How to get back into a project track

So you're romance suggestion is that I shouldn't have a refurbished 1941 Case tractor magneto, water pump, generator and starter on my kitchen counter? How about a restored dash gauge cluster for a '65 Chevy C-10 on my dining room table??? But they're too pretty to hide in closets and boxes. Maybe I'll put them under the Christmas tree.

Lee

Find a friendly local Stude nut that has a running R2 powered car (preferably with a 4-speed) and con him into letting you take it for a test drive. That usually does it for me, when I start to get unmotivated :)

nate

Dang, Tony...I wish I could offer some words of advice to getting you motivated but you're SOL on that!

If you hear any good ones, pass them along...my Avanti has been sitting for months without getting any attention. Trish has actually taken hers out once in the past 5-6 months and that was just to the car wash because I shamed her into it!

Instead of putting MMO (Marvel Mystery Oil) into the cylinders and turning it over, yank the distributor out and stick a drill with a screwdriver shaft down into it and turn the oil pump over for about

30-45 seconds. That will pressurize the oil system and get oil most of the places it needs to lube; THEN put the MMO in the cylinders and let it sit for a couple of hours; THEN turn it over a few times (WITHOUT replacing the plugs) and beware of spray!!

Do NOT put the plugs back in before blowing all the MMO out of the cylinders, unless you just like ruining a set of spark plugs...they'll probably NEVER light off after a dousing like that.

Good luck and let us know if you need anymore 'helpful advice'....I'm really good at thinking of things for other people to work at! I'd sure like to see that car of mine back on the road!

Bob

T> Hi All,

Don't sweat it Tony.. It's part of the Stude hazing ritual .. (Next is the j-hook 'dance of joy'..) Try this tact... Don't think about 'all' of it. Just force yourself to go out each and every day and work on one square foot of the car. Pick a spot and just work on that one spot until you have it fixed where you want it. Then pick another spot (square foot). After a few days you will see a difference and feel better about the effort you put in to it. And don't feel like the lone ranger. I brought my truck home from paint better than 4 weeks ago and never touched it until today. And it is so closed to being done.... Just wasn't motivated to work on it with all this other stuff going on. Hang in there... You'll get it done soon enough. Jeff

"T> Hi All,

Ahhhh... You fell into the trap of "shotgunning" a project.

The only time that this should be considered is if you have unlimited space and a long term time budget. This is seldom the case with most of us here.

OTOH, there is a risk of things never getting done if you keep it as a driver. That's exactly what happened to by former '63 Lark four door, a rust free mechanically sound car that needed everything else.

Then there is the '55 PRez sedan which I brought to 95% of completion but never got around to finishing it. Not that much to be done with rugs, twelve volt heater/defroster motors, dash cover and a few other nick knacks... Sat around and the gas went bad. Bent the intake valves which meant the heads had to come off. Just got the engine basically re-assembled but now the paint is needing attention, I still need the 12 volt motors, and now am toying with the idea of replacing both, front and back seats with those from a Lincoln Versailles.

It never ends.

JT

(Pondering life in Cedar Creek)

T>

Tony As the notes have attested, you are not alone. I've done a couple cars exactly as you describe and its what works for me, although it may take three years or more. My wife has a half a basement full of fabric, so she has no problem with my storing a few interior parts in the house. I once had a friend that was laying up an airplane, a VariEasy, in a house with no garage. There are people a lot crazier than you.

Nate and John have given a couple tricks to keep going. Drive an old car, if not another you have, then a friends. Look for little successes and share it with the group. We're here to offer encouragement and support and to pick on each other. (When he was 12, my son once said we are meaner to each other than the kids on the bus.) Try to do something every day. Enjoy the succcesses. Post a picture in your garage of where you want to go. (I have John's pink and grey Speedster picture) Take the wife for a weekend trip to nowhere. Bill

messagenews: snipped-for-privacy@j72g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...

messagenews: snipped-for-privacy@j72g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...

