The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Needing Motivational encouragement!

So, I have taken my 59, Fleetside completely apart. I blasted the frame with black beauty. Every thing that could go wrong has gone wrong. I mean tools break with a regularity, I have never seen. Air tools, hand tools, electric tools. You name it has broken. Everything I have done I have been forced to do twice or get help.

The thing about this is, I am loosing motivation. I have a lot of mechanical experience. I am not in any way new to cars, body work and welding are relatively new to me, but mechanical's all my life I have worked on cars or other things. I was born with 1/2 inch wrench in my hand. Not an adjustable but a real 1/2". The replacement of tools and parts is putting a strain on me financially. The wife has been absolutely fantastic about the money, but me it is bothering. Also she is working to pay for all of this, I am unemployed. I am posting this because I am either looking for some motivational help or let me know what you need.



It's a 59 big window with a 283. 3 speed, with the original radio.

for me keeping motivational is a pot of coffee, some cigars and a vision of the finished product. there are times i have felt the way you have. i just step back re evaluate things and take a break. at some point in time things will start to fall back into place and that in itself for me motivates me again to go forward.

Hy GMCAMARO, sometimes you just have to walk away from a project for awhile, only you can decide if you want to ultimatly continue with it, or sell it. You should have something to do with yourself, could you use your talents to work on other peoples vehicles, while waiting for things to come together, good luck, and keep your chin up!

It sounds like you are feeling guilty for having a wonderful wife. Take a couple days and do something especially for her like build a flower box, you know her best and will think of something if you put your mind to it. I have been in the same rut and it took a long time to figure it out. It is really great to have a wife that loves you and supports what you want to do.

53monster is right on the money.
The other thing that can help, is going to shows, and seeing finished, or on the road trucks. Is there a local place where gear heads meet weekly, like an informal show?

Also, as dumb as it sounds, getting someone to take you for a ride will help. Once its at the stage where you can drive it, it makes it more exciting for some.

I buy all my tools used. I find that you can buy much better quality, for way less than for off shore crap.

As stated above sometimes you need a break. I've been on mine almost six years,broken tools, parts, no parts, money, no money,no time........Try to work 5 minutes a day doing anything...you'll end up working longer. Make it fun. Go to a show/cruise. See vehicles that are completed.....Ahh.....never mind I'm gonna take my own advice. Have fun and good luck
Dan

It took me several years to finish my '50. I also had a wonderful wife that didn't blink when it came to the money. I will say that I had a different sense of the money that came from years of working on old cars. I would scoff at spending $100.00 on some part and my wife would note that it cost a minimum of $400.00 every time her modern car came close to a repair shop.

She also had some insight into the restoration of our truck. She said I never seemed stressed working on it, unlike so many other elements of my life. At one point I remember that I was feeling stressed to get stuff done or that it was not working out as I wanted it to. I decided to just leave it sit for a while. A few months later I started up again and finished it.

I wish I could impart to you the feeling of driving a finished old truck that you personally did. That would be all the motivation you would need. Or maybe think about the sight of an old couple stopping on the street to watch you drive by with a smile on their face. Such times are priceless.

I second the thoughts above, recognize the joy of your marriage and go sit in your truck, or a finished truck like yours, and dream. I also remember nights in the garage sitting on lawn chairs in the gutted cab with my wife and a couple of cocktails talking about the next step. That really helped.
Good luck,
Steve

Nifty 50 has it right.

Clean the shop up real nice and set up a movie projector on the wall some night and sit in the truck with the wife and pretend you are at the drive in on a date. She'll love it and it will motivate you a bit too.

Always take time to clean up your shop at night too. Starting fresh with all the tools in the right place helps get started again the next time you go to work on it. A dirty work space that has to be picked up before I can start on something is a real motivation killer for me.

I have a standing rule that nothing goes into the shop (or work place) that doesn't belong there. Some things sneak in but they are the first things to be removed when it comes to making room fo rthe projects. I had a gal who tried to "clean" up my house and wanted all that "stuff" to go into the garage to make more room for her. "Nothing doing" was my reply. "The shop is mine".

Whne I was on the IRWIPI Adventure (see link below), sometimes Uncle Carl and I would just sit back and have a cup of coffee and just think about things to gather our thoughts. When something goes wrong, take a break and take another look at things from a different angle. Get a game plan. Sometimes things that are puzzling or difficult and we need to step back and try to think a little simpler about things.

