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

-
When I first joined this great site there were only about 50 members. Although the membership was small, they were all very helpfull. As a matter of fact, one of the members here found my Demon for me. It was almost in my backyard and I didn't know about it. The members helped all along the way as far as helpfull tips and ideas on how I might do things and combo's. Nobody but myself worked on the car other than the paint job though. I had a vision in my head as to what the car was going to look like when I finished it and that is what I ended up with. I had losts of naysayers though with comments like, you will never finish that pile of junk and why would you ever do that, that car is a piece off crap. Talk about give a stubborn guy like me inspiration. My wife, who could not see in her mind what it was going to look like said just one thing, "make sure you finish it". My 2 year project turned into 2 1/2 years and was right on budget, give or take $1000. I even ended up with a new garage and more tools out of the deal. LOL If you want to see the process from start to end go here. It's only the highlights.
http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showthread.php?t=21167


Jack
 
Affirmative on spousal support. Be able to describe scope of work. Will the spouse be inconvenienced in any way? Answer all questions before proceding.

Before I took on the Demon, I had restored 2 '66 Darts. This gave me a little handle on scope creep. It happens, get over it.

I have a little experience with construction project planning, which I have applied to this restoration. It's going to sound a bit anal, but it has worked for me.

1. Chart out the tasks to be accomplished. How much time will they take? What parts are needed? What tools & facilities will be needed? What kind of lead time is needed to obtain needed items. The idea is to have exactly what is needed on hand, exactly when it is needed. This can reduce accumulations of parts needed but not ready to use. How much will each task cost? Total all of these, and you know how much of a dollar drain you're in for.
Find a bit of rust? Correction becomes a sub-task with its own questions and all to be answered.

2. Determine which tasks can be accomplished independently of each other. e.g. Work on the body can be done independently of work on the engine. When a delivery slips or there is scope creep on one task, it may be possible to accomplish an unrelated task in the meantime.

3. Try to keep each task on time and on budget. As each task gets accomplished, mark it off. Celebrate on the biggies.

4. When scope creep occurs, slide everything back accordingly. It is discouraging to look at the chart and realize the project is 3 months + behind projection.

5. Although it's desirable to stick to the schedule established, life throws curves that need to be caught. Sickness, visitors, recitals, games, and friends need and deserve attention. Quality of life takes precedence over quality of work. I haven't seen a tombstone inscribed "On Time - On Budget".

Others are saying double or triple your estimated budget. In the case of the Demon, my budget over-runs have been due to not figuring in shipping. I'd submit that the original estimate of time to complete be tripled. My time over runs have been horrendous. But I've enjoyed the journey and celebrating the bigger accomplishments along the way.
 
I think you should start another post saying
" how to finish a project "

its a little more posative, and besides, i just finished mine, I'm on cloud nine, and that surpases any challange that I had along the way!

:cheers:

Phil
 
mrtires24 said:
I think you should start another post saying
" how to finish a project "

its a little more posative, and besides, i just finished mine, I'm on cloud nine, and that surpases any challange that I had along the way!

:cheers:

Phil
Click to expand...

I think YOU should start another post saying "How to Finish a Project." You finished yours, not me! LOL!

:cheers:
 
This one struck me late last night; I'd worked all day Saturday, and after work had to hit the yard work until dusk. We had a small campfire out in back until late; by the time we were done I was in no mood to go in and change into my get'emfilthy-crawlundertheDuke clothes. So I didn't. However, it struck me later that if I had a "plan B" going, such as working on the interior, engine, whatever, I wouldn't have minded and probably would've squeezed in an hour or so. Now we've already been over the topic of getting off track and spending $$ on things we don't need right now: I'm not suggesting this-rather, having an alternate parallel project going that you can switch between as the need rises. What do you think?
 
Here's one for y'all- tunnel vision! Sometimes you get so fixated on what you THINK your project could/would/should be that you lose sight of any changes to your plans, additions, deletions, modifications, etc. Work with me here. Say you've decided to paint your car, oh..say, black. You tell yourself (and everyone else who will endure your babbling) that you're gonna paint your car black. You find pictures of black cars. You build a model of your car and paint it black to see what it'll look like. You get my drift.....
Meanwhile, you are not seeing other color schemes. Oh, you may look at them, but you've closed a mental door and locked it. Now this is all fine and dandy if you have your heart set on a black car. But common sense tells me that with everything we're gonna do, we should view/consider ALL the options, THEN make up our mind based on the way the Kewl-O-Meter pegs. Often we don't do that....we have our mind set on removing the /6 from our Dart and slapping in a 318/340/360 build and look right past the ad in the Mopar magazine for the big block conversion kits.....we just don't see them...because we're not looking! Sometimes I feel this way, and I'll stop what I'm doing and go to some of the Member's Restoration threads here....."whoa.....that color looks really bitchin'....never even considered it.." or something to that effect. It's really an eye opener. Allowing yourself to get tunnel vision can take all the excitement and spontaneity out of a project. Then it becomes boring and you lose interest. If you see yourself in this picture, stop. Take a few evenings, pick up a Mopar mag or two, cruise the Resto threads and look at somebody else's perspective for a moment. It may change the way you view things yourself.
 
