I'm losing motivation with my RB project

[JDM RICE]

Had the car for about a year now, and this is where I'm at...

 

A little frustration with finding time to work on the car, cash flow isn't as great due to more expenses..etc Typically I have built cars under a year, but this one seems like its going nowhere

 

- Interior: Interior is gutted, pieces are everywhere

- Exterior: Fair, some rust spots, pass floor pan needs to be redone

 

Just some parts that i've accumulated:

 

Series 1 RB25DET w/ 58k miles.

Infinity Machining Aluminum engine mounts

Griffin Alum dual pass radiator

Walbro 255l fuel pump

Q45 VLSD differential

S14 dashboard and interior pieces

 

 

here is an older pic I had when I first got it

 

 

***NEW PIX***

AS she sits, you can see I was last working on a 5 lug conversion

 

Engine shots, fitment, mounts..etc pix

 

Shifter placement, and also passenger side floor pan. Note the S14 Dashboard

 

Griffin Dual Pass Radiator

 

 

Thank you for letting me waste your time

[Mayolives]

Building a car is a lot like being self employed. It's not the "glamour picnic" that many would hope it to be. Tons of dedication and motivation are required. For me it's easier to plan the job at hand in segments and set goals to complete each segment. It's easy to become overwhelmed by the big picture way down the road. Find a friend who can provide a little help. Hang in there! Rome wasn't built in a day.

[naviathan]

You want motivation? Join the military. You want to finish your car? Remember what you want out of it and imagine your end product. If you can keep your eye on the goal and still not find the motivation to finish then you just don't love the project like you thought you would.

[MoNkEyT88]

Perhaps you're burning yourself because of how many areas you seem to be working on at once.

 

Engine, suspension, 5-bolt conversion, interior, body work, etc... etc..

 

I think if you get it running First, it will encourage you to get it driving, then after you drive it, you will be more encouraged to finish the interior, or body work... etc..

 

I also keep a folder with all the inspirational pictures of carbon fiber cars, nice Z cars, and cool fabrication pics to give me inspiration whenever I start losing sight.

[strotter]

Getting into a slump on any large, involved project such as yours in inevitable. It happens to everybody. You have to take control of your thought process with regards to the project, then manage yourself in much the same way you'd manage any other part of the job. This is something as an adult you do every day, though likely not consciously.

 

Here's a for-instance: let's say your girlfriend does something or says something you don't like, repeatedly. As a matter of fact, it's something that pushes a bad button in your head. Your hindbrain orders you to snap at her, hurting her feelings, damaging the relationship. Your forebrain kicks in, telling you to shut up entirely, suppress that response, now you're passive-aggressive, damaging the relationship. For many, the thought process ends there. A thinking man, though, makes a conscious effort to reason it through; to maintain the relationship, he needs to clear up the problem, but at the same time not hurt her in any way; the result is a carefully crafted couple of sentences; "Baby, I love you more than sunlight, but that thing you do just makes me crazy..."

 

So think about how you are thinking about the project. I'll bet you have this long list of "things to do" in your head. You've learned to be organized over the years, and you're a gearhead, so it's probably a really detailed list, with dozens of "maybes'" and "what-ifs" and "possibly's". Behind each item in the list is a sketch of the process you'll use to take care of it, some of them with overtones of "easy", some with overtones of "difficult", some with "how the hell am I going to pull this off"? On top of everything else, I'll bet that lately you've been trying to keep down this entirely new thought: "What if I can't do it? I'll look like an idiot, that's what, and I'll have this pile of *stuff* in my garage, and every time I open the garage door I'll have to see it, crap, and then I'll have to sell it, and I've spent a *buttload* of money, and everyone else has a nice car and I have this pile..."

 

So what you need to do is take control of your thought process. I'm not saying you need to hypnotize yourself into "Love the Datsun, work on the Datsun, Datsun is wonderful..." I'm saying figure out some strategy for getting yourself in the zone, and keeping yourself there. In a sense, you need to find out what worked already for you, what gets you back to that feeling you had at the beginning of "this is going to be awesome!", and do it. It will be something different for every person - what might work for one guy won't work for another.

 

Some for-instances: go to a car show. Yeah, it's stupid, but it's the right time of year and they're popping up all over the place. Just find one and go, even if you have to drive a couple of hours. Lots of custom cars (of any type), you can see the result of some guys burning thousands of hours in their garages, see with your own naked eyes that, yeah, these project can indeed be finished and done.

 

OR: Find somebody with a car like yours, and visit. Yeah, this might involve a drive, and you maybe will feel like you're intruding on a stranger, but believe me: custom car guys love *nothing* more than showing off their babies, in excruciating detail. Bring a couple of beers (not more, you're driving!) and some pics of your project. Take notes, take pictures, take your time. Inspiration is what you're looking for, not details and procedures.

