Projects Those with stalled projects, do you really want to finish them?

I'm guilty, my car has been down way too long now. I've got my excuses, or reasons, depending on how you look at them. Lack of cash, lack of time, have one and not the other at any given time. I buy what I can when I can, put that on, then wait again. And then there's the other obligations, driver vehicles, home owner things, family and friends that get in the way. When does it cross the line from taking your time to being stalled and nothing getting done? When does it cross the line between being hyped up about a project to not caring if you ever finish it at all? If it's stalled now, do you really want to finish it? Or just keep it so that you can talk about what you have in the shop/garage?

 

Sometimes I wish I didn't have so much work to do for everybody else so I could work on my junk, but then I'd be bitching about not having the money fine line right there

 

This is the first time in years that I don't have a project, I've got a few things I want to do over the winter to the '32 & the Ranch Wagon but nothing major.

I still enjoy building cars and hopefully I will find a new project in the future. HRP

 

As long as I keep my project(s), my dreams and aspirations remain alive.
At my age I recognize that its not likely that I'll ever finish another build.
Whether I am able to complete one is quite irrelevant, I am happy enough to have preserved a 72 year old, 58 year old, and a 56 year old vehicles, and hundreds of now rare parts from becoming scrap metal. Hope that the next owner(s) are also men with a dream.

 

If they stall out, I try to get rid of them and get one that gets me going again. So far, I've only had to do that twice and I lost my butt on one....but I'm glad I let it go.

 

In the old days, if my car projects sat over two days without me doing something to it, it got sold, cut up or both. I've always been a start to finish tunnel vision guy. One, and only one, project at a time. House, car, whatever. Get it done, then start another. Patience has never been on my list of virtues. Since my O/T Easy Eagle will absolutely, positively, be my last project, the only way it will stall is if I do.

 

Yes I want to finish both of my stalled projects. I guess it depends on why a project stalls. Major life events can get in the way or you can get the long term stuff around from a business that has a critical part like the chassis. After seven months and no progress has been made you get it back.

Maybe I am the only one that gets stressed by projects. But for me if I notice I am feeling more stress than satisfaction, it is time to push it into the corner until I feel it will be an enjoyable experience.

Is a project really stalled if you think about it every day but look back at a year like 2020 and go I made stuff all progress.

Steve

 

My "T" Tub has stalled out due to old age and health problems (and too many other projects). Most of the other projects that I have going concern finishing up some other stuff so I can sell it so I can concentrate on my Tub.

I am afraid I'm going to run out of years. I built a "T" bucket in the early '60's and loved it; the only problem was is that it was very cramped, thus the Tub body the second time around.

Wish me luck.

 

My Henry J has been "stalled" for about 7 years. It's taken me that long to have the best machinist I have ever known build the engine. Not his fault, it was built with good parts and I'm a working man with a family and other priorities as well. Now that the engine is done and a few other things are finished, I can use the existing chassis as a run stand for it. Putting that together is my next move, while I figure out for sure what I'm going to do for a real chassis (pure race car.)

My other car was down for 3 year due to building up an engine after my good one went boom. I put 2 junkers in, in the meantime to try to get it running, but both were garbage. I ended up putting a new good engine together and now it's back on the road.

Devin

 

My current project WILL get done, unless I leave in a box first.

I am retired, I started this one in July 2020 (actually working on it) and it has been a 3-4 days a week, 6 hours to 8 hours a day project. That may slow down with the colder weather. The truck is in my heated garage, but I have to motivate myself to go through the cold to get to the garage. Don't feel too bad for me, its about 20' between the back door and the garage walk in door.

I'm gaining ground, I drove it out of the garage Monday, turned it around, and drove it back into the garage. I only have to finish the dash, install an interior that is not yet here, build a bed, and do body and paint.... but it moves under its own power! I'm hoping to be driving it by spring 2021, but there is still a lot of work ahead. Gene

 

I made the mistake of doing things for other people for too many years. The worst part, that , I never called in the many favours I have done for people, because I prefer to work with my son or alone.
It's my own fault, because I do have the resources to buy whatever I want, and there is no excuse. (other than my advanced age, 77, and serious health issues).
Bob

 

I redefined "finished", I want the '30 Roadster and '29 Steelback BODIES finished and in pre paint primer, doors gapped, and sounding like a bank vault door closing. Rest of the parts will be in a pile for the Grandkids to deal with. It is a lot more fun watching others build road cars. 70 arrives next month.
Bob

 

I want more than anything to finish it, but given my string of bad luck employment wise and lack of any kind of proper facilities I'll be happy to hear it run once in my life.

Sent from my moto z4 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

I kind of plugged a couple of projects in front of two others that are sitting. One of them is done (sort of) and I have a good jump on the other. That still leaves me with a couple that aren't getting done. I want them all and don't regret having them. I'm just going to have to stop working for other folks and work on my own cars.

 

They’re never stalled if you think about them and do something every so often.

Heck, even in my 20’s and the only obligations I had were rent and utilities, it would take forever to finish something just to get it on the road. I guess I never made a vehicle project the first priority in my life, and I’m fine with that. Hunting, fishing spending time with the kids as they were growing up means more to me than the stuff in the shop I haven’t finished.
Besides, when it’s cold out or hot out and I don’t feel like working on stuff, I can live vicariously through those showing build threads here on the HAMB

 

I bought an old fixer house with an empty pole building ten years ago, then got married two years later. I would love to finish my 33 3 window, but I also need to finish a couple of rooms in the house and there are some areas of my shop that still need work. Once in a while I get to work on it, but there was a period of 6-7 years that I didn’t really do anything other than move it around.
My wife actually encourages me to work on it, but when you have other old cars in running condition, it takes a lot of time just to keep those in order. I actually put it in its own room in my shop, because I realized that whenever I wanted to work on it, it took half a day to dig it out where everything was accessible.
I’ve thought about selling it, especially with the ridiculous amounts people are now paying for really shitty 33-34 ford 3window bodies today, but I’ll probably never run into another one in my price range.

