Okay, I've been building my Sylva Mojo for a couple of years now, very slowly. Mainly due to the lack of time I get to spend in the garage, and the number of other things I have going on too.

I have got to the point now where the half built car in the garage is starting to annoy me, and I am beginning to have bad thoughts about selling it, and buying something ready built, ready to drive, and tweaking that around a bit instead.

The trouble is, I don;t think I really want to do that, and a really would like to have completed the car myself.

has anyone else had a mid-build crisis, or similar experiences? Any motivational tips would be nice to hear too!

Cheers
Andy

Almost everyone has been there and done that.

Best motivational thing is to go and get a ride in somone elses complete car or get a fellow builder round for the day to kick things into action again and give you the buzz back.

Hang in there and you wont regret it

Hi Andy

This is like AA. I think we can all relate to the way you are feeling right now. I know I have but it will pass and you will find motivation does come back. Try setting yourself an achievable task and when its done look at it and mark it off as "Another job done". Take a look at my website and see the dramas I've been through with the Phoenix. Best to have tunnel vision. Remember, how do you eat an elephant? In small pieces!

numskil carborundum

John

Just passing the crisis myself - happened when I got to a point where I was needing to spend some more money to get the remaining major parts and my wife announced she was pregnant.

I thought about selling but a part built project is worth far less than the sum of it's parts, so I decided that I could just extend my expected build programe and take a bit longer over the whole thing.

Take a day or two off work and dedicate the time to getting on with your build - that usually stokes the fire for me.

Im in the same depressive state myself, i just dont have the time its been nearly a year since my last drink (oops wrong forum) visit to the garage. I am off to a hillclimb event on sunday for some motivation and hopefully a wee spin around in a finished car. Stick in and as said you wont regret it.

Yep, i'm there as well........

must be on year 7 now. I only work on the car in summer months and each year i find more and more other stuff to interest me.

Part of me wonders if i'll ever finish the car.

Thing is little jobs start to really get me down. Getting the brakes sorted would be a big milestone ....... as well as changing the back axle to de-dion as well as ..... etc etc

Yep. Just getting over that lull too. Just find myself at work more and more then when I finally get home I've to make tea etc. cos I live on my home so when I finally do get a couple of days I have to clean the house or do the garden cos its all got out of hand. I just sat on a stool in the sun the other day with a file and thought, right I'll just sit here and chill and take all day with this and off I went then to cap it, I whelled it out onto the drive for the 1st time and swept all the garage out, looked great sat there even as a rolling chassis and the neighbours saw it for the first time.

oh yes, Even worse with a sccratch build.

I think we have all been there at some point.

Personally I used to blag a passenger ride in Carl's 220bhp Caterham, at least once a month! That kept me wanting to get finished so I could have a car that quick, that loud and that good at cornering.

Best bet is to find someone local to you and get them to take you out.

Mike

My car has been on the road since 2000 and today I did something I've been getting round to since it went on the road. I moved the handbrake lever

I can sympathise totally

I've just finished and SVA'd after 3.5 years and there were several times I came close to giving up due to time and other financial commitments. All I can say is please don't give up now and regret it later. It will be so worth it when you complete it and get to drive it on the road.

One thing that might help is to make a list of jobs to do and any items you need to buy. Stick it up on the garage wall and start ticking things off as you do them. It helps to keep you focused and acts as a record of your progress.

KEEP GOING

I went through the same thing a few years ago, but my story is different to most of the above I'm afraid!

I was part way through a scratch build, and as everyone who's done one knows that every 5min job is a two hour job minimum.

couple that with a job change and I just couldn't get any time in the garage.

I sold it part complete on ebay for £2200 and bought a race bike! I did a season of trackdays on it, crashed it big time! and then sold the bits for £10 less than what I paid for the bike!

anyway to cut a long story short - I knew that this build I've just completed now would not go the same way, so I hammered the Build time - I built outside in the crappy winter months etc. so it wasn't easy, but it is now complete - started in earnest mid December, SVA'd start of March.

So, I did it different to the others above, it was what was right for me at the time. Just have a good long think - I still regret selling the first one, but it would never have been the car that this one is, and I do have a good sense of vindication!

hth, all the best,
Steve.

[Edited on 11/4/07 by worX]

I've got almost the reverse situation in that I have loads of time to work on the car and it is a weekend at most from being completely finished but I have no money to allocate to it as other things take priority since I seperated and took on all the mortage myself the house has to come first. It's so saddening seeing the thing everytime I go in the garage looking for tools for DIY jobs that it is finished and drivable even if not SVA'd but I can't afford to do anything about it. It's been like that for nearly a year now

Apart from the engine, brakes and dials it's not worth anywhere near what I've put into it to sell and I want to get it on the road, guess I'll just have to continue being patient with it

Ned.

