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Old 01-26-2015, 11:24 PM   #1
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Default How to decide when to throw in the towel?

So I've had my project since September 2012 and was absolutely thrilled to have a 30-31 roadster in my garage. I started tearing into it in August 2013 and ended up bending a valve after emergency removal of a stud that snapped while I was putting a freshly machined head on. Well, there it sat with the bent valve and partially disassembled.

I've run into a situation of sorts where I don't have a way to transport parts for the car (can't haul the body to a sandblasting place as I have no trailer/truck), I don't have a welder nor do I know how to weld, I got tired of buying parts for the car and tired of not being able to do anything, and finally I have very little space it seems.

I have run out of motivation and now am working quite a bit (50-60HRS per week). Coming up, my schedule will be slightly better as I will have weekdays off on a rotating schedule (six on two off), so the places that actually can do work on my project will in fact be open when I have days off. Seems that companies that can do work that I need done are not open when I have the time to even get parts to them.

I feel like I'd rather buy a 46-53 Chevy or GMC pickup and just have something cool to drive around and be able to enjoy, rather than have something cool sitting in my garage that I don't work on, just gets stuff stacked on it and it essentially takes up the space that I could have a table saw or some other cool tool instead.

I am sure lots of you have faced this issue and somehow powered through the disappointment, lack of enthusiasm or just plain disinterest in your project. I am at an impasse now that I'd rather free up the funds for potentially branching out to a different hobby (woodworking) and having the space and sell off my car project and associated parts.

I'd appreciate any reflections from members who have dealt with the same dilemma and who may have advice on both sides of the coin. One of the only things preventing me from selling it off is that I may never get an opportunity in the future to have a project like this. I bought it with money I saved and I don't want to try to find one like it when I am buying a house or raising kids because I know and have heard how budgets for hobbies get so constricted.

For your information, here is a thread I made on the HAMB about the project when I first bought it:

My humble start:
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/t...and-me.580645/

Where I am now:
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/t...-build.734758/

Thanks for looking.
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Old 01-27-2015, 12:06 AM   #2
Big hammer
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Default Re: How to decide when to throw in the towel?

Yes it happens, getting down on project. Take a time out from project. You have help with dad, brother,girl friend( get her more involved ). Join a car club help others they may have
things to offer for your project. Time out, save money, then get back into it! Sometimes a ride along will get you going again I know from past history.
Good Luck!
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Old 01-27-2015, 12:10 AM   #3
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Default Re: How to decide when to throw in the towel?

It seems the guys in the car club near me are more interested in the stuff from the mid-fifties to the late 60's or the early stuff. Model As are common, but I am running into roadblocks due to not being able to make progress.
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Old 01-27-2015, 12:10 AM   #4
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Default Re: How to decide when to throw in the towel?

Going just by your story, I would say sell it, I hope to a rstorer. I can't make your links work, but if you're well into restoration with a solid original car, roadsters are very popular and you should have little trouble getting a good price for it. As for another chance later on, a car will be there when you're ready. There are lots of Model A's. Do what makes you happy.
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Old 01-27-2015, 12:12 AM   #5
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Default Re: How to decide when to throw in the towel?

Your local Model A club is The Evergreen A's, a large and very enthusiastic group. Get in touch with them and they can help you with your decision. A generic "car club" is the wrong place to seek advice.
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Old 01-27-2015, 12:33 AM   #6
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Originally Posted by Model A Fan View Post

I have run out of motivation (
Unless you can get others to help you out (ie a club) I think it's a good time to call it quits. Unless something major changes I would look for a ready to drive truck, else you will find yourself in the same boat as now.
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Old 01-27-2015, 12:39 AM   #7
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Default Re: How to decide when to throw in the towel?

I went through some of what you speak of for the first 8 years my wife and I were married. My 28 rdstr pu was not stored here, so it was not in the way or even close by. When I started working on it again in 2001 all went well for awhile. I was making slow progress as I was working close to 80 hrs a week. Still found afew hours each week to do some. I was restoring this for fine point judging, so my challanges were slightly more of the picky nature. In 2007 when I was diagnosed with colon cancer I ended up parting it out to recoop the money to pay med bills. I had already bought my current project and had it stored away so when I recovered I started on it. In 2009 it was announced the place I was working was going to close. Thankfully it was a long process in closing and it took them until 2011 to get to me. Many more struggles since then, but can not imagine life without being involved in Model A's. Being involved in this hobbie has allowed me to meet incredable people and do things that many people rarely have the opportunity to do. Keep in mind I have been bending wrenches since I was 13 in one way or another. It is all about how you view the hobbie and how active you are in it. Your priotities may vary. Rod
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Old 01-27-2015, 12:42 AM   #8
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Default Re: How to decide when to throw in the towel?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike V. Florida View Post
Unless you can get others to help you out (ie a club) I think it's a good time to call it quits. Unless something major changes I would look for a ready to drive truck, else you will find yourself in the same boat as now.
I agree with Mike. Look at selling it and buying something ready to turn the key and hit the road. I also agree that a Model A club is far, far better than a generic club. Bottom line, life is short so do whatever it takes to make yourself happy. Good luck !
Wayne
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Old 01-27-2015, 12:47 AM   #9
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Default Re: How to decide when to throw in the towel?

