Will it EVER be done?!

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Joined
Mar 12, 2011
Messages
657
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Location
Connecticut
My Car
2011 Mustang GT
Has anyone ever found themselves wondering if your project car will ever be finished, or will it sit in a million pieces scattered about forever??? Lately I've been having a bad case of the "will it EVER be done" blues. I took my car apart about 9 years ago or so, and find myself wondering why I didn't take an easier restoration path. I enter/exit my house through my garage and get frustrated walking by my car every day longing for it to be done. I actually saw a newer California Special ('10 or so) in a parking lot this morning with my wife and turned to her and said "sometimes I want to gather up all the parts I have for my '71, sell them and buy a new Mustang. I know that I'd regret doing that someday, but I can't help but think of how nice it would be to just be able to drive a nicely done Mustang on the weekend whether it was new or old. I also don't want to be in my 50's or so wishing I'd have finished the '71 still sitting in pieces due to lack of time and money (although I'm only 35 now) I often wonder if I've simply bitten off more than I can chew with the list of things I want my car to be, wishing I had just simply fixed the minimal rust, painted it, rebuilt the engine and been done. I'd like to think I'm not dumb enough to sell the '71, but I will say that it's extremely tempting to just throw my hands up and buy a new one.

Anyone else ever think this way???

 
Yep-been there, done that and have the unfinished projects to prove it.

I have a ski boat I started to rebuild from the hull up. Got it running and on the water within the 1st year, but spun the main bearings on the 5th or 6th outing while running down various issues.

Pulled the engine, got it overhauled and back in the boat, gathered my parts and for the last two years it has sat-needing 8-12 hours of work to get it running and another 8 to get it clean and ready to take to the lake. In the meantime, motorcycles and the Mach 1 have kept me otherwise occupied.

I keep telling myself I will finish it-but so far, no movement in that direction.

I have no answer beyond keep actively working on it, even if it is just an hour or two a week doing something. A dusty tarp covered boat in the carport doesn't make me feel any better when I see it. If I had just kept after it an hour here and an hour there, I'd have had it on the water years ago.

 
I hear you bro. Although I have not yet experienced it with the car, I have had similar situations with my musical "career". A band breaks up and I can´t find a new project or people to start a new band with.

All my friends started new bands but don´t ask me to be in them and such things.

Then after a year or so, I got so sick of seeing my 20+ guitars on the wall and on their stands and my numerous amps and I started wondering if it was all worth it. Why not sell all the crap, make a huge chunk of cash and live happily ever after.

I guess it can be compared to what you are going through.

But eventually things get back on track again and you´re happy that you did not do it after all.

Now, you have certainly put a lot on your plate with all the mods you´re doing to your car but remember that you wanted to make it special. You did not want to do a half assed resto job so you could drive it on weekends. If you had gone that route, you´d always be wishing you had made your vision come true.

Now I have followed your work and your history for a while and I can´t start to imagine how you were able to pull it all off at the same time. I mean, come on, the computer renderings, the body work, the planning, the new job and most of all the taillights that you designed from scratch, had to figure out a way to make them, had to learn how to work the materials and last but not least make them.

Man that´s more than most people can pull off in half their lifetime.

So my best advice is to build your car like you eat an elephant: one bite at a time.

Don´t look at the things that still need to be done, look at what you already have done. Otherwise it´s too overwhelming.

Lemme give you an example: Each year, a guy dumps a truckload of firewood into my driveway and I will have to stack it in a corner of my property. Each year I look at that heap of wood and think that I will never be able to stack that.

But then I dig into it and I don´t even look at the heap in the driveway but I just fill my wheelbarrow and I concentrate on the new neat stack that I am building and how it grows and after a few hours I am always impressed of how small the initial heap suddenly has become.

That way you will be able to pull it off. Concentrate on the things you are working on, look back at what you have already achieved from time to time and forget the big picture of what you have not done yet and one day you will find that your car will almost be done.

Buying a new Mustang is definitely not the route to go. It´s a bunch of plastic that only happens to have a Pony logo on it. A new car, no soul, no value, no history. (Don´t get me wrong, I like them ok but they´re no comparison to a classic.)

Hang in there. You can make it. Work on that dream of yours. Giving up is not an option because the feeling of failure will never leave you if you do. Not after what you had planned to make this car into.

