What is your favorite and least favorite part

What is your favorite part and least favorite part of either building a car or fixing one up? All of us have things that we enjoy an things we detest doing, just wondering what some of you like and hate.

For me, I like the initial mockup stuff a lot. I find that exciting.......propping wheels and tires up and dreaming about what will be the final outcome. I also like bolting stuff on freshly painted parts. Sometimes I can't even wait til the paint is dry. :LOL:

But, what I hate is body work and painting. Sanding and prepping stuff is like pure drudgery to me, and painting is not far behind. It is dirty work and my hat is off to anyone who does it for a living.

How 'bout Y'all?

Don

I agree that body work and paint are my least favorite things. I'm not really that good at it and it's always a struggle for me to get it right. I do it myself just to save money.

I like the metal fab and engine work the best.

Of course there's nothing quite like the first time it moves under it's own power!:)

Mike

i like it all but doing body work for over 20 years i hate the dust and sand blasting i send out less i can get it in my box i would be building one right know if i had the money so the money is the hard part i still would love to paint one or two i know i still got it:3dSMILE:

I no longer build my own at this time, but I have done many builds.

I liked the design phase, when you are creating the overall project....deciding on and assembling the performance parts. This isn't fun for me unless there is some serious "tire frying", and proving a point to rivals. Obviously, I like the visual parts.....mockup, choosing components, modifications to the body, and of course paint. Now I consider myself fortunate to be able to do my "favorite part" for a living.

Things I detested: The mundane routing of lines and wiring, "Ho-hum" rebuilding of brakes, repairing old damage, figuring out linkages, attending to all of the 'necessaries" that have to be there, but don't have a lot to do with straightline performance, or appearance.

Like you my favorite is the planning/design/mockup phase followed by the major subassembly build stuff. Unlike you I enjoy the painting stuff, maybe you just didn't inhale enough lacquer thinner to get to where you don't know any better. My least favorite is the final phase detail stuff because I tend to get real picky, then keep re-thinking, and sometimes back myself into the bog down corner...............well that, and the old fart I hire to do this stuff is slow, cranky, and tough to get motivated sometimes. He started a thread on here a while back about procrastinating.:whacked:

i love the smell of lacquer. i did inhale:whacked: i like to make parts i like mock up and the making of parts turning things down and milling things so i like the maching part is what i like to do more now . this engine maching work i realy like to bore blocks out just like the sound the boring bar makes when it cut a hole out and the fab work with the sheet metal and frame work i like to any thing that gets me to use the welder i like . the wiring i like laying out how i want the wires to go. header building and EX is ok were i have a spot that a never seam to get done is the interior

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Originally Posted by pat mccarthy

i love the smell of lacquer. i did inhale:whacked:

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Yeah, we can tell!:eek: :LOL: :LOL: :LOL:

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Originally Posted by Bob Parmenter

Yeah, we can tell!:eek: :LOL: :LOL: :LOL:

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thanks for saying so. i think you did a bit to? :LOL: i love the smell of the old metal flake clear

so far with what i have came across that needs to be done i love it all. From the planning to the actual mechanical and body work. It is so soothing to be out there with my radio and car and no one else. The only thing that I have come across that got on my last nerve is motor mount. I will never again attempt to do one with the engine in. I will sell the car or shoot it first. I have not done anything near what you guys have done but I am so looking forward to finally starting a ground up build.

Trying to make parts work that were suppose to work in the first place.

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Originally Posted by gassersgarage

Trying to make parts work that were suppose to work in the first place.

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yep i know they should shot them guys that sell parts that fit? that were the mill and lathe comes in to play

Well, guess I must be even stranger then I thought!!!! Even enjoyed yesterday knocking the factory brackets and grinding that scaly rusty gunk off the 9" housing that's going in the 'Maro.!!!!! Sometimes the tedious stuff wears on me, like blocking the dang thing one more time but I always figured if it was easy, everybody would do it!!!!

My most favorite part of the entire process is coming up with something just a bit different then others have done, maybe it's just something little and simple or maybe it's throwing away half of the (perfectly good) sheet metal from a car and starting over!

The only bummer part of the whole deal is that age has taken it's toll on the old bod, and I can't be out there doing it 15 or 18 hours everyday like I used to....seems like I'm cheating when I'm only up to about 6 hours or so of good quality shop time in a day...but I'm still out there on a almost daily basis giving it a try.

But, my MOST FAVORITE part of any build is when that big brown truck pulls up and starts unloading all the new and some not so new goodies that I've been waiting for!!!!!!! After all, all little boys love getting presents!!!!!:LOL: :LOL: :LOL: :LOL:

Ooooooooooooooooh ya!!! I forgot about getting new parts or something you bought on Ebay. Christmas in July!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D :D :D :D Can't rip those boxes open fast enough.


Don

I guess the worse part of a build for me would be the naysayers, commentors, and kibitzers. Would prefer to lock the doors and get it done.
That's what I like about this place, I can come here for help and excellent advice and not have to look like an idiot.

The best part of any build would definitely the momemt when I turn the key.:D :D Unless the sob didn't start.:eek: :LOL: :LOL:

At present I'd say hands down rust removal and wiring. I do get into a Zen state though at times when it's sunny, I'm sanding and priming, and what once looked terrible, suddenly looks clean, ahhh but then the arms ache, I'm tasting rust in my mouth and Pretzel the dog is giving me the what about my walk look!:D

One that keeps coming up with me over the years...removing broken studs.....then removing the broken easy out!:mad: Then paying the machine shop to do it right!!

Sean

The favorite parts:

Getting the project home for the first time and starting to figure out the little details (usually involves a couple of three beers).

WINNING something on E Bay (and hopefully still getting a bargain).

Building the engine and finishing the cam break in with no problems.

Assembling all those cleaned and painted mechanical parts.

Painting

Wiring


Least favorite:

The grunge work: cleaning the old greasy dirty parts and getting them ready for paint.

Body work (I actually don’t mind it I’m just no good at it and it frustrating (so I send that out now)

Sending body work out and waiting thru all the missed deadlines and occasional shoddy work.

Finishing the project….after it’s done it just becomes a car to me and maintaining it becomes work.

I take a fairly long drive every year or so to see family back in the mid west (about 3000 miles round trip). Most times I usually take the most recently finished project. I always end up thinking what a neat drive it will be in the project under construction rather than how neat it is in the car I’m driving.

I love the chassis fab, and actually the entire proses,...... that is until you come to wiring,... I only wired 3 cars in my life, smoked two harnesses and set one on fire,.. My sons refer to the wiring drawer of my tool box as my "fire starting kit", needless to say I don't wire cars anymore.

My favorite part is fabricating the frame and suspension.:3dSMILE: My least favorite part is the finish bodywork. I enjoy hand-forming patch panels and doing custom metal work; I just dread all the body filler and sanding.:rolleyes:

I am sick like Dave, I really enjoy all aspects of it. It's great from the moment you finally figureout how it is going to be built, from there it starts a new life. I guess if there was one thing that I enjoyed least it would be the sanding. It seemed like I sanded that car of mine and primered it 1000 times. Other than that, it is a great experiance overall with finding the parts, and making them work. The biggest thrill is of course that first cruise and hearing your creation start and run down the road and everything works!! That is the very best!!

I like it all for the most part, sometimes different aspects annoy me, but in general i like it all. The thing i dislike is not having the money to buy all the stuff i need/want when i need/want it! I do not know what it feels like to be happy when the ups guy shows up, because he never shows up.

Have to say I pretty much like it all. I guess my favorite part is hearing the engine roar for the first time, it's music to my ears.

My least favorite: seeing all the nice go-fast parts in the Jegs catalog and not being able to afford them.:(