Heres the story....I picked up this 69 convertidisaster (see below) in Sept 2000. I have welded in patch panels in both quarters replaced a fender, removed tons of rust, swpped out a manual 3 speed tranny for a TH350, fired up a motor that had been sitting for 10 years and finally drove the car around the block. I know I have done lots especially that when I got this car, I barely changed my own oil.

Right now, I have no motivation to continue working on the car. Granted I have been working 6-7 days a week since mid August but today I could have gotten alot of sanding done....and I just sat around. How do you guys all stay motivated? Any ideas would be great. I have to figure out my plan of attack on the remaining work on this car.

Thanks

Bob

http://www.valleydentalsupply.com/bobf/thenandnow.jpg

your car has come a long long way from where it started, so just keep at it. Remember tho, we do this for fun. If it was more fun to not work on it today, that's ok, too, right?

Working 6-7 days a week is a tough schedule, and I'm sure on your rare off time, there's other of life's lil time spenders that need your attention, too. And, everyone needs an off day every once in a while.

So don't sweat it. you'll feel like sanding, and you'll get it done.
Don't make it one more headache in your life.

first of all, it okay to take a break from the car. i've done this several times just to figure out what's next and how best to do it. then things just seem easier to tackle.

we all have lives outside of the garage. go out with some buddies and have some cold ones. when your mind is ready to get back on the car you'll feel refreshed and approach it with a much better attitude. i don't know your marital status but if you're married or have a gf spend some serious quality time with her.

it's a hobby, not a job, so approach it as such. we all get job burn-out. with all the hours and days you've been working it's a miracle you've been able to devote any time at all to your car. so take a day or two, or even a week, off from it. eventually you'll be itchin' to get back on it and when you do it'll be fun and enjoyable again.

heck, i've spent almost 24 years on mine :p

I know what you mean. I have a 70 Chevelle that i started restoring in 2000.Now its 95% finished.Just needs some little things and i could be driving it but its almost painful for me to work on it. I really want to finish it but i just haven't been able to get it done. What i have done is made a list of things i want to finish.I try to pick one thing off the list and just focus on doing it.Forget about all the other things and just finish one thing.When its done move on to the next thing. This weekend was the lighting. I installed all the harnesses and got all the lights,turn signals ect working. I find that if i don't get up early and start working on it i will end up putting it off all day and get nothing done. :sad:

Go to a cruise-in, or a car show. When I see the nice cars at these events it gets me fired up to work on mine.

How do I stay motivated? By looking at pictures like yours! Seriously, by looking at what others are getting done, it motivates me to work on mine more. You've come a long way and it looks great. Take a few weeks off, sure enough you'll be watching the 'power block' or 'two guys garage' and deside to go out and work on your own car.

Now, if someone could tell me how to get motivated enough to reroof my shed and finish sanding the drywall in the guest room, that would be nice :)

I think any of us who have been restoring for years (my 69 has been 7 years, and almost done) go through ups and downs. When I want to motivate myself, I pick a task that will be very visible. That way, when you finish that task, you can step back and "see" progress. I also keep a To Do list, and I physically scratch them off the list as they are completed. Even if the task is not visible, you can see the progress by looking at the list.

Sort of like swimming across a lake and you can't see the shore on the other side. You know you are making progress, but you have to force yourself to keep going strong. But when you can see the shore, you swim stronger without the need to push yourself.

I take a lot of pictures of my projects. Sometimes when I feel like I'm not getting anywhere, especialy when priming and blocking for months and the car still looks the same, I look at early pics to remind me how much I really have accomplished.

I've been doing this for over 20 years. Sometimes I'll just blow it all off for months at a time. All the time knowing the mood will hit me again. I only do it as a hobby when its fun & keep my eyes on the prize. :)

Thanks guys! I appreciate the advise. Tommorrow night I will tape a to do list on the windshield. Up until I was able to drive the car aroundthe block I was highly motivated, but once I hit that goal, I havent had much desire to do anything except go for my weekly ride around the block.

Thanks Again
Bob

The Japanese have a saying that translated means, "you eat a whale one spoonful at a time".

There's no hurry,..take your time,..you'll do a better job.

Thanks guys! I appreciate the advise. Tommorrow night I will tape a to do list on the windshield. Up until I was able to drive the car aroundthe block I was highly motivated, but once I hit that goal, I havent had much desire to do anything except go for my weekly ride around the block.

Thanks Again
Bob
Around the block is cool, maybe throw in a "smoke show"...that may also motivate you...it works for me...Chris .. :D

my motivation is lacking right now too. No big deal. I'll get back on it when I am ready. My Uncle help me put some perspective on my current project. I lamenting the fact that I hadn't done anything for about 3 weeks on the project. This was while we were standing next to his just recently fired up Studebaker streetrod truck. He said work on it when you want. He had not done anything with his truck for over 5 YEARS. Then last year he got the bug and it went from a truck and a frame separate to a drivable hotrod. That changed my perspective a bunch.

Go In To Bench Racing Section And Check Out The" Post Your Car Here" Section And It Will Give You Around A Hundred Reasons To Keep Going When You Want To Start Again!!!!!!!!!!!!

As others have said, ...we've all been there. There are times where you'll want to work on the car, ...and times when you won't. I'd go 6-8 months at a time where I didn't even want to see the car, ..other priorities in life take over as well.
Get yourself a car cover, ...cover it up when you don't feel like working on it. The old saying "out of sight, out of mind", ...there are times where you just don't want to even look at it.
It's a lot of work as you know, ...be easy on yourself, ...there WILL be those days where you'll be re-energized to get back to it. :thumbsup:

Kevin

All these posts are right you should take a break it looks good, as long as you have the car is the way I look at it. One day you will take it out and almost everyone will say (cool car) young and old ,then this time will feel like it never happend. Mine is not finished yet, I got to the point were it is mechanicly finished and have drove the pants off it. When money and time come together again I will do the body. My only time frame is to have it done by its 40th b-day third week of june 07. Dont worry about getting it done so fast invite a freind over to have a beer and look at what you have done and talk about the next step you wont have trouble picking up the tools again.

I was going like gang busters on my car, then I broke my hand. Six weeks of down time and I didn't feel like doing anything on it. I had to force myself everytime to go into that garage. I found that after the first hour, I would start getting in the swing again. It's easy to give up, hang in there. Just keep thinking of the day it is done and you are cruisin' down the street.

The car looks good. You will be amazed once you get paint on it. People will stop in the middle of the road and admire you car. My buddy Rich has been working on his 67 for 12 years. He had the car painted last year, people stop in the street and look at his car almost daily when his garage is open.

My car was a registered driver when I bought it 3 years ago. Turned out it needed the entire front end to be rebuilt, the rear suspension needed to be replaced, the floors needed to be replaced, only had working front manual drum brakes, needed a new clutch and the tranny had to be rebuilt, and it needed working gauges. Didn't realize all of this was bad until I started going through the car. All these problems took the wind from my sails. I started with one project at a time, drove the car for a little while and then moved onto the second. I would do a lot of little things first and then cross them off the list. Pretty soon the list will look half done. If you do it all at once you will burn out. A little at a time. Once you've accomplished something, you get a sense of pride and after a while you want to start the next thing on the list. I found if your always working on it and never enjoy it, you will lose motivation. I just drove my 69 on a 200 miles round trip to be used in my brothers wedding along side his 72 Nova. The looks and comments I received made the past 3 years worth of work all worth it.

Just wait for when you finally get the car done, and drive down the street. The first thumbs up you get will make it ALL worth while. :thumbsup: