Hot Rods Who else does NOT enjoy working on your cars?

I do a bit of everything from metal fabrication and paint and upholstery, but my favorite part is getting the aesthetics of the car right, especially on a custom. Frenching headlights,chopping tops, getting the car to sit right, etc... I get burnt out every once in awhile, then I concentrate on a different aspect of the build or start collecting parts for the next car. I'm always buying and selling in between working on things, and the thrill of the hunt keeps me excited about cars too.
I'm 30, so I'm close to the same age; it sounds like you're set up with a proper garage and work space. If I were in your boat, I'd enjoy a couple easy cars (wheels, exhaust and detailing) or just enjoy what you've got done until you want to take it to the next level. At 36, there's no rush to do anything as long as your car is a driver. Enjoy it in it's current state and you'll enjoy it even more when you put an interior in it and the ride is quieter.

Good luck and keep at it!

 

We need some inspiration. Remember who you are and whats in your blood!

 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Just sold a bunch of newspapers from that era to fund my car builds. Mom put them away for a reason, Thanks Mom! Bob

 

wild west.
it has become so bad with me that i don't change the oil like i should. and now i'm selling off all my stuff. time for someone else to own them. i still like old cars (and stuff)... i just don't need to own them anymore.

 

I just do not want to do major projects anymore,my first frame off build took over 20 years to finish so no more of them but would not mind buying one that has been started and most of the hard work done.

 

I'm 62 and in good shape, cheated the reaper last year with my heart attack. I feel a lot better this year and have jumped into working on the Ford at every opportunity. I'm thinking about expanding the garage and getting a 2nd old car. I've been straightening up my shop the past few weeks, already the place is easier to work in.

 

I was going to make a comment about how I no longer enjoy working on them, but have come to the conclusion that the hiatus has been good for me. I am 46, have worked on, owned, or seen every car i ever lusted over except for a Monterverdi Hai, which I will never see. I own the cars i want, and when circumstances allow, i will get back to it. Plus it is too damn hot here to do anything .

 

Good on you! Sounds like that brush with the Reaper might have spurred you on. Happy for you indeed. I'm sure I'll do more in the future. I'm looking down the barrel at retirement and they will be one of my retirement priorities. Rock on and keep us posted!


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Old cars were my main hobby from the age of 16 to 36. Family and career got busy and I burned out. I took 12 years off from cars other than maintenance on drivers. I spent time on other low-level hobbies instead.
I'd walk past the'31 coupe in the shop and think "someday I'll get back on it". My teenage son finally took an interest and that was all it took to get me excited gain. It's on.
If all you ever do is one thing, it will get boring after a while. Take a break, change it up and come back with renewed passion.

 

I still battle the back injury and I work best medicated. I got a bicycle recently and enjoy that. Before the heart attack I was in the gym 3x a week lifting weights, 9 weeks after my heart attack I went back. After I went back, saw my cardiologist and he said nothing over 40 lbs... ooopppss... I was lifting a tad more than that.

 

Time to buy a pt cruiser or Chevy SSR

 

I do enjoy not working on cars... is that the same thing?

 

Not during summer or when it's hot out. Just turned 48 and stuff is starting to wear out....somethings I've never had problems with . So the writings on the wall, back to work and save the big projects till after retirement.....I'm also going to move to a colder climate then also.

 

Doing it for a living for 40+yrs I'd get tired of working on cars daily. Since I retired I was able to rekindle my interest but sometimes it still grows old quickly. Yesterday I worked outside in the 100 degree heat rather than work on a car.

 

im in my 50's and have painted and restored cars for myself and everyone else for 30 yrs, about 5 yrs ago i was burnt out and hung it up, didnt have any cars for me and went to the house.
i have turned down numerous chances to make some money restoring cars and just dont wanna no more ! WELL...... fast forward to this year i get a call and get this studebaker given to me and BOOM im back in the mood again LOL. seems every night i have something to do to the ol girl, getttin her reliable again, and my wife says shes a widow again !!!! o well i guess a break was just what i needed, kinda sad i thru away 5 yrs but glad i got a lot of other stuff done that needed to be.
jus my nickel
goatboy

 

I had gone from muscle cars to stock cars, which is totally consuming to every $ I had and all my time. But it was fun, although the week-to-week deadlines blew. I took off a bunch of years to work on the house and get a couple of college degrees. Even the big garage was just a shit catcher, no room to even walk through it. I also ran a machine shop out of it for 25+ years... still going but doing less work.