:)

 
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Take the project in small sections, one area at a time, that seems to work for me. Put the parts you don't need away in labeled boxes for a while so you don't have to see them, it may help you be less overwhelmed. Nothing is better then crusing around in something you have sweat equity into and much more satisfying then just buying a new car.

 
I think we all get to that point sometimes. I have myself but until I, well chilled one evening..I sat back and looked at it like this.

No matter the shape or condition my car is in I hold dearly to my title, knowing the car is mine!

Secondly I see the nice new mustangs but A: they are expensive,B: that monthly car payment doesn't stop in the winter time, or rainy days, only on weekends.

I take pride in knowing every last square inch of my car and I know what's been done, needs to be done, doesn't need done.

Lastly, when I do have time to work on her and fix her up, when I turn that key and it fires on all 8 I know that's because my blood sweat and tears saved her from becoming a 3,500lbs coffin. When you pull up to gas station or car show in the grocery parking lot and people come to give their compliments or criticism no matter the subject, you know that just won't happen with a run of the mill everyday car.

As I say to many, keep at it and it will turn out great, Rome was not built over night.

 
Has anyone ever found themselves wondering if your project car will ever be finished, or will it sit in a million pieces scattered about forever??? Lately I've been having a bad case of the "will it EVER be done" blues. I took my car apart about 9 years ago or so, and find myself wondering why I didn't take an easier restoration path. I enter/exit my house through my garage and get frustrated walking by my car every day longing for it to be done. I actually saw a newer California Special ('10 or so) in a parking lot this morning with my wife and turned to her and said "sometimes I want to gather up all the parts I have for my '71, sell them and buy a new Mustang. I know that I'd regret doing that someday, but I can't help but think of how nice it would be to just be able to drive a nicely done Mustang on the weekend whether it was new or old. I also don't want to be in my 50's or so wishing I'd have finished the '71 still sitting in pieces due to lack of time and money (although I'm only 35 now) I often wonder if I've simply bitten off more than I can chew with the list of things I want my car to be, wishing I had just simply fixed the minimal rust, painted it, rebuilt the engine and been done. I'd like to think I'm not dumb enough to sell the '71, but I will say that it's extremely tempting to just throw my hands up and buy a new one.

Anyone else ever think this way???
I went the quick route because I'm already in my 50's, I bought mine barely drivable , it had been sitting in storage for several years, but other wise straight, for the most part original, very little rust. I put on new brakes, new tires wheels, suspension gone through, had the engine rebuilt (due to dried out seals that leaked and ticking noise deep down in engine), rearend seals replaced, transmission serviced, finished it off with a drivers quality paint job. It was never down for more than a few weeks at a time.

As much as I envy and admire you guys who take the time to do it your way with extra care and quality, having the car sit for years in parts would deprive me of years of driving the damn thing, which is why I bought it. I don't think I could enjoy driving it as much if I had an over the top amount of time and money into it.

I'd like to see you finish your dream, but before giving up on it and selling it, consider cutting back on some of the things you "planned" on doing on it and get it on the road.

Jim

 
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Very well said Mike...And I too have gone through these feelings with other projects, mostly due to my OCD when things are challenging. I do love a challenge so I just walk away for a while, come back later, and get things done. As Mike said "hang in there"

 
For my friends who have cashed in their chips (classic rides) in substituion for a later model - they like the convenience of the newer car but all long to have their old rides back. -Just not the same.

But that same feeling is what sells a bunch of Shelby, Roush and other powerful late model contenders!

You have and are building one of my favorite modded Mustang projects. -Simply because of your innovation and attention to the details. I sure hope you stay the course and finish what will surely be an exceptional car!

Ray

 
My project just turned 3 years old 2 weeks ago... and yeah, I've had those thoughts as well. If, and that's a big IF, my wife ever catches me making any kind of comment toward giving up, she tells me that I'm too far into it now to even think like that... and then she reminds me of the stack of receipts I have - and that I'll never get out of it anything close to what I've got into it so far, so I might as well just stick it out and finish it.

As far as expense goes, ask yourself this: Can you find a brand-new '71 Mustang to buy? I'd wager not.

Stick with it - you're doing some GREAT work, after all. It's going to be a helluva cool car when you're done.

 
I think most of us out there have been down that route "Will it EVER be done?!"

