well, its offically 2 months today since i touched the stuart taylor sat in the garage.

was hoping to have it IVA'd for this summer but guess thats gone out of the window now .

seems i'm now using any excuse as a distraction to not go in the garage.

anyone else been in a similar situation ? is it the end ?. any way back from this ??



:-(

[Edited on 26/4/11 by rayward]

i felt like this midway through my mini restoration, demotivated, didnt really want to carry on.

what helped me was a friend who was helping basically pushed me and forced me to wake up early to go out and fix it, got it to a state where it was safe to drive on private land, i done a figure of eight and from then on i didn't really stop, full resto done in the year (exactly) and now out driving it daily.

give yourself a timetable, make yourself go in the garage and slowly start working on the car. #

maybe make yourself known on the adobt a builder scheme and someone can take you for a drive. anyone local that can give you a hand on some parts?

Yep.

Loads have been there.

I was very much there a while back - even writting a list (which helps by the way) didnt get me raring to go.

Then I thought about the jobs I realised were putting me off, it was

Fabricating the engine cradle, (I was worried I'd position it wrong)
doing the electrics (never done them)
positioning bodywork (as some of my panels needed some fettling once position was set

Then I paid someone to do those for me.

The rest still took some time, but I knew there was nothing left that was too scary or beyond me, and I plodded away at it with my (now useful) list.

[Edited on 26/4/11 by Dangle_kt]

Hi ray,

Look for the reasons you dont want to go out there and fix them. Ive had a new lease of life since getting rid of the old chassis and putting some proper lights up.

Yep in that place just now. I seem to be getting better at standing, smoking and looking at the car than actually doing any work on it. Ah well stoneleigh this weekend should fire the juices again.

I finished my car in 2006, spent £6 thousand on nothing since then to go too get ripped off by 4 people, then go to 4 svas, before MNR finally got it for me and took it to the IVa and got it passed last month, best feeling in the world.

get someone local to take you fo a blast in a finished one then you can see what your missing, keep the faith

Pull you're self together man do not let it beat you it will all be worth it in the end

Mine worked the other way. Yes, I used to have highs and lows during the build but never stalled completely. Since I finished, SVA'd and reg'd etc, I felt a sort of deflation and, for me, driving it isn't as good as the building was.
Maybe I'm just a weirdo?

might sound wierd, and if it is already then ignore me, but tidy your garage.

I came back from uni 3 weeks ago and spent about a whole day just clearing out crap from my shed. several boxes of rubbish, a few shelves of well organised parts, tools, useable metal cut offs, random nuts and bolts etc and a nice clean table, and an organised toolbox later, and its soo much easier to work out there now. I know where bits are, i dont have to push bits to the side to get a space to work on on my workbench.

Like i said if your garage is already clean then good for you and ignore me

Didnt touch mine for nearly 6 months, mate took me out for a blat up north, cant wait for spare time to get out in the shed now.

Although in my case expecting a baby in late june has also squeezed my schedule a little

Very good point about tidying up, nothing more anoying than opening the door and seeing a big pile of crap, getting it shifted doesnt half motivate.

Bought my pile of steel for the Locost chassis in June 2005, built the basic lower frame and 2 uprights, then didn't touch it again until Aug 2008

Been on and off ever since up until last summer due to work but now nearly there. I'm so glad I stuck at it, not looking forward to the IVA but definitely looking forward to the first legal drive

Keep at it, it'll be fine

I went that route for 18 months, didn't even visit here
I find that it seems to be all or nothing, I either throw myself into it or don't go anywhere near the garage for weeks, last lull was from November last year to February this year, haven't missed a day since then and the end is very close

dito tidying the garage! always seems to do the trick with me or just getting some of the other vehicles in there out and in next doors garage so I can move!!

way to tackle cars is to pick some task like wiring or brakes and just keep at them till their done otherwise just jumping about on odd jobs makes it seem like sod all is getting finished and is a real put off

[Edited on 26/4/11 by Mr Whippy]

Been there so many times...

As said above - go into the garage and do SOMETHING, no matter how trivial. Keep the momentum going.

Also - anyone nearby who can take you out for a quick blast in their car? Amazing how that can boost your enthusiasm. For me, a quick blast in Jon Ison's BEC Locost on the country roads around the showground at Newark rekindled my desire to finish my car.

I made a rule that I had to do at least one thing per day - tiny or huge depending on the enthusiasm levels at the time.

I dont touch mine for months at a time over winter. I spend way to much time on here instead . Oh and ebay looking for the next project idea.

Why are you worrying ? It's a hobby surely, take a break, don't worry be happy etc etc - whatever bits you have aren't costing more just cos they're sitting there in the garage.

I reckon answers above are right, stick the radio on and tidy garage, or sand something down, something "easy" just to think things over.

You'll soon be raring to go again.

I worry about making my car worse than it was when I got it - might not be you but just sharing !! I've even taken some stick for it here and elsewhere. But.... even if I do make it worse or it's not perfect, so what, whatever I do to it, at least it was me that did it !!

This is a great thread. I'm sure many, if not most of us are/were like this at some point, and it's always good to read through threads like this, especially when wondering whether it's all worth while.

If you ask any of the Oxfordshire Locosters that come to the meets they'll tell you how long I've been on my build(s)! They never fail to remind me of it! But on a more serious note, I can relate to various points that have already been made.

Firstly, I'm the sort of person that will either spend every spare minute on something, or I'll not touch it for months, so I think it depends on what sort of personality you are. At the moment I'm making some serious progress, but prior to that I hadn't done anything for months. Although that was partly due to work commitments, I definately had that 'I can't be ar$$d' feeling, and didn't even visit this site for several months. Having said that, I take the view that it's a hobby, and it's there to be done as and when I feel like it.

Secondly, it certainly helps if you have someone to give you a kick start from time to time. Fortunately Mr Scutter only lives up the road from me and is most adept at using the tool of 'sarcasm' to get me motivated (his phrasing - not mine - cheers Daniel )

Thirdly, what I can say for absolutely certain, is that I would not have got as far as I have without this website. Thanks to Chris, Fozzie and anyone else who keeps this site up and running.

Finally, it definately helps to find out where your local 'meet' is and go along and join in. After an evening chatting to others about their builds and where they're at, I definately leave more motivated to crack on.

Hope that helps some,

Cheers,

Mart.

PS. While I was typing this PDM posted above - couldn't agree more - good post.

[Edited on 26/4/11 by Cheffy]

Come on Ray - see it through! Enthusiasm comes and goes... I pretty much didn't set foot in the garage all winter, except to take out my engine... Now the sun is out, I am working in the garage most evenings, and am enjoying it again. I find I get put off by the scale of some jobs, and that makes me postpone, and then lose interest. In reality, they are never as bad as think they will be, and progress now is really satisfying. The other real kick up the backside for me, is I pickup keys to our new house on Thursday... that really helps focus the mind, as I need to progress to be able to move it (but perhaps a house move is an extreme way to find garage motivation!).

Good luck with the rest of your build. It will be worth it.

Yes been there Not done that

My motivation was th SVA IVA changeover but making a list of stuff to do helped even the little things. Its a great feeling crossing something off the list even if it was just a 10 min job.

Also agree with the tidy up garage thing.

One more thing that helped me was another builder coming round and spending a couple of hours helping out do a job, the fact that he came in his kit and the stories of his trials and tribulations made me feel not so bad

I took my engine out a few years ago, 2007 I think, picked up a nice quaife box to put in it! It's still sat there in the garage now

Go and watch a Locost race - that'd certainly get me motivated... to fit a cage, install a 1300cc X-flow etc etc