Random philosophy of hobby work tangent below...
arber333 wrote: ↑Fri Sep 11, 2020 12:11 pmMy condolences really. It looked like a very inspiring project.
It's not dead, but... you know how 90% of car projects never get finished? Do those people know after a year that they'll never finish and it'll be abandoned? Usually not.
My line in the sand before was to avoid painting the car. Soon as I'm painting, the "Well, I might as well.." list grows long, and the "I have to do X before I paint, because it'll ruin the paint and I'm not repainting" starts to take over. So every time I was tempted to take out the sander, I'd said no, do what it takes to get it moving, not pretty.
Well, likewise... this went from "home stretch, yeah the wheel wells are rusty but fix the cosmetic stuff later one step at a time when you feel like it, maybe next year" to "you're now only half done your welding and you probably can't pass an inspection unless you do it first".
I suggest to all of others... As first EV conversion, choose a car that is physically in top shape. That will be greater confidence boost when dealing with various EV issues and wiring problem solving.
To as much a degree as I could, that's what I did.
I spent $200 on the car, and $1000 in gas to drive to Arizona and back to pick up a desert car.
And, the rockers aren't in bad shape. Basically anything under $3000-5000 where I am is going to have significant rust damage, and rockers and wheelwells are the typical places.
It's a pick your poison type of thing too. My goal isn't "build multiple EVs", so for me there was no point in a "starter build" situation. I was only interested in a fun car that I wanted to drive. I'm not motivated to work on a project I have no passion for. Otherwise I would have spent that same $1200 on an old Civic.
Another advice would be to get a worhshop as close to home as possible, to allow you to work on your project in small bits every day.
Even if it was just down the street... this has impacted me more than I imagined. Psychologically, I've learned a lot about how motivation and inspiration works for me by starting this project.
I can't schedule my motivation. It waxes and wanes every five minutes throughout the day. I have no idea whether today is going to be a little effort day or a big effort day. I only find out in retrospect.
My workflow is generally: baby steps, baby steps, baby steps, RANDOM BINGE. And I work on stuff every day, or multiple times a day.
Lots of times I've had blocks of time available and wanted to work on the car sometime tonight... just didn't want to work on the car right then. Sure I could have discipline if I have to get something done, but... that's what work is. I don't want it to feel like work, it's something I am doing for fun.
Back when I had an attached garage, I'd pass by the garage on my way to get a glass of water and, unplanned, think "Hey, I'll go work on X right now", and maybe it is only 5 minutes, or maybe that 5 minutes turns into 5 hours because I'm having a great time. There's no penalty for jumping on the motivation of the moment. If I lose interest in 5 minutes, no problem, back to whatever else I was doing.
When faced with the decision of "Do I drive 30 minutes to the shop?" the answer is almost always no. I don't know when I'm in a mood to work on it for 5 hours, and I'd get frustrated driving an hour if it ends up being only 5 minutes. So then I'd stay and work when I wasn't into it, or I'd get nothing done. I'm sure many nights I didn't go work on my car when I would have (in the end) been up for a 5 hour binge, because I only ever know about the next 5 minutes.
The shop is close to my work, which is great in terms of "I'll go there straight after work" and still having some daylight and a short time it's okay to make shop noise, but, that means I have to decide that immediately after a day of doing things I don't want to do. Else I'd go home, and if I go home I'm there for the night. I don't think I've ever gone all the way back, then all the way back home a second time.
Also, I don't have a bathroom at my shop. So, even more frustrating is when I'm really motivated to get stuff done and then being interrupted and having to pack up, close down, go for a (short) drive, come back, open up again, ugh. And I work every day so my availability is only late nights (I love being up at night, that's not the problem), which, I don't like opening and closing the garage door and starting the car up multiple times, kids are asleep in the neighborhood and such. When I'm in the zone on a project, I don't want distractions. 10 minutes of interruption kicks my feet out from under me and I'd often just go home after.
Or the reverse... sometimes I need a quick break. I need to be somewhere else and do something else. Just want to sit down, grab a bite to eat, and get back to it. Or maybe not, maybe I don't get motivated to return, that's okay. I can stop working without penalty. But when it's not my shop and there's nothing else to do there, I don't get that break. There's no couch or kitchen or desk with a computer to give that break.
I wouldn't have thought I was that wishy-washy, but that's what I've learned about myself. Everything else productive in my life is an oppression I force myself to endure, to be useful, which I can... but it's not fun, it's always work. The purpose of this is to give me something to look forward to other than that tension of work. I don't want to hate it by treating it like it's a job. Might as well just get a second job and buy an EV if that's what it is.
What is only a summer's project in terms of hours, has become probably a 2-year project almost exclusively because my shop isn't attached to my house and I can't predict my motivation.
Anyway... I'm not quitting, I'm just less hopeful I ever finish it now.