement of the build, the travels to speed shops, racing, meeting and talking to racers, all made it difficult as to what we wanted to do next.

One thought was the heck with C/Gas, let’s go after those big names in A/Gas with a Willys pick up and a bigger motor. This time it would be a B&M or C&O hydro. We had some contacts and started throwing ideas around. Another idea was to do a street roadster with a 671 SBC and a stick hydro.

Finally, one last idea was to allow Mickey Thompson to do a complete swap of his offer to put in one of his 671 big Pontiac motors in our 1958 black Impala. My brother nixed Thompson's offer idea in early 1960, but now in the aftermath, he was reconsidering. Since I was now the sole owner of the 58 Impala and he had a VW surf van.

The A/Gas pickup would be an all-out drag racing car with a possible street cruise in mind. The street roadster would be a fast drag car and also be able to drive it on the street for weekly cruises and school. The Mickey Thompson conversion would be the most unusual as there weren’t any cars at the drags with that particular set up, let alone drive one on the street. (the shop told us that it would be fully "streetable.")

The local weekly drive-in parking lot shows and races would not be the same with this Godzilla set up sitting in the lot. That would be a little over the top… plus, we would have to get my mother her own car…4 cars in a two car garage house? But...the 671 Pontiac motor conversion done for free?
Food for thought...

Jnaki

Well, my brother and I finally told each other what each of us wanted to do with the next level, after full recovery. He wanted to ride motorcycles in the desert and go surfing. They were exact opposites in direction and mode of activities. I wanted to get a car, like a 40 Ford Sedan Delivery and make it into a super fast, street car all while looking like a stock old time car.

No more dragstrip escapades for us. In the end, my brother’s idea had a better recovery phase situations built in place. My super street car would not have much going for it except for the adrenaline in the build and upon acceleration…just like before, in the Willys.

So, we decided to “thrown in the towel” and excuse ourselves from the drag racing/car building scene as our primary activity. Now, it was on to the desert for those all-out speed runs at El Mirage, dirt racing on odd ball trails and surviving those 50-100 mile dusty, races in the Mojave.

On the other hand, we started to travel to distant surf spots all over So Cal and Mexico. In doing this weekly, we got better and better in our surfing abilities. We now had a new group of friends, ideas on slower living and developing a low key life of a surfer/motorcycle rider/racer. That is another group of stories to showcase that part of history in So Cal. Then life called, families started, and time marched onward.

 

As others have mentioned, doing just a little at a time will help.
What is even better is making a list that you can methodically check things off as you complete them. That way you can focus on one thing at a time and not get overwhelmed.
My first build was the hardest. Partially because I didn't know what I was doing. Just winging it. No list. No sense of direction. Took about 5 yrs Bc I just about gave up.
Second build has been a dream. Made lists and learned what NOT to do, etc.
The second build was in 10x worse shape than my first too. It'll be completed in under a yr and that is just slowly pecking away at it.


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I made a rule- at least 1 hour a day or night. If I missed a 1 hour session, I would do 2 the next night, If I missed 3, 3hours the next one, etc. And if I had a good weekend and did 10 hours, then I would not "build up credit", I would do my Monday night 1 hour. Even if you are just cleaning up, or measuring up a bracket, etc, & not even getting your hands dirty, it's progress. Known as "LBS jobs" (little bullshit jobs).

 

Not having a shop, and doing 90% of my work in a driveway, working in the Texas summer heat and humidity I throw in the towel just before I pass out!
But I have always adhered to the policy - once the project stops being fun and starts being a chore I consider moving on. I already have a job and chores I have to do - I consider working on cars a hobby for my enjoyment.