do you consider working on you classic a "break from reality or big hassle" ?

[bikefreak600]

first off sorry for short story,
i took on project car, reality it was not even worthy of being called a parts car. a year into the restoration we have a kid, buy a house with way too big of yard to take care of, lots of construction to do as well. up to date the car has new both sides rearframes, torqueboxes trunk floors, wheelwells, springs &shackles, taillight panel, decklid, both quarters, both inner & outer rockers, full floors, cowl sides. last weekend i start cutting out the firewall, starring down whats left of rust ( still need to replace firwall, inner fenders, straighten radiator support, hood, patch fenders. basically entire front end) suddenly it hits me.. i dont feel like doing this now.
realizing i still have a endless list of work to do on the property i become overwhelmed. too add to the list the wife wanted a dog, so now i have 1.5 acre of chainlink fencing that i need to patch up, fix etc this weekend.. made a deal with misses that since im spending money restoring the car instead of saving for the wedding, that i will have it finished she wants us to drive it on our wedding day.... NO WAY IN HELL am im going to pull that one off in time. needless to say im still trying to save money to continue working on the car. now she is in overtime mode trying to plan our wedding, and i am working overtime trying to pay for everything leaving very little time to work on everything else. now im storing bestfriends $ mint 97 toyota supra turbo(that money pit cost nearly as much as my house) so sandblasting of any kind is out of the question. slowing me down even more.

ok back to the topic, it used to be working on my classic was a great way to relive everyday stress, or step out of reality sort of speak. the smell of cutting/ welding metal, getting dirty. jamming out classic rock overpowering the noise of big compressor and metal saws, it used to be heaven. anymore it seems like its a chore or pain in the ass. the little time i have websurfing mustang sites is the only vacation i have. anyone else ever feel like after countless hours working there is still no end in sight completing a project??? to add to that once i finish something i decide to change something, essentially doing it twice.

 

[bikefreak600]

crap, just realized this is classic tech. feel free to move to talk forum.

 

[tx65coupe]

I don't feel that way about it. I usually enjoy it. Occasionally there is something that really irritates me though. I think that with all the stuff you currently have on your plate, you should consider just taking a break from the car and come back to it later. You may change your mind about it. If you still feel the same way 6 months or a year from now, then consider selling it.

 

[bikefreak600]

I don't feel that way about it. I usually enjoy it. Occasionally there is something that really irritates me though. I think that with all the stuff you currently have on your plate, you should consider just taking a break from the car and come back to it later. You may change your mind about it. If you still feel the same way 6 months or a year from now, then consider selling it.

lol hell no i never consider selling it. just tired of working on it and want it to be driveable. but i refuse to let somone else work on it. just wish it was done

 

[JonK]

I think you just underestimated the size/time of the project, I've done it also. My car was running with some exterior rust when I got it, pulled the drivetrain almost 2yrs ago now for a rebuild and haven't installed the new engine/trans yet and after it's running again I still have to take it in for bodywork/paint. I had planned to drive it to the MCA show at the Biltmore in 2wks., planned since last Dec. to do that, didn't make it.

I do enjoy 90% of my time in the garage, crank up the hard rock, down a few choice beers, throw some wrenchs, come up with some new ideas to make the car mine and unique. But, I have to agree with you, I didn't plan in all the PITA things that go along with life, a job, family commitments, cut the grass, fix the shower, roof leak, landscaping, and on and on.....

I try to do 2 hours in the garage at least 3-4 days a week, that way I get 6-8hrs. in a wk. like a days work. Doesn't always work out but that's the plan. I'm a late night person so after the wife/daughter are in bed for the night ~9pm I head out to the garage.

If you really want it finished w/o getting aggravated pick some things that you can farm out like having the body work/paint done, engine bay paint, etc. when you get it back you'll feel so far ahead that it'll give you a boost to keep going and you can get house stuff done in the meantime.
Jon

 

[shoguun]

sometimes you wanna kill someone but when you finish... it makes everything worth while.

 

[iskwezm]

Mine is or was therapy when i was going through chemo about 5 years ago.im going through a separation now with the g/f, but as soon as i turn the key and it fires up, it makes all my other problems fade away.

 

[65coupe408w]

My car ended up being down for nearly a year when I decided to do a powertrain swap. I wont lie that there were times during the swap where things got a bit tedious and I just wanted to drive the thing. But the day I turned the key and heard the new 408 come to life it was all worth it. That said I still take on projects with the car all the time, but now for me it is a way to unwind after work. Good luck with teh project you will get it done!

 

[NasaGT]

Like JonK said above, I probably enjoy 90% of my time on the car. Some jobs suck, but you gotta do them to move on. If the honey-do list is overwhelming you, don't work on the car for a while and knock stuff off of the list.

As for the Supra, if your friend wants to keep his car mint by storing it in your garage, then he should help you set it up so that you can do your work. Have him buy a car cover and then put a layer or two of painters plastic drop sheets over the car. You could even jack up the car and wrap it in plastic so you wouldn't have to worry about sand blasting. Either that or he should leave you the keys so you can move it out of the garage when you need to.

