Languishing project

I feel a need to make a confession of sorts. As of four days ago, I had not done any significant work on my RF project since July 2004. I spent an enormous amount of time trying to get the door hardware right, with little success, then I ran into fitment and interference issues with the brake pushrods and steering rack, and I got discouraged. I then spent a lot of time last summer and fall remodeling two bathrooms in my house and wiring my garden shed. Then the GT40 just sat there, mocking me. When once I had known where every fastener for the car was, that information started to evaporate from my mind, and the thought of getting started again seemed more and more difficult. It got to the point where I felt bad about myself every time I even looked at the car. I told myself that I would get going again when the weather got warm, but spring and summer passed and I still let the project languish. I even stopped reading this forum, only checking in periodically for PMs and such. My wife was after me to either build the damn thing or sell it, and I have to admit I gave some consideration to selling it, and maybe picking up a newer RF kit in a couple years (I sure do like those new brakes).

I think I'm through the worst of it. My oldest brother moved back to Albany, NY from Colorado. He's been interested in the project but was unable to help out from halfway across the continent. He called me a few weeks ago and told me that he wanted to spend a long weekend working on the car with me, as his wife was going to be away on business. He knew the project was languishing, and, God bless him, he wanted to help out. So he came out last Thursday night, and he and I spent all day Friday, Saturday and Sunday working on the car. We really enjoyed our time together and he achieved his goal of getting me motivated and back into the build. We made some progress on the brakes, engine and cooling system, and while I still don't know where all the parts are, I'm back into it.

I wish I had the dedication and persistence of folks like Hershal, Rolf, Dan W. and Paul W. with his Tornado, but I do have a lot of work and family commitments that come before the car, and I personally find it much easier to get things done with another set of helping hands. I've had a few people volunteer their time to help out, and I'm going to take them up on it. There is also a certain enjoyment that comes from being alone in the garage with the radio, my thoughts, and a certain task that needs to be completed.

So I think it's fair to say that I'm out of the doldrums and moving forward again. No commitments as to when it will be done, and I will no longer be ashamed to tell people that I've been "working" on the car for over three years. It is what it is. But I am encouraged when I consider the progress that I have made thus far.

So here's the crux of my message: First, thanks to the people who have generously donated their time and effort so far - Bill Hough, Steve Miller, Pedro H., Jeff Seegar, Chris Yates, Robert Logan and the staff at Roaring Forties, Bob Lawrence, and especially Hershal Byrd and my brother, John Worthington, as well as my patient and generous wife, Jeanne. Hershal and Robert, I know you two have a particular interest in seeing this car built, and I promise you that I will complete it and that it will be one fine automobile when done. I hope other RF customers will understand that the time taken to build ths car is a reflection of my effort (or lack thereof), and not of the quality or completeness of the kit. Second, to those of you who can forge ahead and build a car like this in a matter of months rather than years, you have my most sincere admiration. Third, my apologies to anyone who has PM'd or emailed me over the last year about my car and not received a thoughtful reply. Finally, for those of you who, like me, have let your project languish, don't let yourself feel bad about it, don't feel guilty or inadequate...just build it in your own good time and enjoy the experience with as many friends as you can.

Over and out.
 
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When once I had known where every fastener for the car was, that information started to evaporate from my mind, and the thought of getting started again seemed more and more difficult.

[/ QUOTE ]
The carpenter working on my kitchen has a theory that if you take a long break from a project, the project will slowly change by itself, so when you return to the project you have go back and re-examine it to make sure that you know where everything is.
 

Bill Hara

Old Hand
GT40s Supporter
Mark

I know exactly where you are coming from. I too have been "building" my car for over 3 and a half years, with periods of non-work spread out in that time. My excuses are more in tune with minor renovations, 2 job restructures before a job change, 3 role changes (in 1 year) and a continued attempt to get a side business up and running (3 years). Meanwhile the project has progressed slowly from a bare rolling chassis to a panelled chassis, to one with a body on it and now finally it is being painted. The helping hands have been few and far between (but very much appreciated) and the main driving factor has been the push to get my car registered before the 302 is completely outlawed. RF has been a great support throughout and has done their best to motivate me and keep the project forging ahead.
In a few more weeks, my 40 will be back from the painter's (great job Allan!) and I will be back to working on the car to achieve completion in the next few months. Hopefully the fact that the car is painted (and looks almost complete), my work is more settled and I have promised the "good lady wife" that the house renovation will follow the completion of the GT40, will all conspire to motivate me towards a speedy completion..... I am ever the optimist /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
In the meantime, I will make an attempt to post my progress on the builders forum and then perhaps some of the forum members can prompt "has there been any more progress Bill?" when I need it most.
I hope Mark that you have regained the image of the finished product in your mind and then take that first step again, and then the next........