Well, honestly I could have written the exact same message tonight when I headed home for dinner. I had my Avanti painted with a wonderful, expensive paint job and now have to reassemble EVERYTHING. I suppose I could slap it together, but that woudn't be the way I work. So I plod along.

I totally agree with the advice from Jeff, Grumpy and Bill. Like an editorial in Turning Wheels said a few years back, try to spend a half hour a day working on your car. (More is better!)

I have a chalkboard where I write down the "next steps" and TRY to refer to it to keep me focused.

But if you do it right you'll know the car inside and out and the pride will come from within. (Along with the compliments from others!)

Dennis Adams

Bill makes an excellent point in his reply about sharing your experience/pain/joy with a group. Upon reflection, from the day I located my Coupe Express all the way to today, this newsgroup has been subject to the litany of abuse that I have heaped upon it. Progress post's regularly put up let your support group know of your successes and your stumbling blocks, and will always help you out (or kick you in the ass to get going) The importance of doing something, anything..every day is well taken. It goes hand in hand with setting your goal with the Stude. Just saying you want to have a neat Stude won't get it built, unless you are a check writer (which has it's own merits)... Do you work with lists? I make short term, long term, wish, and check lists. Shoot, I rewrite them almost weekly. But it gives me a perverse satisfaction to cross finished items off the list. Try to compartmentalize your list so it is a goal that can be achieved in a timely manner. Better to have a list that says 'fix RH window regulator', make safety ball protector for that damned J-hook, find turn signal ground problem.... than have a list that says 'finish car by International meet'... Jeff PS: I like your school bus analogy Bill... My oldest daughter (Jenn) came home from school (on the bus) way back when she was in grade school all gushing about how they were learning contractions in English class. I complimented her on her sudden awareness of contractions seen all around in daily life. She said to me "Dad, they even have contractions on the school bus!" I asked her "Really now... Where on the bus?" Jenn said "The sign right up front by the door... It says CAP. 62" I asked her what that meant, and Jenn replied with a proud smile "That's easy! It means 'CAPTIVITY 62!".. How true, how true Out of the mouths of babes ...

"Bill Clark" wrote...

'Hope no one takes offense, but one of Jeff Foxworthy's better "You might be a redneck jokes" comes to mind:

You might be a redneck if you hear your wife yell, "Will you move this transmission so I can take a shower?"

Most of us can relate to that...BP

Back in the 1970's when I was working on Kwajalein, I ordered all kind of stuff. When I came home for vacation, I could hardly get in the front door as the living room was full of fenders and other misc Stude stuff...

I ain't goin' that route anymore!

JT

Tony,

It wasn't that long ago that I too felt very overwhelmed with my project. This is my first restoration project on a 56 President Classic. I got it in the garage, started taking parts off and the next thing I knew, I couldn't talk around the car anymore. At this point, I really hadn't gotten very far. So I took 2 months off and built a 12' x 24' storage building in the back yard. Got all the clutter moved into the shed and got re-energized again.

Since then I have finally reached the point where I have taken the car completely apart. So now the goal for next month is to start putting it back together again.

While I tried to set a goal to work on it an hour or two each day, I just don't think that is realistic. Just realize that it's ok to skip a few days so you can get motivated again later in the week. Just don't let the number of skip days add up too fast. Stick with it. If I can make it this far, anybody can.

Tim

The BEST part is when your putting it back together again, and run OUT of parts to install! About like my 62 ragtop

Jim

What I found worked best was knowing in your mind what the finished product would look like. I've done two complete restoration and customize projects on 54 Studebakers. I had done enough mechanical work and body work to know that I could do the job. Of course not everyone sees your same vision. I remember I was in the teardown stage on my first Stude back in 66. A young black girl and her friend were walking by. I heard her say "He gonna junk dat car"

Hopefully when you run out of parts you don't have any missing off the car!

nate

(I know you've got at least one more project on deck though...)