BringIt Posted January 3, 2006 Share Posted January 3, 2006 I've noticed here that there are alot of really long projects on this board. I'm starting my hybrid project and I was wondering some of your opinions. Do you have any regrets of taking years and years to get a project finished. Quick and get the goal at hand finished. or Do EVERYTHING perfect to follow towards the end goal. I'm in the start of a LS1/T56 - 280Z swap and am debating what all I am going to tackle in this first wave of mods. The Angel on my shoulder says get it in and get it running and start from there. The Devil on the other shoulder says get it in, get the turbo on, get the R230 in, get the coilovers on, get the disc brakes all the way around, get the coilovers on all 4 corners, get large wheels and fender flares all the way around. Now is the time to choose what are your opinons? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
240hoke Posted January 3, 2006 Share Posted January 3, 2006 keep it short and enjoy it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dp351zcar Posted January 3, 2006 Share Posted January 3, 2006 To do it right, like it is in your mind it will be a long project. One thing leads to another, then it's gota do this then if I do this I will need to to that, and it goes on and on. Or thats what I feel. Don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
240hoke Posted January 3, 2006 Share Posted January 3, 2006 Make a plan of what you want to do. Do it right but do it in stages. A long term project is good, but it wil get drawn out and you will get tired of it, along with spending more money then you planned. I have been working every extra bit of time ive had and then some for the past year on my car and i can tell you that I am about burned out. Especially when money gets to be an issue. Im sure winding it out for hte first time will relieve everythign and make it worth it though. Looking back I have learned ALOT from my long term project, but I think I would have had much more 'fun' if i would have found a decent car to start with and done things little by little. It also give you time to appriciate each modification you do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strotter Posted January 3, 2006 Share Posted January 3, 2006 It's much more pleasant to drive the project car down to the parts store than it is to drive something else. Also, I had *far* more fun conversations with people while driving my "project" than I do now in my "car", if you know what I mean. A vehicle that is clearly "in progress" is an open invitation to people to stop, comment, interact a little bit. One afternoon at Kragen a couple of years ago, I spent an hour with a couple of guys, answering questions, rolling around on the ground under the car, drawing diagrams; it was great. I still get complements now and again, but no more Q & A sessions. As an aside, I got the car rolling in about 6 months, but 4 of those was bodywork and painting. It's *still* a project, though; recently installed a Holley StealthRam and a new ECU, so now I have to write some software for my Mac so I don't have to use the cheapo Toshiba to datalog, so I had to learn modern Object Oriented Programming, so I'm thinking about taking a class. Mission creep? Maybe... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spotfitz Posted January 3, 2006 Share Posted January 3, 2006 I've owned my '74 for about eight years now and didn't start really working on it until about 2 1/2 to 3 years ago. It started simple enough. Redo the suspension. Complete coil overs, bushings and R200 upgrade. Took about 3 months. No big deal. Then I got to enjoy it for acouple months. Doing body work when I could here and there. Took it to a track in the area with the local club and had fun with it. Then I decided to let someone else paint it. That was the moment the snow ball hit the edge of the hill. After completely stripping the car and droping it off at the body shop, I was relieved it was getting done right. 11 months later I get it back from paint jail and started putting it back together. That was back in July, hell maybe July of last year. I don't remember, it's been that long! I'm still putting the interior in and buying bits and pieces when I can, but it will be a 30+ year old brand new car when I'm done. Then I'll be back in the staged project mode. I'll get it running with the SU's first, running them on the turbo motor and start saving for the new turbo parts to finally, one day, get it where I want it. So, in closing. I guess I went both routes. I started with little things. Then jumped in head first. And then I'll be working on the little things again. The only thing keeping me sane is my daily driver, Trusty Rusty that I bought for $200 1 1/2 years ago and been driving daily since. It's an early '77 280Z that will probably get stripped and body junked when I get done with the '74. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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