Overwhelmed??!?!?!?!

[jdiesel33]

For those of you whose Charger is still "under construction", do you ever just walk out into the garage and see and realize all the work that still needs to get done and get extremely overwhelmed? For those that have made it thru the journey (even though it is never COMPLETELY over), how do you get thru it? It is even more difficult looking at all of the sweet "finished" rides that a lot of the members have. I think in my head "Will I ever make it to that point"? Easy to think that when you're drowning in rust and havent started the engine yet I guess. I have a mild case of OCD as well, so it is REALLY hard to leave projects unfinished, but I guess that is the nature of this beast!!

[skip68]

    There was lots of times I went into the garage and turned and walked back out.     You spend so much time on one thing and then feel like you got nothing done or, it will take forever.    Keep at it and it will get there. 

[69*F5*SE]

For those of you whose Charger is still "under construction", do you ever just walk out into the garage and see and realize all the work that still needs to get done and get extremely overwhelmed? For those that have made it thru the journey (even though it is never COMPLETELY over), how do you get thru it? It is even more difficult looking at all of the sweet "finished" rides that a lot of the members have. I think in my head "Will I ever make it to that point"? Easy to think that when you're drowning in rust and havent started the engine yet I guess. I have a mild case of OCD as well, so it is REALLY hard to leave projects unfinished, but I guess that is the nature of this beast!!

I feel exactly the same way.     Ted

[ITSA426]

Put on a large part or make a big change for "visual progress" and even if you have to take it off to do something else you will notice an attitude difference. 

[Mean 318]

Here here... the best part is another 500 or 1000 and I will be able to drive or start it.... been there done that! Try spending a whole summer under the dash on the wires only to find the part you ordered and replaced from the parts store is wrong and they did it! I used 2 wiring kits and a year of floodlights in the driveway to learn that! Or that the guy you paid to re build you distrib didnt bother to replace the pickup coil and it dies after you warm it up... took me a month on that one! It takes time and I know just cuz you hear it dont make you feel great and ready to get goin again... but it is how it is! Good luck!

[The70RT]

Just keep pluggin away and it will happen. It gets me more motivated when i see others progress on here. I completely took mine apart about 2 years ago. I haven't really been overwhelmed yet. I know it has to get done and no one else is helping me so It isn't gonna sit and gather dust. I have had normal life stuff get in the way but after not having it tagged since the mid 80's I am anxious to get it back on the road. I figure this summer I will be over the hump and on the down hill slide   

[GT]

Set many smaller and easily achieveable goals and track them.
If a full resto, break it up and do different aspects to keep the juices and interest flowing.
Break it down: I'll finish the floor pans this month.   Next month do the A/C rebuild.  Go back and do a qtr.  Then the instruments.  etc.
You can then stand back and see big chunks getting done.

You can also take a 2-3 mo break (like winter) and just become a parts-hound... searching for deals, etc.

Remember it's a hobby - you can (and should) take a break every now and then - take 2-3 months off, then go back to it.

[Rolling_Thunder]

Yep - start with all the smaller sub-assemblies...     it'll help when you go out to the garage and see a bunch of restored, good looking parts...       then just slowly start putting them on the car...     

[Ghoste]

My car is on the road and it still sometimes overwhelms me.  They are never done really so sometimes its good to just walk away. 
The other thing I will do is to make an itemized checklist, not just big things but even small things.  Don't put it all on a single page but just put up a page at a time somewhere in the garage where you can check things off.  Sometimes it looks like you have done nothing to the car but then you check your list and find you have finished a bunch of things.

[captnsim]

I make sure I do something, no matter how big or small every day. Seems to help me.

[rusty lee]

I just stay out of the garage... 

[Sublime/Sixpack]

Don't think about the whole project, focus on a small section at a time, get it squared away then move onto another. And like others mentioned, take a break, otherwise it can drive you a little crazy, then it becomes a chore.

[69bronzeT5]

Do I think that.....every single day.

