What do you do to stay motivated?

[The70RT]

Lots of good ideas here.  Mine - Just knowing we will all be dust again before too long!

[Brock Samson]

  "Got a 68 that needs lots of work. So much body work that sometimes I want to scream!   What do YOU do when you need that extra bit of motivation to keep from pushing your dream car to the dump"?

It's been a few years since i was in your spot, mine was done with the aid of real old fashion junkyards and two parts cars, I don't think folks restore Muscle Cars like that anymore,.. now they write checks to a shop or click buy it now,..
 A couple things got me through the hard times, the number one was the Oakland Roadster Show,.. which moved to LA a few years ago,..
 the other was the Rodder's Journal Magazine,.. more so then the Mopar Mags I subscribed to at the time... most any car show was a big motivator but the O.R.S. was the big motivator, dreaming of seeing mine all shiny with some minor tweaks to make it better then original.
 I did mine in $2k increments, that is I would save up $2K every three or four Mos. working two jobs, and on the jobs, when I was really hating it, I would think of the Charger and get enough energy to get up and work a 12 hour day.
And Cooter I disagree a car can be a driver resto,.. mine was, I couldn't bear to have non working car for any number of reasons... Mine was running with a SB '70 drivetrain and 'green '68/black/'70 interior within two weeks after dragging it home...  It took the next decade to collect the correct '69 R/T SE parts and six-pack motor and drivetrain which I installed in '99.
I don't envy those who write a check and buys a finished Charger or don't get chunks of flesh hacked out, they'll never feel the satisfaction that comes when that fresh rebuilt big block first fires up. There's just no substitute for that feeling. And that's what we all dream of isn't it?..  

[NGC414]

For me its really hard to get out there anymore in the cold winter months. Same thing on the real hot summer days.
But in the spring winter and fall its nice to be outside with the garage door open finding things that need to be done. For me nice weather and a good cup of coffee or cold beer is a motivator.

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

For me its buying parts in the winter & planning to install them in the spring for the show season! 

[472 R/T SE]

All my work gets done the last 3-4 weeks before the first big all Mopar show in Seattle, usually first part of June which is usually a week after my club's Cruise In.

[Bobby41909]

Here is some motivation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6IKwVcQBbs

Holy Cra*....If you're not motivated after that video....you don't deserve a Charger.  Never saw that show "Bull Run" but damn that Charger is cool as it gets.  Not sure I would volunteer my Charger for an event where you throw boxes at it out of a moving truck but it did get my blood pumping.  Especially the music...   

I am somewhat fortunate (or stupid for spending all that $$$$) to be able to afford having a professional build my car.  I've done easy things like restore the grille, dash gauges, taillights, etc.  It is still taking close to a year from start to expected finish. 

I just turn on some classic rock in the garage, light my "Muscle Car Garage" neon sign, grab a cold beer and dream about the day I pull up to a rice-burner at the stop light...and leave him in a cloud of white smoke...God I can't wait.....HA-HA 

[ktneifert09]

This is why I love this site. I will NEVER give up even tho some days I feel like it. Definitely what works for me is focusing on what's done, not what's left. However, lots of other cool ideas. Decided to ditch the body work for a while and put the dash back together. Since most of the dash components are done, that'll be a blast.

[FJ6N96]

I've read this entire thread and not once did I hear anyone or offer you a ride in one of their cars.  I think if you were to get a ride or go for a cruise in one it would give you a lot of motivation.  

It's a shame that you live in California.  I'd give you a ride in my 1971 Superbee.  

I am restoring a 1970 Challenger R/T and I too get tired of it and I ask myself why am I doing this.  It's about the journey and what's on the other end and driving something that is truely special.  

FJ6N96

[elanmars]

it's way awesome driving it. it's way awesome having one to drive.

issues will happen, sometimes more often than one would like but with 40+ old cars, it comes with the territory.

looking at pictures here of members rides helps, as well as movies and all that. i don't care too much for the super crazy restos that are way beyond my financial means, which magazines usually showcase. they look nice, i can appreciate them but i like to have realistic goals for the time being.

[greenpigs]

I make a list of SMALL things to get done to it & that helps me feel like I am making progress when it gets completed. The other thing is I am going to start driving it more when it warms up as NOTHING is better motivation than that. Getting your car driveable is what I think is the best motivation.

[Patronus]

keep staring at her chest, you'll get down one day 

[sixty8charger]

My motivation is the memories from back in the day when my grandpa would let me drive it in the back yard to the front just to wash it when i was 12.  26 now.. and i have it stripped down waiting to cut out some cancer.
i do the $2k saves.. buy what i need, save again. Right now i am just saving for the body shop to patch it up for me, and slowly piecing pieces together in the garage... cleaning up old parts, painting components... stuff to keep me busy. Unfortunatly mine sits in the elements.. (garage is too small) so i have the slight depression of seeing it covered in snow.. bird shit, rain... but i continue to tinker with little things.. and protect what is left of it before getting it fixed professionally.

[Tilar]

I've read this entire thread and not once did I hear anyone or offer you a ride in one of their cars.  I think if you were to get a ride or go for a cruise in one it would give you a lot of motivation.  