Look at what you accomplish each day, not how far out the end is. I tell my girlfriend what I did after wards and each time she seems to think I accomplished so much..even when I think I didn't really make a lot of progress. Keep the good things in your head before you go to sleep and don't dwell on the problems. You don't need the bad stuff stirring in your head when you are resting.

Post every time here on Stovebolt what you accomplish every night or every week. You'll be suprized how much support is here.

Besides, we like to talk about that stuff here.

Sounds like you are hung up on first-time bodywork. That is normal.

For me, I try and remind myself that:

A. I really can't screw up an old vehicle restoration too badly.
B. It's supposed to be fun. If it's not, I go do something else.
C. It'll be better than I started with, even if it ain't perfect.
D. Can't wait to drive it!

Don't look at the size of the whole project. Concentrate on what is next. I tend to get overwhelmed if I look at all I have left to do. Don't push yourself to hard. You will be surprised how much can get done in short spurts over time. I try to do a little something each day. Some days I do a bunch and some days not so much. The time line here is it will be finished when I get finished with it. Take photos so you can see how far you have come. It helps me to look at my progress from time to time. Other people's trucks are a good motivation car shows are good for a few days of productive work. Feel the force Luke. Draw your strength from the users of this site. It will get done.

I found that it is good to enjoy the journey of doing the restoration. I enjoyed all the sub projects that were involved in doing the truck. When people kept asking me when it would be finished, I would tell them ten years. That tended to stop the line of questioning!

I want to thank all of you. Your advice is learned and excellent. The wife read the thread also. I have taken a break for two days now. Spent a short amount of time cleaning up the garage yesterday, though. I was going to spend some time on it today. I did work on the house this morning. I would rather work on the truck. House work is old and no longer enjoyable. Read 4 houses, all of them fixer uppers, no they were not flipped, but it was profitable, also consider 4 brand new kitchens, down to the studs, the wife and I did all of the work, electrical, plumbing, carpentry, new hard wood floors, did I mention I hate housing?.

Thank all of you.

GMCCamaro We've all been there. The thing that helped me is same advice Neilroy gave, break into small projects and get satisfaction as you complete them. Also this will sound stupid but put in a time allotment you want to spend, work that length of time, and then go work on your houses,etc. Then the time you spend will become more enjoyable.

GMCCamaro We've all been there. The thing that helped me is same advice Neilroy gave, break into small projects and get satisfaction as you complete them. Also this will sound stupid but put in a time allotment you want to spend, work that length of time, and then go work on your houses,etc. Then the time you spend will become more enjoyable.

GMCAMARO, like the others have said we've all been there. I found and bought my truck while I was combing the junkyard for parts for a 1947 Chevy coupe I was working on. The coupe needed lots of bodywork and I though the truck was in better shape and could be driven a lot sooner... 8 years later and the truck still has a bit more work to do to it before it can be driven, but it's getting closer. The biggest thing for me was rounding the bend of disassembly and cleaning/painting to reassembly... it's amazing how frustrating and demoralizing it is to pull more and more parts apart, thinking it will never end. What helped me was picking a small part of the truck to clean, fix, and reassembly entirely. Not only did I feel like I was finally accomplishing something, but when it came time to put it back on the truck it made reassembly go that much faster. And believe me, more than once I've seriously considered selling the truck... and every time I don't I'm that much happier.

P.S. - where abouts in MA are you? If you ever need a hand or want to show off your project I'd love to help out and meet more Stovebolters.

~Neil

I am in pretty much the same boat as you right down to the understanding wife and the aggrivated feeling that this thing is never going to get done. I am doing a frame swap to boot. So even as I go along I am running into stuff that don't quite work out according to Hoyle. I have been working on my 51 half ton for about 2 years now. Every year I say maybe I'll have it under primer by the next spring. It aint happened yet. I have done about every thing the other stovebolters have suggested and sometimes I still get really frustrated. I will say this though, going to a show and seeing a finished truck that someone else has done really gets me going more than anything else. Maybe our problems are similar. Up until about three days ago I hadn't worked on my truck much. I had gotten pretty aggravated with the drivers side door not wanting to line up correctly a couple months back, so I quit! I cleaned the garage up, put away all the tools and swept out the garage. I hadn't touched it until the other night. I couldn't sleep so I went out and started working on the truck and went at it hard for about three hours. That was three days ago. Now the cab, bed and front fenders are sitting on the frame, granted they are on blocks, but it is all there, and they are gonna have to come off because I have days more welding to do and fabricating for about everything between the core support, to the cab mounts, to the bed mounts and just about everthing in between. But....last night I welded in the motor mount perches and drilled, tapped, and mounted the motor. After I was done I cleaned the garage, put away most of the tools and swept the floor. When I was done ,I sit back at my radio bench and got the book out that I am using to keep records of my progress. I started looking at the pictures and once I seen just how far I had really come and how good it looked....man I was impressed! Truth is that none of the things I say or the other fellas have said may be the one thing that motivates YOU! But if your heart was into it when you brought that old truck home and started tearing it down, there will be some epiphany that will make you see that everything you have done no matter how little is progress even if it was a lesson learned.
My one suggestion that I haven't seen posted yet is if you haven't done it already, start keeping a log...I know it is just more work to add to the project, but hear me out. I started keeping a 3 ring binder with all my reciepts and notes and quite a few articles and posts from this site. I had taken pictures of the truck when I got it but really hadn't taken time to really document the project with photo's. Well, I didn't know that she had done it, but my wife had taken photos of about every step up until now, and about a month ago she printed them all out in succession give them to me to put in my binder. Once I got to looking through those pictures and actually SEEING progress I got a little more motivated. Now I almost enjoy working on the truck and putting it together to see how it looks, how it fits and how it is gonna look. I can actually SEE the PROGRESS and it has really got me going. I wish I wasn't on dial up here and I could upload the pictures for you all to see, that way I could show off and you may even see what I am talking about and it may help you find your motivation. My truck is far from being done. I probably won't see it done in the next couple years, but I realize now that it just takes time. I thought I was going to buy this old jalopy and get it going in a years time. It just aint gonna happen. Once I realized that it made a difference to. But seeing what progress I have actually made in those photos makes me realize the actual progress I have made. Now I can't wait to get out there and do something else and take a few pictures for her to download later. It is her way of helping me without being there with a wrench in her hands. And it is working pretty good so far. Now I bring her the camera to download the pics to the computer and she says "Wow...looks like you got a lot done today" and that helps too!

Whatever your motivation is it'll come!

Sorry for the EXTREMELY long post folks....but I can relate and had to spill my guts...kinda maybe even got carried away.
Good luck with your truck man... I gotta go get to work on mine!

I totally agree with everything you said. I have taken a couple hundred pictures, I started keeping a notebook with everything you outlined but also, if I found something on the net when I was looking for something else, I thought print it out put in the note book and then you wont have to look for it twice. One interesting thing that no one has mentioned is family friends and neighbors, all of those people seemed to think this is like a 10 minute project. What are you retarded because your not done? One or two seem to think you will be done in a year or maybe two, but the rest honestly believe it will be done in 10 minutes max. I generally tells those people to pick up a tool and show me. That has yet to happen.

Don't worry about what other people think, especially if it's negative. You ask the right people here what they think and have gotten some good advice and encouragement. Keep your chin up and nod and smile wisely at the neighbors, family and (I use the term advisedly) "friends".

well...just like 53monster said...take the words of others with a grain of salt. Until they undertake a project like this they'll never understand it isn't about how fast you get it done, it is about doing it. I guess I have been fortunate not to have to deal with a lot of "nay sayers" but I have had a few. I just let it roll off. Don't let someone talking out the wrong end discourage you from doing what you want. And if you do find someone that can bend time and space and make this kinda project a 10 minute job....send them to Jay Leno or Barrett Jackson. Those guys can do it in about 10 minutes because they buy them finished or pay a multi million dollar facility to do it for them. Myself am gonna savor the moment when I fire up my ole truck and roll into town.

gmcamaro I first got my 38 back in about 1987 got it running and brakes working and drove it for a while. decided to do it a little better about 1992 Haven't finished it yet. (Kids,farm, houses,etc.) did work on it for a few hours the other day enjoyed it. Went to finish ebrake tonight wrong threaded rod, no problem tomorrow or next week I'll get the right rod. No matter how frustrated you get with one item remmember there are other items that could use the attention. good luck with your project view it as a pleasure and not a job. glad your YL enjoys your project as well.

