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How often do you work on your project?

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I can't remember if I asked this before but how often do you spend time on your project? I don't see how you guys do it. I'm home pretty much all the time and can do what I want whenever I want to. It takes me forever to get something small done. I worked on the Javelin at least 4 hours a day for six months straight and accomplished what I thought would only take a week. This table saw I have now is a good example. This thing is taking forever and it's not a restoration, Granted I have to engineer a new motor mounting system but it really only should have taken a good day or to for derusting and fabricating a motor mount. When Kelly is home I try to spend as much time with her as I can so that cuts into things but I don't see where you guys find the time to undertake AND COMPLETE some of the major restorations projects I've seen here. My hat is off to you fellas, now y'all get over here and finish my Javelin for me. :playful:
 
I have finished 5 cars of my own and help on friends projects. I estimate my time on each car at about 1000 hours. And when I get into a project, I can spend at least 5 days a week on it, about 6-7 hours a day. I enjoy it so it becomes the "PROJECT". My wife says I get obsessive, she is right. I now do everything but the machine work on the engine components. Each project always takes 2-3 times what I expect. But it keeps me busy. I enjoy it more since I retired. But they are all done now. So I have to find another project!

Jerry
 
Varies depending on how many other projects are going on. When I built the three dollhouses for my nieces each one of those took up much of my free time. But they were scratch built and Barbie sized and took the better part of 8 months to complete during evenings and weekends.

Other times when I have nothing else I need to do, I've spent whole days at a time working in the garage.
 
It's been bothering me how much time it takes to keep up. The TR is running but haven't used it much because I've been under the VW. That's now ready for a road trip on short notice. 28' mast in the yard needs varnish and a boat at the lake needs to come home and get it. Oh yea, the house and yard. I hope it's just a spring problem or some stuffs gotta go.
I'm more interested in USAGE than maintenance.
 
That's exactly why I sold the TR2. I came to realize that I was never going to put aside the time or money to finish it. I now know that I require a vehicle that is running, or close to running so I can use the initial burst of enthusiasm the get it drivable, then I can tinker at my own pace to make it nicer.
That said, there is a fiberglass tub under a 20 foot mast in my extra bay waiting total refurbishing to once again become a sailboat, a VW in the side yard running on 3 cylinders, the Bus is ready to go, but has a list of things I want to do, and there is another Bus coming next week that I promised to get running for a nice family. Then the house.... the roof needs replaced on the garage....I need to replace my empty margarita..... did I say that out loud?
 
With my schedule, I fit it in when I can. When I was working on the Tunebug it took about 3 years to finish up, working the odd evening and some weekend days.

Best thing I ever did was take one week near the end of the project and committed to a particular set of tasks (getting all the suspension and brakes rebuilt and on the car). I had parts lined up ahead of time, took some days off work, and worked 9 days straight from breakfast until evening. Gave me a big boost towards getting everything else done -- though it was still a multi-year project. I'm not the fastest as I'm learning as I go.

I also took one summer completely off from working on the car and camped and hiked instead. Needed a break from it -- that helped too.

With Penny, I'm hoping for one year for reassembly, but it could easily be more. That's part of why I sold the MGB GT recently, to cut down on the distractions.

Were I ever to add a second car, it would be pre-restored and ready to use.
 
Some questions just shouldn't be asked. Take husband, for example. No really, please take my husband. Fun project became obsessive/compulsive. Finally 90% complete and ready for 100 Years of Dodge with or without the box and rear fenders. Thanks for letting me vent.
 
Projects just take longer than we think they should. If you're not a professional restorer, life gets in the way. You've got a wife that will smack you in the head if you spend another minute in the garage or a kid hanging on your ankles. Roll with it. Took me 10 years to finish my Bugeye restoration. Probably another 10 to get my V8 Healey the way I wanted. But it's all worth it in the end.
 
Years ago (when the kids were small) i learned to renovate a house 20 minutes at a time. A few years ago a friend gave me, for my birthday, a calendar and a few packs of stockers from the movie Cars. Every day I work on the car i get to put on a sticker. Sounds very silly but it works. Otherwise i can loose six months without even noticing. I am not in a big rush to get the car done and rarely if ever have a full day but, i can work for twenty minutes or half an hour and get one little job done. For me, doing something every single day no matter how small is key to getting done.
 
If you could see the state of my garden I think you would think I spend too much time on it! Thats why I'm banned from the garage this weekend.
 
5 years 6 months on the TF. With the delays and back orders on getting parts, hopefully by July it'll be done! Now it's Summer, which brings other chores into view around the place. PJ
 
Catfood, I feel your pain....
 
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