I'd offer him a ride in mine but in order for that to happen someone is going to have to push...     

[UH60L]

Yeah, a ride in mine wouldn't be much fun either, especially when I'm pushing you back up the driveway into the garage!

I go out in the garage and look at my car sometimes, then remember I'm broke and head back in the house.

I'm working some overtime right now to try and get a new radiator on order.

Maybe in a couple months I'll try for taillight lenses.

I'm looking for the right hand end of the plastic part of a '69 grille too, in case anyone has one "laying around". (preferabley one that isn't broken like mine  :-)   )

[bull]

Really?  I thought you were close to being on the road?

It's painted, has new rubber, new drivetrain.  I've often wondered that we'll be seeing you out & about in it one of these days.

Bolt down a 5 gallon bucket, throw some goggles on & drive that sucker.  

Is this your original color?  I thought it was so I hoped to watch it cross the block but IIRC there was a commercial or Speed coverage wasn't on.

That sure looks like the same shade. And there are times (ever increasingly so) that I wish I would have gone that route with the color. Yup, painted, TWO new shoes and the drive train is done and sitting NEXT to the car in two large pieces. I'm getting there. I'm going a lot faster than some people I know and a lot slower than some others.

[FLG]

Im having trouble staying motivated...go out to the garage and its so damn cold i wana run back into the house!!

Last night i went into the garage in hopes to make progress on the engine...i installed the oil pump drive and 3 cam bolts and went back into the house 

Another demotivator is getting the wrong parts!! Open my mancini box only to find out the nice engine accessory bolt kit is for a small block 

And being broke plays a big role in it as well, i get paid every 2 weeks so i need to wait 2 weeks at a time before i can order parts otherwise ill be without cash 

[madmike]

Even though a '68-'70 Charger was always my 'dream' car, it was also somehow always out of my financial reach.  Last spring, I bought a rolling basket case from a body shop in Arizona, based on the advice of a friend that went and looked at it.  He sent me a few crappy cell phone shots, but said the thing was mint.  I thought I was getting an excellent car, for a decent price.  When I looked at it personally, my heart fell, and my motivation dropped to damn near zero.  The body shop had bondoed up everything, obscuring some body lines and filling in gaps that shouldn't have been filled in.

Well, since I bought it, I couldn't ask for my money back, so I bit the bullet.  We stripped out all of the bondo, and discovered a rust free body, that had been in a lot of minor scrapes over her 43 year old body, but no major damage.  Probably the worst was that someone had drilled a lot of holes in pristine panels to pull the dents out...  At this point, I felt like I still had a good shell to work with, but maybe had just over paid for it.  So, my motivation level rose back up.  The motor was supposedly rebuilt, but I am worried that someone didn't do that right either, because I discovered the oil slinger at the crank was installed backwards, and rubbed on the timing chain, and more disturbing, I had also discovered that the single bolt camshaft had the wrong washer behind the bolt, that didn't even trap the cam gear in place!  At this point, I was disgusted with the whole thing, amd my motivation level dropped to damn near zero again.

Since then, I have found a few 'clues' that make me think (hope) that the engine is basically a purchased long block, and probably OK, and that maybe an inexperienced person added the cam, chrome timing cover and chrome oil pan.  I have successfully primed the engine with oil, and it does look new and clean inside.  All I can do is hope for the best.  That helped my motivation rise back up again.  As someone else said, every time you look at your car, do something to it...anything!  Almost anytime I go out in the garage, I do something, anything!  Even if it's just cleaning up a part, and holding it in the spot you think it goes, you'll learn something or discover something previously unknown to you.  I have never owned a Charger, but through this web site, photos, and manuals, I have figured out a lot of things about my car, as far as how to put it back together and what parts I need.  I don't have the financial resources to pay someone else to do this for me, and even if I did, I would still do as much of the work myself as I can.  Guys (and gals) that build their own cars impress me the most, even if theirs isn't quite as nice as the 'professional shop' rebuilds...

Yesterday, the only thing I did was to install the metal dash frame into the shell, to see how difficult it would be to install the gauges and route the wiring.  I was trying to decide if I should build the entire dash outside of the car, or not (still haven't decided).  My car is not a full blown resto, I don't have the money (or time) to tackle that at this time.  My goal is to re-assemble the car, drive the hell out of it, have some fun with it, and not worry about parking lot dings in!  Maybe, in a few years, if the money is right, I'll tear it apart and go for the full resto-mod thing.

I guess my motivation is to have a clear cut idea of where I'm going with it (an every day driver car in good shape), and not sweat the small (gee, it's not resto perfect!) stuff.  Also, another motivation source for me is seeing the project cars that have been resurrected by members on here.  Through their photos, I have seen cars that I definitely would not have purchased to begin with.  In other words, they started out a helluva lot worse than me, but their cars are now as new or better, and simply gorgeous!  If they can do it, so can I!

[Kern Dog]

Like some others have said, sometimes watching a car movie can light your fire.
After watching the 2005 movie version of the Dukes of Hazzard,  I enjoyed taking my beater 67 Dart on trails and drifting for hundreds of feet at nearly nearly full lock steering. The 3.55 sure grip diff and HD suspension make the car a bad ass dirt car.