Anyone ever finish a project car early?

 I picked up this 1948 Willys CJ2A last spring. I started work on it over the summer and now it's finished. The problem is this winter won't end and our local trails likely won't open until May 1st. 

It's moving out to the pole barn this weekend to make room for the next project.

Just to be clear this is a first for me. I'm usually scrambling to finish in time to meet some self imposed deadline. This is a nice change.

What is this word you used, "finished" ?

I second iansane's comment.

iansane said:

What is this word you used, "finished" ?

I understand that to mean "lost interest and sold it"

Once. My ex- was a pretty good task-master.

In reply to iansane :

You're absolutely correct. That was poorly phrased and a wildly naive/optimistic thing to say.

 It is however running, driving, turning and stopping so it's in a far more advanced state than some of the stuff I've taken to the track. 

Most of my projects are finished on time or early but I design and build stuff for a living and I've been messing with cars for forty plus years so I'm pretty good a project planing. Except for software projects.  I'm terrible at predicting how long software stuff will take.

Anyone ever finish a project car early?

There goes the space time continuum.

Finish a car early?  I can't even start a project car on time...

Good color on a great looking Jeep.

Wayslow said:

In reply to iansane :

You're absolutely correct. That was poorly phrased and a wildly naive/optimistic thing to say.

 It is however running, driving, turning and stopping so it's in a far more advanced state than some of the stuff I've taken to the track. 

Safe to say that it has reached the "Development" stage. 

After 7 years, my TR6 project is "finished".  Except I still need to powdercoat some duct work, and continue tuning the Megasquirt and suspension, and buff the paint, and...

So, the answer to your question is no.

The Willys looks great - need more pics!

As for me, I picked up my Raider just as COVID was starting, with the goal of having it done in 2-3 years at least. Thanks to a lot of time at home during COVID, I totally finished it in less than 9 months (including picking up a 2nd one for parts), before there even WAS a Delta variant :/

From start - with blown engine and automatic transmission sitting in the back, behind the seats

Sprinkle in this rustbucket with a kinda-running engine and a manual transmission

And finished with this

Probably in poor taste, but couldn't resist....

Wayslow said:

Just to be clear this is a first for me. I'm usually scrambling to finish in time to meet some self imposed deadline before I lose the shop.

FTFY 

Congratulations! We're on similar timelines with our CJ2A projects.  I expect to finish mine next week.

The main difference with our projects appears to be that the cosmetics on yours seem to have gone pretty quickly and the cosmetics on mine have taken 75 years (from 1947-present). 

Nice job! 

Finish....a project? Is that a thing? Some sort of foreign culture I'm not familiar with? 

In reply to irish44j (Forum Supporter) :

Is the quarantine build sticker your own creation? That's awesome!

Everything I drive is a project.  I will probably never be "finished"...

In reply to Carl Heideman :

Carl I love the hard won patina on your Jeep. Mine came with a reproduction body so the decision had been made. One of my friends has a 51 that is mostly original body wise and I appreciate it. Another friend has a perfectly restored 52 and I appreciate it too. I don't think you can do an incorrect restoration on one of these things.

In reply to Wayslow :

I agree. What driveline did you end up using? It had a 289, right?

I usually tell people the car will done on Thursday.  After a while they realize I never said which Thursday. 

Project cars are never done. Sometimes it is time for them to move on to the next owner but there is probably something I was planning to do or re-do to it.

Race cars are only in the correct number of pieces ( 1 ) while they are at the track. I limit any planned work on the car to stuff that will take less than 20 minutes.

In reply to Carl Heideman :

So the purists will hate me but I installed a Suzuki 1.6l 8v engine with a Samurai transmission and transfer case. I actually intended to utilize the Samurai axles too but a neighbour actually had a set of 1946 axles sitting in one of his out buildings. He offered them to me for free so I eagerly accepted. With the bonnet closed it appear stock aside from the twin shift stick setup.

 I know to some it may seem a bit of heresy to have a Japanese drivetrain in a just post war Jeep but I have a German drivetrain in a Lotus soooo.

I'm confused by the title. I understand each individual word but together it sounds like jibberish. Finishing a project? Who does that? Early? Now it's just silly town. 

In reply to bobzilla :

I know it was a poor choice of words. If it makes you feel better since I took that picture I've added a pair of pull rings to the front bumper and started welding together a rear seat. Projects are never done but they go through different levels of functionally.

Wayslow said:

In reply to Carl Heideman :

So the purists will hate me but I installed a Suzuki 1.6l 8v engine with a Samurai transmission and transfer case. I actually intended to utilize the Samurai axles too but a neighbour actually had a set of 1946 axles sitting in one of his out buildings. He offered them to me for free so I eagerly accepted. With the bonnet closed it appear stock aside from the twin shift stick setup.

 I know to some it may seem a bit of heresy to have a Japanese drivetrain in a just post war Jeep but I have a German drivetrain in a Lotus soooo.

I think we need pictures of your swap, please. 

iansane said:

What is this word you used, "finished" ?

Came here to post this...