Technique advice/how to avoid stalling out on a project?

Project board!

I have a white board with a list of needed work on one side and a list of needed parts on the other.

If you hit a snag, you can just glance at the board and move to another aspect. Right now I am delayed on brakes due to a leaking axle seal, delayed on interior due to cracks on interior panels needing repair and modification and waiting for some parts from the plater! Check the list and see I can move to wheel well molding.

2 days to properly install the molding (hour one day and 40 minutes the next) and the axle seal is here and material for panel repair are gathered.

A bit each day with even a little victory is essential. Some days the victory is as simple and finding the nut for the battery hold down or planning to stop and pick up 2 1156 bulbs.

Bruce

jmthunderbirdturbo wrote: -DONT -GET -MARRIED -PERIOD! thats all i got, as all three of my projects are stacked in the barn... -J0N

+eleventybillion!

Since we started to build Challenge cars, we have definite deadlines. It has to be ready for The Show. My thanks to GRM for the motivation. Here's my two cents.

1) Get a big picture list and a short list. Then tick away at the short list. Remember to reward yourself by crossing off competed items. 2) Get a TV for your garage instead of sitting on the couch watching the TV in the house. I suggest Ken Burns documentaries. 3) Maybe I should have started with this one. If you are not having fun in the Garage, you should Not be there. The point is to enjoy it, so if you feel rushed or frustrated, you are doing it wrong.

As far as order, it depends on the level of the Job. Is it just cleaning up a street car, or is it a full build. When we did the full Build on the TR7 we pulled the motor, stripped the car to the bare chassis, my teammate got the new motor started while I painted the chassis and suspension. The body was sent to my teammate for the motor installation while I painted the doors, hood and trunk lid. Back to my house for final assembly.

Oh, the most important thing I can say is that your very Last purchase should be Tires. They go bad, and you want them fresh.

I try to have the running cars on the road, as much as possible so when a major job is undertaken, I try to have all the parts on hand, then go for it to get that project finished.

Otherwise, it is more a case of finding the right parts at the right price, then installing them

Make a list of all the things that need done.

Estimate how much time each will take.

If you have 30 minutes to do something, only do something that will take 30 minutes. If you have 4 hours, tackle that 4 hour job!

Cross off the completed items. This is VERY satisfying! It will keep you motivated.

If you do something not on the list, write it on the list and then Cross it off!

Rob R.

I was just talking about this last night.

I've been in project stuck mode for last few years. The following has helped:

• Organize - I got a giant white board and listed all of subsystems. I focused on making it RUN (if you can). The noise on first fire up will provide motivation later to get it to MOVE.
• Breakway - Take some downtime from the project if you can. I use cooking, video games and yard work to clear the cobwebs. Use this as well when get stuck as frustration is a great way to stall a project.
• Get/Ask for help - If you get stuck, ask for help. A fresh set of eyes will do wonders!!
• Time Mgmt - If you have 15 minutes, do a 15 minute task, etc.
• Walk away - Sometimes you have to realize that you may have bit off more than you can chew and cut your losses.

I moved more food to the garage (Beer was already there ), added better PC to stream movies/TV and reorganized the garage to be usable . . .

Finally, I let my wife know that when I'm in garage mode, don't bother me until I emerge from the garage; exceptions are house on fire or emergencies. I also use sick days (nearly 400 hrs) from work when I feel the need to turn a wrench.

Of all the websites, in all the world, why in the world you you even dare to ask this question on THIS website???

I can't even get my brain around that!

Thanks guys, a lot of this I knew, but hearing it again always helps. I like the white board idea, I think I'll grab a scrap piece of masonite and spray it with some chalkboard paint for the garage.

I didn't even click on this link for a while because I thought it was a zombie thread. History:

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/stalled-project-how-to-not-let-this-happen/55736/page1/

The most simple way I can summarize avoiding a stalled project is this: SET A DEADLINE THAT CAN NOT MOVE.

My $20xx projects have been extremely ambitious, a hybrid AWD Fiero in 3 months and a 1.6 turbo, rear engine Honda N600 in 6 months. I still had a car that competed because I hate when I say I'll do X and then don't do it. When I have a project I say I'd LIKE to get done by a certain time, it always slides when "more important" things come up. I can't change the date of the $20xx challenge, it's a beautiful, firm deadline that happens with me or without me. Same goes for LeMons/Chump car, etc. If you tell all your friends and people on the internet you'll be done by X date, it's really embarrassing if you don't hit it, plus people tend to rally you in support of doing something tough. It might not get done perfectly, but being done less-than-perfect is a lot better than never finishing. Shame yourself into finishing, it works for me.

Bryce

I get overwhelmed often. At that point I try to organize the garage without touching the car. A clean garage helps me to look forward to the project.

+1 Hasbro, clean up. An organized work space helps me organize my thoughts. For me it all comes down to money (I doubt I'm in the minority). If I can afford to make progress, I make progress. When I stall is when the free progress parts of the project run out and I'm stuck trying to finance the next stage. As far as frustration stalling me out, I generally have 3 project cars at any given time, and I rotate between them. When I get stalled or frustrated on one, I take a break from that and work on one of the others.

Stuff on the race car gets done 'cause theres an absolutely finite time at which the car has to be perfect and in it's assigned grid spot. I have about a 5 minute window to be there.

So it gets done 'cause I want to win races.

Other cars have been put off in favor of racing, but once the race car needed less attention between races, I started to chip away at things in this order:

• Stuff that ~needs~ to be done.

• Stuff that should be done.

• Stuff that's been bugging me, in order of longest to shortest period of time.

• Discretionary stuff I can put a deadline on.

Example - my 62' Sprite got repainted about 4 years ago. Maybe 5. Then we bought our current awesome project house (huge shops and garage) which necessitated finishing house #1 so we could sell it + 6 months of pre-move-in renovation on #2 before moving.

Then I immediately bought a race car did that along with renovating for the next 3 years. The Sprite sat. And sat.

Finally with this season coming to a close and the rest of the cars more-or-less not falling apart, I moved it to the front of the garage on stands, gathered all the parts and documentation, and started back in. I'm doing 1 thing every day. After the last race next weekend I'll spend a full 3 day weekend on it and that'll get it nearly finished.

I've set a deadline of October 19th - the Rockville MD car show - for finished and sorted well enough to go.

When it's done I'm at 100% operable vehicles for the first time in 15 years.

Short version? do 1 thing every day.