GMCAMARO,
You mentioned that you and your wife have done all the work together on your houses. Maybe the truck can be a joint project with both of you - that might make it more enjoyable and provide motivation.
Samantha

Don't know what I can add to this but my motivational tool. Stovebolt.com does it for me. I have spent countless hours at night brousing this site looking at pics, reading others good and not so good experiences. But you know, we are all different. Find yours. Maybe doing another Kitchen or two will get you on track with the truck.

For what it is worth: I hated working on my truck after a while. It seemed like it was never going to get finished and I ruined the motor and had to pull it out and start that part a second time. In the end it was worth it.

So you are not alone. Just remember to balance it with life's other things. You own the truck. It doesn't own you. You do it when you want to. Not because you have to.

Ditto on what VFT said about the truck not owning you. I've been working on my '49 1.5-ton for more than 10 years now. A little here, a little there. It's pretty much driveable now (no bed, or tags yet), and I decided to quit twice along the way (got talked in off the ledge by friends here ). But here we are. Still have a ways to go to get to the finish line.

Read This FAQ on how to keep your restoration from kicking your butt

Hang in there!

John

If you get burned out,frustrated,take a break.
Do something different for a few days.

I have kind of the opposite problem. I have all kinds of motivation to work on my trucks, but military service makes that dang near impossible. I even fall into that 10 minute trap once in a while. I'll look at autotrader.com or ebaymotors.com adds and say, "I'll buy that and just tinker on it, to keep myself busy in my downtime." Then I remember that it's never that simple, I don't have that much downtime, and I have 4 trucks in the barn back home that were in line first. Hopefully when I'm out I'll still have all this energy and I'll get the whole fleet rolling before I have to file for social security. HA HA.

GMCAMARO, my truck went from this Before to this After ... And after again in 14 months! Now, it can be done! I took this truck apart myself and I took the parts, fenders, hood, cab, bed and all of miscellaneous parts to the body shop. I also carried the engine to have it oeverhauled, blanced and blueprinted to a hight-tech shop.

Just relax, take a deep breath, and think again about what its going to look and feel like when you get it all done. Most of us have had to stop, every now and then, and refresh the thoughts about what got us started. I'm not close to done yet either, but I'm darned if I'll stop till It's finished. Sounds like your wonderful wife gives your efforts a lot of support. Don't let her down. Progress is slow sometimes, fast other times. Kinda like a marriage - it's for the long haul. Hope you keep goin' -- Dale

What worked for me has been mentioned by others. It took my 14 years to "finish" my truck, but I drove it a great deal of that time. Fixed the brakes first so it would stop. Then I worked on the drive line so it would go faster and the suspension so it would ride better. The whole time I was driving it on and off, just to keep me motivated. Then one day I decided it was time to finish it, no matter what it took. That took almost two years, but the truck went from this to this over those fourteen years. Here's a picture of it at about six years (yes, it actually snowed in Dallas.) You'll notice there's no bed. It was drivable and licensed, insured and inspected.

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.

One thing that I've done on my '51 (second restoration) that I didn't do on the first one is to keep a journal. As I work through problems and repairs I document everything - not going nuts, but enough info to tell the story.

When I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed by all that's left to do, I look back through the journal at all that's been completed and it makes me feel better and gives me some perspective.

Oh yeah, once you get it where it can go around the block under its own power that'll really get you charged up!

David Bush

Or take it to a big hill and run her down in reverse like David did! If that doesn't motivate you, nothing will!

I've only been working on my 70 GMC for about 8 months and I've hit some of the road blocks. I was really excited about working on it at first, and I worked on it as much as I knew how as often as a I could, but since I was in the 7th. grade, I didn't have much time. As the school year came to a close I lost some of my motivation and it really went down hill this summer when I had no money and had completed everything that I knew how. within the last month of summer I did more research and everything started clicking, so last week I got the courage up to pull the engine and get it rebuilt after I had the funds. Now I am just ticked that it's going to take a whole week at the machinist shop. Accomplishing something has been what motivates me. When I got the front clip off for engine removal I was really down on motivation, but I was then chomping at the bit to get the engine out and I finally did. I've also kept a small journal, but not much affect for me. Getting support from people around me is the next biggest motivator for me. I'm working with an older dude who has done at least 100 restorations and knows what he's doing, and as far as the people that expect it to be done in a day, I'm just blunt with them, and the back off. God bless.