Working on cars alone VS having a few buddies over....

[Kern Dog]

One of the things that I like about construction is that there is often a sense of camaraderie among the guys. It is sort of like a sports team or the military in that you have several men working together toward a common goal.
Many times, I prefer to work on my cars alone. Distractions from others can cloud my thought process and lead to screw-ups.
Other times though, I like having friends around. The jokes, the stories and sometimes pranks make it a lot of fun.
I joined a car club in 2004 for this very reason. I figured that guys that joined a Mopar club might be the type I'd like to do car projects with.
It has not worked out that way. While they are nice people, most of the members never do anything. No car shows, no junkyard crawls, no interest in car movies and IF they have a classic, it never shows any progress.
That is very disappointing.
One friend of mine here has all but lost interest in cars since he sold his Challenger to fund the purchase of property. I've reached out to the car club guys but as stated, most of them are nowhere near as car crazy as I am. I do know of a couple more though.
Sometimes if I commit to the guys coming over, it motivates me to get up and moving. If it is up to me (And it is cloudy or cold) it is easy to just stay inside.
Do you enjoy having the guys over or do you prefer to work and tinker alone?

[b5blue]

My son was over today to help pull the 440. Extra hands are priceless, he's going to be back Sat. to help install. 

[Kern Dog]

I wasn't lucky enough to have kids. I always wished that I had someone to pass along my experiences to. My Brother in law seemed like he was on his way to being a car guy but he lost interest.

[HANDM]

Yeah, I used to have a couple Mopar buddies but they're all gone now so it's just me left to work on them by myself.
On the plus side I've gotten the band back together so at least i have the boys to jam and laugh with again.
And I go shooting and/ or snowboarding and whatever else with my work partner and helper so it's not all that bad really.....

[Kern Dog]

At work, I usually work alone but get help when I have something heavy to move or need to take a long measurement. Most guys don't work as fast or as clean as I do and I get frustrated with sloppy work.
With the cars, it is almost as if the car itself is not as important as being with friends.
We get older, people lose interest, pass away, move away, etc. It isn't as easy making friends either.

[marshallfry01]

I wish you lived close to me Kern Dog. Someone that loves mopars like I do would be fun to hangout with. Plus it would keep me motivated. I try to make progress on my projects as much as I can... but sometimes finances get thin and they get postponed for a few months at a time. Or parts being on back order can cause no work to get done. Between my 69 charger, 72 chevelle, and 59 Apache, I don't get bored very often.

[Kern Dog]

 

[cdr]

1980-1984 me & about 6 other guys rented a large warehouse to store & work on our cars , it was awesome , bunch of hot rods, built some cool stuff & it was nice having help when needed, my current Charger was 99.9 % done by me alone, IF & when you get sick or older & unable to work on other peoples cars you find out how many TRUE friends you have including family, my phone RARELY  rings now days, but I still get the occasional call from someone wanting advise on how to fix their car, OH but they will pray for me LMMFAO !!!! my advise to others is LIVE LIFE like there is NO tomorrow while you still can.

[XH29N0G]

I do both.  My son sometimes joins me.  I used to work on things with my dad.  I do a lot of work alone.  Sometimes my son's friends come over. 

When I was younger and didn't have all the stuff I needed, I had a friend bench press my transmission up while I put in the bolts on the bell housing. 

It is nice when both are interested.  Less so when they aren't.

[Kern Dog]

Bench pressing transmissions....Yeah, I've done that before!   

I do prefer to do some things by myself without any distractions. As another member mentioned, bodywork !
I've had car owners want to help on their cars and every time, I have had to go over their work. I'm not an OCD perfectionist but I do try to get the body and paint to look as good as I am capable.
Engine building? Oh yeah. A chatterbox buddy can distract you enough to make a mistake that shows up during break in or miles down the road.
Most of the time when I really appreciate the help is on some junker car where precision isn't a factor.
Lifting hoods with helpers avoids scratches.
Breaking in an engine is another time where extra eyes really helps.
I do get help from Mary for moving cars around the yard, bleeding brakes and some other medium duty tasks. She is strong enough to help lift steel hoods too!
It does come back to the guys working together though. If you've never been in the military, been on a sports team or worked alongside a bunch of like minded guys, you might not understand why I say that I really like the camaraderie. It really is a thing.
Years ago, We'd have marathon sessions doing engine swaps. In the 80s and 90s, lowered cars and mini trucks were the big thing. I was "the guy" in the neighborhood with a floor jack and jackstands so I got tapped to chop coil springs, install lowering blocks, do spring-under jobs, etc.
I rarely drink...same for most of the dudes that I hung out with. When we were focused on a project, if there was a screw up, we only had our own incompetence to blame.

