NEW THREAD-Why we don't finish........
OK, this is a hard pill to swallow for most of us. But think about this a second; when you go to a car show, what do you see? One or two cars you could eat off, where the paint isn't even burned off the headers yet.But the majority have some paint chips, maybe even faded paint, dirty undersides, greasy suspension...well, you know. Now, when we are in the middle of our project, we close our eyes and picture the former cars, and move forward with that in mind on our Rather Large Rotisserie Chicken, and hence, it spends way more time in the build than would be necessary to get it on the road. Case in point; maybe your interior sucks, so you add that to the list and gut it, not taking into consideration that you could drive it to the shows all summer, and work the interior in the 'off-season'...if you get my drift. What I mean is, we start out walking around the block and wind up walking into the next county in our quest to have the 'perfect' resto or machine, rather than getting on the 'Drive and Wrench' program. Now, I'm not suggesting anyone sell their car or themselves short, only that you can do some restos in chunks while still enjoying the fruits of your labors.
I've only done 2 cars so far and am working on my third, but I've found that the following approach works for me.
Original purchase : buy a car that already runs or can easily be made roadworthy. Then it doesn't sit in a garage gathering dust or outside rusting away. You can enjoy the car right away and get a "base-line" from which to start.
Design phase : determine exactly the result you want. In this case most time Discuss it with any partners you may have with the project (in my case, my son). This stage can involve
lots of internet research on the internet, as was my case. My son and I wanted to modify the original slant-6 engine and Australia offers a better supply of off-the-shelf performance parts for this engine than is available in America. Studying fora, such as this one, also provides useful insights and inspiration.
Start purchasing the parts : I started my first project when I didn't have much money so I purchased parts as I could afford them and built an inventory. In my case I had a running car and the replacement parts I wanted so the jobs could be broken up into discrete steps and a resonable time budget established, which I always doubled.
"I get by with a little help from my friends" : I didn't do all the work on my car, such as the body preparation and paint, the installation of the suspension (I don't trust my welds), and the interior work, which was done by a professional saddler. Determine what work you want to outsource and find a capable, reliable vendor/service provider for these tasks.
Also, there will be moments where one must take two steps back to go one step forward ; even with the best planning.
As one nears the end of the project, one will need a whole slew of mostly minor parts that we're not originally foreseen ; cables, linkages, fastners, emblems, etc. Budget for these, even if it's only $ 200 (or or £) a month.
One fine day the car is finished, but it's by no means ready. Just as major automakers subject prototypes to extensive testing, expect to do the same. Problems, whether big or small will only emerge through use, though a technical inspection, if this is required by law in the jurisdiction where one lives, can provide helpful guidance. Again, expect to budget a bigger amount to attend to any issues or problems that may arise as a result of such testing.
More than anything else, project planning is a matter of managing expectations ; one's own expectations.