I would tell ya to sell it off and try to buy a project that is running. But i cant follow my own advice........I too have a stalled model a project i keep kicking around selling, the only reason i cant bring myself to get rid of it is that i saved it from the scrap heap and have all the metalwork done. Plus our 5 year old daughter told me she wants it for herself since she loves our other 30 coupe so much.
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Old 01-27-2015, 12:51 AM   #10
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Default Re: How to decide when to throw in the towel?

To be blunt, and no offense intended, your story and this phrase
"it essentially takes up the space that I could have a table saw"
suggests that you have not much mechanical aptitude or experience.
Woodworking is a far cry from car restoration. I also wonder if the car ran before you began to take it apart.
I also have to wonder if there is not an element of depression in this story.
In any event, despite the desireability of roadsters, you may be better off to sell the car. Very very hopefully to a restorer and not a hot-rodder who will destroy a car no longer made, and in fact not made in the last 85 yrs.
Later if your tastes change, get back into cars, and only after having carefully evaluated exactly what your taste in cars is. And consider getting one that is road-ready.
The large majority of us with antique cars enjoy the restoration aspect, working on them, tinkering with them, as well as driving them and owning a piece of automotive history. That doesn't seem to fit your story.

There is a family around the corner from me. They fancy themselves 'restorers' In their backyard there is a succession of vehicles they have worked on; 6 of them to be exact. Each one has been carefully taken apart. None of them have ever been put back together. Ever. In 20 yrs. And they never will. They lack the skills required. But they keep buying more cars 'to work on'. Taking something apart is easy. Not so putting it back together.

Good luck to you whatever you decide.
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Old 01-27-2015, 02:11 AM   #11
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Default Re: How to decide when to throw in the towel?

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Originally Posted by tbirdtbird View Post
The large majority of us with antique cars enjoy the restoration aspect, working on them, tinkering with them, as well as driving them and owning a piece of automotive history.
That quote best describes me. When i finished my Impala I immediately got the itch to get another project to tinker on. Anyhow, I say sell it as well. Some peoples enjoyment is geared more to the actual use and driving of an old car and others is to the pouring of blood sweat and tears into restoring and building a car from the ground up. The pride of knowing you stuck it out thru the ups and downs is just as good of a feeling to some as actually driving the darn thing. It doesn't mean its a bad thing it's just that people are different and it takes both kinds to keep these pieces of history on the roads and not in the scrap yards.
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Old 01-27-2015, 02:11 AM   #12
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Default Re: How to decide when to throw in the towel?

I think what the main problem is for me is that I have grown weary of the roadster just sitting in my garage. I haven't been able to pull the car out of the garage to air it out and clean around it in over a year. I went to a Law Enforcement training facility for most of the summer and got back and was thrown back into work without much pause for respite or relaxation. Another large contributing factor is the weather here. It never fails that when I have a day off, it is raining or just plain nasty and it makes it unpleasant to be outside. I don't have a fully insulated garage, nor do I have a heater in it.

I am alright at working on cars, but most of my experience is pulling them apart and just replacing a part (I did my alternator in the Home Depot parking lot on my TDI wagon), I've done radiators on my Jeep and my Dad's, clutch cable for my girlfriend's car and the list goes on. Nothing complicated, but definitely stuff that requires an aptitude. What the case may be is that I am less than comfortable pulling parts of the engine itself apart and have stalled and put it off from my list of things to do.

I have three or four Model A engines in my 1 car garage along with a '36 or '37 flathead. I have so many different directions this project can go, I just need to hone in on it and knock out parts at a time. I guess the phrase, "How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time..." applies here. I got into Model A's to make a jalopy hot rod type car and not to restore it. However, I don't want a rat rod. They are just too tacky and lack the class of an old school banger hot rod.

I am more comfortable working with wood than an engine, but my space is limited, so I just decide on doing neither. I would love to have a large shop on a nice piece of land, however, I am sort of in between being able to purchase land and renting. I can afford the rent easily, but making the leap to property/home ownership is a large step, one which for me causes me much reticence.

I appreciate everyone's input. I fancied myself being more "restoration inclined" and taking a project from zero to hero and now find myself "restoration disinterested" and would rather have a cool farm truck or putt putt around town car. Financially I could have both now as I can afford a truck, but space-wise and time-wise, it might be impractical. Come this weekend, I may purchase one of those covered car port things from Harbor Freight so I can pull stuff into my driveway while the weather isn't so great. There is a little sadness to the situation as I wanted to be able to prove to myself that something like this was possible and it is depressing to think that I'd rather get rid of the project, face failure, and move on.

Anyway, thanks for the words of encouragement.
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Old 01-27-2015, 02:37 AM   #13
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Default Re: How to decide when to throw in the towel?

engine work is very different than what you do with the rest of the car. You need exposure, mentoring, special tools like feeler gauges, taps and dies, vernier calipers, micrometers, snap gauges, torque wrenches, compression testing, trouble shooting experience, failure analysis, how to tell a burned valve or a cracked thrust on a main cap, etc etc. It is way more like being a machinist than doing the stuff you have described. Actually, the whole drivetrain is like this. Engine, tranny, differential.
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Old 01-27-2015, 02:56 AM   #14
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Default Re: How to decide when to throw in the towel?