[Todd Wilson]

All my buddys that helped me years go are gone now, Most have moved away. One friend I still have left around had a stroke a few years ago and is not 100% anymore and is of no real help now if I need it. I am on my own. I am slowly not wanting to work on cars much anymore. All the hard stuff on my 71 Charger that I have owned since high school (1987) is done. The things that need to be done on it and things I would like to do to it I could do by myself. I am going thru a terrible divorce and am starting to wonder if I will be able to keep my 71 and my old 47 Dodge truck. Wont have any money to work on them anyways so who knows.............



Todd

[kent]

Good luck Brother.

[timmycharger]

I miss having another car guy around to help me with the Charger. My brother in law helped me with a lot of the restoration on the Charger, specifically with the body work and putting the engine together.  He was going to even paint the Charger after dong most of the jamb/engine bay etc areas but ended up moving out of state 5 years ago and didn't get a chance to finish. I also helped him a lot with his 72 Maverick 351W beast so there was always friendly banter etc with Ford vs. Mopar.  I miss having him around the garage as he has stopped me so many times from breaking stuff or putting things on backward etc in haste.

My other car guy buddies are either too busy with life/kids or too afraid to leave their house due to Covid.    I miss wrenching with these guys as well along with the friendly ball busting that goes on.

All is not lost as now my boys are growing and my oldest who is almost 17 is a student at the Tech school taking automotive and can help me a lot more now and isn't afraid to tackle any kind of job no matter how much of a pain it is.

[lloyd3]

Working on cars with a like-minded individual is clearly a big plus. It's safer to do things as a team (duh!) and way more entertaining for all the reasons mentioned above. I don't love it like I used to, but it's far easier to do something when you make an event out of it. During the 2020 covid shutdowns when my son and I were working with my buddy on his '60 Dart, we'd always take up some chow and even some good booze to have with meals at the end of the day. Made the whole thing (& the long drive) very bearable and even fun.

[Back N Black]

I think most people who own these old cars love the hobby but there are a lot of guys who have no skills or interest in working on these cars. Some guys just have money and it's a status thing. For me I was addicted as a kid and love working on old muscle cars. I am the youngest of 5 boys, my dad did not want junk cars around. When he went to work in the morning we would pull a car in the driveway swap engines and cleaned up before he got home at 5 o'clock. I chose a career as a Mechanic in the Military for 30 years. I don't have many guys around me that love the hobby like I do but welcome the few whenever they show up to help or just chat. There are two guys that I totally trust and would not second guess their work. Then again, we worked together in the Military. My motivation is not what it used to be, age, I guess. I'm typing this waiting for the garage to warm up and work on the Dart.

Sometimes when I'm a little bored my wife will say, you need to be with your people.

[Kern Dog]

I love talking about mechanical stuff. Having a few "like-minded" buddies around gives me the chance to talk about this stuff out loud instead of online.

[Homerr]

I have one friend that I trust to help out on car and house projects, and vice versa.  We somehow usually work out that if a project is planned to be 2 hours of work - that it will actually be 4 hours (because everything always takes longer - trip to the parts store, etc.), and that we know the time commitment will 6 hours with BS'ing.

We try to have a set project that actually is good for 2 people to work on, not just "come over and help with some random work we'll think up" kind of thing.  So these projects are at set increments in a project and I use them as motivation to do my single-handed work sometimes if I bog down on a project.  Working with someone else's schedule to get a weekend day also pushes things along on my own time.

Anyway, I look forward to the "buddy time" and frequently even more so than the actual progress on the job at hand.

[AZMoparboy]

Hi everyone,

All of you have mentioned something that resonates with me as well. From friends to club activities, and life in general.I think our age is also such a contributing factor. The younger generation have become a pushbutton group that sits stationary in an environment that is not ours.  It is very hard to connect with the young ones because they don't work with their hands, they want instant gratification and a status symbol.

As of lately, I had decided to start a new car. The only things that put limitations on me are space and funds. So I sold my 1971 Challenger to free up space and money. I miss it but I so love the start to the finish of a new car project. I've had it since September. Between then and now I've come down with cancer. My cancer doctor tells me it is very curable, but what will I be left with. All my life I've thought of retirement and just having time to enjoy the world around me without answering to the MAN. I was on my last year of work when this medical dilemma reared its ugly head. I'm not down and out by any means, but this getting old just seems to be getting harder by every day. The new car project really helps me to remove myself from other things in my life. I become very absorbed in it and that is such a big help to me.

So for all of you here, grasp your passion for your car and whatever else propels you to tomorrow. That is what I do, just my two cents worth .

Mopar or no car,
Steve

PS If anyone has an Instagram account and can look for my new project, my screen name is stroked440.