Working on cars alone VS having a few buddies around....

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Kern Dog

Kern Dog

Build your car to handle.
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One of the things that I like about construction is that there is often a sense of camaraderie among the guys. It is sort of like a sports team or the military in that you have several men working together toward a common goal.
Many times, I prefer to work on my cars alone. Distractions from others can cloud my thought process and lead to screw-ups.
Other times though, I like having friends around. The jokes, the stories and sometimes pranks make it a lot of fun.
I joined a car club in 2004 for this very reason. I figured that guys that joined a Mopar club might be the type I'd like to do car projects with.
It has not worked out that way. While they are nice people, most of the members never do anything. No car shows, no junkyard crawls, no interest in car movies and IF they have a classic, it never shows any progress.
That is very disappointing.
One friend of mine here has all but lost interest in cars since he sold his Challenger to fund the purchase of property. I've reached out to the car club guys but as stated, most of them are nowhere near as car crazy as I am. I do know of a couple more though.
Sometimes if I commit to the guys coming over, it motivates me to get up and moving. If it is up to me (And it is cloudy or cold) it is easy to just stay inside.
Do you enjoy having the guys over or do you prefer to work and tinker alone?
 
Kern Dog said:
One of the things that I like about construction is that there is often a sense of camaraderie among the guys. It is sort of like a sports team or the military in that you have several men working together toward a common goal.
Many times, I prefer to work on my cars alone. Distractions from others can cloud my thought process and lead to screw-ups.
Other times though, I like having friends around. The jokes, the stories and sometimes pranks make it a lot of fun.
I joined a car club in 2004 for this very reason. I figured that guys that joined a Mopar club might be the type I'd like to do car projects with.
It has not worked out that way. While they are nice people, most of the members never do anything. No car shows, no junkyard crawls, no interest in car movies and IF they have a classic, it never shows any progress.
That is very disappointing.
One friend of mine here has all but lost interest in cars since he sold his Challenger to fund the purchase of property. I've reached out to the car club guys but as stated, most of them are nowhere near as car crazy as I am. I do know of a couple more though.
Sometimes if I commit to the guys coming over, it motivates me to get up and moving. If it is up to me (And it is cloudy or cold) it is easy to just stay inside.
Do you enjoy having the guys over or do you prefer to work and tinker alone?
Click to expand...
Different group up here I guess, we all trade parts and help each other when you need extra hands. Most all the guys build and break their own junk. We swap welding for wiring etc etc. Invariably the work stops and the drinks get stronger, the music louder and the ideas a bit more far fetched. For most part I can get more done working alone but sometimes it is nice to have a like minded creature in the shop. My dog is always by my side but without thumbs she can’t fetch beers or tools well.

4F5F500A-54A6-4727-90BE-A8104066A3BC.jpeg
 
That is cute. My dogs do the same thing when I am under a car....struggling to get in to lick my face.
 
Having friends over is bullshit........I mean to bullshit! I generally work alone as well. Chitter chatter causes not much get at her. Occasionally you team up to do certain tasks but for the most part, one man works on his car.
 
Pull up a chair- the Onion is full of layers.... I have worked independent most of my life. My main racing friends are dead or have moved on.... What I found worked the best was everyone working on their own thing in a given project. Working on a couple of Grudge cars taught me the value of bonding with people. Even the ones who were happy just to clean on the car and had no interest in turning a wrench.

There is something to be said for it. Hanging out in the shop til wee hours of the morning with good people can't be replaced. Lost all that 10 years ago and not sure I would know how to get there even if I wanted. For those who still wrench with your Buddies, make the most of it.

JW
 
I work better either alone or with one of my sons, or both. A collection of buddies hanging around is a distraction most times to getting work done.

If we are gonna hang around it’s better at a cruise night.

Cliff Ramsdell
04F885C3-C8D8-48C6-A584-50261B96AD12.jpeg
 
All the work on the cars get done by me.That explains why nothing is finished yet.lol I do have buddies stopping by checking out progress but it’s all me for getting anything done.
 
One of the reasons that I started this thread is that I really miss having friends over here. It used to be more common to have people over to do engine swaps, transmission replacement, body and paint, sometimes scrapping a car. Sometimes the work was on my car, sometimes theirs.
I'm considering a move out of state and know that it will take awhile to meet and befriend new car guys.....meaning that I'll be doing the stuff alone awhile.
 
To one of the previous comments point, hanging out in the shop till wee hours of morning is priceless. You can’t do it everyday but on occasion it sure warms the soul. Moving out of State is always a big decision but given your present location regardless of where you move to it will likely be a bit more car friendly environment thus more gear heads to hang out with. Show up at a track in your new community and walk the pits, the racing community is just great folks. You show up a time or two next thing ya know they will be offering you a beer and some shade.
 
If I'm seriously trying to get something done, then I prefer to work alone, no distractions except the tunes cranked. I enjoy having people around to bullshit, but unless I really need help, which is very rare, it's me myself and I. Wife will come out to pump brakes so I can bleed them, or if I need a hand for a minute. I have pretty much all the tools I need to complete almost any job alone.
 
I like to work alone. Mostly because my friends don’t show the love our cars deserve. To them it’s good enough. To me It just isn’t. Kim
 
There's only one person I can have around when I'm doing any kind of cylinder head porting and that's because he ports heads too.

