Seriously. How do projects ever get done?

Between work, the kids, crap to do at home... I have so little time to work on the car projects it sometimes seems hopeless.

fast_eddie_72 wrote: Between work, the kids, crap to do at home... I have so little time to work on the car projects it sometimes seems hopeless.

I hear that...

Its like anything else,if you actually want to do it you make the time.I say I can't find the time to work out but I have no problem finding 3 hours a night and another 8 to 16 hours per weekend for shop time. And yes I have a job,family and a house to deal with as well.

They don't. My Golf has been "almost done" for going on a year. I am seriously considering hauling it off to a local shop and having them finish buttoning it back together, fixing the horn, doing an alignment and inspection and calling it good while I build another ABA engine in the garage.

Work on it after the kid goes to bed. Visit wife watching TV occasionally. Work on it nonstop after wife goes to bed. Find a wife that doesn't mind doing "her thing" while you tinker in the garage. Promise her that this really is THE LAST project car for at least 5 years

Take random weekdays off work when kid is in school/daycare and wife is at work or out shopping or something. When there will be no interruptions. Knock out 10 hours straight on the car.

Buy a house that doesn't need much work. Mine is 30 years old, but I bought it from a general contractor who did all of the lousy time-consuming projects that I had to do myself on my previous house (windows, crown molding, etc). I devote one weekend day per month to home improvements and that is the limit (not including yardwork, which is weather-dependent).

I've been married for 9 years, my daughter just turned 4, and I've had this house for 5 years. I work 40 hours a week, spend 10 hours a week commuting to that job, and then work another 10-15 hours per week at a second job in the winter.

And in the last 5 years, I've managed a full rebuild of the GT6, heavy modifying of a Maxima, moderate modding of my WRX, significant fix-up of a Cherokee, and a few little things on the wife's 4Runner as well. Plus the current e30 project is progressing well. Only project that fell through was the second GT6, which I decided was too fargone for my ability (mostly due to rust, and my lack of welding ability).

Make time, it can be done. Buy wife nice things so she ignores your addiction to crappy old cars, racing, and general automotive time-wasting....

My problem is that in addition to a full time job, two young children, and a recent house purchase, I make extra money flipping cars. By the time I fix up, clean up, advertise / photograpgh whatever hodge podge of cars I have sitting in front of my house I have hardly any desire to work on my own cars.

I fixed up and sold 18 cars last year, but my ITA car is unfinished and unused other then for the occasional autocross and my 1976 Early Bronco has sat unfinished for going on 4 years. (They are both really close though....)

I am happy that my recent M3 purchase is almost perfect and hardly needs a thing...

Basically, when nobody is happy, you're doing a good job. It'll probably burn me out in a few more years, but that's the ticket.

Projects get done?

I've had to sell a few before they're finished, others before they're started.

I broke up with a girl who thought I owned too many cars.

I am with the original poster. There is only so much time and the project car has to be last in line. In my case I am actually sliding backwards too. The car has sat so long now that every time I attempt to work on it I find some thing else has gone bad from sitting. Example: The last summer the alternator went bad and now the clutch cable is sticking. Very discouraging.

My MS project in the 924s will be 2 years in the making this march. Just keep plugging away. I found that a new flat screen TV is a real project killer.

The Internet will kill your shop time.

They don't. I've tried taking on project cars twice now, so I can learn to turn wrenches. I bought my most recent one in October. I literally haven't touched it since early December, and not because I have no interest. I have no time. Between work and 3 little kids, it just never happens.

Curmudgeon wrote: The Internet will kill your shop time.

Plus 200 billion !!!!!

I bought my 64 Spitfire around 1989. I got into it real heavy in the beginning. I did the engnoen tranny chassis and started on teh body work, Then burned out when I realized the rear valanse repo part didnt align with both fenders. My daughter finally got me motivated again and I got it road worthy. I stll haven't "finished" it. In the mean time someone gave me a rust free 80 Spitfire. I pretty much did the same thing. Jumped on the engine , suspension, rear end. Engine has been on a stand for 2 years. I am converting it to Euro specifcations and don't have all the throttle linkage. So, I have little motivation it get the engine in the car. Plus I need to get the 64 to my daughter's garage so I can get the 80 inside. You should see her garage. Its worse than mine. Then I have some minor rust spots on my Nissan DD truck that I have meant to address the past to summers. (sigh)

honestly, I have given up.