[suntech]

I think also money, or rather lack of them makes motivation drop. What i did, was to leave the car in the US, gathering parts, before i took a big load home in one shot. I think it is easier to get things done that way, instead of going out in the garage, flat broke, and sand something, just because you feel that you chould do something, but did´nt have the cash right then to buy what you really needed.
The car is home now, and i was planning to start right away, but now i am actually leaning towards driving it this summer, and start in August. Then i can gather parts for another 6 months, and i can make molds for carbon parts etc, while i actually use the car!
I don´t think it will delay the finishing of the car, but the stuff i can do now, will inspire to get things going faster, later on

[tan top]

yeah had the same feelings ..  when i was restoring mine ...last thing i wanted to do after painting & repairing cars 9 hours a day 5 days a week , was to  work on my charger after work  for a few hours & at weekends  ..but  stuck at it ..working 15 hour days sometimes at the weekends for 3 years ... not good when you go into work monday morning doing the same thing ...& thinking damn ..want to work on my own car    just divide you car up into sections ... & concentrate of one area or job & finish it  don't even look at the rest of the car .easy to get over whelmed ..if your not use to this kind of stuff , then longer you leave it between working on it , you will never want to go back to it   

[1969chargerrtse]

I felt the same way especially after spending all I had to buy the car and then the engine blew up.  It was the simple fact that I owned a 69 charger that got me through it.  In my garage sat on of the worlds best known, most loved American muscle cars, and that helped me drag my feet in and out of the garage.  And over all it was worth the pain and suffering.

[jdiesel33]

Thanks everyone. All of your suggestions make sense. I'll definitely keep at it and I know it will eventually be done. I like the setting small goals approach. I'll give it a whirl. 

[MoparSam]

Just hang in there, I know for a fact it can be very aggravating and overwhelming.  I've had my '68 for a little over two years now and so far have the engine bay painted and engine and tranny rebuilt for about a year and I redid the brake system when I first got the car.  In that time I've had to buy a new master cylinder and booster after putting $1500 into the brakes that had a warranty that ran out in a year, after having bought the stuff a year and a half ago.  Also I almost lost the car to a fire, went through two fuel pumps, and then buying an electric pump, fitting it in, burning up relays, rust and body work that had 2" of bondo (no joke), and most recently spider webbing the windshield.  The only thing that has kept my from selling out is I've wanted a '68 since I first started high school and wanted a charger since I was old enough to watch TV and comprehend DOH.  That car's my pride and joy and most of the time I'm relaxing while working on it.  You'll get there jdiesel33, it's a long road, but the end result is gonna be worth it!

[rudyjrusa]

absolutely! going on 2 and 1/2 years with project - did not finish the interior as of yet - now the transmission needs repairs - one of the freeze plugs by the firewall needs repairs - car needs vinyl top and repaint - need money - the most frustrating is ca is out of garage and need to clean garage to put car back in.  not sure how much longer i can go with this??

[Back N Black]

What level of restoration are you doing? Are you farming out any work? When i stripped my car down to the shell it was in the bodyshop for almost 2 years. Which was a blessing in disguise, it gave me lots of time to rebuilt the rear axle, heater box, dash, front end components, window regulators, seats and sliders, steering column, polish and buff stainless etc. Start small and stick to one project at a time, if you get something half done and move on to another project, things tend to get out of hand.

[jdiesel33]

What level of restoration are you doing? Are you farming out any work? When i stripped my car down to the shell it was in the bodyshop for almost 2 years. Which was a blessing in disguise, it gave me lots of time to rebuilt the rear axle, heater box, dash, front end components, window regulators, seats and sliders, steering column, polish and buff stainless etc. Start small and stick to one project at a time, if you get something half done and move on to another project, things tend to get out of hand.

Certainly not trying to get it in Barrett-Jackson condition, more like a nice driver. Probably drive it 2-3 times a week and would like to do local shows on the weekend occasionally. Wont be a ground up full rotisserie restoration, just want to make nice, safe, solid, and reliable.
The only thing i have farmed at so far is the replacement of trunk and floor pans, but the guy doing it comes to my place to do it. It is about half way done. I am about to pull the engine out and start on it. The thing I seem to be wrestling with the most right now is rust removal and containment.