I read the two links in the original post, and it looks like you have started and sold a couple projects without finishing them. This one looks like it would be best done as a highboy as you started, because it's so far along in that direction that it would be costly and a lot of work to restore as a stock roadster.

If you enjoy driving them more than working on them, then it might be best to sell this and buy a good drivable car. You'll just have to take some time out and think about it, and see what works best for you.
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Old 01-27-2015, 04:26 AM   #15
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Hey Model A Fan,
IMO, you have 'more like' for wood than metal/mechanics, but the two can be blended,eh ! I would move the heck out of that 300 inches of rain a year area...first !
Seriously, I were you , I'd think of protecting the parts by either hanging them from rafters, storing them on walls and / or get a weather tight container to store parts in. Make a plan and write it down. Work ONE part at a time until it is done to YOUR satisfaction, then store it and go down your written list checking off each item until all are done ! Do not look at the overall project as all at once job. Your young and even if it takes years (mine did) you will be surprised when all of the done stuff starts to go together ! Hey, it's a project, a hobby...not a job ! Stay with a part until tired/frustrated, then go do wood work or enjoy family, repair home/whatever ! Get organized. Here in sunny socal,(aka-lalaland) where it never rains , I had parts of my '30 roadster all over the property.
NO welder, NO engine lift, NO hoist, NO special tools and NO help ! Other than farming out engine machine work (four banger), I did most stuff myself starting in 2002. I'm a driver, so ended up with a driver to my satisfaction ! Sanded by hand and wire brush and with home made sand blaster. Study each part, read books on subject and ask a lot of questions and ignore any criticism ! Years after start, when putting things together and seeing progress, I just dug in harder when 'free' time came.

I was already old when got my pile of parts, you are young and your pile of parts are paid for, so IMO hard part is done and you will not later regret getting rid of some thing that you , at one time , obviously wanted ! I can tell you many (sob) stories about how 'life got in the way' along the thorny path that some have as life. But, the strong willed survive. And, you may never have chance to have a roadster again. Mechanics may not be easiest thing to learn, but mechanics and mechanical aptitude can be learned. Doesn't happen by osmosis. I'm not a 'joiner', but advise to join a club and use accumulated knowledge/resources (tool loans,etc) to learn. You don't have to rat rod or hot rod a Model A roadster to have a great fun driver with four cylinders. I can/will send you pictures, if desired, to show you such a roadster. I started out restoring and just went with what I liked. Good luck to you which ever way you go
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Old 01-27-2015, 06:04 AM   #16
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Default Re: How to decide when to throw in the towel?

sell or swap with cash-doest hurt to try a trade for a running 50's truck..........

point is-have fun rather then ignore the mess in the garage. lots of good advice here.

bring a buddy or two over just one Saturday to help you clean up-buy them lunch and a beer and you will feel much better about your situation.
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Old 01-27-2015, 08:32 AM   #17
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Default Re: How to decide when to throw in the towel?

Just close the garage door and forget about it for a while, situation will change and you will regain the drive to work on the car. I can tell you that you will kick yourself for selling it latter on. Look at it as a pass time and not a challenge.
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Old 01-27-2015, 08:50 AM   #18
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Default Re: How to decide when to throw in the towel?

Have seen this before a car started never finished sometimes you see them at Hershey at the corral for sale or hear about them from other from club members for sale after putting a early 28 rpu together from parts I know what you are feeling sometimes you have to walk away from the restoration for a while it gets too big for one person to deal with lucky I had a friend who pushed me and helped me finished it in two years but in the back of my mind while working on it I was thinking I'll never get it finished or I should have bought one all ready finished the decision is yours good luck
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Old 01-27-2015, 08:57 AM   #19
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Default Re: How to decide when to throw in the towel?

Over the years I've been fortunate to own several antique and mid-sixties cars. The summer that I finished high school I acquired a 1923 Model T touring - a T because I could not find an open Model A at the time. I still have this beast, and over the course of the last forty plus years I've been able to finish the running gear, replace all of the wood, and rebuild and paint the body. One day I hope to finish it, but in the meantime I've also restored several Model A's. The one thing that I have learned over the years is that I could never replace a project for what I had in it - I've tried that a time or two as well. My best advice would be to avoid making any hasty decisions, think about what you like and don't like about the project that you have, and if an immediate cash sale is not essential, decide whether this is a car that you will want several years down the road. Regardless, be certain before you do anything that you are comfortable with your decision, and won't be later haunted by the "I wish I had..." situation about the one that got away. Best of luck to you in whatever you decide.
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Old 01-27-2015, 09:04 AM   #20
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Default Re: How to decide when to throw in the towel?

I think you would be better off selling the car. It takes a lot of time to restore one. You really have to want to do it. I can not tell you how many A,s that I purchased that had been apart for 20 years or more. I say sell it.
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