[CurleysRacecars]

***SHOULD BE "PATIENCE" I KNOW...."
If so, what things do you do to relax and be patient? Im good most of the time, but sometimes I get impatient and get irritated because I feel like its taking too long to get something done.
I make a list of everything the car needs, then work off the list. The irritating part is you can never cross anything off and call it complete it seems. For example...I just fit a set of carbon tubs. All went well, they fit real nice but they have to stay in the car so that I can clearance them to the rear window. So, I told myself they were done but in reality, they are not quite done yet.
Just wondering what others do to deal with the stress that comes from running a shop? Ive been doing it on my own full time for a very short time, and already question whether its what I want to do or not.
Right now, I can only have one car at a time because of space constraints. This makes me wonder if I had more than one car to work on, and be able to walk away from one or the other for a short period of time to work on the other....if it would make it any better when the stress kicks in.
Sorry...just venting. Let me know what kind of things you guys do when you feel stressed or irritated.

 

[CurleysRacecars]

Maybe a better question is...how do you stay motivated at times? Or...how do you deal with the day ending and you feeling like you didnt get anything done for the day?

 

[n20mstr]

Maybe a better question is...how do you stay motivated at times? Or...how do you deal with the day ending and you feeling like you didnt get anything done for the day?

disconnect the internet, youll get more done......:smt102

 

[Driven2xs]

Instead of writing "roll cage" for instance, on your list, write down some of the specific steps like Main hoop, halo, back bars, x brace, dash bar. Yeah, this sounds too simple, but the problem becomes the pauses in between the work. You cant do the forward strut bars until you get the halo in, for instance. And you cant do the strut support tilll the front suspention and headers are on. And the drivers side X doesnt make sense to do, until all the tin is in. It still has to be done, but each is a subassembly thats dependant on other parts being done first.

Another benefit is this piece by piece approach allows you to build it on paper first, so you know when to order what piece you need sooner.

Still another reason is payment. If you are held up in a process due to the owner, you can show him everything thats done with associated prices. Or fax it to a customer to show progress. You show him a pic of the car with part of a cage in it, he will say you arent anywhere near done. Wherein, you only lack HIS sheetmetal to finish your X. Again, GENERIC sample.

 

[SG60IMPALA]

Hey Kyle, when you find out let me know! Man its tough I am in same boat. One man show and room for 2 cars and every body wants it done yesterday. Remember a job is not complete until it is done. My motovation is my customers calling and saying thanks for doing a good job or seeing their win light come on even if you are racing against them. But sometimes you have to take a break from it. I do by going racing which can be like shooting yourself in the foot also.lol but I do it because I enjoy the challenge of it. Good luck buddy and chin up!

 

[Racefab33]

Man, if it's just you I would suggest just keeping one car. At the most, keep one large job and one quick job. You sure don't want several people to deal with at one time. I have been down that road. I have room for 10 cars and have had that many at a time and it sucks! lol My therapy is the track and the 4 hours of sleep I get a night. lol

 

[CurleysRacecars]

Thanks for the words guys. I hesitated posting, because I didnt want to be known as some psycho or something. Its just hard to keep plugging away sometimes. If something is bothering me, I tend to hold onto it forever. If I feel I didnt get anything done during the day...I am constantly thinking about it while laying in bed and what not. Sucks...
"Generic" is a good way to look at it...write everything out in much more detail than I do. Something the g/f constantly tells me but I guess I dont listen. HAHA.
Thanks again guys!

 

[Gary Anderson]

Been there , Done that.....

I guess old age begats patience......maybe....maybe not?!

When you think your done but not, sit down and write a new list?

It is really hard to be motivated ALL the time.

I am attached to the house so when I am having difficulty, I clean up ,

go in ,set the alarm clock, do something else for a while (usually get on the 'net/Bullet!),

or talk to my wife..............

then go back to work..................................................................................

...................................................................................................................or not!...............................

Some days it is almost impossible to stay focused and on task...

Your (semi motivated. ) Pal, Gary

 

[Gary Anderson]

By the way, GET OFF THE 'NET AND GO BACK TO WORK........................

Your (really laughing now!)Pal, Gary

 

[neetchracer]

I have two names I use to explain these things...

