do you consider working on you classic a "break from reality or big hassle" ?
- Thread starter bikefreak600
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I have 4 kids...15, 6,3,1. I have a house with tons of maint on it too. Although sure as hell not 1.5 acres. I find time to restore my 66 mustang, my 77 f150 and my 72 maverick, and the house on occasion. The trick is, as mentioned...set absolutely no time lines. I take weeks break, but in the end, I still manage to get all of them worked on. Kids go down, and it's beer o clock and wrenching time. Use the time with your car as a way to relax for an hour or two and just enjoy it.
What you are experiencing is the reason so many projects never get finished. When I had my first kid (and then two more) I completely quit working on my Shelby because of the money/time issue. Six years later I decided I needed to finish it or sell it. However, it was nowhere near as bad as yours and I was able to get it back on the road within a year.
It is the deadline that is killing you. Tell the GF it is not going to happen. I'll bet you feel a whole lot better the next day.
It is the deadline that is killing you. Tell the GF it is not going to happen. I'll bet you feel a whole lot better the next day.
i have not touched the car in two weeks and its helping. i spent a couple evenings in the shop making new gun targets for our shooting range. those things dont last very long lmao. i think spending too much time on it was getting to me. spending most all my free time with my family this week is renewing my lust for the car lol 
I picked up my 66 convertible last summer, thinking I just had to do a few things to make it roadworthy and then find a nice body shop sometime down the road. Boy was I wrong! Every time I go to work on something, I find stuff that the previous owner had half assed:
Completely redid the interior.
Replaced the convertible top. (ended up having to replace all the hydraulics too)
Put door handles in the door (the previous owner had 'shaved" them, don't ask me why) and had to get all the associated parts for that.
I ended up completely rewiring the car after finding electrical faults.
A rear suspension job turned into a full suspension replacement, including replacing the front spindles and brakes and the brake lines.
The job I'm currently doing was originally to replace the engine plate (it had one for an auto tranny in it. So far I've replaced the bell housing, clutch, updated to a cable (the old linkage literally fell out in pieces) and now replacing the exhaust.
It's amazing the kind of things you find when you get into something.
The wife was expecting to drive it sometime last spring, but now she has to wait longer. But she also found out that she tries to impose a dead line on me, I stop working on the car.
Every job I've done on it, I usually sit there and curse the previous owner at some point, when I get frustrated and ready to throw some tools around, I just stop working, dig through these forums and start up again next weekend. But every time I finish some part of it, I do feel good that it's done and have a sense of accomplishment.
One of these days I'll be done. Then she will get to drive it because it's 'her' car.
Completely redid the interior.
Replaced the convertible top. (ended up having to replace all the hydraulics too)
Put door handles in the door (the previous owner had 'shaved" them, don't ask me why) and had to get all the associated parts for that.
I ended up completely rewiring the car after finding electrical faults.
A rear suspension job turned into a full suspension replacement, including replacing the front spindles and brakes and the brake lines.
The job I'm currently doing was originally to replace the engine plate (it had one for an auto tranny in it. So far I've replaced the bell housing, clutch, updated to a cable (the old linkage literally fell out in pieces) and now replacing the exhaust.
It's amazing the kind of things you find when you get into something.
The wife was expecting to drive it sometime last spring, but now she has to wait longer. But she also found out that she tries to impose a dead line on me, I stop working on the car.
Every job I've done on it, I usually sit there and curse the previous owner at some point, when I get frustrated and ready to throw some tools around, I just stop working, dig through these forums and start up again next weekend. But every time I finish some part of it, I do feel good that it's done and have a sense of accomplishment.
One of these days I'll be done. Then she will get to drive it because it's 'her' car.
dansdad
New Member
Sounds as though you are heading in the right dirrection.
Dont worry about it. If you think it will take 3 months to get the car on the road, tell everyone 3 years, because that is probably a lot more realistic. Lets face it. For the vast majority of us, this is not our 40 hr a week job. We do not get to leave home every Mon - Fri morning and get to work on our projects without distractions.
You just have to head out to the garage when you can. So you dont get that radiator support completly installed in one afternoon, so what. Leave it clamped in place for a week, or two or all winter if you have to. Let the car rest, use it as a rack to air out smelly hockey equipment (ummm, yes it did, 3 sets for a whole winter). Then when you do decide to dig it out and start back up on her - your attitude will be fresh, and you will crank up the classic stones, pop open a cold beer and start turning wrenches, forgetting about the fact that you have to leave in 45 minutes to run jr to T-ball practice.