 

OR: get out a pencil and some paper and draw the car in finished form. Exterior, interior, assembly details. There are a couple of guys on the board who appear to use this technique - sort of a way of fantasizing about the finished project, getting their thoughts in order, stroking their ego before the thing is even done.

 

OR: make up a fantasy. Yeah, I hear you giggle, I'm serious. Perhaps it's a fantasy about dropping the clutch, the g-forces rising, your head pinned to the headrest, the noise reaching a crescendo, *flying* past the traps and 10.xx coming up on the board. Or maybe it's you, leaning on the fender, explaining to the worshipful crowd of old hands how you corralled such a sophisticated powerplant into such an incredibly outdated but unbelievably sexy classic car. Or maybe it's some delectably tasty blond just *wiggling* with excitement as she climbs into that totally cute car she's always wanted a ride in. "Ooooh, this is the most beautiful car ever! You must be so, so good with your hands..." Whatever it takes. Create a place in your head where the project is already done and you are reaping the benefits of all the work, someplace *past* the labor and discomfort and time; a place you can go to when the whole thing just seems too far away.

 

OR: mentally break the big giant project into little bitty projects. This one works for me. I try my best to think of a bunch of little projects, not one large one. "How's the car project doing?" "Oh, I'm working on the air-conditioner install. I stripped out the insulation off the firewall, which was a mess, and ordered a condenser from this place in Arizona..." I don't even *think* about the paint, or the coilovers, or the carpet: I think about the project I'm currently doing, the a/c. It's not that I stop myself from thinking about other things, it's just taking advantage of the fact that I'm OCD enough that I tend to focus on one thing at a time anyway.

 

Whatever you do, don't let yourself feel sorry for yourself. You have nothing to complain about; you're a healthy young guy with a working brain and advanced skills that lives in a free country and has enough disposable income to take on a custom car project. Nothing to complain about there.

 

Right now, the biggest threat to the completion of the project is you. You need to handle yourself (again, no giggling!) in such a way as to control that threat and guarantee a successful outcome. Whatever it takes for you to do it, then do it.

[Canadianz]

JDM, StTrotter has some very good ideas, 90% of doing a project with so many aspects is to break it down piece by piece. It looks like your making some serious progress, Ive been in the exact same position your in and it is tough, try to pick one aspect and get it done. I would say try to get the engine to turn over or run. Once you have that going even if the drive train isn't hooked up you have huge motivation to get everything else done. Just to show you that all it takes is throwing a ton of hours, this is what my brother and I started with, both college kids with not a huge income.

 

 

 

* note the hole where the battery tray is and the holes in the frame rails ... This is the piece of crap we started with.

 

about 10 months or so later we made it this far . . .

 

 

 

 

The key is to just as Strotter said focus on one part at a time. Even if you just decide to hell with it Im going to get a functioning RB swap going and use the shell you have until you find another one.

 

Also remember, flat black rust plaint is your best friend for hiding little mistakes especially in metal work .

 

Any how man don't give up just let the project go at its own pace and don't get disheartened if it turns in to a "while Im at it" project when your done you will be happier.

 

Cheers

 

Chris and Rob

[strokerzedd]

What kind of a dash is that? I'm looking to redo my dash because the cap I glued on doesn't allow the gauges to come out the front and yesterday I cut the cap up to pull the gauges and then pulled the whole damn dash out. Of course I had to pull the cage out of the car to pull the dash! I'd like to put a different gauge cluster in that will hold the seven gauges I need and allow me to pull them out of the front of the dash. So what did you do, how and what's the donor car?

[Careless]

Man, you should consider yourself very luck to have that car and be this far along with the project.

 

take a look a projects like stony's and scottyM1z's and getoffmyinternet. trials and tribulations a plenty... but they've still managed to make the best of it and take it easy and do the best they can at the time in which they work on their cars.

 

If you're seeing it as "work" then you're not enjoying it as a hobby.

 

 

 

I've been stressing over my car for the passed year and a half, trying to get engine blocks, an engine head for my engine to move forward, and now I've got into a dispute with the seller.

 

THESE things throw me off from working on the car. You though, should have no reason to put yourself down for what you're doing. Your project looks to be coming along as any other project would with someone who doesn't do this day in and day out or doesn't let anyone else do it for them.

 

 

My car is a piece of ♥♥♥♥ (really), but one day I will get into working on it a lot. I have tons of client work that I hate doing because I can actually see my garage from my room window, and it makes me sick knowing that I should be an active individual and go out there and finish my work bench to start working on my car.

 

And that's what I've been doing. I'm putting a sink on the workbench this week and then I'm going to start working on the car. Perhaps pulling the engine.

 

But there's a lot more work than that.