Builders Block-
The times that all you really need to do is figure out how to make a bar fit between two or more obsticles, but after many hours of thinking about it and working on the easy stuff first, you just can't seem to grasp the idea you need to get it done.

Terrible twos-
Those times when after spending hours fabricating and fitting something and it fits perfect, looks sweet, you realize, "now I got to make one just like it for the other side" That gets me frustrated at times, but more times than not, the second one goes faster. I get really irritated sometimes having to spend so much time making TWO of everything, even though it IS one for each side.

 

[CurleysRacecars]

Gary...you hit the nail on the head. Like you said...there are those days where it seems no matter what I do, I cannot seem to be motivated. When this happens, I tend to push myself to continue working because I know its the right thing to do. But working while your not motivated or frustrated, just seems to cause more issues and headaches. LOL

 

[CurleysRacecars]

Neetch...I too am guilty of doing alot of the "easy" stuff. "Ill do this, and think about how I'll do that while Im working on this". After awhile though, there isnt any other "easy" stuff to do. LOL

 

[JCRVETTE]

Motivation comes when the bills stack up. You'll be surprised how many hours you can work when you're broke and have jobs to knock out.You can also order a case of ambition from: www.ambition.com LOL.

 

[JCRVETTE]

Wow. Thats funny. There is actually a website called ambition.com. I was clowning around- but there it is. LOL

 

[neetchracer]

I have found ambition comes from two main sources. A) Expierence, more times than not it gives a builder much more enthusiasm to tackle a particular job if they know how to do it, or have done similiar things in the past and can use that as an example.
B) Vision, maybe I'm the only one, but there are times when I envision exactly how a fab'd component needs to be built and installed, only to find out after I have spent alot of time, that it is not going to work and I can't make it work........so I need to start over. That is a MAJOR asskicker and can slow me down in a hurry.

I have seen SO many racers that install they're own cage, or do a bachhalf themselves get bogged down by one of the two things above, and lose interest for days or weeks, until it gets close to race season, then kinda throw stuff together to get on the track. It takes a pretty strong mental attidude to work your way through these situations, but you will always have something to grow off of afterwards.

 

[[email protected]]

Motivation comes when the bills stack up. You'll be surprised how many hours you can work when you're broke and have jobs to knock out.QUOTE]

Best advice yet.

 

[coyote52]

I know I'm probably alone on this , but I take no labor pay untill I'm done on car.That alone keeps me going. I have patients thats unbelievable I guess except with people.My worst problem is days when there is a constant flow of visiters. I love talking with friends but you all know that work like we do most of time needs to be done while not talking (in my case anyway), so most of the time I have to stop working.....not working results in not getting much done, those days are the only time when I fill stress.

 

[CurleysRacecars]

LOL @ Paul. The things the internet has to offer us...haha.
Neetch, you make some great points. You happen to have an album of pictures of your Cobalt? Id like to see how you did some things.
I feel like I should know how to do all of this stuff, but havnt been doing it long enough to have come across every situation when building a car. The frustration on this car is the fact that the customer wants to buy all the "kits" to mount everything. These dont come with any instructions, and if the car is not exactly how that company would have built it...their "kit" usually doesnt work as planned.
Ill stop bitching now...

 

[Joe_M]

something i like to do is break the list up into sections of the car..chassis,front suspension,rear suspension,tin work or whatever...

but then when dividing it up i extensively write down the "simple" things to do so that i dont fool myself into saying its just this or that left.

another thing i do is try to focus one hard job at a time then really just stay on it. the more you overcome those hard ones the less they will seem like hurdles.

i remember making wire frames for door windows with all there mulitcurves, tiny tabs and countless screws i would dread doing it. i made a complete drivers side till about midnight, then just before i was gonna call it a night i decided to "just do it" and finished the second side in half the time.

that helps me with that builders block is to just settle on one thing and complete it all the way, ground,welded,smoothed,painted whatever.

 

[neetchracer]

Although my main computer with all my pics crashed last spring, I did make a backup disk earlier with most of my build pics on it. If there is anything in particular you are interested in seeing, let me know, or I can try to email you a bunch.