Needing inspirational help!

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rod7515

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Here's a question for everyone but first here's the reason I am asking. I'm doing a 66 Dart and I know when/if I finally get done I will be very happy with it even tho I will have to much invested. Originally I thought this would be a two year project. Body is just a shell and it's time for body work, sanding and painting. I wear none of these hats so I find myself not pushing hard to make time to work on the car. I have someone to confide in for help and direction but still find myself putting off doing this work. My trans and motor will be done within the next month so I have to get at this. Spring is here so there will be less time available because of house duties and vacations.
So here's my question, do others find themselves putting off moving forward on your projects because of not being familiar with body work and what do you do to get yourself back into gear.
Thanks,
Rod
 
I was in your shoes, then I put on the hat and wore it. The only difference between a novice and a professional, is the professional has done it more times. Kudos for even trying, I can't tell you how many folks chicken out, it's just rust!

Now more than ever, there is TONS of information and tips on body work. Let that be a inspiration alone!

Pick yourself up and dive the **** in.


Here, have some more!

http://retrorides.proboards.com/thread/70135/panels
 
It's human nature for most of us - it might be body work for some, or mechanical for others. Poison is spot on though - you just have to dive in. Know you will make mistakes, know you will likely have to redo stuff, but turn on your favorite music, open a cold beer, and be thankful we get to work on our cars because we love our cars! Good luck!
 
My trouble is I have never known a thing about paint or body work and now that I'm older and have low energy, bodily pain and other issues, there's now way I can engage in it. If you can, more power to ya. body work and paint has GOT to be the most time consuming and expensive part of these cars
 
Just grit your teeth and get it done....you know, Roll up the sleeves..Grab the bull by the horns.....Carpe diem...stuff like that. Only way you're going to learn and its gonna get done is to jump in the ring. Think about what it's gonna be like when all said and done and you're driving that Dart around. Now think about it just sitting there & collecting dust. So which one to you prefer?

Along with asking experienced folks, buying a vid or book or two, actually getting in there and doing it is the best way to learn.....Now...get to work! LOL
 
I know exactly what you mean. Body work has always been my biggest challenge. I built the whole chassis and cage in my race car way back when but had more disposable income then and hired a friend to do the bodywork and paint. This time around my budget for the whole car is less than most of these guys spend on paint alone so I just made myself go out every day and do at least an hour. I worked one panel at a time until I got it the way I wanted it( believe me I wasted a lot of body filler till I got it). At times I had to force myself to go out but by saying I was going to do at least an hour I found that once I got out there I spent more time. Set a schedule that doesn't make you feel rushed and give it a shot. Good luck and gitter done.
 
I sit and think sometimes of how big of a job it is and avoid it for some time because of that. Then I get a day and just bust into it and spend a whole day of at least 12 hours. After that I stand back and look at the progress and think why did I avoid it now it dont seem like such a big job. You just need to dive in and take it from there. Take a break once in a while to give yourself some rewind time.
 
At one time I didn't know how to swim. Then I jumped in a pool and figured it out. Swimming and body work are a little different but if your willing to learn then what's the problem.

It might look like crap the first time but do you think the Mona Lisa was Devinci's first painting?
 
i dont like body work.. never have.. but i still do it..after a couple of hours of the challenge.. you will be fine. you will see your errors, but better yet.. you will also figure out how to correct them. piece of cake...
 
How about trading something you can do well for something you are not sure of? I'm a carpenter by trade, so I am trading carpentry work for floorpan replacement work on my 66 project! Can I do the floorpan? Of course, but I can also work in my wheelhouse and let my trader work in his wheelhouse and we both get our jobs done! Best thing is there's no outlay of cash on ether side, saving us both cash for what we need to spend it on!

You can trade/barter for just about anything nowadays!! Just thinking out loud here!! Geof
 
Do what I say & not what I do - it is so easy to procrastinate on this big projects.
You need to break it into small jobs instead of one big one. Make a list of these small tasks, it's amazing but it's a big boost every time you get one done.

Remember other guys have done it and we are here for you.

One of my buddies took an adult ed class on auto painting so he could paint his own car, he got to use the schools paint booth, looks good now!

Learning something also helps keep the brain young.

I know some of the Maaco's have 50% off on sealer & paint during the off season.

It sounds like you have someone to point you in the right direction and that's a big plus.

Probably most important is to enjoy what you are doing whatever it is.
 
Yep, Everyone has a "stumbling block"..

I offer assistance to those in my area,, to help them get past any problem,, and help get their blood boiling again..

If you've got any new parts in boxes, particularly shiny stuff, go fondle them..

Then choose 1 small job,, get that done, while scoping out the next small job,, soon you'll have more done than you realize,, and then you'll be way more eager to get it all done,,,

been there..

hope it helps..
 
It is not a big project.
Just 100 small ones.
Any work EVERYDAY and later progress will be made.
 
