How much do you try to tackle at one time?

[b5blue]

  For almost 20 years I've fought to keep my 70 Charger. Over the years I've come to adopt a "one thing at a time" pattern. Right now it's the dash wiring but that led to an extreme wet check for leaks as an afterthought. (In the cowl area.) Finding some hidden leaks derailed wiring completion and also led to finding a loosening wiper arm bracket on the drivers side pivot leading to a total wiper system service. All this focus in the cowl area had me realize the windshield and gasket are pushing 20 years old and the "Safelight" brand windshield glass never sealed proper as it's too thin. So now I've got a week off and will be spending it sorting all this out just to get back on the road.
  I'm constantly amazed at the scope of work many of you tackle! Entire cars torn down to bits and bolts all at one time. 1,000's of nuts, bolts, clips and parts to track and sort for later. I find myself wondering how you manage your inventory and all the details even with 100's of pics and bags labeled, how do you sort the pics and bags?
  I'm on the home stretch for my driver this year and looking for a way to generally store backup and service parts/pics and information, got any advise? 

[Ghoste]

Normally I try to do one thing at a time but this winter has been ambitious.  Three things that work for me are LOTS of detailed photos (with digital cameras and storage this is has become so easy that ignoring it is strange), lots of notes and ideally in conjunction with the photos, a lot of clearly labelled baggies on shelves which are stacked in a logical order and finally resources.  Resources are this site, tons of books and magazines and photos and a bit of past experience.

[bakerhillpins]

Lets see here, There is the house renovation, small business (cottage, nothing big), exercise/sports, standard car/home maintenance, full time job, family, etc. Probably not too much different that the rest of you. No different than anything else my friend. It's exactly how you say, a little bit at a time and each and every step typically adds a few more. You just have to power through it. Does it get old?  OMG does it ever. The house renovation thing is starting to become a HUGE burden mostly because everything else is getting in the way and living in a S**t box going on 10 years now is driving me f'in nuts. The Charger isn't even in the equation, it's something I literally have to force into my life at the moment but it's some of the only me time I get so it keeps me sane but its going to be approached in the same fashion. Just have to "keep your eyes on the prize" and keep from getting discouraged. Never easy.

[cdr]

i like to do the "one thing at a time"  but that never works out , i have to thank DODGECHARGER.COM, that means the awesome people here that helped me with my car!!!!!! i still have a lot of stuff to work out, but the search function works wonders.   

[Dmichels]

You need to organize and label the parts as you go along. You can drop all the engine bolts in a coffee can or you could put the valve cover bolts in there own baggie. It all depends on you. The thing that helped me a lot on a big tear down was to clean all the parts as a shelved them. I also repaired/rebuilt/bought new as I put larger items away. That way you can seamlessly put things back together without doing side jobs or waiting for parts to show up.
Dave

[nvrbdn]

one of the hardest things is space. if you have lots of space its easier to remove and track parts. if you are in tight quarters like I was, you have to (like already said) label everything and bag it. also if possible, take a picture of the area the bolts and brackets etc... came from before removing them, then put the pic in the bag/box that the parts are in. this helps largely with location and angle of the part etc... and its not easy to remember how a part went back on 15 years after taking it off.  keep your parts for the car in a separate place from everything else. mine took 16-17 years to be a driver. but the key to staying on task was to not push myself. I figured id be completed within a year. yea right. after 2 years I got depressed. then I just decided that I would just work on it as I wanted, and quit when I got tired. no set time and no demands on my self. as finishing the body was being done, I would say that this fender needs to be completed and ready for paint in this week. next week another small part of the car. don't try to sand/prepare the entire car all at the same time. its too big of a job. this is my way of attacking my project. it worked for me.

[Cooter]

I try and teach "stop lookin at how much is left to do, and concentrate on how much has gotten done"..

[twodko]

I take on one thing at a time, I research and study any
info I can find then do it correctly with the right parts
the first time.
I'm by no means perfect (except owning a '69  )
but one of the those OCD types that if I do
something and there's that one little thing
that's just not right, I'll get up in the middle
of the night and fix it.
I know I'm sick.......working on therapy.

[TUFCAT]

I take on one thing at a time, I research and study any
info I can find then do it correctly with the right parts
the first time.
I'm by no means perfect (except owning a '69  )
but one of the those OCD types that if I do
something and there's that one little thing
that's just not right, I'll get up in the middle
of the night and fix it.
I know I'm sick.......working on therapy.

I agree.    Don't get the car blown apart without a plan.

There's some benefits for sticking to one major area at a time.  You can study the job before hand (like twodko said), and make sure have the tools and knowledge to start (there's always the unexpected) but we won't go there!.....

It also keeps the job manageable avoiding it from becoming so overwhelming. The car can also go back together without to much downtime (usually), and if you know where all the parts go, things don't get lost or broken....(hopefully)

.. and its not easy to remember how a part went back on 15 years after taking it off.

I got a chuckle from reading nvrbdn's post ...   He says it's hard to remember how things go back together after 15 years...Hell, for me its more like 15 days - - sometimes even 15 minutes !

[dyslexic teddybear]

I remember 15 years ago better then 15 minutes......

Worse still.......15 seconds ago. It's a LOT more  feeling when you can not remember where the wrench you had 15 seconds ago is.......cuz 5 seconds ago you set a box on it.

I am starting to take notes so there may be hope......

[twodko]

Oh man, I forgot about the wrench/tool "where did I put it"
vortex from hell thing.

I have bought replacement wrenchs etc only to walk
into my garage and find the damn thing on the bench! 

[myk]

Oh man, I forgot about the wrench/tool "where did I put it"
vortex from hell thing.

I have bought replacement wrenchs etc only to walk
into my garage and find the damn thing on the bench! 

I do that all of the time.  If wasn't for me, I'm sure Craftsman would be out of business by now...

[nvrbdn]

what I like is using a tool and cant find it and getting another, and another. then when cleaning up find all three.

[69wannabe]

Usually depends on the level of what has to be done, I like to concentrate on one thing at a time but when we done the quarter panels and trunk floors there was much more going on than I could wrap my head around. Luckily my buddy is good with cutting out and installing panels so I basically just done what I was instructed to do. Grind all the weld's was my job for like ever!!! It seemed endless but it was something I was pretty dang good at by the time the second quarter panel went on!!!  I can relate as far as losing tool's!!!!! I would be alot farther in life if I didn't spend half of my time looking for the last thing that I just laid down!!

[b5blue]

Ahh the where did I put that!  I know I lost 40 hours last year.....just looking for 2 hinge covers. Finally gave up and bought replacements. It took me a hour and a half to pull the windshield and clean up most of the mess. Tomorrow a better clean up on the pinch weld seam and some paint, new clips and lots of polybutene sealant for the new windshield/gasket. As I sift through my parts I've started sorting nuts and bolts into plastic cases, the kind with adjustable compartments. I keep any kind of automotive nut/bolt/screw and clip, needed or not. (For now.) I've started sorting my big steel cabinet's shelves by category like brake/electrical/engine and body as I play "where did I put that" and stared bins and tubs for things like body work supplies for round two paint job. 

[bull]

It's difficult to avoid getting specific projects spread out once in a while. What I found is that a lot of what I did depended on what parts I had on hand. Deals on parts dictated my sequence too because I would wait for sales before buying certain things. There were also times when certain parts were not available so I had to improvise or move on to something else. Space can be a problem too. I tried keeping as much stuff attached to the car as possible because I just didn't have the room to spread things out. One of the most stressful times I dealt with was when I had the car at the body shop, the engine at the machine shop and the 4 speed at the trans shop all at the same time. Too much to keep track of.