BigAndy don't give up! I've been through that quitting mode many times. And I'm really glad I didn't. The end result will be worth the effort.

If you can just spend even 5 minutes a day doing something on the car it will get done sooner than you think!

PS - I need your help with dimensioning Solidworks sldrw files! Do you have time for me?

Graber

i had it recently when i welded something in wrong - it stopped me for 4 months, then i just changed plans left it wrong, i'll just move other stuff around instead!

Don't give up. Mine took 7 years to build!

During my two year build, I spent a very frustrating 9 months recovering from a spine injury which made moving around very painful but I kept motivating myself by using the build as my physiotherapy (with the blessing of my physiotherapist)
I made sure that I completed a task every day - sometimes a VERY small task but the important thing is to do SOMETHING.

The result was that I put a lot of effort into the finer details of the car and I am pretty happy with it considering it is my first build.

.... funnily enogh been there and got past it. leave it for a while then the enthusiamsm returns.

my case was possibly worst than most since I started wit ha part built kit, so there was a far bit of undoing mostly for SVA wherease you start with a blank canvass.

having said that, don't discount selling off the part built kit and buying one already o nthe road - nothing wrong with doing that.

Cheers for the words of wisdom folks! I don't think I can bring myself to give up on it completely. I like the idea and advice of having a couple of days working on the car solid, so i have just cancelled this weekends jobs and other stuff, so i can spend two days solid working on the car.

Hopefully that will kick things back into life, and fingers crossed, I'll get the car on it's wheels, brakes sorted, suspension bolted up properly, and engine cleaned up..

I'm actually surprised at the number of people that seem to have been in the same boat as me. It is quite inspiring!

Cheers
Andy

PS. I've always got time for Solidworks stuff Steve, it makes a welcome change from the day job!

Think of each little job as a project on it's own. Finish that, then look around for the next job.

cheers

Fred W B

im into my third year , dont give in , you can get inspiration by going to shows and visiting other builders

and i think asda still do large tubs of enthusiasm cream just get one and rub it in , away you go

Same boat myself after rebuilding the entire front suspension setup with mounts for the THIRD time

Just keep thinking towards the finished thing, you will enjoy it FAR more if you've built it yourself

James

Oh dear I had no idea so many were at the Samaritans stage

It’s easy to get fed up with projects as complex as a car. Best just to focus on one thing at a time, the wiring or brakes for example. Then once you have got that task done, treat yourself to a meal out or the cinema etc.

If you can push the sod outside, as working in this lovely weather will make it far more fun, don’t hide away in a cold dark garage…

Getting a ride in someone's car sorted the crisis for me - thanks to Jon Ison for that!

Andy...
Abergele isn't a million miles away from me! (I think???).
If you can make it over as far as Chester then I haven't got a problem making it the 30 miles over that way and taking you for a good spin for half a day or so if you fancy it???

hth (seriously!)
Steve

Hey Steve,

I shall take you up on that offer if you don't mind! My parents live over in Northwich, just down the roud from Oulton Park!

The build crisis is sort of over. I lowered the car down of it's build stands today, and rolled it out of the garage. It looks surprisingly small on the ground! I'm a bit more fired up about getting it completed now. So much so I have cancelled the sunday morning trip to the RC flying club to start stripping down and cleaning up the engine!

Cheers
Andy

Nice one Andy. Glad you are back on track!

I completely agree with you about these cars looking smaller once they come off the build stands. Just wait until you are parked next to a 38 tonne HGV at the SVA centre.

Mike

Most excellent! Car Crisis averted. Call off the interdiction team....

G.

Hey Andy,

You are more than welcome anytime - I was cahooning round Northwich most of the day yesterday!
I am good friends with a couple of the lads from J&S and also the guy from http://www.indigottattoo.com and it was him that I was scaring silly yest!
just drop me a line anytime, you probably have to come through Middlewich to get to Northwich anway (?) but if not, then I really don't have a problem nipping over there to pick you up!

Glad to hear the crisis is over!

You should be cracking on with it now!
cheers and all the best,
Steve.
ps cancelled trip to RC Day? I had to sell my helicopter to even start this project!!!

quote:

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Originally posted by bigandy
Hey Steve,

I shall take you up on that offer if you don't mind! My parents live over in Northwich, just down the roud from Oulton Park!

The build crisis is sort of over. I lowered the car down of it's build stands today, and rolled it out of the garage. It looks surprisingly small on the ground! I'm a bit more fired up about getting it completed now. So much so I have cancelled the sunday morning trip to the RC flying club to start stripping down and cleaning up the engine!

Cheers
Andy

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