Dave

 

2 years ago this past August I put the project 31 in storage along with all of my shop assets and started a "ground up" restoration of a 1850's Greek revival which included building a new 26x34 garage with attic attached to the existing 18x18 carriage barn. That part of the project only started last November. In total the entire project took way longer than all of us anticipated, required more contractors assistance ($$$$) than budgeted, many more surprises than reasonable, and some health issues compounding the progress.
Last week I actually brought the 31 home, spent hours trying to remember where I had left off and where all the pieces and parts are stored (still in boxes scattered about) so it has been a bit exasperating however I have fired off the Olds and am now actively at it getting things sorted. Hope to be to the point of getting the frame and running gear in paint by March and then onto the body work.
It is good to be back at it. Most likely will be the "last one"!

 

My projects seem to stall as soon as I get them home.
They soon become someone else's project.
Made a vow not to buy any more project cars for myself. My next vehicle will run-drive-stop.

 

Most of my adult life, until I retired, was spent over the road. First as a Boilermaker working in several states where Sunday afternoon I left the house for work Monday morning and Friday afternoon I knocked off about 2:00 and hauled ass back to the house. Sometimes, the job was so far away that it wasn't feasible to do the weekend trip and it might be a couple of months before I saw the house again. Weekends were usually spent fixing the worst of whatever had gone wrong with the house or the wife's car. Same problems when I started driving truck when I was 40. There just wasn't time for a side interest for me and I didn't have a network of friends available. I remembered all the cool cars in OKC when I was a kid and always wanted my own. I finally got the opportunity a short few years ago when I met someone who introduced me to the HAMB. My first project is a 46 Merc that I bought from @saltracer and is still waiting for it's new wiring. The other is a 27 T roadster that has given me fits since day one. I didn't have a plan, just a rough idea what I wanted to do with the T. As a result, I've changed frames, engines and tranny's as I've found that what I thought I wanted just wasn't going to work. Most of the time it was due to not having the funds for that " really cool part " or dealing with the never ending and seemingly increasing number of doctors for my wife. I'm concentrating on the T right now and actually making progress. My thanks to the many people on here who have answered questions, provided me with parts and steered me in the right direction. I just turned 76 in September and with any luck, I'll have the T on the road next spring. I promise it will not have the gaudy wheels on it that are in my avatar. The Merc will hopefully be on there shortly after.

 

THOSE WITH STALLED PROJECTS, DO YOU REALLY WANT TO FINISH THEM?

YES!!!

 

Had a stalled project involving a fiberglass chopped sedan delivery with a SOHC Ford four cylinder. Sold it on the HAMB and touched base with the buyer. He finished it and then sold it to a gentlemen with a kid in a wheelchair. Worked out for everybody. So, yes, my stalled project was finished!

 

I wish I had a project like the one in your avatar. ! I'd love to have a roadster. I'm so busy with other peoples stuff, but I'd find the time for a roadster project!!! Lippy

 

This summer, I have decided to make a change, career wise. So this new business takes up most of my time. As soon as I got this on track, it's back to the workshop.
3 project cars and some maintenance are waiting. Waiting for time and money.

Sent from my online shouting device

 

I've got so many stalled projects I could fill a car lot. But I'm not getting rid of any of them. If I get bored on one project I can just work on another for a while. I've got no deadlines.

 

I wouldn't call my Model A Coupe project "stalled", since it's still slowly, steadily making progress. However, my problem is I start to get ideas of the "next" project and get so mentally wrapped up in that it's hard to keep focused for the project already in progress. Right now, I am somewhat side-tracked, tinkering with gathering parts and getting small parts cleaned up for a 283 Chevy that would potentially be for the other Model A coupe I have. And it's not only that distraction. I haven't even mentioned that I have a mental image of another T Roadster I'd like to build, and have toyed with building a FED just because it would be; A) cool-looking in the shop and not take up all that much room while under construction, B) fun to build since I really enjoy fabricating, and C) a hoot to take it to the drag strip if only a few times a year.

Lynn

 

YES! Just finished one. Getting started on another.

 

alchemy....It seems you were posting while I was typing. Switching from one project to another is a wonderful way to keep from getting bored! My problem with that approach is that at 68 years young I don't want to get in the middle of too many things at one time and just create a mess for my bride to deal with if I kick the bucket with the shop packed full. Then again....what the heck, any one of us could go any day. So, thanks for helping me justify multiple projects!

Lynn

 

My stalled project may be someone else's barn find.

 

My project would be finished if I would quit doing other peoplses stuff. The only project cars I have not finished was an ot squareback, that I quit working on to baja a bug for someone, totally got screwed my car was damaged from his storage, which ended up selling. This one sat while I rebuilt my moms 58 impala. just had to make it roadworthy, lol, so she could drive it. New floor pans, trunk, complete suspension, motor,trans and four years to do the work since 6 hours away. The car has less than 1000 miles on it and is sitting again Once I get going over the winter I am hoping mine will be done in two years...

 

I wouldn't say my projects have "stalled".
I am just so freak'in SLOW!!