[451-74Charger]

After 7 years, I got nowhere, but I didnt give up. This last 12 months saw new fenders and a bulge hood, I got bitten by the Charger bug again, and am hoping this year to at least get the body sorted

[FLG]

Im working on gathering parts.

I hope to gather most of the rest within a month or two so i can start taking it apart and immediatly putting it back together 

Lets see how that works out

[Magnumcharger]

I've been playing with my Charger, off and on for almost two decades now...and it's not even close to being done. Which sucks majorly!
I feel like kicking my ass every time I look at it, as it's one of the biggest projects I've ever taken on. ~ And it certainly didn't start off that way.

But, I keep coming back TO THIS SITE and it helps improve my attitude every time. It's therapy....and it's FREE!

Every once in a while, I go to a junkyard and see somebody's project car, that for whatever reason they gave up on.
Recently, a 1970 Cuda 383, in primer with bodywork done but completely stripped, and a 1966 Formula S Barracuda stripped to bare metal, and completely covered with surface rust.
And I think: "This man had no support".

[defiance]

overwhelmed??  YES.  oh man yes.  I made the mistake lately of getting to spread out on the car - It was in the body shop for over two years, just got it back looking BEAUTIFUL, but still lots of work to do.  So I went through all the things I needed to do and ordered the stuff I needed to get it done.  Lots of parts on back order, etc, parts trickling in - so I thought, I'll work on each aspect until I run into parts road blocks, then move on to another aspect. 
BIG MISTAKE.
My 2-car garage is now almost un-walkable with different halfway-done projects scattered out all over the place   I walk in and yeah, I just want to turn around and go watch some TV instead

I haven't been able to overcome that any night this week, but this weekend I have set myself a little mini-project plan - focused on clearing space in the garage - mostly getting the rear suspension ,rear end, and gas tank finished and installed, then getting the old rear end packed up and given away.  That stuff is all taking up a HUMONGOUS amount of space .... Unfortunately I need to get the entire underside of the car cleaned and coated before I can get the rear on, so it'll be tough to get there, but it's definitely doable. 

Then, hopefully, the garage will be easily walk-able again, and I can go back to feeling like I'm getting somewhere

[Mopar2Ya]

Overwhelmed, most definitely. Saving for 4yrs to then wait again for a body shop to fix the other body shops mess. The second time will be the last, another screw up & I'm done.

[jaak]

Oh man been there (still there sometimes)! My car sat in body shop hell 2 years, I got it back it looked rough. Decided to do the work myself. The last 6 months or so has been cool (car was sitting on stands with suspension and rear removed) I installed all refinished suspension components, painted and installed my rearend with new leaf springs (so its a roller again!) Cleaned out all brake lines, installed front disc, rebuilt rear drums, bled everything (now it'll stop!) and have accomplished alot on my body work.. got the hood/doors stripped and epoxied. I have the rear half almost ready for high build primer. So Im getting stuff done I can actually see, that gets your blood pumping! The best advise I heard so far is you do need to take a BREAK every now and then, there has been times I just dont touch it for 2-3months, after that you sorta have a new enthusiasm for it.

Good luck,
Jason

[jdiesel33]

Oh man been there (still there sometimes)! My car sat in body shop hell 2 years, I got it back it looked rough. Decided to do the work myself. The last 6 months or so has been cool (car was sitting on stands with suspension and rear removed) I installed all refinished suspension components, painted and installed my rearend with new leaf springs (so its a roller again!) Cleaned out all brake lines, installed front disc, rebuilt rear drums, bled everything (now it'll stop!) and have accomplished alot on my body work.. got the hood/doors stripped and epoxied. I have the rear half almost ready for high build primer. So Im getting stuff done I can actually see, that gets your blood pumping! The best advise I heard so far is you do need to take a BREAK every now and then, there has been times I just dont touch it for 2-3months, after that you sorta have a new enthusiasm for it.

Good luck,
Jason

Sounds like you are well on your way and making some great progress. Good for you.
Another thing that slows me down is before starting this whole thing, I had no experience in any of this whatsoever. So everything I start to do, I have to research and then learn how to do it. I wish I could just go and do it and be done. Would be a lot quicker. Next time I do this though, it will be much easier.