But you will be smiling.
And one day you will drive it to take jr to practice. Hopefully before he moves in with his own family.
Dont worry about it. If you think it will take 3 months to get the car on the road, tell everyone 3 years, because that is probably a lot more realistic. Lets face it. For the vast majority of us, this is not our 40 hr a week job. We do not get to leave home every Mon - Fri morning and get to work on our projects without distractions.
You just have to head out to the garage when you can. So you dont get that radiator support completly installed in one afternoon, so what. Leave it clamped in place for a week, or two or all winter if you have to. Let the car rest, use it as a rack to air out smelly hockey equipment (ummm, yes it did, 3 sets for a whole winter). Then when you do decide to dig it out and start back up on her - your attitude will be fresh, and you will crank up the classic stones, pop open a cold beer and start turning wrenches, forgetting about the fact that you have to leave in 45 minutes to run jr to T-ball practice.
But you will be smiling.
And one day you will drive it to take jr to practice. Hopefully before he moves in with his own family.
68stang351
Founding Member
For me it's a nice break, and a great stress reliever. If I have a terrible day at work, you can bet that after I get home I'll be doing something with my 68.
Sometimes I do get down about slow progress. I've had this car for 10 years now, and after getting the drivetrain, suspension, and brakes acceptable to my standards, I still need A LOT of bodywork, body parts, and paint work done. Actually, I still don't even have the suspension and brakes that I really want, but its fun to drive like it is. I also still need a headliner as far as interior goes. Anyway, even after having it for this long, it still needs a ton of work, and so sometimes I feel as if I will never get it done, and kind of get down on myself about it.
But then I just go drive it and between the fun of driving it and the attention it gets now, it all makes it okay. It's always there to greet me after a bad day and make me feel better. It doesn't complain. I would have to say that it's the perfect friend. In a world where it's hard to count on anyone or anything anymore, that old car is quite refreshing. My wife, my 68, and MAYBE 1 or 2 other people are the only things that I can always count on when I'm down.
Cliff notes: I love my car.
Sometimes I do get down about slow progress. I've had this car for 10 years now, and after getting the drivetrain, suspension, and brakes acceptable to my standards, I still need A LOT of bodywork, body parts, and paint work done. Actually, I still don't even have the suspension and brakes that I really want, but its fun to drive like it is. I also still need a headliner as far as interior goes. Anyway, even after having it for this long, it still needs a ton of work, and so sometimes I feel as if I will never get it done, and kind of get down on myself about it.
But then I just go drive it and between the fun of driving it and the attention it gets now, it all makes it okay. It's always there to greet me after a bad day and make me feel better. It doesn't complain. I would have to say that it's the perfect friend. In a world where it's hard to count on anyone or anything anymore, that old car is quite refreshing. My wife, my 68, and MAYBE 1 or 2 other people are the only things that I can always count on when I'm down.
Cliff notes: I love my car.
68stang351
Founding Member
72 fastback
Member
I had my 72 apart for about 2 years. I decide to do an engine swap. The day I pulled out the old drivetrain and took a look at the 35+ year old engine bay and then it started. I cleaned engine bay and starting sanding painting etc. I just kept taking parts off car to repair clean up and or replace. There would be times when I wouldn't touch the car for months. It is a great feeling when it all comes together though.
working on car > yard work !
i am now starting to make a fiberglass hood. cowl inducton with the cowl extending partially over the cowl panel similar to the fox body style. completely from scratch. hope to have it done sometime this winter. now i just need to make final decision on the scoop design and height. angle of raise and how long the cowl scoop will be. i decided that using a standard cowl hood that everyone else has is not going to do it for me. what other affordable option is there other than making your own ? haha !!!!
i am now starting to make a fiberglass hood. cowl inducton with the cowl extending partially over the cowl panel similar to the fox body style. completely from scratch. hope to have it done sometime this winter. now i just need to make final decision on the scoop design and height. angle of raise and how long the cowl scoop will be. i decided that using a standard cowl hood that everyone else has is not going to do it for me. what other affordable option is there other than making your own ? haha !!!!
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