A bunch of great ideas. I have used a lot of these as well. I really enjoy the drive in theatre idea and may do that down the road with my wife. We just had our first child in April so things were not progressing through the pregnancy and such.
I am lucky enough to have a partner in crime as my younger brother is helping me and we are trying to get it done for my Dad who is about to retire. That is my motivation, plus he had a heart attack a few months ago so that kind of kicked me in the (rear) a little too.
I keep a log of my hours and take lots of pictures. I also keep a diary of the restoration and every once in a while when I am feeling down or losing motivation I will look at the pictures and read back in my diary and it picks me up.
Anytime I am working on it I leave the garage door open and the neighbours stop by and chat with me or people walking by will look in at what I'm doing. That motivates me in thinking, I have this truck and you do not! Yes it looks (bad) but I HAVE IT and one day I'll be driving by your house and blind you with the shine.
I have taken lots of "breaks" from the project as well as I moved Dad's old truck into my garage in 2003 I think (it was a long time ago). I made myself a chalk board for stuff that I need as far as tools or parts, what the priority is etc. Beside start engine my bro drew a little christmas tree and wrote '05 beside it. We just started the engine in June of 2009. Only 3.5 years behind but oh well. I also moved in that time too and went from a fully outfitted workshop with nice cabinets, work benches, superb lighting, heated, air conditioned with a paint booth...to an attached double car garage with only 4 walls a door and a ceiling. I had to build all my work benches and shelves and stuff and that took me FOREVER!
I know I'm a little scatter brained but all in all these ideas are EXCELLENT!
Another thing you can do is post pictures online for us to look over. I set up a flickr site and every once in a while I remind fellow bolters of it or tell of an update. The words of these guys here really pick me up. Just a simple good work from a fellow bolter works wonders!
Good luck and stick with it. Come to stovebolt often and read the forums and motivation will stick with you.
Last edited by cletis; 08/11/2009 7:55 PM. Reason: language
