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

I'll toss my 2 cents in this great thread. At the beginning, I looked at my project with my mind's eye, not as it really was. I saw it complete, painted and running as I wished.

I bought my project Challenger as a partial basket case from someone who had started it and ran out of motivation and money. I thought to myself, "Easy project! Just finish what the other guy started." Boy was I wrong! Project creep set in fast. "Well first, I'll bolt this bumper on. hmmm... Why don't these holes line up? What's this? Old rearend damage? Damn! The frame rail is tweaked." PO replaced the trunk floor but never plug welded it to the frame rail, lol.

To make a long story short. I tore it completely down and started over. And yes, it's cost me about three times as much as I thought. Timewise? This is my 5th year.

Lessons learned:
Always take someone who can look at a potential project with more of a objective eye than you.

Approach a large project by breaking it down in to smaller and smaller pieces. I'm an engineer, so my approach was systems. Body, paint, front suspension, rear suspension, brakes, electrical, and so on.

Body work first, broken down to areas, broken down to individual pieces. Complete each one before moving to the next and you'll have a sense of accomplishment to stay motivated.

Body and paint is the biggest and most expensive part. Do it FIRST! It's easy to stay motivated with painted shiney parts. Your spouse will agree also. My wife was literally kicking me out to the garage saying, "Get that thing done so we can go for a ride!"

Re-think your enjoyment. While I was jones-ing to drive a Challenger again, I realized that the project allowed me to rebuild a car better that the factory did. Take extra time and effort to finish parts in clear coat so nothing ever surface rusts, adjust that window so it perfectly seals, and so on. Yes, it's over-restoring but that's what I want. You won't believe how nice and easy my doors close <grin>.

And to Captain: Your threads have inspired me at times. Thanks! I hope these responses will inspire you.

For those interested, it's not an A-body, but it's a Mopar Project. Check out my progress at the link in my sig.