Getting motivated to start your restoration.....

[Back N Black]

To make a short story long, i have a friend that is about to restore his car. He ask me if i would help him on the restoration, i said sure. I have been on Christmas holidays for 3 weeks and called him on several occasions to start on the car, but he does not seem to be interested. He said he only has a couple of thousand to spare right now, i said we can do lots with 2 grand. There is things you can do that is cheap ,just need to use a little elbow grease. I gave him a list of what we can do that is low cost and my labor is free.
This is the list that I emailed to him.

Remove the dash sand and paint.
Remove the heater box,clean,paint restore.
Remove steering column,strip paint,restore.
Tear down the rear end,strip all paint, restore housing and overhaul gears later.
Remove seat tracks,stripe and repaint.
Drive shaft overhaul and repaint.
Remove all stainless trim and polish.
Redo the grill.
Remove the guts from the doors,re-furb.
Remove wiper linkage,clean and paint.
Make a list of what is needed for front suspension and steering.
All this makes a big difference when you ready to re assemble you car.

So, he got back to me and said, I'm not in the mood right now.  
Maybe restoring a car is not for everyone.........

[41husk]

can't start until he decides he is ready and he may never be.  I would start by giving one thing that takes a few hours not a list that seems overwhelming to the guy.

[Dino]

I think your friend may have a project car for sale soon.  He may not be a resto kind of guy.

[Homerr]

Probably the easiest and most visceral from your list is the steering column.  The dash related stuff requires the windshield to come out, sort of a bigger commitment.

But the guy is either into it or he isn't.

[JB400]

The way I would introduce him into is to try a small project.  For instance, you mentioned the dash.  I dunno what car you're playing with, but restore the dash with him.  Let him see how big of a chore it is.  If he likes it, he'll move forward on the project.  If not, there will be a car for sale.  Start small and move up from there.

[Dino]

Start smaller, way smaller.  Something like a switch or a shifter knob or small piece of trim.  Go over the options on how it can be restored, pick the one that makes most sense for the application and give it a shot.  The hard part of restoration is not always the body work or the engine, it's putting the whole thing back together without cutting corners.  A lot of effort and time needs to go into most every piece that comes off the car.  When you go into a resto thinking that all you need to do is weld, block sand and paint then you're gonna be in for one hell of a nasty surprise.

It's very gratifying to take something like the faded and broken a/c controls and make them look brand new.  If the bug can be catched he'll catch it and go on to bigger projects.  If he can't or won't do the small things then waste no more time.

[NJRBros]

If the bug can be catched he'll catch it and go on to bigger projects.  If he can't or won't do the small things then waste no more time.

I agree. I have a feeling that if you push him straight into a full restoration, this may become a project that never gets finished... Plus it could save you the aggravation (and possibly his life) if he up and decides to sell it after you've put hours and hours of free labor into it!

[Back N Black]

If the bug can be catched he'll catch it and go on to bigger projects.  If he can't or won't do the small things then waste no more time.

I agree. I have a feeling that if you push him straight into a full restoration, this may become a project that never gets finished... Plus it could save you the aggravation (and possibly his life) if he up and decides to sell it after you've put hours and hours of free labor into it!

He is the one insisting on the full restoration, He said "i want my car to look as good as your car". I showed him tons of pics and went into detail on whats required and the cost. Anyhow, i guess he lost 3 weeks of free labor???

[Homerr]

I have a better starting point for your friend.  Get him to register here and post some pics of his car.

He might respond nicely to some community.

[NJRBros]

Ahh, well then I can't believe he would turn down a friends help especially when he asked for it in the first place.  Maybe like you've said, restoring is not for everyone, or he's just got something else going on and can't concentrate on a restoration quite yet, OR he's just a procrastinator. It's a shame we can't read minds.

[Cooter]

Restoring cars is alot like marriage.....

Most are all smiles, flowers, Wine, etc. in the beginning, but after the first 10 years, you begin to reallize you have to work at it.

I have "Helped" on a few restorations in the past as well. Most are GREAT out the gate, but aren't much when it comes ot stamina. Agreed, start small. See if He's actually in it for the long haul, or just wants to go for the fun stuff.

[bluefury]

So, he got back to me and said, I'm not in the mood right now. 
Maybe restoring a car is not for everyone.........