You guys are all right! Went out tonight and worked on the console/Hurst shifter install. not a factory console car and with the Hurst auto shifter needed lots of tweaken. any way you got me out to the shed to do some work. I should be able to have the console/shifter done by weekend and start some body work next week. Going to do the engine compartment first. Stripping down to metal and replacing the top panel on inner fender. Need to weld up a lot of holes since I plan hiding as much electrical as possible and battery going to trunk. Thats seems like a nice place to try out my body / painting skills.
Anyway, Many thanks to everyone for your kick me in the butt support. I needed that! Now I just need to keep up a steady pace.
Thanks again
Rod
 
Here's a question for everyone but first here's the reason I am asking. I'm doing a 66 Dart and I know when/if I finally get done I will be very happy with it even tho I will have to much invested. Originally I thought this would be a two year project. Body is just a shell and it's time for body work, sanding and painting. I wear none of these hats so I find myself not pushing hard to make time to work on the car. I have someone to confide in for help and direction but still find myself putting off doing this work. My trans and motor will be done within the next month so I have to get at this. Spring is here so there will be less time available because of house duties and vacations.
So here's my question, do others find themselves putting off moving forward on your projects because of not being familiar with body work and what do you do to get yourself back into gear.
Thanks,
Rod


Yup it's a learning experience and sometimes you just have to jump in. Every project I have done is started by doing 1 step at a time. just one,not jumping around doing 2-30 things. big projects= lots of little single step projects and soon you will discover your getting it close to being done. Then it's a race to slow down and make sure you do the last steps right.


Paint and body work has changed so much since I first started it's almost a completely different animal now. body work too! I went to the autobodystore forums to refresh my 10 year absence in that sort of work and was amazed at the info you could get online for this stuff . it sure has saved my bacon in reworking the last 3 projects I have done and my personal car is much the better for that sites knowledge. of course "feature creep" happens too! yah know the thought that says to you "what if i do this wouldn't it be cool?"
 
Along with asking experienced folks, buying a vid or book or two, actually getting in there and doing it is the best way to learn.....Now...get to work! LOL

I'm going to be in the same boat in a month or so - no body work experience (gotta make room in the garage first).

Does anyone have recommendations of good books or websites for someone getting started?
 
I just "do it". I just conceded that I will be working on projects the rest of my life - fixing cars, house, yard. Chinese Proverb - "man finishes house, man dies". In grad school, I built a garage and then an addition. I just worked from a book and read each chapter as I got to that stage - concrete, framing, plumbing, ... Today with the internet, easy to find info and advice. I had done almost everything on a car but a transmission rebuild, then I did that and it worked perfect, which is better than I can say of past experience with high-priced tranny shops. It is more stressful for me to pay big money for someone to screw up your stuff then pick their nose in front of you with an attitude or deal with a little dweeb service manager in a suit. I find sites for my newer cars where owners have figured out all the modern engine controls and trouble-shooting when people originally thought we would be dependent on shops. There are many people who know and share, the problem is getting people who ask questions to read and process information, and do the legwork. Think of the answers more as clues to help in your own search.
 
At one time I didn't know how to swim. Then I jumped in a pool and figured it out. Swimming and body work are a little different but if your willing to learn then what's the problem.

It might look like crap the first time but do you think the Mona Lisa was Devinci's first painting?


x2...
 
as long as you have a basic knowledge of what you are doing.... practice,.... and yes we will waste lots of filler!!! but with practice we get better, or if you can find someone that does this work that isn't a da---- ins body shop, that can give you a pointer, it will save lots of time and effort.....
like he said, work one panel at a time, when you get enough stop for the day, look at your progress and give yourself an atta boy!!! LOL
and think how much you would poay a shop for their labor... hey the materials will be plenty high enough!!!! LOL
and realize if you expect a PERFECT paint job out of your hands, then you will have to work it till it is perfect BEFORE you you paint it, too.
fortunately, I DRIVE MY CARS, AND DON'T EXPECT THEM TO BE P[ERFECT....IF I SELL IT TO SOMEONE AND THEY WANT PERFECT, THEN THEY CAN MAKE IT THAT WAY OR PAY TO HAVE IT PERFECT!!!!! HOW HIT THE CAPS!!!"????? lol
 
It's hard to get yourself motivated when it seems as though you've tackled more than you can handle. As amx364 stated,

"It is not a big project.
Just 100 small ones.

1)The biggest problem I see for newbies is that they lack patience. Without all of the expensive tools to work like a professional you are forced to progress at a much slower rate. Realize that there isn't anything you can't do if you set your mind to it. It will just take you longer than someone that does it for a living.

2)If you make yourself a list of everything you want to accomplish it will help. Take on each of those tasks and cross them off your list when they're finished. It sounds stupid but when you can visualize the progress by seeing the list shrink it doesn't feel so overwhelming. It also helps you if you feel you're at a standstill on whatever portion of the project you're working on. - Then you can switch to another task while you're waiting for the parts/cash/help you need to continue on with that first task.

View attachment x.jpg

3)Try not to skip opportunities to get something accomplished. It's easy to tell yourself that you don't have enough time to get anything done. If you push yourself to make progress - you will. Even if it's something small like cleaning a bit of the engine bay or stripping another 6 square inches of paint off your quarters, - it's still progress. Repeated every day it will become a lot of progress eventually.

4)There's nothing wrong with farming some of the work out to someone else. If you can afford it, - it could speed things along. I don't have my own paint booth so I've been paying a body shop to shoot paint for me. It's not cheap but I'm able to reduce the expense by tearing down the cars, stripping all the paint off myself, ordering my own parts, and (time permitting) doing my own bodywork.

5) I have a computer in my garage with a 40" tv/monitor. I document a lot of the work I get done with pictures that scroll across the screen. Posters of cars that are my inspiration for my builds are on the walls. It helps to keep me motivated.

View attachment IMG_0211.jpgView attachment IMG_0213.jpg


 
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