 

 

 

Atleast you got a head start with a clean body. Try spending less and working more. GET A FRIEND TO HELP.

 

you wouldnt believe how many friends offered to help me with my car because it's something they've never seen before. Make the best of it. Make it a piece you can share with someone (while not on the ownership).

 

Make it something your friends will know you're proud of, and have their support.

 

I work on my friend's cars more than my own because I like making them feel good about getting something done. It's about time I do the same for myself, so this summer... things will get done.

 

And I'm going to work hard at my day job to make that happen, so that money is not what stops me from working on it.

[RedEvilrps13]

dude, i KNOW the feeling!

 

ive been just trying to get my 78 running with the stock L28, and i cant even get that to happen yet, and everytime i get under the car, i see all the rot and rust.....and it adds up and gets depressing!

 

nevermind the fact that my 240sx hasnt been running right, if at all, lately either.

 

just remember, deep breaths. and don't rush. it will get done.

 

Rome wasn't built in a day y'know

 

.....crap...but then again, they didn't have to deal with 30+ years of rot and rust when they built rome.....

[cheftrd]

I go into a slump sometimes with big swapps too, and I get paid to do it! The task seems daunting and endless when you're always looking at "the big picture". Like sone others said here, concentrate on one thing at a time. Best thing is to get the driveline in and then running. Once that happens and you can take a spin around the neighborhood, you'll be stoked to do the bodywork, etc. Good luck.

[pirate87]

Just keep at it! Not uncommon for RBs to be in the project phase for years.

 

Quick question- whats up with the valve covers? 26 on a 25 head?

[Bishopsrock]

I just got my car running over the last couple of weeks but I started the project in December 2005!!! I seemed to be spending all my money flying parts over from the US every week. Like you I was eternally frustrated about progress and life moves on too, you have other priorities that you can't ignore.

 

I, like everyone else here, think you should stick at it. Pick one job at a time and do that job, then move onto the next. I can absolutely guarentee you that its worth it.

 

Just think of the old eating an elephant story. You can't eat an elephant all at one go, but you could eventually if you had a single spoonfull each day.

 

Good luck mate - just keep plodding on and then one day as if by magic it will be finished. The smile on your face when it comes on boost will be so big that it won't even fit inside the car - you will have to open both windows to let your big cheesy grin hang out!

 

Take care

[Careless]

Just keep at it! Not uncommon for RBs to be in the project phase for years.

 

Quick question- whats up with the valve covers? 26 on a 25 head?

 

yep. notice the 25 inake.

[pirate87]

yep. notice the 25 inake.

 

My brain can't handle such trickery... Pretty baller though!

 

JDM_Rice-

 

if you haven't already, I suggest you get on Nicoclub.com and head over to their RB section. Guys there are great, anytime I needed motivation with my swap someone always had helpful advice.

 

Not that Hybridz guys aren't great too, just an additional resource.

[jerryb]

The concept of concentrating and completing one ..or two....aspects of your car stand true. I also recommend you distance yourself from the project for a week or two.

 

I went through the same thing you are experiencing. After some reflection I realized I was just burnt and was taking things far too seriously....after all it is just a hobby.

 

So I adjusted my attitude with the perspective that it is just a hobby and I would have fun with it by not taking things too seriously. Best thing I could have done! Now I work on my car when time permits and Im in the mood...with no rush or anxiety. My life is very busy...work has me traveling a lot...kids have me moving...house has me fixing.... life is in the way. So now the project is my escape...it is relaxing...its not a MUST DO TO FINISH.

 

So...step way back.....take a break....prioritize the project ...and when your in the mood....work on it.

 

Hope this helps....and hang in there!

[Jsal32]

I can't begin to stress how theraputical (sp?) this is for me and other members alike that read this thread and I didn't even post this! I bet that we all go through this mindset at one point or another.

 

To the OP:

 

Take all this great advice in and give yourself some time to think about it without stressing over it. Good luck and remember that no matter what way you decide to go its all good. NO REGRETS!!

 

-Jose

[stony]

I have been there many times!!!! And now I'm staring at a block on an engine stand after a spun bearing.

 

At this point I have too much money into all this crap to just give up. I have to finish it so if I decide to get out I can get some money out of it :>

 

Keep your chin up it will come around. Like mentioned above concentrate on one thing at a time. But before you do that make a list of things to do then start knocking them out. That’s what I had to do with my car to even stay focused.

[zmaster]

I used to be discuraged with my 280z, and i kinda am right now because it broke down and i had to get it towed.

 

Did you have to weld new mounts to the frame, or did you use the stock location, i also want to do a rb swap that is why i am asking?

[ZDrifter]

You want motivation?? Here it is.. Basically stock RB25 @10psi. Open R200, Spun both the whole time.