[440charger68]

i do, every time i look outside and see my car im thinkin that i have gone no where. It ran, i drove, it blew a head gasket, it didn't run, fixed the gasket, runs, hole in the radiator, cant run or it will never run again. now im in the process of getting a new radiator, this is vary hard for me cause i have college and work on the side and this is my daily driver. Best thing to do is just soldier on, you know how cool your charger will be when its finished, it a indescribable feeling to bring something back that has been literally dead (non op) for so many years. Once you get it done you will feel its all worth it 

[Brock Samson]

 What helped me through was the newest copy of Hi-Performance Mopar and going to cars shows as much as possible, of course mine was allways a driver, i think if she had sat on jack stands in the garage for years, i would've maybe given up...
I think my strategy of resto-modding was quite abit different them most folks..
I ran mine with a small block gradually making improvements to the car itself, and collecting the 440 and correct r/t & S.E. parts intill i finally swapped in all the parts i had collected in '99... that of course means i had to put up with negitive comments about my r/t having a SB for all those years...
Part of me wanted to just prove all those asshats wrong and the other part was holding a vision in my head of what i was gonna have in the end.
Hang in there... you can do it!

[jdiesel33]

What helped me through was the newest copy of Hi-Performance Mopar and going to cars shows as much as possible, of course mine was allways a driver, i think if she had sat on jack stands in the garage for years, i would've maybe given up...
I think my strategy of resto-modding was quite abit different them most folks..
I ran mine with a small block gradually making improvements to the car itself, and collecting the 440 and correct r/t & S.E. parts intill i finally swapped in all the parts i had collected in '99... that of course means i had to put up with negitive comments about my r/t having a SB for all those years...
Part of me wanted to just prove all those asshats wrong and the other part was holding a vision in my head of what i was gonna have in the end.
Hang in there... you can do it!

Great looking Charger!!!! I thought about selling the driver I have now and putting that money towards the Charger (in hopes of speeding up the process) and making it my driver, but I drive about 15k a year and I think the amount of gas I would have to buy would break me!!!!!!

[Chatt69chgr]

I felt that way once but then reminded myself that I started the project to have fun and that I didn't want to get in a hurrry.  So I just plod along and take a system at a time to play with while keeping tabs on what resto products are coming available.  I've been accumulating parts for about 3 years now.  Some stuff is hard to find so it takes a while.  And tech info on the restoration of some items that wasn't available when I started has appeared making the project a whole lot easier.  I've learned a lot since I bought the car about 4 years ago.   Now realizing that it will be several years before I get this thing done, and realizing that I want to enjoy driving a neat MOPAR sooner than later, I pulled the trigger on the 26th of Jan and ordered a new 2009 Challenger RT.  That way I can enjoy one muscle car while working on the other one. 

[moparstuart]

 This one took me 11 years and two different body shops to finish . They can cause depression and even nervous break downs (or so my first thief of a body man claimed) .  Just keep telling your self how fun it will be when it's done .  I have completed two project and have 4 more waiting ,so to me it has been well worth it i'm still plugging away .

[Silver R/T]

I get that feeling once in a while. Maybe it's just winter and not-so-warm garage that kind of keeps me away? I try to concentrate on one thing at a time, it seems to be going much better that way. Once part is done I put it in storage and start on another part/section of the car.

[The70RT]

Im working on gathering parts.

I hope to gather most of the rest within a month or two so i can start taking it apart and immediatly putting it back together 

Lets see how that works out

What are you doing to yours? Looks like your paint is done.

[FLG]

Im working on gathering parts.

I hope to gather most of the rest within a month or two so i can start taking it apart and immediatly putting it back together 

Lets see how that works out

What are you doing to yours? Looks like your paint is done.

I WISH!!

She just looks good in pics. Shes a bondoed up beauty.

Shes been trough ALOT, someone slapped bondo on every spot of this car. Quarters, doors, fenders, trunk....floor had a hole in it on driver side and is "fixed" with some sheet metal and fiberglass...heck just about the whole floor is coated in it.