 

[Rusty67]

If you don't hate your car some times when working on a big project then you weren't doing something hard enough. You are doing a full blown restoration on that sucker by yourself and you are doing it during a time in your life where the relaxation it use to provide is gone and it is now causing extra stress in your life. Just wait it out, it will become fun again. Put it on hold it you need to. You have enough stressful stuff going on right now. Come back to working on it when you feel like cutting rust out of sheet metal again.

Also, you can concentrate on other parts of the car like rebuilding the motor/trans which might be more fun right now then body work.

 

[Steve69]

If you think its bad now wait untill the kids come...LOL. I went through it many times with my car. I bought it 1992 and 3 kids latter Is some what finished. I've had times where I did nothing on it for a year. Then I feel the urge and start working on it again. I wouldn't sell it. Just step away a bit and you'll feel the urge again. Come winter time you wont have the lawn to deal with and you might find some time to work on it.

Steve69

 

[tx65coupe]

lol hell no i never consider selling it. just tired of working on it and want it to be driveable. but i refuse to let somone else work on it. just wish it was done

I thought you were saying you were getting to the point where you were not going to work on it anymore. If that was the case, I would rather see someone finish it than to see it just sit.

I know how you feel. I felt that way a few times working on mine. It just makes it that much better when it is done.

 

[5.0W/5.0]

Bro, when its done, it will be worth it! I don't have a classic yet, but have done several engine swaps on 4th gen f-bodys....It gets frusterusterting, and you often question, "What the hell am I doing!" Currently I am looking for a 66 or a 67-70 FB, and my budget is around $500. That being said, I have the drive train all set, but know I will have my work cut out for me!

Stick with it.

 

[Max Power]

Both.

Usually any sort of deadline is a joy killer.

 

[Hack]

Working on the car is often better than driving it IMO. I agree with Max that deadlines are the worst thing as far as killing any fun you are having. Also deadlines are good for reducing the quality of my work.

 

[robbz28]

I am racing against the clock, and the clock is winning. When i got married last year I decided to do one more project before we had a kid, so last sept i got my 67, and immediately redid all the powertrain and suspension. Then in December God decided we needed a kid....we had him in July and I was afraid of like what i have read (having kids and then never finishing stuff), so i made it my mission to get this car finished by december. So not only do i have the joy of working on the car, I have challenged myself to complete by a deadline, which makes me push harder. So you may can set yourself some goals and then stick to them. Maybe that will help. I have till december to skin the rest of the paint off the car, get some color on it and install a complete interior, and it will be done. lol

 

[iskwezm]

my 2 year old daughter has never gotten in the way, maybe slowed down the process a little, but she loves being in the garage with me under the car and that makes it more enjoyable.

 

[bocksta]

My car was torn down in 1995. i finally got it back on the road last year. So i know how you feel. It's better to take your time an do it the right way. In the end you'll have a great car you can be proud of.

 

[zookeeper]

This is gonna sound corny, so feel free to laugh. For me, any major rebuild/restoration has been an adventure. Like any adventure, it starts with great enthusiasm, then turns into work, then to misery and drudgery. But like any charachter-building excersise, there comes a day when it's all worthwhile and then some. My build took nearly 6 years, and most of that time I was broke, and I mean broke. Like you, I found that life doesn't respect car schedules. House payments still need to be made, as do repairs. To get what I wanted, I sold off lots of car parts and memorabilia I had collected over the years. Nothing was sacred, little by little I sold all the collectable stuff I had bought over the years, and it sometimes got spent for needs rather than wants. Like the time I sold a set of expensive, yearly racing annuals on ebay that I had collected over the past dozen years. The day the check got here, my daily driver blew a head gasket and the repair took all that money and then some. Talk about wanting to cry, I had two non-running cars, no money and I just sold a set of books I had for years hoping to buy the upholstery for my project and instead it had to go to get the POS I drove to work running again. But there were many more good times than bad, like the day I painted it and it came out like glass. Or the day the new engine got here, or when the wife and I installed the windows, or bolted in the seats. Or the day I let my 6 year old son use the spray gun to prime some brackets, and lastly that first drive. The car ran great, looked great and rode great. People I didn't know were giving me the thumbs up or just staring. A week later I pickup up my son from grade school in it so all his buddies could see the car "we" built. That was three years ago and the car has only gotten better, new springs, I tuned the carbs and fixed a few gremlins. It's also won a few tropies, which is OK, but nothing, and I mean NOTHING beats the times when my son and I take it out early on Sunday mornings to spectate at the local drags. We get up early, and as soon as the engine fires up and settles into a rowdy idle, everything in the world seems better. There are no problems in my life when I pull six years of my life out of the garage and head out with my son. I got there and you will too, just don't ever give up.

 

[woodsnake]

Yes, I agree with everybody here! It does suck when you get over loaded with "life".
But, firing up the hot rod, and running it through the gears is some of the best therapy there is.
My younger son and I took our Cougars to a local MOPAR show a few weeks ago, and got to play a tiny bit of bumper tag. I can't tell you how cool that was for me...Or just seeing him drive his cougar on the strip while I'm driving mine....It makes up for an awful lot of "life"....