Thread: Suffering from burn out....

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It happens to everybody I think. I know it happens to me, and I see my Sons go through it on their projects too. Several things enter into it. First and foremost we have to remember we are doing this for fun.............it is a hobby and this particular car has no completion date unless we are shooting for some event or some self imposed time to have it running. That being the case, it may take many months or even many years before we consider it "done", whatever done is in the car world.

The other factor is money. It takes a h*** of a lot of money to build ANY car whether it is a low buck driver or a Ridler contender. Unless you are independently wealthy it takes time to save up for some of the pricier items. You can generally sneak out a few bucks for the cheaper parts, but when it comes to the ones that cost hundreds or thousands of dollars we have to find space between keeping a roof over our heads and eating to put money aside until we have enough for those purchases.

I see my Son Dan wrestling with the same burn out you are experiencing now, and I saw Don go through it on his T. They see all this time and money going out and it seems you see very little progress. Dan made the comment that for the past 5 years he has been dumping every spare dollar he has into his RPU to the exclusion of everything else, and he is very tired of doing that...........I understand only too well because it took me 6 years to build my 27 and it got to the point where I would almost get physically ill when I had to write another check.

You mention other hobbies, and that is probably good. If you spend every minute doing just rod building it becomes a job rather than a hobby which takes the fun out of it IMO. You can't let one car build consume your life and you have to sometimes step away from it to let your batteries recharge. For me what usually gets me going again is when I attend some car show. I come home with the urge to get mine on the road.

Now get back out in the garage and get that cool coupe done. We've all waited too long to see that thing finished!

Don

Happens to me on every project. I must suffer from some kind of attention deficit disorder, because I just can't be tied down to one thing for too long, it makes me nuts. I'll take a breather and go work in the yard for a few days or a few weeks until the desire returns to work on the project.

The same here,,I have been rebuilding my wifes 55 Customline for several years,ripped into it real hard to start with,body off the frame,repaired the frame,replaced the rear quarters,patched the floor,rebuilt the doors,etc,then had to turn my attention to the house,then the business,then the house,then rebuild the F100 we imported,oops,need a motor,take the windsor out of the Customline,buy an injected motor for the Customline,,,oops,no cash,SOOO,Itry to do something as often as I can at the moment,but we are very busy in the shop,so it hasnt happened for a month or so.I think its normal to have the car builders blues,plus,I am too stubborn to give up..
Stick with it,dont go near it for a week or two,then sneak up on it and frighten the daylights out of it..