Thread: anyone else not finishing projects?

Tweet

Work doesn't scare me. I can lie down and fall asleep right beside it. Since I retired, I have never been so busy. Don't know how I had time for the payroll job. Take one item off the list, and two more appear. I go play with the coupe while I ponder which honey-do to do next.

I am seeing the way to eternal life......

I think those peaks and valleys hit all of us during a build. For me I get real excited about the prospects of a new car coming together, I love mocking it up. Propping up the body, engine, tires and stuff into something that resembles a car, while sitting back in a chair thinking about it is lots of fun. I don't even mind the mundane chores of building the suspension and engine mounts. But when I get down to the short strokes, like wiring, painting, etc. I sort of run out of steam.

I think the money thing enters into that somewhat too. Don's car went together in 88 days because he stepped up the the plate and bought pretty much every little part needed before we ever began. All we had to do was walk over to the stack and pick out the next part we needed to install. I have never had that luxury, so I have to save up to buy some of the bigger parts, and during that waiting period I sort of lose interest.

We have to remember though that this is a hobby, a diversion from our daily lives, and when it starts to become like work it is time to take a little break, step back, and not return to it again until we become interested once more. I guess that is why some builds take one year and some take 20 years.

Don

I think motivation and money are the factors that drive any project.In my case I had the ability to build another car (after 40+ yrs) but because of the lack of motivation and my wife not really having a love for cars after me spending money building a 32 in our young marriage instead of buying furniture,etc. I just buried the Idea of building another car.When bordom set in after retirement,my wife made a suggestion (to my amazement) why don't you build another car.The rest is history,the car is finished and I am enjoying the fruits of my labor. Very few times did I get frustrated and definitely not wanting to Quit.People say are you going to sell it and build another car,not at the moment. Motivation,Motivation,Motivation, (MONEY)

aint touched it since it blew up may 07 got the motor done and back just need an intake for it now and for it to warm up so i can paint the motor and set in and break it in.

In a way I am glad to learn about this situation by others. I used a year (not wasted) on a book because that was a project I wanted to do and it will be out on May1, 2008 and I am gaining on finishing my computer project for this Winter's work, but when it warms up I have to get back to the roadster and bite the bullet on wiring the beast! Last Fall I did help build a Game/Guest room in our attic and I have built two small boats and brought a '73 MG midget from a hulk with a tree growing in the middle to a 95% restoration so I just have to get in the garage and finish that '29. This message is mainly to psyche myself up to get busy on the roadster and I will work teaching this summer again to pay for a top so that a large part of the expense of the roadster has been paid for over the last four years of Summer work. It helps me to psyche myself up! Yeeha!

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

Originally Posted by Don Meyer

I am seeing the way to eternal life......

Me and you both, Don.... Think I'll go get a couple more projects this weekend, 2 more should be good for another 10 years at least!!!!

"... I think of what my great old dad, (long dead now) had to say about people who never finished things... Funny isn't it... I still conduct my life based on the things my dad thought a man should do."

There's a famous quote, but I can't remember who said it: "When I was a young man, I thought my father was the dumbest man on Earth... The older I get, the smarter he was!"

My dad died in 1970 at the age of 56. I never ever thought he was dumb, but we did have some drastic differences of opinion at times. The older I get, the more frequently I catch myself agreeing with the things he said and did. Sometimes I say things to my own son and I catch myself thinking "Damn! I have become my father!"

As for projects, I used to drift from one thing to another and never finished much. Finally, I just made up my mind that I could not start anything new until the previous project was finished or sold. I allow myself to collect parts and materials for the next, but no work can commence until the current one is done. What this does is it keeps me hustling to get things done so I can see my next "brainchild" come into existence. I have 3 different ideas floating in my head right now; parts and money will decide for me which one I will build. Meantime, I'm pushing to get the roadster done so I can start on the next one... whatever it is...

Originally Posted by J. Robinson

[I]

As for projects, I used to drift from one thing to another and never finished much. Finally, I just made up my mind that I could not start anything new until the previous project was finished or sold. I allow myself to collect parts and materials for the next, but no work can commence until the current one is done. What this does is it keeps me hustling to get things done so I can see my next "brainchild" come into existence. I have 3 different ideas floating in my head right now; parts and money will decide for me which one I will build. Meantime, I'm pushing to get the roadster done so I can start on the next one... whatever it is...

I used to have to do that same thing when I had a big shop and bills to pay...... then it was a job.... Now that it's all mostly for the challenge of doing it I cosider jumping from project to project as a means of allowing my creativity to choose it's own course..... Even though some confuse this with ADD....

The main reason I should never be allowed to have a bigger shop is that I would just have that many more projects going on!!!!! Sometimes I just can't help myself....

Heck, I sell most of my projects before they're ever finished anyway.... All it takes is a guy with a big enough check book to convince me he likes the car more then I do and it's gone!!!!!!!

Finances and weather drive my enthusiasm. I hate working in the cold or wet weather, and this year has been a doosey! Then there's the 1858 house I live in that demands my attention(all wood) and work projects, etc...But summer shows are a good motivator!

Originally Posted by Dave Severson

The main reason I should never be allowed to have a bigger shop is that I would just have that many more projects going on!!!!!

Yep. That, too, is a limiting factor. I just have a two-car garage. There's just enough room for my current ride and the one I'm working on. If I start anything else, something has to sit outside...

Space or the lack of it is the great limiter in our hobby. Does that mean that I may not live forever - na........I'll find space somewhere!
Don

Originally Posted by Don Meyer

Space or the lack of it is the great limiter in our hobby. Does that mean that I may not live forever - na........I'll find space somewhere!
Don

Well, whatever ya do Don.....Don't go in with a couple others and buy a warehouse...... Talk about job security....

An hour a day,even if it's tinkering, it will get done. now I have a friend that never finishes squat. He'll draw the heck out of it with differant colors, go through catalogs, make lists, he mind drives long before completion and that's a project killer. People ask me what color or kind of interior and what wheels, I don't know yet, for me to finish, it has to go systematicly, then stare awhile, next step, stare etc...Anybody notice all the 75% complete rods for sale lately, it's sad with the economy....

Originally Posted by Don Meyer

Space or the lack of it is the great limiter in our hobby. Does that mean that I may not live forever - na........I'll find space somewhere!
Don

My dad has a 4900 sq ft shop and it is packed to the rafters. I usually roll my 48 out in the driveway to work on it.