NEW THREAD-Why we don't finish........

i am just finishing up my 68 barracuda. i am now into it about 1850 hours and probably around $5k (not counting the cost of the car). this has been a one year project. i have some thoughts for other FABO project folks.

i've been a car nut for over 40 years. i'm also a lawyer but almost became a psychologist. i got a lot of that "book learning" stuff in my background. i have two cuda's, a 68 and a 69. i wanted to do the 68 first but i knew i needed "a plan" before i started. so last summer, i started working on my garage in preparation. i wanted a decent and organized place to work with all the tools and items easy to find and in one place. once i got the garage organized i then started on the cuda. however, this is the crucial part to beginning a "big" project - DON'T DISMANTLE THE CAR INTO A PILE OF PARTS!!! restoring a car by yourself is as much a psychological endeavor as it is a physical one. DO SMALL PARTS OF THE CAR ONE AT A TIME!! I started with the engine bay. I spent probably a month just doing the engine compartment. Once that section was done, I had something nice to look at and to get immediate reinforcement from. YOU HAVE TO KEEP SHOWING YOUR MIND THAT YOU ARE MAKING PROGRESS!! After the engine bay, I did the door jams, then the trunk area, then the front fenders, then the quarters, then the top, then hood and finally the doors. It is also CRUCIAL to keep cleaning the car up from the work you are doing!! That is another psychological way of making your mind feel you are making progress. Also, it makes you feel good to see the results of your labor. YOU HAVE TO CONTINUE TO CREATE POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT!! The other practical side of doing a project in little parts is that you can do each section completely and with great detail. Once you have completed several sections with great detail, the car begins to look like something to be proud of.

Let me admit something right now before you all start jumping on my advice - I know this approach does not work well for a complete nut and bolt rotissourie resto. Yes, you HAVE to dismantle the car completely if you are going that route. But in my humble opinion, it is VERY hard for a single person to do a rotissourie resto by themselves. My view is that if you are doing it all by yourself, just try to do the BEST section by section resto you can. At the end of your project you will still have a car or truck that you can be proud of. And as to pre-project planning, I cannot emphasize enough how organizing my garage and getting all the tools together in one place and easy to find has made completing parts of this project incredibly easy and less stressful.

I have purchased a number of vehicles off of ebay and see "abandoned projects" all the time. It is better for you to end up with a "pretty nice" vehicle than a pile of parts in your garage that your wife is tired of looking at.