Yeah... the feeling of putting new parts on and it looks good and you know it's solid gets the motivation back up
Pressure to get car done
- Thread starter bballfan1
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Inertia
Well-Known Member
If you can find someone working on a vehicle near you, not nec Mopar, go help them, they help you, you will feed off each other, motivate each other, and share your wins and loses .
You'll make memories, improve your self esteem . .
You'll make memories, improve your self esteem . .
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Cuda416
Well-Known Member
Yeah... the feeling of putting new parts on and it looks good and you know it's solid gets the motivation back up
Took me forever to get to the point I am at. Part of that was the need to build a jig so the car doens't twist apart when I start cutting things off. Could someone do the work without a jig? probably, but I'm not going to even try. So I spent a lot of time overengineering a jig, then building over the course of a year between other things and ho texas weather when I could stand it.
That resulted in a body jig I can use for ANY mopar, just by moving things around a bit. It also breaks down for storage against a wall so if I'm not using it, it takes zero floor space.
Now I am trying to decide if I want to get the car blasted or just roll with it.
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Yeah.. my **** was pretty easy compared to most of you guys.. my hardest thing was making lower quarters since you cant buy them... the lips mainly (i cut the lips out of the front fenders and used them) but i see guys replacing entire floors/frams and ****.. nope
Cuda416
Well-Known Member
Yeah.. my **** was pretty easy compared to most of you guys.. my hardest thing was making lower quarters since you cant buy them... the lips mainly (i cut the lips out of the front fenders and used them) but i see guys replacing entire floors/frams and ****.. nope
Yeah.. not for me... was it twisted bad?
I got lucky... i avoided buying a car forever cause everything i had seen was cutup/modded badly... my car was a family car that sat in a garage since 1978.. just drove then parked when they got a new car... so nothing super bad other than age.
I really should have just put it back to stock.. but... oh well
Cuda416
Well-Known Member
It had an issue with a telaphone pole in 78, then sat for 34 years in a one car garage. Old concrete didn't have a vapor barrier so the moisture sweated through and ate the car for lunch. Most of the damage now is rust. Back then it would have been a simple frame rail replacement along with the inner panels and core support. Now it's damn near everything.Yeah.. not for me... was it twisted bad?
I got lucky... i avoided buying a car forever cause everything i had seen was cutup/modded badly... my car was a family car that sat in a garage since 1978.. just drove then parked when they got a new car... so nothing super bad other than age.
I really should have just put it back to stock.. but... oh well
oof... that is rough... i got lucky, i think mine was actually living the good life in a heated garage.. Yours is worth saving though.. mine isn't worth what i paid for it
Cuda416
Well-Known Member
oof... that is rough... i got lucky, i think mine was actually living the good life in a heated garage.. Yours is worth saving though.. mine isn't worth what i paid for it
View attachment 1716077189
My sons valiant is that way. Too much money put into it, but priceless memories surround that car. He went from not being able to changer a tire to being able to drop the motor in under an hour. So much fun between all the arguments, frustration and tool tossing, LOL... Neither of is would change anything about the experience.
Cuda416
Well-Known Member
oof... that is rough... i got lucky, i think mine was actually living the good life in a heated garage.. Yours is worth saving though.. mine isn't worth what i paid for it
View attachment 1716077189
By the way, that's a nice ride for sure.
Inertia
Well-Known Member
I found when I was kinda not into doing anything just because, - I'd go out and just sand anything, it's so mindless, I found I'd zero in on something I "felt" like doing, make that my next goal .
Like eating an elephant, just one bite at a time, lol.
Like eating an elephant, just one bite at a time, lol.
MopaR&D
Nerd Member
That's what I explain when people always ask if I'm going to paint it... probably not, I like being able to drive it everywhere and beat the **** out of it without worrying about a scratch or dent since it's already covered in them. Would be nice to get some of the bigger dings and such straightened out at some point though. Buuut then I might have to paint or at least primer it lol.
Yeah.. i have replacement fenders from arizona that are perfect.. but in primer... so.. there is no way i will actually get the paint to match.. but close enough.. i like a beater.
Kendog 170
Let the boy go !
When I 1st started my Hardtop.I had it stripped to the bone. I would go out to work on it after dinner and get overwhelmed when I opened the door and go back in the house. Then I decided to do 1 thing per day on the car and stop looking at the big picture. I would go out thinking just for hour and come back in after 3 or 4 hours! Just pick away at it. You'll getter done.
Restored/built/put together (whatever you want to call it) both of my 2 Demons in the last 3 years. Two radically different cars. I look back at how apart they were (the avatar was just a roller that ended up getting everything replaced, the 71 was totally disassembled and sat for 27 years while we raised our family) and I wonder how on earth I did all that work. But as previously mentioned by others, I headed out to the garage every evening taking one bite of the elephant. And soon, the cars came to life.
The 72 avatar is my little fun ride with the rambunctious 408 while the 71 Demon 340 is an all-original type resto. Two drastically different cars. Cut and weld on the 72? No issue. Get near the 71? Please be careful! The avatar was done first so my wife got used to how it sounds, drives, etc. When the 71 was ready, she cranked and fired the 340 for the first time and her immediate first words were "not...enough...cam!"