Aside from that...I dont mind friends hanging out who know how to help, some just talk too much about unrelated **** I could care less about...they are distractions and no help....that when I stop and just crack another beer
 
Kern Dog said:
One of the things that I like about construction is that there is often a sense of camaraderie among the guys. It is sort of like a sports team or the military in that you have several men working together toward a common goal.
Many times, I prefer to work on my cars alone. Distractions from others can cloud my thought process and lead to screw-ups.
Other times though, I like having friends around. The jokes, the stories and sometimes pranks make it a lot of fun.
I joined a car club in 2004 for this very reason. I figured that guys that joined a Mopar club might be the type I'd like to do car projects with.
It has not worked out that way. While they are nice people, most of the members never do anything. No car shows, no junkyard crawls, no interest in car movies and IF they have a classic, it never shows any progress.
That is very disappointing.
One friend of mine here has all but lost interest in cars since he sold his Challenger to fund the purchase of property. I've reached out to the car club guys but as stated, most of them are nowhere near as car crazy as I am. I do know of a couple more though.
Sometimes if I commit to the guys coming over, it motivates me to get up and moving. If it is up to me (And it is cloudy or cold) it is easy to just stay inside.
Do you enjoy having the guys over or do you prefer to work and tinker alone?
Click to expand...

I prefer to work on my car on my own. Just try to get a 9 year old to hold the droplight or flashlight lol.
If a friend is there I can't relax my brain and just zone out on the job. I end up bullshitting and laughing and NOTHING gets done. Add in alcohol and pizza and negative progress gets made.
 
I don't have enough friends interested in hanging out working on my car. My father in law will come by from time to time, but I dont invite anyone by anymore because they just don't show the interest. They like the car, but don't appreciate what's gone into it I guess.

I prefer to work alone also, keeps me focused, but given the opportunity and the right person I'd love to have one or two really good car friends.
 
I don't drink so nothing like that would cloud my judgement.
When I used to have more friends, they would often hang out until dinner where we would clean up and order a pizza of chow on something the wife made. I miss having "like minded" people around.
I know...times change, people's priorities change and all that. I seem to be the one constant in an ever changing world.
 
Before I moved out here, my neighbor was also into Mopars. We would work one night in his garage, then next night in mine. Now that I’m 50 miles out of town it’s just me.
 
Kern Dog said:
I don't drink so nothing like that would cloud my judgement.
When I used to have more friends, they would often hang out until dinner where we would clean up and order a pizza of chow on something the wife made. I miss having
like minded" people around.
I know...times change, people's priorities change and all that. I seem to be the one constant in an ever changing world.
Click to expand...

For sure. I don't ever drink while working on the car, too distracting. Where ya thinking about moving?
 
It all depends on what is going on. If it's friends who drink then, it's probably just good to stop and join them. If it's friends that aren't big drinkers then, keep wrenching!! To me it also depends on what the project of the day is. Sometimes you just need more muscle or hands to get things done (the joking around doesn't hurt either).
 
plumkrazee70 said:
For sure. I don't ever drink while working on the car, too distracting. Where ya thinking about moving?
Click to expand...
We are considering Tennessee.
Without going political and all, we just want to live where the values we hold are matched by the majority of the citizens. They have no state income tax and the property taxes are a fraction of what we pay here.
 
Kern Dog said:
One of the things that I like about construction is that there is often a sense of camaraderie among the guys. It is sort of like a sports team or the military in that you have several men working together toward a common goal.
Many times, I prefer to work on my cars alone. Distractions from others can cloud my thought process and lead to screw-ups.
Other times though, I like having friends around. The jokes, the stories and sometimes pranks make it a lot of fun.
I joined a car club in 2004 for this very reason. I figured that guys that joined a Mopar club might be the type I'd like to do car projects with.
It has not worked out that way. While they are nice people, most of the members never do anything. No car shows, no junkyard crawls, no interest in car movies and IF they have a classic, it never shows any progress.
That is very disappointing.
One friend of mine here has all but lost interest in cars since he sold his Challenger to fund the purchase of property. I've reached out to the car club guys but as stated, most of them are nowhere near as car crazy as I am. I do know of a couple more though.
Sometimes if I commit to the guys coming over, it motivates me to get up and moving. If it is up to me (And it is cloudy or cold) it is easy to just stay inside.
Do you enjoy having the guys over or do you prefer to work and tinker alone?
Click to expand...
I prefer to work alone so I can stay focused on the task at hand. There are times when a extra pair of hands and eyes are welcome. That’s when my 79 year old pop gets a call.Retired mechanic but he still loves getting his hands dirty.RJ

8E01AF0F-082D-466E-8D98-5E7039C39247.jpeg
 
Used to have friends by just about every night. Mostly to bullshit. Then everyone had kids and got wives. They all became lame.
It's hard to find people to breath rubber smoke with ya. I work alone mostly. Something about getting old, seems everyone just wants to sit on their asses.
Wait a minute, I'm sitting on my *** here, not in the garage. Reading about cars? what the hell.
 
At work, I usually work alone but get help when I have something heavy to move or need to take a long measurement. Most guys don't work as fast or as clean as I do and I get frustrated with sloppy work.
With the cars, it is almost as if the car itself is not as important as being with friends.
 
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