AzMotorhead

A wise man who had been in this hobby for a long time told me
" Every day just put in at least 1 hour into your car"
It may not seem like much but a hour a day will start to add up.
Dont get distracted and too spread out. Pick one item to do at a time.
If you get stalled waiting for parts or money,you can always clean

F22

Sometimes, it's ok to do nothing. Pick up the latest issue of Hot Rod, crack open a beer, put your feet up and enjoy.

Another good reason to not do something, is that some of the jobs on these cars, you kind of have to prep for doing them. Looking it over, contemplating what parts you'll need to have on hand and studying the service manual and diagrams.

oldgto

Wife came into the garage one day, found me just leaning against the workbench, gazing at the Vette, she says....
"I thought you were working out here, you`re just HIDING!"
"No, I`m planning", I said!

Eljay

I can't add too much but agree with breaking it down in smaller steps, putting all of those steps down on paper and posting that list some where that you can easily see (mine is on a post of my lift with a magnet) and cross off things that get done, soon you will need another list and start over.

Tooonz

Boy I'm glad I'm not the only one. Ever since I surpassed two deadlines I've had a don't give a **** attitude. that usually last a few days then I can go tinker again. New goal is to get front wheels on the car and off the jack stands. Mini goal is to get front rubber break line off of passenger side and new line installed tonight.

94hokies

If you don't need to finish it within a timeframe, don't feel bad walking away from it for while. I've taken 3-6 months off before after getting frustrated but it does stay in the garage where I have to see it every day. A good point came up earlier about making the garage a place you want to work. Every time I have gotten back into it was right after I started cleaning up the garage. I'd get all the accumulated stacks of stuff off the workbench, see it nice and clean, pick up a part or two and start playing around. Within a week I'd be back at it. I'm at 6 years now of working on getting her on the road, just dropped it off at the paint shop last week so this might be the year finally. Still need to put all the interior back together after the paint and putting all the trim/lights back in place.

68Thunder427

Luckily mine is on the road, Well it will be if I can figure out these blasted brake lights, and I wish everyone luck on theirs. It is starting to creep closer to 100 degrees here so there isn't much getting comfortable. I did get the new HEI distributor installed this weekend so I can sent out my TI and have it rebuilt and YEAH I have a tach again. It is running again and I just need to clock the wires one post to suite my fancy on the plug wire routing and then reset the timing.

Sunstroked

Sometimes you need to step back. I schedule several hunting trips throughout the year. A week in the woods gives me time to forget about the car. To focus on something else I thoroughly enjoy.
Another great thing about a project car is that it is just that. A project. No deadlines. You don't have to drive it. No ones beating on you to get it done now. When the desire to see it finished overcomes the work involved, you'll get back on it with renewed vigor.
And yes heat definitely limits what I can get done. I'm still waiting for an opening at the painters, heat is slowing him too, so I'm getting some projects done that were set aside for later.

540 vette

I have a 67 GTO pro street car I have been working on for 8 years. I have gone more than a year sometimes without working on it. It is all painted and ready to be put back together, and I have 99% of the parts to get it done. But there is always something else that gets in the way. I go out in the garage sometimes and feel terrible for the car just sitting there. This time my 80 vette got in the way.

TurboStitchCW

I'm really suprised no one has mentioned watching TV! I know it sounds counterproductive to getting the motivation back, but when I just didn't want to deal with the car, or when I wanted to get ideas, or just keep my motivation firing on all 8, I'd watch TV. I'm not talking about any TV...I means stuff like Car Fix, All Girls Garage, the Powerblock on MavTV (used to be on spike), or Overhaulin'. Stuff that does not have unnecessary drama and that shows "before and afters". I really like overhaulin because I see just how much work a car can need and mentally compare it to what my car needs. Then when they are done, I get jealous because I want my car to be desirable like the end product. I never compare the timeline because I don't have a team of people helping me.....

Priya

Now that you mention it, that has at times helped to get me restarted on a project.

Postal123

I think this forum is as much for therapy sometimes as it is for its knowledge base and social media.

I've been on this project now for 7 years. It was 'supposed' to be 'finished' about 5 years ago, but who's counting? The reassurance is that I can see the finished result in my mind and I know others have gone on even longer... with that said, I've been burnt out a few times, and I'm little un-motivated at the moment....

I say:
- Take it one step at a time...just like a few others have pointed out. Baby steps... Just do something each day. The small amounts of progress will keep you engaged and motivate you...

- Step away when you're not feeling it, but keep you goal in mind. I'd rather let the thing sit than do something half-a$$ed because I wasn't ready and willing to take it on. This also helps alleviate the stupid amounts of money we throw at these things by spreading it out over time...takes the sting off of things a little. I guess it also ends up costing more so maybe a wash...?

- Study and contemplate your plan of attack. Not sure about you guys, but I've been stumped many times and then had some sort of epiphany late at night while doing something else. Not sure if this means I'm OCD or not, but it helps me. Obviously the forum is a huge help here as well.

- Follow others' builds. Whether someone is in the dumps or they've just scored a huge victory, it's nice to know you're not alone. In my case, I'm too much a lurker and usually only post to share something I feel is valuable for the group or when I have legit question...maybe I should be a bit more sociable.

Anyway, good topic and I'm sure it's useful to a lot of other 'lurkers'

Keep your chin up!

68Thunder427

Well three months later and still haven't had the desire to work on her. Biggest issue is Money and Time. These things cost a fortune to do anything to. Just checking in to see hows things are going with the Forum.

The13Bats

When people used to ask when was I gonna paint my 66 I would reply...what's the hurry?

doorgunner

Hang in there.......after 4.5 months my PTSD from Nam is slacking off enough that I actually think about working on my car.

bj1k

: Don't look at the whole job , just look at it in stages. I had a restoration shop for 25 years and always told my customers that. If you look at the whole job , you will just get discouraged and it looks like that's where you are at. As Alan said , tackle some of the detailing jobs on parts when you don't feel ambitious but don't give up . There are too many rewards in the end.

oldgto

This works well for me. I also have multiple projects going on at any one time, so if I burn out on one, I throw a car cover over it, and uncover another one for a while. But looking at other member`s projects, and browsing pics of what my 71 Steel Cities Gray coupe will look like when it`s finished will usually get me back to working on it quickly! Google the year & color of what you`re building, and put together a folder of inspirational pics.

qwank

At this point in the year, I'm just putting everything off til next spring. Once the fever hits in a few months from the snow melting and weather warming up I'll get a ton of stuff done in anticipation for the driving season