[/quote]

AWhhhhhhh..... There is the red flag. Most likely that would be a project that would never be completed. There are a lot more guys who WANT a nice car then there are who can CREATE a nice car.

I would recommend he sell his project now and put the cash towards a already done car. Sounds like he reads to many magazines.

[Cooter]

Also, I think it's kind sad to ask someone to help you, then when they clearly are trying to do just that, you say something like "I'm just not in the mood"...
I bet many right here have not been "In the mood", but still did at least something on the car.

[41husk]

any time I lay off a project, I am usually not in the mood the first few times I start up.  Then I am in the garage 3x more than I planned after that.  Reminds me I need to get back on that Duster.

[six-tee-nine]

Well,cold dark winter days and a rusty shell with alot of work ahead, does'nt motivate well and I'm telling you that out of my own expierience. However, this is not my first restoration.
When the body is painted then it gets easy to stay motivated. Well when the winters moves along motivation will get better along with the weather......
But it aint easy. Your friend needs to clear his head and decide what he wants....

Spotless, brandnew restored classics are only for the rich and the dedicated wrenchers...

[jaak]

Yes, I agree there are a ton of things that can be done, little to know costs. When building my 69 I took advantage of the 'low funds' time to take care of all the little things.

Not only that but you said he has 2k to spend right now, when I had extra cash I would sit at the computer, prioritize what I needed then search for the best deals on where to buy what, search ebay, CL for any used parts I needed and try to get the most bang for my buck.

But like most have said, to totally re-do a car, the number 1 tool you got to have is....motivation. Without that a project will never get off the ground.

Jason

[b5blue]

Jason is right...
You ether got it or you don't. While my car sat dead in storage I did the same, gather known needed parts as cheap as I could and did small repairs avoiding tearing things down too far. At least your friend had the sense to honestly admit it just is not in the cards rater than waste your time even more. I have friends who went on for hours about projects and over countless details only to dump them later when they realize they are too lazy to get anywhere with the real nuts and bolts of getting dirty, sweaty busted knuckles and spending money. 
  Your a good guy to offer!   

[Dino]

Jason is right...
You ether got it or you don't. While my car sat dead in storage I did the same, gather known needed parts as cheap as I could and did small repairs avoiding tearing things down too far. At least your friend had the sense to honestly admit it just is not in the cards rater than waste your time even more. I have friends who went on for hours about projects and over countless details only to dump them later when they realize they are too lazy to get anywhere with the real nuts and bolts of getting dirty, sweaty busted knuckles and spending money. 
  Your a good guy to offer!   

Hey!  You shouldn't use the words nuts, sweaty and busted in one sentence!  It's still early and it's confusing... 

[b5blue]

It was late and was sleepy! 

[71 SE3834V]

He is the one insisting on the full restoration, He said "i want my car to look as good as your car". I showed him tons of pics and went into detail on whats required and the cost. Anyhow, i guess he lost 3 weeks of free labor???

Dang, free labor! I woulda let ya help me on mine and I'm not even trying to restore mine!

[Patronus]

Dang. At least you didn't get into it and then bog down and waste all that time. I'd do it for free too! I am really lucky to have a twin to work with.. Sometimes we work for hours and don't say a word!

[Sublime/Sixpack]

 Through the years I've seen quite a few guys buy a car and talk about how they are going to do a restoration on it. I've watched them pull a few parts off then the car sits, and sits, and eventually ends up being sold as a project. 
Sounds as though you have more desire and drive to work on your friend's car then he has.
Your friend may not have what it takes to restore a car.

[NHCharger]

Anyhow, i guess he lost 3 weeks of free labor???

Damn, I would kill for the chance to have someone with car knowledge give me a FREE hand for three weeks.
You aren't located anywhere near southern NH by chance

[71 SE3834V]

Anyone giving away free labor lemme know!  Heck, I can even pay a little bit. Maybe someone saving up for a car that wants a little experience working on them.
Seriously I'm having a tough time keeping up w/what needs to be done to keep her on the road. I suppose most of us have that problem but w/my recently dianosed back issues I might not be able to work on her in a long time and I don't what her to go back into retirement just shortly after bringing her out. Sorry for the sad sack story.

To the O.P., were you ever able to get into his head to find out what his motivation is?

[41husk]

I remember my Challenger vert was a driver that needed resto.  I was just going to pull the engine clean it and the bay up and put it back on the road about 13 years later I got it finished and had done a little more than just clean up the engine bay.