I'm moving forward, it's just very slow. Last night I cleaned a part. One. Today at lunch time I'll buy a piece of coolant hose that I need. Working late tonight. Hopefully tomorrow or Friday night I can grind out the intake for the larger throttle body so that Saturday I can install it. It moves forward, just so slowly.

I'm very grateful to have a shop to work in, but I can't work at my house - because there's another project in the garage. So I have to go over there every time I try to do something. Of course I always leave something I need back at the house.

It's getting there. I just got frustrated last night. Glad I'm not the only one.

Who says they get done? Something is always in need of tweaking. Also I find that working on projects late at night when the wife is at home to tend to the (hopefully) sleeping child is ideal.

that's why there are magazines like GRM and CM. You can live your projects thought them.

Sure, I can make a killer Alfa DSP car, but it's a lot easier to watch the process as Per makes a killer BMW FSP car. The work is generally the same....

GRM/CM provide both inspiration to those who can do the work, and an avenue of release for those who can't.

This is why I do my best to keep my projects in driving condition. It is so much easier for me to keep myself motivated when I can hop in the car and be reminded of why I liked it in the first place.

Regarding the lack of time... I don't know. I don't have any television service (not even local) and that helps quite a bit.

I definitely fall into the "way too many projects" catagory.

I often wonder if I'll ever get to start on my Volvo project, much less finish it as the vintage racer I'm hoping for. Considering I'm easily a few years away from building the shop I need to work on it.

Some projects get "forced". It took months for me to finish replacing the rocker arms in the m20 of my E30, but I got an additional incentive to finish it after aquiring my GT6 and wanted it in my garage vs. the more weather tight BMW.

What I'm trying to do now is not start projects when I know for certain I don't have time to finish them. This is currently my problem as I'm eyeball deep in renovating my g/f's house - which is progressing at a painfully slow pace... and every time it seems I'm making progress, we remember/add another task for me to do... I'm just really hoping I can squeeze in a few wrenching sessions on the BMW before the season starts in March. and no matter what, the garage will need to be clear by the Fall when I anticipate the TDi will reach 300K and be due for timing belt job #3.

And this doesn't include the long list of projects on the g/f's cars... for example, she just bought a set of Spax adjustable front shocks for her Spitfire... and I know she'll want those installed come Spring time.

TV is a time killer... but internet is worse. You can do stuff while watching TV... maybe 50-75% useless when watching TV... but you're 100% useless when surfing. When I do finally get TV in my house again, I'm definitely putting outlets in the garage and shop.

the "15 minutes" rule seems to really help. Unless you're pushed to the absolute edge, you can always scrape up 15 minutes. Theoretically 15 minutes a day times 7 days is almost two hours a week. Not a whole lot, but something. That's in theory. In practice, you tend to get inspired and spend more time than that.

Also, the television is evil. When you're on your deathbed, will you be remembering sitcoms or car builds?

kreb wrote: the "15 minutes" rule seems to really help. Unless you're pushed to the absolute edge, you can always scrape up 15 minutes. Theoretically 15 minutes a day times 7 days is almost two hours a week. Not a whole lot, but something. That's in theory. In practice, you tend to get inspired and spend more time than that. Also, the television is evil. When you're on your deathbed, will you be remembering sitcoms or car builds?

I've tried that too, but it never works. That 15 minutes includes getting whatever tools I need, cleaning up at least a little when I'm done, etc... So I'm left with maybe 9 minutes to do acutal work.

Having a kid in the house has REALLY affected my throughput. I used to regularly be down in the basement pounding on E36 M3 until after midnight. Now I get the evil eye if I make noise after 8:00...