So both are fun for different reasons and we sometimes take them both to shows and park them side by side. Demons aren't all that common so it's fun to see people's reactions to both! You can tell the age of the crowd by which car they like better.
The 72 avatar is my little fun ride with the rambunctious 408 while the 71 Demon 340 is an all-original type resto. Two drastically different cars. Cut and weld on the 72? No issue. Get near the 71? Please be careful! The avatar was done first so my wife got used to how it sounds, drives, etc. When the 71 was ready, she cranked and fired the 340 for the first time and her immediate first words were "not...enough...cam!"
So both are fun for different reasons and we sometimes take them both to shows and park them side by side. Demons aren't all that common so it's fun to see people's reactions to both! You can tell the age of the crowd by which car they like better.
I've got paint to match exactly..... three times in a row.
YY1
JY3
EW1
All photo matched at the local paint supply store.....by an 18 year old kid with dreadlocks.
YY1 and JY3 are notoriously difficult to match.
Actually four times because I had to go buy more EW1 so my hood and rear windshield gutter could be fixed.
If you have it matched from a code...it will never match.
Age, sun damage etc have occurred if it's original or paint that's a few years old.
If it's been painted before, you can't guarantee the same code was used, unless you did it, and even then you can't guarantee the person mixing it got the exact same proportions.
If you're painting the whole car, it doesn't matter.
Age, sun damage etc have occurred if it's original or paint that's a few years old.
If it's been painted before, you can't guarantee the same code was used, unless you did it, and even then you can't guarantee the person mixing it got the exact same proportions.
If you're painting the whole car, it doesn't matter.
I usually walk the whole show within a hour. Then go for a drive !!
Back in the day finding GOOD cars cheap that someone took apart and then quit on was GREAT> Somo thta come to find was 70 V code Challenger, 71 Challenger SE 383 vert, 71 Hemi GTX, 68 hemo GTX, 70 Hemi Cuda, 70 AAR Cuda, and many lesser examples. etc. And yes that was before some idiot invented Craigslist and the puter!!!!
Inertia
Well-Known Member
Very, very nice, thnx for the pix .
I am absolutely THE WORST when it comes to putting pressure on myself to get **** done. I have to realize that I am not 35 or 40 anymore, but almost 60. My mind will not accept that fact, so I set goals for myself and get really frustrated if I don't reach them.
I had the shiny show car long ago, it was fun, but it was much more fun driving the wheels off it every chance I had. Now I have an ugly sack of **** that I just don't give a damn about, but I still haven't got it to the point where it's dependable enough to make it a daily beater, that's my goal for it now, otherwise I'll just sell it and get something else.
I have an original, low mileage, unrestored car that I enjoy driving, it's not fast by any stretch, but it is a comfortable and reliable car to drive. At this point that's all I really want, but I do have another project coming in a month or so, that will keep my mind occupied, I just have to remember to enjoy it and not be in a rush to get it done.
I had the shiny show car long ago, it was fun, but it was much more fun driving the wheels off it every chance I had. Now I have an ugly sack of **** that I just don't give a damn about, but I still haven't got it to the point where it's dependable enough to make it a daily beater, that's my goal for it now, otherwise I'll just sell it and get something else.
I have an original, low mileage, unrestored car that I enjoy driving, it's not fast by any stretch, but it is a comfortable and reliable car to drive. At this point that's all I really want, but I do have another project coming in a month or so, that will keep my mind occupied, I just have to remember to enjoy it and not be in a rush to get it done.
BillGrissom
Well-Known Member
Yes, but I ignore the naysayers. Most people's "experience" is having watched a TV car show where they just show highlight clips. Fantomworks was the best restoration show since they presented eye-popping bills for sometimes fairly minor resto work. Sharp eyes noticed the same cars in the background which never moved for years (recall a 1963 Valiant), suggesting how long even their projects took. Dan Short dropped the show, stating that filming impacted the shop too much. Drivetrain work is actually the easiest. Time-consuming is the painting, interior, and trim, especially searching years for rare parts. If you can find a primo car that just needs an engine rebuild, that would be the simplest and quickest project.
My concern is that wifey has no appreciation for my "old junk cars" and would sell them for $1 if I die. She is from a distant country and never had a car before we married and I taught her to drive (stressful). Similar to clueless teens, she thinks even normal maintenance is unacceptable. Doesn't notice all the auto repair and auto parts stores, as if only our cars need things fixed. Also follows the crowd. First wanted a Civic, then minivan, then SUV, then cross-over (minivan without a sliding door). I bought her a new minivan since practical, then deflected the other thoughts with, "thought you wanted a Civic". Of course, now she thinks a battery-car would materially improve her life. Most of the public is similar, most wanting to just blend in, but the posers are more bothersome.
My concern is that wifey has no appreciation for my "old junk cars" and would sell them for $1 if I die. She is from a distant country and never had a car before we married and I taught her to drive (stressful). Similar to clueless teens, she thinks even normal maintenance is unacceptable. Doesn't notice all the auto repair and auto parts stores, as if only our cars need things fixed. Also follows the crowd. First wanted a Civic, then minivan, then SUV, then cross-over (minivan without a sliding door). I bought her a new minivan since practical, then deflected the other thoughts with, "thought you wanted a Civic". Of course, now she thinks a battery-car would materially improve her life. Most of the public is similar, most wanting to just blend in, but the posers are more bothersome.
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