How Do You Build Tolerance to Project Car Chaos?

A bit jumbled, but here's my $.02.. 

Jumping into the unknown has big rewards for those that have the tenacity to see it through..  I've come to love the challenge of morphing a project car into what's in my mind's eye (read not stock), yet I've never had the talent or know-how going in that the vision required; but I sure as heck had it when the dust settled!  (BTW, I'm with the OP on bodywork and paint- I get to say I've done it, and I'm happy to not do it again!)

Maybe the biggest thing with these projects is delayed gratification.. sometimes it takes months (or years) to integrate something shiny or pretty onto your 'this is taking forever' project.. again, tenacity knows how the story ends, and it's so worth the wait.. 

Budget is of course a big concern, but often creativity and patience will help your project dollar go a lot farther.. You really can create some amazing stuff for (relatively) very little money..

Finally, the project needs to fill a need (which is for me usually mental health)-- Several years ago I told my wife I was going to give up on car projects; too much time, money, and energy.. (at the time I was really unhappy with how the project of the day was going).. Within 6 months she told me to please go find a new project, because "You're kind of an #sshole without a car to cut on." I love that woman, and she was right..

--I've been in the garage ever since, learning to do things that used to really intimidate me..  car projects are an excellent way to express your creativity and bond with like-minded people.. In the end, it's fun and rewarding..

In reply to ccrunner :

I've come to love the challenge of morphing a project car into what's in my mind's eye (read not stock), yet I've never had the talent or know-how going in that the vision required; but I sure as heck had it when the dust settled!

Word for word where I am coming from, including the wife's sentiments about the whole thing.

Pete

ccrunner said:

A bit jumbled, but here's my $.02.. 

Jumping into the unknown has big rewards for those that have the tenacity to see it through..  I've come to love the challenge of morphing a project car into what's in my mind's eye (read not stock), yet I've never had the talent or know-how going in that the vision required; but I sure as heck had it when the dust settled!  (BTW, I'm with the OP on bodywork and paint- I get to say I've done it, and I'm happy to not do it again!)

Maybe the biggest thing with these projects is delayed gratification.. sometimes it takes months (or years) to integrate something shiny or pretty onto your 'this is taking forever' project.. again, tenacity knows how the story ends, and it's so worth the wait.. 

Budget is of course a big concern, but often creativity and patience will help your project dollar go a lot farther.. You really can create some amazing stuff for (relatively) very little money..

Finally, the project needs to fill a need (which is for me usually mental health)-- Several years ago I told my wife I was going to give up on car projects; too much time, money, and energy.. (at the time I was really unhappy with how the project of the day was going).. Within 6 months she told me to please go find a new project, because "You're kind of an #sshole without a car to cut on." I love that woman, and she was right..

--I've been in the garage ever since, learning to do things that used to really intimidate me..  car projects are an excellent way to express your creativity and bond with like-minded people.. In the end, it's fun and rewarding..

Once you get comfortable  with building a race car be careful.  The next big step is to build your own house ( some practice by building a garage first ) 

When  that happens.  Be careful to limit the scope of the build. I started with my build in 1998. With luck I’ll have the lions share done by 2020. The original thought was 2-3 years. When I can seriously get back to work on my real love, of cars.  

ccrunner said:--I've been in the garage ever since, learning to do things that used to really intimidate me..  car projects are an excellent way to express your creativity and bond with like-minded people.. In the end, it's fun and rewarding..

I love that my fiance is supportive of the hobby, and has taken quite the interest in making the cars pretty. Detailing, that woman has an eye for... Diving is a good way to learn, and I'm all for homebrew solutions, BUT, with a caveat:

***Don't cheap out on things that can potentially cause fires.***

This may seem obvious (and isn't a direct reply to ccrunner here, more general advice), but looking back at the Supra build, I see things that were done, and a couple things I allowed, that make me really question whether or not I should be doing this at all. Live and learn, is the old saying. Lucky for me, none of these errors have been catastrophic, and I've caught them before danger arrived to educate me.

My biggest fear is a stalled project. Growing up we usually had 1 or more projects sitting for some reason or another. My process is to to the best I can with what I have on hand or can get quickly. I try to finish each small part of the project before moving on because I have a habit of forgetting until it is almost too late that something was left for later. I really hate to go backwards because I forgot something.

In reply to zordak :

Write stuff down. I have the same issue, my memory can be foggy at times, so I take lots of notes. It was mentioned above, the white board is your friend. I keep a note book for my project, and on the plus side, it feels rewarding to cross things off the list!

Doesn't have to be anything fancy either. Scrap paper, piece of cardboard, whatever you can write on that you won't regret writing on later, it's all good. Just don't lose the list haha. =)

In reply to CBraden :

That's a cool lookin' little pocket rocket!