another way to see what your car will look like with other paint schemes is to find someone who can do good photoshop, and have em work there magic with a pic of you want, and what they think would look good
 
Here's one I hadn't thought of......:poke:
we get old and friggin' die before we finish our projects.
Wonder why I never thought of that one before?:confused:
 
I can only say I wish I hadn't experienced this first hand...
I have about 6 vehicles that always need something, so all of them suffer.
I'll be glad to get 1 finished!
alan627b

project-cars.jpg
 
This thread is my life in a nutshell...

Captainkirk is right. I've got a friend with at least six cars that are all in the middle of restoration. None are done. He just went to the hospital due to a heart blockage and had a massive stroke while there. He ain't never gonna finish those cars...
 
Right now, I've got a severe case of apathy.

I'm thinking gasoline cars got another 5-7 year run.

The gov't going to start telling the big 3 what cars they can and can't make.- goodbye Challenger, Dually Diesels.

Maybe I'll spring for a good tranny so I can get one good season out of the Hemi Barracuda.
 
I don't think you ought to start writing the eulogy for the internal combustion engine just yet...remember no lead in the gas? That was gonna kill hot rodding. It didn't.
Then it was lower pollution standards for reduced emissions. Do you think it was hot rodding that brought about the improvements in cylinder heads?
Wrong. It was the automakers trying to find a way to improve engine efficiency, and guess what? They found out an efficient engine makes more horsepower!
Then it was higher mileage standards. That brought about lightweight materials, aluminum wheels As standard equipment, overdrive transmissions, synthetic motor oils and lubricants, fuel injection and coil per cylinder ignition, etc etc.
The only time anything improves is when faced with adversity.
I don't think cars would cost so much if the car makers hadn't convinced everyone that their muscles are too weak to open manual door locks and windows, that you can't live without automated climate control, heated seats, GPS and a 6 disc CD changer and internet capability, which you don't need when you are driving anyway!
What really seems odd, is that after all this innovation, the internal combustion engine is still claimed to only be 50% efficient, just like it was 50 years ago!
Does anybody else find that odd?
Maybe they'll figure out how to make alcohol from pond scum (it being developed) or make hydrogen work. Let's not sound the death nell just yet.
I'm more worried about losing the possibility of the right to own an old car than I am the ability to drive one. Or to get a tank of gas for one.
Alan627b
 
hemifish69 - Your avatar is very distracting - that's one thing keeping me from finishing my car(s) LOL!!!

For me the main reason I have not finished a car has always been $$$$. I tend to suffer from CLF Disease - Chronic Lack of Funding... Any car I have not finished has usually been because I needed to sell it to get back some ROI. Several times I have had to sell a car to pay the IRS (DAGUMMIT!)
 
Yeah, there's one for ya! Being effectively "locked out" of the garage by Ol' Man Winter, and his henchman, Jack Frost. Sometimes, what I wouldn't give to live a couple hundred miles south......
Not that I'm a wimp or anything. I've done my share of duty, both in the garage and on the job, that left me numb, shivering and near frostbitten. But I don't enjoy it. If I can't enjoy, then why bother?
Here in the Land of Impeached Governors, Halloween is about the Northern Extreme, with the Southern Hemisphere not appearing until, maybe, May. If we're lucky. Let's see; by my Yankee watch that pretty much cuts out half the year! Any wonder why I'm not finished? I mean, along with all the other topics we've touched upon!
With natural gas at an all-time high, I'm not about to go heating my garage. Or if I did, I wouldn't fire it up just to work a couple of hours! No, my friends, up here, Mopar Time is a summer event, much like motorcycling. Now, I realize some of you rebel boys and girls might have to cut back in the summer heat, 'cuz it's just too damn hot, but in my book, there's a big difference between being too hot to work and too COLD to work. Am I wrong for thinking this? Do any of you nuts brave the sub-zero weather and freeze your gonads off to work on your projects? Just curious....especially with so many Canadians on the site!
 
