When does it all go wrong

At what point does a project completely spin out of control?

After reading this months article about planning a build in sport truck I started thinking about my project. Maybe I stand here alone, but I doubt it.

My blazer started, as a mild build that I started with a game plan. As I started building to that game plan, a few things changed, then a few more now I stand here with original plan out the window.

Now my blazer lays on the ground as a bare shell, no floor, no firewall, and remaining parts spread through a garage. For myself I think my project went off the tracks when I decided to go from a 3/4 chassis build to a manderel bent frame.

Now its not the fact that I am not capable of doing the work, but I don

My Toyota, I always kept it to where the mods would only keep it down a few days at most.
If you go too big without a full shop to utilize, rails are going to be left. My GMC has tons of crazy work to it. After a shop robbery of tools / parts and other circumstances out of my control it sits on a trailer waiting for time to get back to it.

Studebaker now. The truck had alot of things done. Some things I have to repair but I'm going back to my Toyota rule of keeping it running.

Thats the thing the shop is fully stocked. But its at the point it was just being built as a little more then a daily to enjoy while diving into major projects.

Almost all of my projects end up that way..lol. I start off with the intention of keeping it simple, then it all goes to hell. My Blazer has been "done" 2 times now...and I'm currently on what I hope is the final build. But it too is just a shell, sitting on a frame, waiting on parts and time.

It did teach me to make a plan and stick with it though....and I have learned that I cannot just keep it simple, so the plan is usually to go balls out from the get go now....it makes it easier..lol.

My projects spin wildly out of control, although I have never been to a point where i thought all is lost, in fact for me the more wildly they spin out of control the happier i get, just means more time I get to spend in the garage working on the project before I its done and I have to find a place to store it and another project to work on.

Rodeo started out I wanted a bagged on 17s 4 door suv, flat frame no body drop.
1st wild spin, wanted to convert to 5 lug Toyota up front and rx7 irs out back SFBD to the rocker.
2nd wild spin wanted to door it and still keep all 4 seats (i actually managed to get it done and drive it for awhile like this)
3rd wild spin wanted to give it some new headlights 300c and mold them in, and some new tails ford focus.
4th wild spin wanted to chop it... took 3 full trys at this one, pretty close to something i could work with the last time
5th wild spin decided to make it a permanent roadster and weld all the doors up and build a carson top

The rodeo is actually finished now! took 7 years

Bought a Toyota off a buddy somewhere in there so I could commit to finishing the rodeo and cut on something new.
Planned on just finishing the floor and putting it back together (was already doored on a round tube chassis with rx7 irs)
1st wild spin, decided to put new headlights in it, jeep Cherokee had to rebuild the whole front end for this.
2nd wild spin, decided to stock glass chop it with the help of Zac from Grant Kustoms.
3rd wild spin, decided i wanted to run 9" wide wheels in the back of a Toyota with rx7, had to rebuild the whole rear setup and narrow the rear end.

The Toyota is not done yet but its getting close and now im starting to worry that I wont finish it till I buy something else to spend my time working on plus i build them and home and my 2 car garage is now full unless i put one outside.. not sure what to do now.

Miles

Edited: 6/14/2011 8:45:41 PM by joshsmith1977

Edited: 6/14/2011 8:43:50 PM by joshsmith1977

Edited: 6/14/2011 8:39:52 PM by joshsmith1977

Long story short I bought a brand new GMC Sonoma in 02, planned on building a clean body droped daily driver with all the bells and whistles in my buddies garage. As always plans changed a few times to go bigger and better. My truck went from being built in my buddies garage to then going to one well known fab shop to be built to then going to another well known phab shop. 3 years later my buddy passes away from an illness, both shops close down and the owners go into hiding with ALL of my stuff. I lose the entire truck, rims, tires, suspension parts etc and a whole mess of other thing/ parts. Also lost a shit load of $$$$$$ that I had pre paid both shops. In all i lost somewhere between $70,000-$80,000 from the whole ordeal. Lesson learned, stick to a plan and make sure you always know whats exactly going on with your shit.

I went thru two shops till I found a good one, the first shop wired my air zenith into the wiring for my orion 2500 hcca amp and fried both the amp and the comp. ( luckily they were both under warranty), second shop did a 2 link and with a panhard bar, they didn't set it up properly and it ripped a hole in the axle. But when I first started out in this sport I didn't know what I was doing or did any research (I just jumped in). The one thing I did right was the wiring, my dad showed me the proper way to do it. And the third shop (Advanced Fab. Bakersfield Ca.) cleaned up the mess of the first two. Now I have a two link with a wish bone, but it's staggered to fit the factory gas tank, two points on the frame one on the axle.

Such a good topic. It sucks saying you have $15,000 in a $4,000 Tacoma that you could sell for $3,000....but we do it anyway.

Personally, I like it when projects get more in depth than originally intended. It means your creativity is moving forward. All the really cool stuff thats come into this sport is from people who "didnt stick to the plan". We all know somebody who has a semi-abandoned project in their garage or shop, just waiting for a bit of inspiration to kickstart them back into it. If you have the space for it, let it ride for a bit, and your friends will eventually start riding you to get back on it. A lot of times thats all it will take to get you back into it!

I just hope one day my $3000 dollar nissan is worth way more in the future, for instance the popular 57 chevy back then is worth more now (do I expect it to be the same ratio as a 57 chevy, uh no but just more than it is now). It might take 30 more years but maybe then places like hagerty might insure my truck like all the other classic cars they insure and not put me in some "tuner class" with so many limitations that makes it pointless to own. Like all the "hot rod" guys today drove the cars that impressed them when they started out, now they are pulling some loot across the auction block, I am building what I drove when I started out and going to keep it.

I would say, keep your truck to minimum mods until you are ready to go all out balls to the wall. Plan for every mod you want and how you will use it. I will never put a sliding rag in my car/trucks. Its not that I don't like em but I like to drive and for some reason rain suddenly appears in FL (if you don't like the weather wait 5 min). Build it for you and how your going to use it, try to plan for everything. For instance if its a trailer queen, you might make tie downs that are easy to access and/or removable. The more you plan and stick to it the more likely you will enjoy what you created and didn't waste any money in the process having to redo something that you didn't think about (hey it happens to all of us, but if you can keep it to a minimum then you will come out a head in the end).