Thread: Suffering from burn out....

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What do you all do when you just seem to be burnt out on a project? I thought for sure my T coupe would be done by now. But seems like Ive always got something else to do! Either working on my Belair, riding the Harley, taking the boat to the lake....and now I've got my motor coach RV that Im sure I will be modifying to my likes.....I havent even touched the T at all this summer......Guess I'll just hafta buy a good heater for the shop and hit it real hard this winter...

It happens to everybody I think. I know it happens to me, and I see my Sons go through it on their projects too. Several things enter into it. First and foremost we have to remember we are doing this for fun.............it is a hobby and this particular car has no completion date unless we are shooting for some event or some self imposed time to have it running. That being the case, it may take many months or even many years before we consider it "done", whatever done is in the car world.

The other factor is money. It takes a h*** of a lot of money to build ANY car whether it is a low buck driver or a Ridler contender. Unless you are independently wealthy it takes time to save up for some of the pricier items. You can generally sneak out a few bucks for the cheaper parts, but when it comes to the ones that cost hundreds or thousands of dollars we have to find space between keeping a roof over our heads and eating to put money aside until we have enough for those purchases.

I see my Son Dan wrestling with the same burn out you are experiencing now, and I saw Don go through it on his T. They see all this time and money going out and it seems you see very little progress. Dan made the comment that for the past 5 years he has been dumping every spare dollar he has into his RPU to the exclusion of everything else, and he is very tired of doing that...........I understand only too well because it took me 6 years to build my 27 and it got to the point where I would almost get physically ill when I had to write another check.

You mention other hobbies, and that is probably good. If you spend every minute doing just rod building it becomes a job rather than a hobby which takes the fun out of it IMO. You can't let one car build consume your life and you have to sometimes step away from it to let your batteries recharge. For me what usually gets me going again is when I attend some car show. I come home with the urge to get mine on the road.

Now get back out in the garage and get that cool coupe done. We've all waited too long to see that thing finished!

Don

Happens to me on every project. I must suffer from some kind of attention deficit disorder, because I just can't be tied down to one thing for too long, it makes me nuts. I'll take a breather and go work in the yard for a few days or a few weeks until the desire returns to work on the project.

The same here,,I have been rebuilding my wifes 55 Customline for several years,ripped into it real hard to start with,body off the frame,repaired the frame,replaced the rear quarters,patched the floor,rebuilt the doors,etc,then had to turn my attention to the house,then the business,then the house,then rebuild the F100 we imported,oops,need a motor,take the windsor out of the Customline,buy an injected motor for the Customline,,,oops,no cash,SOOO,Itry to do something as often as I can at the moment,but we are very busy in the shop,so it hasnt happened for a month or so.I think its normal to have the car builders blues,plus,I am too stubborn to give up..
Stick with it,dont go near it for a week or two,then sneak up on it and frighten the daylights out of it..

you should have more than one project to work on at all times.i have two and one engine rebuilt going on.

When the going gets tough, the tough go fishing!!!!!!!!!

All of the comments here are right on. I've been building hot rods for 45 years and even the paying job have to sit once in a while. Some times you just get to a place where it's better to let a project sit rather than to push yourself to move forward. It seems like whenever I push myself on a project I end up re-doing whatever I did over again. Some time I will just pick one small part of the project and work on it and forget about the overall big project. After all, any large project can be broken down into a bunch of small projects.

My theory is much like the others here. It's supposed to be fun and when it's not, Don't do it. There will come a time when you will jump back into the project and have a blast again.

I have had that problem, but enjoy the "building process" so much I eventually gave up the "owning process". I think it is the creativity and craftsmanship that gets me "juiced".

Even with this viewpoint, I have times I feel overwhelmed. The big trick is to feel satisfied when you complete each major step in the build. Another thing I do is to focus on the outcome. Maybe you could step ahead, and examine the possibilites for the creativity ...like picking colors, wheels, interior, or maybe even a few things that will make your car different ....like an unusual aircleaner, body mods, unusual exhoust treatment, tail lights, or graphics. Maybe that would get you more excited, and inspire you to move faster toward that later part of the build.

I could not agree more with everything said soo far.......I just started back on mine after a 2 year time of doing virtually nothing at all on it.

I think I saw another one like it or watched some rod show on tv and just got renewed into wanting to work on it again.

Wow....what you all said....I think it all applies to me!!.. also, TOO many hobbies, plus the property to keep up, during the summer months...Things should slow down once fall gets here.....But then I hate working in the cold!! After living in south Fla for 35 years Im spoiled now!!....Just gonna hafta break down and heat the shop. I think I'll just enjoy the rest of the summer and put the T on the back burner till winter....and NOT feel guilty about it either... But someone has to tell my girlfriend to get off my butt!! She's more excited about driving the T then I am (if that's possible!!)

One thing I do to make sure I am gonna be "geared up" to continue with my project is I buy my stuff well in advance so when I do get back to working on it I am not playing catch-up on acquiring parts. I also works to my advantage because I dont necessarily have to pay retail because I was astute enough to catch the sales.

I find myself spending more time "looking" than actully wrenching .... but that makes it fun.

Have fun with that big ol motorhome .... you finally gots indoor plumbing LOL enjoy!

One thing I would suggest to anyone is to do a build thread on here and don't be afraid to keep posting updates, no matter how insignificant the progress might be. When I did the build up on my 23 T it was one of the most fun things I did because I would come home every night with pictures in my camera and share them with my friends. I felt sometimes I was just posting for the sake of posting, but everyone's encouragement and suggestions made it fun. It also keeps you motivated because if you miss a few days someone is asking if you fell off the face of the earth or something.

The other aspect is that the quality of your work improves. When you have a bunch of people who know their stuff looking at what you have done it tends to make you spend a few minutes more grinding some part a little smoother than you might have done otherwise. And I don't know about everyone else, but I love to read other peoples build threads and look at their pictures. I never get tired of them.

Don

`im sorta in burnout mode myself at the moment .. have been most of this year .. i still have my dodge truck to topcoat some day and want/need to overhaul my stang as well as wanting to build some kind of rat-drag racer for some fun next year .. at the moment i`m dropping every spare nickle in my home .. this year is a total wash for me anyway with ( WOMAN ) problems and everything so `im saving up my energies for 2010 ..

I have to go project to project. Problem is everytime I get enough cash to finish somthing I find somthing else to buy/build. I can't really finish anything because I am still finishing my shop, adding a homeade paint booth & designated parking spot for my 55 in my end stall. I really have too many projects but I can't help myself, my wife wants to find me some intervention like they have for drug and alcohol. Here is what I have:
83 K5 - just for riding in the woods.
55 belair - ready for paint.
68 camaro - waiting on my 7 yr old to take over whenever he is ready.
Black 78 Bronco with rebuilt 400M for twin daughter #2 Jaide 14 yrs old.
Red 78 Bronco with 6" lift (planned 460) for twin daughter #1 Jordan 14 yrs old.
Picked up a 92 K3500 with Vortec 454 (42K miles) (Navy surplus)$880. Was going to use motor in somthing else but truck is too good to junk.
Picked up a 85 GMC 7000 for $235 (city surplus)with a 454 (41K miles) Was going to use that in the 55 but it's to good to junk.

~13 years here on my build- a "track t" (Toronado).
Last month trying to refab hinges to fix panel gaps, then another repaint.
Need to infuse still a couple more grand to rebuild engine/trans (have receipts over $12,000).
Hoping the state inspector approves so I can pay an extra 5% vehicle sales tax on top of it all.
Inching forward at a crawl.
I am blaming home remodeling and getting older.