Bill
 
Hey Mark dont ever be too hard on yourself. I am glad your getting going on your RF again. Believe me I too sometimes think I am slacking off too much . It seems everything takes twice as long as you plan, and sometimes maybe 3 times as long. I was not happy with the way I was polishing the panels on my chassis and tried several different methods till I found one I was happy with (sort of ,lol) then had to go back and redo all the other panels so they would look the same.I wasted months on diffent things as well, plus other things taking time, son's Tae Kwon Doe and Scouts, my antique radio club that I belong to, the Wifey and honey-doos and on and on. On top of all that half the time I just look at the car,lol. When you really think about it, its no big deal it took longer to build than you thought .The important thing is you are rolling along again and we WILL see you finish it and you will be none the prouder. Now Im heading out to piddle /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif Regards, Dan
 

Howard Jones

Supporter
My "Couple of years" became 5. No big deal. Just try and do a little each week. Even if its just drilling a few holes for a pannel of two. Or a trial fit of somthing or another.

The one thing I learned is stop making modificatons and just get it all together and on the road. You will have many winters for this or that upgrade or modification later.

As they say on the TV "Just do It"
 
Hey Mark, I wondered what happened to you. I wish I had more time to help, but you know what I'm up to. My Daytona sat for two years with not much done! Working nights didm't work out. The only way I got my Daytona Coupe done, was to set aside Saturday & Sunday mornings until 11:00am to work on the car. I told my wife; no calls, no guests, no "honey do lists", no having me cook breakfast and don't bother me! we will go out for lunch at 12:00 dear! Plus I got a friend that really knew how to wire a car and is one of the best engine guys I know. He wired it and had it running in three hours! I told him that I would make him a Ferrari 330 P4 body. He was over my house every weekend for five months. So, get into the routine and I bet you will have it done in no time! and don't call me!
 
I've built 2 x Cobra's with my brother and it was avery enjoyable experience and it was great to share the experience with him.

Due to family commitments and distance we now have separate projects, but still happy to help each other out when required.

These are seriously large projects and I think most builders have the same sort of thing happen to a degree. I know I have gone through the same sort of thing, so your definitely not alone.

Just get into it when you can and before you know it...it will be finished. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
Mark,
I fought those demons when I was your age. No project I ever started finished in a timely manor. There was always Dancing classes, Karate classes, and music lessons for the kids. Not to mention all the other stuff associated with raising a family and keeping up with those very frequent Honey Dos. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
I Recall a conversation when you were here on vacation. I told you if you need help all you need to do is call. You get me there and I will stay as long as you can stand my company and I will make sure your GT is done or damn close to it before I leave. So do what you can but mainly enjoy your time in the garage.
Remember Mark, Your car is #1 for the States. RF and I as well, would love to see her up and going. WE will do what we can to make that happen.

Hersh /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
Thanks for the kind words, everyone. Today, a weekday, I managed to get a couple more things done. Got Armando to send me a bung so I can fit a dipstick to the oil pan. Got ARP to agree to replace the oil pan bolts with longer ones (Armando's aluminum pan has a really thick rail). Fitted a couple hoses on the coolant tubes. More tomorrow, and hopefully more the day after that, God willing and the creek don't rise. I'll post up some pics in the builder's forum in a week or so.

Hersh, I do remember your generous offer, and am amazed you would still want to spend the time out here given how busy you are. Tell ya what...I'll bust you guys out of the Phoenix heat next summer when, hopefully, I'll be ready to fit the interior. We'd love to have you here, and the kids would really enjoy seeing you again.
 
Mark,

When I first started lurking on this forum you posts were among the first I followed and more than likely had an impact on my spending thousands of dollars, bleeding gallons of blood and crying a thousand tears in starting my own project. It now seems stange to hear your story because I'm there to.

The project board in my office has "hang body" and is dated 7/28 here it is 11/16 and that job is not completed. Not withstanding hurricanes, my problem has been fitting the body and getting discuraged as I do it. It's like a Rubix Cube, move one part and every thing changes. I don't blame my discuragment on RF, I just hit a point that my kills and the task at hand have collided so the project sits. I'm sure that I will work through this and get back to the fun stuff but right now it's I give no estimates as to when it will be complete.