I always give my self a deadline, and it has always worked (for the car), but as now as for the "honey-do-list" I cant give my self any deadlines, it now or never, a few have fallen in the never bucket :D

 
I've been in that same depressed "will it ever be done" state as well. I had the newly rebuilt engine on an engine stand for months and months, just waiting for me to put it back in. But looking at all the parts that needed to be installed with the engine (the horn is STILL sitting on a shelf) just seemed too much to do, so I didn't do anything. But I eventually did a little bit at a time (like taking a whole weekend to install the power steering pump) and now I drive it every day possible.

Hang in there, and do a little bit at a time, focusing on one area or assembly at a time. You are talented, and you'll have one of the coolest '71 Stangs out there. :)

 
Thanks for the inspiring words! It's good to know I'm not the only one. Lately I just can't help but think that I should've simplified a few aspects of the project. The thoughts go something like this: damn I wish this was done. I'll work on it tonight. I'll take care of A, B, and if I have time C. but wait, to do B, I need to finish A first, to finish A I need to buy some parts. But wait, I'm broke, so I'm not doing anything. Meanwhile there's a ton of things I could do that won't require me to spend any money, I'm just too damn OCD to go too far out of order on things. I need to just deal with it and jump around to things I don't need money for right now, at least then I'll be getting somewhere!

 
I hear ya on the money situation. I have so much that needs done and your car is a huge inspiration for me. Mainly being a coupe and they just don't have the following Mach 1's and verts do.

I've put off so much because it just wasn't in budget. Simple stuff like new rear leafs and shocks at all 4 corners isn't going to break the bank to most people but for me I have to get it when I can. I don't work much on it during the summer as its just too dang hot, then it's too dang cold during winter so no go there.(however this winter now that its driveable I can take it to my fathers heated garage with lift) but still.

It's easy to get into to much at one time. I'm thinking right now what's cheap that I can do which is probably going to be ripping out seats,carpet, whatnot and cleaning the floor pans up and coat with some rust bullet and paint. I may go a month without touching it except just to start it and let it heat cycle. I keep thinking about how fall weather will be here soon and I saved 150 a month during summer sometimes more when I do side work I'm not sure how much cash I have shoved in my "mustang fund" envelope but hopefully it will be enough to get some serious progress this fall.

Obsidian, attend a car show, that always gets me and my wife into car parts buying and fixing moods. :) you've come this far, I bet everyone here would wait 9 more years just to see you finish that coupe!

 
Make lists, wish list, things I can do without money list, necessary lists, Can I build that myself list, Break it down into what you can do now, what needs to wait, the big ticket necessary parts, big ticket nice to have parts... I completely understand the limited funds, most of my car is the result of being able to make and modify it myself. Off the shelf "bling" doesn't cut it for me, it's much more satisfying. Besides raw materials are way cheaper than buying finished parts. Make friends with talented people and exchange ideas and labor to get things moving. I wish you were closer, it would be great to hang out and work together on projects. Garage nights really help too. Most of all, don't give up and make some progress. Little by little it'll get done, making progress is the best motivator.

 
I like the list idea. I've tried in the past but always got too overwhelmed when I saw the length of the list! I think it's time I start simplifying my list. In the past my list has always had the best of everything on it. I need to get to the point where I can get the car running and driving, and then worry about the smaller details as I have time and money. Like the motor I pulled from my '00 to put in it. I need to think more in terms of "get it wired up and running" instead of "take it all apart, clean, paint and detail everything and reassemble" detailing it could just as easily be a winter project for another time once I know it all works. I think I'm at the point where I'd rather have a running car to finish up rather than have a fully completed car before I'll ever drive it.

 
I pretty much decide I am going to sale the 71 every other month or so. I drive mine daily, so it leaves no room for downtime or restoration right now. I would probably have a coronary explosion if I actually did sale it though. My 71 was my very first car given to me by my stepdad, I have loved it since the day I laid eyes on it, even though it was a huge pile of crap back then, it has come a long way. Restored it once back in 2003, got stationed overseas and it sat in my dad's driveway until August of last year. I had a newer Mustang that I bought new off of the lot, it was nice, but I never enjoyed driving it as much as the 71. O, don't sale it, you got a lot of brilliant ideas and have done some incredible work to it. You will get to the end one day. Maybe start going through the front door instead of the garage! LOL!

 
My wife's Edge needed a new brake booster and when we picked it up from service a little while ago I spotted a beautiful '13 white GT/CS on the lot. So, of course I walked over to check it out :) when I saw the sticker and read $38,800 I instantly decided that I'll finish the '71!

Although I gotta say, if I had the means and thought I could get a decent amount for mine the way it sits it would be awfully tempting...

 
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