What do you do when you get mad at your project?

So here's the deal. I've been working on this Toyota for like 2 years and finally have it driveable. It's got a motor swap in it, but the motor is acting dumb.

The problem is, I've wasted sooo many days on this problem, and tried everything I could think of over and over. I want to fix it and finish it and start having fun with it, but I just get so mad after I waste another 2 hours in the hot, getting bit my mosquitos, double or triple checking my own work for nothing.

I like can't even work on it anymore! I don't know what to do, just thinking about it pisses me off....

Walk away, and go back when you're ready for it. Nothing helps with a project like that, as much as a bit of time away from it.

What do I want to do or what do I do?

Dynamite comes to mind quite often, but usually I just walk away for a few days.

Dynamite! Hahahahahaha... I have this 2.5 lb minisledge I have to keep away from the car... the plan that runs through my mind over and over is turning it on, putting it in neutral, sticking a brick under the throttle so its redlining WOT, and wailing on it :|

The bonus is I'm missing another auto-x tomorrow(1 month after the first one I missed). Maybe I'll bring the DD......................

walk away for a while, think about something else. when you come back, don't be embarrassed to go all the way back to the most basic stuff. check ground wires, check fuses, make sure bolts are torqued. I once forgot to put the rotor in the distributor. that one took me a while to find. first i checked all the really obscure stuff, LOL.

Like everyone says, walk away, for how ever long it takes.

I drove my Neon for 4 years and it snapped a timing belt after 20,000 miles (supposed to last 60,000 with my valvetrain), so I jumped on it and fixed it within a week.

Then it snapped another one after only 6,000 miles and I had to just walk away in disgust.

I'm sure soon I will forgive my car (and myself), but sometimes you just have to take a break from anything.

Yell at it.. .. Really loud and use many 4 letter words. If it yells back run away.

dean1484 wrote: Yell at it.. .. Really loud and use many 4 letter words. If it yells back run away.

Well... I do. Often. I can only wonder what my neighbors think.

To be fair, it's a pretty ghetto neighborhood and I won't be here long :D

I keep a pool table in the garage for such occasions. The table only cost me $50, which probably explains why it isn't particularly level. Unfortunately this often leads to causing more frustration than any car.

Absolutely leave it alone for awhile. I find that time works wonders for pinpointing problems or getting stubborn things apart. One of the hardest skills of car repair I've learned is to just leave the stinkin thing alone.

When I'm really torqued up, I have to just walk away. When I go back to it, I'll get a fresh set of eyes to help. Don't tell her, but Mrs. Mini has asked many a question that put me on the right track. When all else fails, there's no shame in seeking professional help- for the project.

minimac wrote: When I'm really torqued up, I have to just walk away. When I go back to it, I'll get a fresh set of eyes to help. Don't tell her, but Mrs. Mini has asked many a question that put me on the right track. When all else fails, there's no shame in seeking professional help- for the project.

Exactly my advice. First, give it time and walk away. Sometimes it helps to go on forums like this to vent or ask questions. When I was having trouble with the rotary I actually went to a Mazda dealership and asked to speak to the mechanic that specialized in rotaries and suprisingly he came over and talked for a few minutes. His advice got her going again. Lastly, you might have to break down and pay somebody else to fix it.

I break stuff. I yell and curse. I also hit things.

Then I calm down walk away and then finish it up.

I use as many 4-letter words as I can. It seems to help eventually. Especially if you yell.

ddavidv wrote: Absolutely leave it alone for awhile. I find that time works wonders for pinpointing problems or getting stubborn things apart. One of the hardest skills of car repair I've learned is to just leave the stinkin thing alone.

Amen. On a couple of occasions, I have been so pissed off that I actually had the hammer in my hand but the little voice in my head says 'you'd just have to fix that as well'. I then slam the garage door- HARD- and don't think about it for however long it takes to cool off. Might be an hour, might be a month.

I buy some other poor car to take apart and get bored with.

I tend to work on one of my other cars.. this is why my saab is getting paint and my fiat languishes

when i get mad enough i sell and move on.

Yep it certainly sucks when your car dies right before an event. Mine went down from a massive oil leak two days before an event, and it was running fine for months before that...plus the seal that blew was the most recently replaced seal! Now I can't find a new distributor for a half-sane price locally so the car's going to be sitting on the side of the road by my house until late August by the looks of it. I figure I'll bring a couple of distributors back from Canada.

My favorite pissed-off car destruction fantasy is to hold the gas down and see the tach needle break off in its housing just before the engine destroys itself with a mighty BANG.

I once took a field operated impact generator to the bed of a Ford Courier convertible (you DID read that right) after the fourth fuel pump in four weeks failed. Once I realized my ground source was at fault I felt like an ass...

The bed was rusty and due to be replaced but I drove with it mangled for a couple weeks to make sure the truck knew who the boss was.

I parted out a beautiful RWD Mazda 626 to put an engine and dash in that terd. I shoulda kept the coupe.

I have a 931 engine sitting on the floor of my garage for six months now because of a ring gear bolt with a broken extractor stuck in it. But id rather delay the whole project than give in the desire to drag the dam thing behind my truck till its nothing but a twisted hunk of smoldering metal....Or get out the sawzall and... sorry, got distracted.. yeah, walk away for a bit.. mow the lawn, work on the other car, forget about it for awhile.. if that doesnt work , alcohol can help... though that may present other issues...

I let my Nissan truck sit in the back yard for 3-4 years while I was looking for a used engine. I finally rebuilt the engine in the truck. All went well until I tried to start it. It would start only if I poured gas down the throttle body, so I knew things were close. I fought with it for weeks. Finally had it towed to an expert auto electrician who found the problem was no ground signal to the fuel pump. I was so close! After that it would start and run OK, but wasn't completely right. It took a year to completely get it to run right and took replacing the TPS and air flow meter. Don't let your car sit too long.

I see you are in Daytona Beach, FL. Isn't there some car magazine in that area that has all kinds of experts working for it?

shotgun

spitfirebill wrote: I see you are in Daytona Beach, FL. Isn't there some car magazine in that area that has all kinds of experts working for it?

Holy Hell, Florida to be specific

I have a punching bag hanging outside my shop just for times like this. Get up....beat the hell out of the bag....get back to work. If I'm really fed up I'll push it in a corner of the shop or outside and work on something else for a few months.