Expanding the garage will be a major step forward. Cleaning it up recently makes working a lot more fun and less of a chore now that I can find everything again.

 

I work on cars all day. Never want to to anything on mine. Im with ya. Hate working on cars haha


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Hello,

I think it was those countless hours spent as a pre-teen on my brother’s cars from 1957 to the time we had our 40 Willys build and then explosion in 1960 had a big effect on my history. My time spent on his cars first, then learning mechanical stuff, building the Willys, then working on my own cars over the years, did a number on me. It was the disheartening disassembly of the burned out Willys, taking it to the huge scrap yard, then slowly feeling that the hot rod adventure was coming to an end…put a big damper on it.

Sure, I still had access, over the years, to my 58 Impala street race car, the 40 Ford Sedan Delivery for surf trips, Greeves desert/motocross motorcycles, the El Camino with boards strapped in the bed, but things were slowing down and life was butting in the progression. (Life: Surfing, relationships, new friends, jobs, college, etc.)

I definitely remember the countless hours spent under that 58 Chevy doing all kinds of adjustments, mounting the scavengers, exchanging the third gear ratio units, putting on the slicks for the weekend, etc. (The hours spent on tuning, adjusting the lifters, carbs, and changing the fluids on the Impala, etc.)

Then the time spent in that no-heat Rumpus Room building the motor and parts necessary for our Willys race car. Welding, cutting, wrenching, the assembly took months of time in that rear garage, rain or shine.

These were things I will never forget, but as it was said before, life was taking up the majority of time… I was hearing more…go to college, but I wanted to surf…if you don’t go to college, the military will come and get you…(always had the respect for the military) But, I just wanted to have fun growing up. Get a job…ha!

Jnaki

So, after the years go by and life took control of everything, then there was less time to stay out in the garage to do stuff that was enjoyable in high school. Now, garage time took away valuable moments from our personal lives with the ones we enjoyed spending time. (new wife, new life…) Sure, there was time to enjoy multitude of car shows and cruises up the coast, making sure the car was prepped and ready for the long drives…

But, time was the most important thing to monitor, for doing all kinds of fun stuff. Would you rather be sitting on the sand in the evening, using oil laced gasoline on the sand for a giant impromptu beach fire or inside a garage doing stuff that gets you tired and dirty. (That would leave no time for more fun stuff later.) It became easier to allow other qualified mechanics to work on your car(s)…and so it starts.

 

I spent 5 hours replacing exhaust to manifold studs. It did not go well initially. Broke one stud flush even using heat. I should have put new studs in 8 years ago when engine was out! Once the job gets going i don't mind, getting started is the hard part.

 

You have to wrap your head around a project... I do the same thing. Once I jump in I'm okay with it.

 

I enjoy working on my stuff............................my body doesn't so much anymore. Over 30 years of sitting on my ass in a truck seat has taken it's toll, my muscles and back aren't having a lot of physical use like when I was in my 20's, they let me know when I'm doing too much for them now!
Nothing I like better than looking at something, then fabbing up a bracket or a mount from pieces of raw steel and having it work as I designed it in my head.
I can still do as much as I ever could, probably more..............just takes a helluva lot longer now! What I used to do all night now takes all night to do!

 

No, your not alone. I spent over 30 years in the retail auto repair business as a mechanic and just got burned out to the point that I changed careers, still a mechanic, not on cars and don't work with the public.

Now my time in the garage is enjoyable, when I'm not doing home projects for us or our four kids who all have their own homes but still need a hand from "the old man"

Cliff Ramsdell

 

I go through the same thing sometimes. Up at 5 am to get ready for work, work all day, home by 6:30, then eat, maybe the gym to get a workout in, take care of any other husbandly duties around the house or cut the grass, etc., it's hard to carve out the time when sometime all I want to do is relax and hang with my wife. The other issue is motivation, a ground-up build is daunting. I know it's a marathon and not a sprint, but it's hard to put together the motivation sometimes when the end result is so far away. I get it. Just gotta work through it.