I already got 2 doors and a k-frame from a member on here (73ChargerSE) from AZ and they are MINT! No bondo, just very little surface rust. K-Frame will be sent out to FirmFeel to be re-done and strengthened. Im waiting on fenders from another member.

After i get the fenders,

Trunk Floor
Quarter panels
Floor Pan (full front and both rear)
Trunk Floor extensions
Panel behind tail light
Gas tank
Im getting 2 rear frame rail caps (no not because they are that rotted) theres 1 bad spot in one of em about the size of a quarter, but for strength im capping both of em.
Spring relocation kit
Rear Bumper
Sub-Frame connectors
Front grille
Get roll cage installed
Rocker panels

..ect ect all the other misc exterior parts the list will go on

Then comes the engine...right now its a 400 and i plan on doing a 440 > 512 stroker build...but unless the money comes in more ill probably have to wait another year on that.

My goal in the next couple of months is to compete all the body work and floors. Yea i know this might seem impossible, but im young and weekends ill work hours on end.

For all the people who might tell me "its not worth it" well.....its honestly NOT worth it for me to restore it and im better off buying one in better condition, but its my car and this is what i want to do with it.

Its drivable and i do enjoy it, but i know i will have a all new respect for this car and the hobby itself once its done...though its never really "done"

[The70RT]

Im working on gathering parts.

I hope to gather most of the rest within a month or two so i can start taking it apart and immediatly putting it back together 

Lets see how that works out

What are you doing to yours? Looks like your paint is done.

I WISH!!

She just looks good in pics. Shes a bondoed up beauty.

Shes been trough ALOT, someone slapped bondo on every spot of this car. Quarters, doors, fenders, trunk....floor had a hole in it on driver side and is "fixed" with some sheet metal and fiberglass...heck just about the whole floor is coated in it.

I already got 2 doors and a k-frame from a member on here (73ChargerSE) from AZ and they are MINT! No bondo, just very little surface rust. K-Frame will be sent out to FirmFeel to be re-done and strengthened. Im waiting on fenders from another member.

After i get the fenders,

Trunk Floor
Quarter panels
Floor Pan (full front and both rear)
Trunk Floor extensions
Panel behind tail light
Gas tank
Im getting 2 rear frame rail caps (no not because they are that rotted) theres 1 bad spot in one of em about the size of a quarter, but for strength im capping both of em.
Spring relocation kit
Rear Bumper
Sub-Frame connectors
Front grille
Get roll cage installed
Rocker panels

..ect ect all the other misc exterior parts the list will go on

Then comes the engine...right now its a 400 and i plan on doing a 440 > 512 stroker build...but unless the money comes in more ill probably have to wait another year on that.

My goal in the next couple of months is to compete all the body work and floors. Yea i know this might seem impossible, but im young and weekends ill work hours on end.

For all the people who might tell me "its not worth it" well.....its honestly NOT worth it for me to restore it and im better off buying one in better condition, but its my car and this is what i want to do with it.

Its drivable and i do enjoy it, but i know i will have a all new respect for this car and the hobby itself once its done...though its never really "done"

Sounds like you have your work cut out for yourself. You will have to start a thread on it unless you already have.   

[FLG]

Sure do!

Ill be starting a thread as soon as i start the tear down.

[Long Island RT]

I stripped my car over 15 years ago.  After 5 years of once-in-a-while body work I got so disgusted I basically gave up. A few years ago I stumbled onto this site, lurked for a while and came to a conclusion:  I can't build this car just to finish it.  It's more like a marriage -   I had to enjoy the process or I wasn't gonna be married for long....

So after some marriage...uh...um... charger counciling, I'm a new man

I would say the majority of the people on this site get as much satisfaction on building/fixing/maintaining their cars as they do driving them, or let's face it - We wouldn't be on here.  We would have saved our time and money and just bought something already finished.

Stick with it and you'll have a better sense of satisfaction when your done. 

[jaak]

Funnything, after reading this post, it lit a fire under my ass. This morning after I posted the first time on this thread, I went outside and got to work. Here's a link to what I accomplished today.

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,53889.0.html

Jason