Peter
 
If this makes you feel any better - I've been workin on my car since 1987 ! I had it virtually finished - painted, engine running, a few problems with brakes then over one winter, I had a leak in my garage and it flooded. I was a month before I went in there an noticed it. By which time the nice chrome suspension had peeled off, lots of corrosion and rust everywhere. I was so fed up I left it for two years, then set to and stripped the car down ( a restoration project before it was even finished ! )

I shot blasted all of the rusty components, re-painted them and now, 18 months later I'm ready to start re-assembly. I've gone through several periods of being very fed up with the project and my wife has tried to encourage me to sell it 'as is' but I'm determined to finish the damn thing before I'm 60 ! ( not too many years left, regretably ! )

So stick with it !
 

Charlie M

Supporter
Hi Mark,

Great to hear you're working on the car again. The opportunity for me to come up to look at your car went a long way in my decision to pull the trigger and order my own RF GT40. Thanks again for your kindness and hospitality.

Only those of us that have taken on a project like this can appreciate what a huge task it is. Add family and work commitments to the mix and it's easy to get frustrated.

It took me 2-1/2 years to build my Cobra and I think that's an easier car to build than a GT40. I went through the same frustrations; when I started the build I had to balance the family commitments, full-time job, maintenance on the house/yard, and I was working on an Engineering degree at night. I would get so discouraged occasionally I almost regretted buying the car.

I can tell you honestly though, once the car is done or even close to being done all the frustration and disappointment is replaced with a feeling that I think only those of us in this hobby can experience. (What the hell, how many people can say they built a car?)

If you ever need a hand, let me know; I'd be glad to come up and help.

Hang in there Mark. Keep us posted.

Charlie
 
May I share a personal experience.

When I started building my car, I would look at a whole job, set a goal to finish it by a certain day and attempt to meet that goal. More often than not however, I felt daunted by the size of the job and would leave it for a day when I could dedicate myself to it.


When it came to the stage of fitting the brakes, I looked at the approaching weekend and realized that it was quite full and not likely to have enough free time to complete the task. However, my goal was to fit the brakes that weekend so I thought that I might as well give myself a fighting chance by doing some of the lead-up tasks in advance.

That day (Monday) I had a free half an hour, so I went out to the garage and cleared the work area. The next day I had another half hour, so I spent the time taking all the brake components out of the packaging. The next day I had another half hour so I spent it examining the components and deciding what part goes where. The next day, a further half hour finding the tools and setting them down next to the components. By Friday I was ready to assemble the brakes which I began to do. By early Saturday afternoon the brakes were on the car.

The job was complete but in my mind I hadn’t even got past the lead-up process. It actually surprised me greatly that I had been able to complete this larger job before the targeted start time! It really caused me to re-examine my build approach. Rather than look at a large job again, I would instead break a job down to smaller tasks that were likely to fit between doing other things. Even a full weekend’s work was always made up of small tasks.

This is not to say however that everyone should find half an hour every day to work on their car, but in the case of a languishing project, the concept could be used when time permits to take lots of little nibbles out of a large job over a normally unproductive period. Progress will be seen and morals lifted. It’s a variation I suppose on the proverb “Save the pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves”.

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
A similar technique I use is to combine large tasks with small tasks in the same time period. Completing the smaller tasks provides a sense of accomplishment that helps keep
my spirits up since the large jobs always take longer than
anticpated.

And a couple other rules....

If you get frustrated with something...step away and cool down. Work on something else you can accomplish.
I chased an ignition problem for months...and did nothing else until I solved it. But I would have been better off
mixing in some other jobs to keep progress going, which
would have improved my mental state a great deal.

Make free time for friends and family during the build.
Setting a schedule is important...but working too hard to the point of burnout seldom yields the desired results.

MikeD
 

Pete K.

GT40s Supporter
What finally worked for me (building my Cobra and now my M6GT replica): don't build a car. Instead focus on a single task. If the task isn't getting finished, make the task smaller. I've had plenty of tasks that I ended up reducing to a single item (like drilling a hole). Heck, I have all sorts of experience getting satisfaction of getting the job done -- by drilling a single hole!

Another thing that works for me, share your build experience in a blog or web site. I still get nice comments from folks about my Cobra site, even though I finished my Cobra a while back. Nothin' will keep you going like folks asking you if you're ok because you haven't updated your web site in a while! Cobra: http://www.birch.net/~petek/cobra , M6GT: http://www.birch.net/~petek/m6gt
 
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