Captain
I dont know why this thread wasnt at the top of the list, this is the first I have seen of it.Great thread.
I dont think that our projects are really ever finished.The guy who just finished his will , I bet you, in about a year find something else to do to it.
You see once the "CREATE" is in you it never goes away. Right now I have no garage to pull the car into, but I have taken on some of the little things that can be worked on for an hour or so and put aside. I think that most people with our particular desease do not put together a concrete plan with an eye twoard the end goal.This is like flying in a plane with no destination chosen. Eventualy you either have to land whever you find a spot or crash and burn.
The beauty in creating a plan is that in reality it gives you the flexability to change things as you go, but to be able to see the conciquences of making the changes before hand.
I have tried to be realistic, which is the real secret to this pashion, in that I feel it will be a four year build. If it takes longer, the lessons will be better learned. You of all people impress me as one who doesnt quit.
Andrew
 
This should be every ones biggest fear when building a car. I know from experience, I work at one. When I started we had a few cars that were there for 2 years. Were getting caught up now. Mostly because were slow and have little else to do.

I still have yet to get my car in and finish it up though.

One thing I tell people is if they have a running driving car, keep it that way. If you want something to rip a part, Buy another so you can enjoy one while the other sits for years and years while you chip away at it.

I put a nice exhaust on my truck and just pretend its an old car, LOL
 
Andrew.....tell ya the truth, I sorta forgot about this thread. I'm glad somebody dragged it out of the closet!
No; I'm not the type to "give up", contarily, I'm the one that doesn't know when to quit. Or so I've been told.....8)
Adam, couldn't agree more! A rolling project is, well, rolling. You can drive it and dream at the same time. Helps keep the dream alive!
Some people say a garage is where dreams go to die. For some, this is the case; not me. My problem is that there are too many entities in the garage, what with my 3 bikes, The Duke, and customers' bikes all vying for my after-hours time. A little voice has been whispering in my ear to start another Buell project; so far I've managed to ignore it in favor of The Duke. I made a lot of progress last year (by my watch!) and intend to keep the ball rolling.
One thing I've really come to cherish is the support and encouragement of this forum. When the cold winds blow and the snow stands a foot high, I can always come here and view somebody's progress (and feel jealous!) or get an encouraging or inspiring word from someone. Common sense tells me to ditch the Duke, sell it for what I can scrounge, and don't look back. Must be the stubborn Irishman in me that refuses to let go. I WILL drive this thing again. Someday!:toothy10:
But, back to why we DON'T finish these projects......
 
My biggest problem is lack of funding. Its easy to get depressed with your project and ive been going through that lately. We are a single income family right now as my wife stays home with our youngest son. ( we couldn't afford day care if she was working to.) Weve been trying to buy a house now for the past 3/4 months or so, and that takes alot of time and money and patience. Im very fortunate to be able to drive my car to work daily, its only a six cyl right now but at least i can enjoy it some. Needs lots of body work and ive been collecting parts to put a small block in it. Got a free 318 that ran pretty good, still got a radiator from my BB demon, pick up some used headers on ebay. Got a distrib from dusterdood, so im getting some stuff together. But then i need intake and carb ( cause you cant have a 2bbl right?) trans, motor mount kit or another k-frame, all big stuff now. So it seems like i will never get al the stuff together. When i have a few extra bucks it always has to go to something else. I have to take care of my family first. But i did do some work on it today, pulled the sending unit out, repaired th float and got the gas gauge working after two years! Best part it was a basically free repair. I think of this site as a definate motivator. Thanks for reading!
 
hemifish69 said:
Right now, I've got a severe case of apathy.

I'm thinking gasoline cars got another 5-7 year run.

The gov't going to start telling the big 3 what cars they can and can't make.- goodbye Challenger, Dually Diesels.

Maybe I'll spring for a good tranny so I can get one good season out of the Hemi Barracuda.
Click to expand...


Really? 5-7 years? Ha! Ha! I am 47 and I will guarantee you that I will never live long enough to see gasoline become extinct......we can't act that quick anymore.......D
 
Finished? My Dart will never be finished. Well.....when I die, It will be.....but not buy choice.
 
guys i just found this thread,and wow all of you are right!!! my first car fell do to the not knowing a damn thing monster. the second fell do to ex-wife thinking i loved the car more than her. (i found later she loved the neighbor more than me!!!) the 3rd fell to money/woman. the one i have now is great!!!! i bought the car "before" i got married again!! and i made sure she knew before hand that i love muscle cars and mainly my duster and would NOT get rid of it!!! she blew my mind when she asked if she could help!!!! she's even went to the junk yard with me to get parts!!! and lastly this past christmas for my present she sent the duster to the body shop to have all the rust cut out and bought new sheet medle for it too!!!! 2 is really better when your doing a big project like mine!!!:cheers:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top