Confidence

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Tuning.

Putting everything together isn't that difficult. Dialing it in takes some finesse that I don't have yet. I didn't grow up around these old beasts so I'm learning as I go.
 
My latest fear is wiring. I have a brand new engine sitting in the bay and a new wiring harness sitting in the box. BUT, I have to wire up fan relays and controller, convert the alternator wiring to electronic regulator, bypass the ballast resistor, etc. Just typing this is giving me anxiety!
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ssba said:
Finding the right guy for the things I can't do myself.
For me chrome plating and engine machining is the problem in my area. Its expensive to buy good help.
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This is it for me also. We have a 10th of the speed shops/machine shops we used to have here since the dragstrip and circle track closed. A good guy is hard to find for ANYTHING. I have a exhaust guy and an alignment guy that I trust and try to do as much as I can myself.
 
69conv said:
Bout 15 years ago had a "professionally built" 400 that I could not get to run at a decent temp. Thought at first maybe just break in but never cooled to a normal temp, and never ran to its potential. Finally got the courage to tear it down and discovered the cam was cut 5 degrees retarded, so I bought a keyway timing chain and installed it 3 degrees advanced as per advice found here. Can't stop me now!!
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You're a beast Wayne, there's no stopping you now!!! :)
 
383Scampman said:
Yeah . Mine is electrical . Scares the stuffing out of me .
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LMAO! I hear ya brother! I learned the hard way and became self taught on the books wiring diagrams.

For me, its transmission rebuilds. That scares the stuffings out of me. Tried 3 times with 3 failures. I just suck at auto trans work. So that gets farmed out.
 
Recent thing with me and I am not sure why but I hate getting under the car propped up with jack stands anymore. Maybe my age. I don't know. Doesn't matter how many times I check it for safety. It just makes me uncomfortable as hell doing it.
 
Kmrumedy said:
Recent thing with me and I am not sure why but I hate getting under the car propped up with jack stands anymore. Maybe my age. I don't know. Doesn't matter how many times I check it for safety. It just makes me uncomfortable as hell doing it.
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It is just getting harder to get down and get back up.
 
completing my car. i am well versed in cars. grew up around it and k 9w it in and out. i am afraid of failing to acomplish my goals or even just the car to be done. it is my first comolete build from a field car to an all out monster small tire no prep street car.
i am afraid ill look foolish and ignorant when i begin testing...if i ever get to it even running and driving in the first place.

that is my biggest fear.
im not afraid to weld cuz i cant. i know what it is suppost to look like and chose accordinly. i use references and mulyiple of them before i choose somebody ill let even touch my car. im very protective and worried about my safety. so the cage had to be safe etc.. all of which i am confident in but the finished product of my attempt to go fast and turn to be a total fizz would be devistating to me.
 
A California Duster is a wax impregnated dust remover kinda like a feather duster. They work great at car shows when you can't wash the car and only need to remove a lite coating of dust.
Kern Dog said:
I don't understand that.
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Kern Dog said:
Connecticut....I was there in 2006. I remember that you guys have a LOT of towns ending in the word Bury. Waterbury, etc.
Welcome to the club here. Lots of helpful people, some funny ones, a few idiots and one or two guys fresh out of jail.
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Hopefully I've been helpful (I'm mostly on FBBO) and sometimes funny and I know I've been an idiot before (at least that's what others say) but I've never been in jail! :D Never been too good with glass as it's something that seems to get better with practice and after breaking a couple of windshields, I don't mess with it much either but have been doing ok removing it. Got pretty good removing and installing and adjusting E body door glass though and can get the door glass out of my 66 post car Belvedere in 15 minutes. Seat covers and headliners fall into the same category as glass....practice. At least you only make tears in it instead of shards. For me not doing this stuff regularly is my downfall and forgetting the tricks of the trade and the older I get, the less I seem to do. Wiring has always been tough for me since I'm shade blind but doing just about anything else isn't too much of an issue. The anxiety for me is digging into something new (like fuel injection or diesel work) and then running into a problem so I have a tendency to put it off until I have to do something about it but the thing I hate working on the most is doing things under the dash and it doesn't help now that I'm having equilibrium problems. Sucks.....
 
I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.
Frank Herbert, Dune

I always tell folks, the guy who built this made minimum wage. You can do it...

 
None of it scares me. I do all of it except auto transmissions and machine work. I am just not very good at most of it. The exceptions being body and paint and electrical. The other builders in my circle call me a hack and tell me I take shortcuts. Tough crowd. I always finish my builds though and drive them away. Been doing it since I was 16, time out to raise my family. Finish my Barracuda in March and start the next one! Just keep on keeping on:)
 
moper said:
I always take this approach: if another human can, so can I. At least until proven otherwise...lol. I broke 3-4 pieces of glass realizing I couldn't get the hang of it. It is unrealistic to expect results to be professional until you put i the time and effort to learn the tricks and fail a few times.
Project - where in CT are you?
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This, exactly on the same subject of Moper's.... When I had the budget, I would gamble. Not anymore.
 
Abodybomber said:
This, exactly on the same subject of Moper's.... When I had the budget, I would gamble. Not anymore.
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I know that feeling!! I look around my shop and see all the stuff that's in here that has money in it and still sitting because of taking the 'gamble' lol. A lot of it is still waiting for that round tuit....
 
Telling my wife that I just dragged home another project, when I have not finished the last one.
 
Nothing about cars really scares me these days, there are things I dislike but I handle every aspect of the project/restoration myself (except machining tasks like Boring, I don't have that equipment yet. I do have a few lathes and such but nothing capable of boring a block.)

Body work, wiring, welding, paint, etc I know how to do. My dad was and still is a firm believer in the "You saw me do it once" or "You kinda understand how it works" concept, where if either of those apply, you're completely ready to do it on your own. The whole dive in head first learning process.

I learned to weld when I was 9 or 10, my dad rolled the Arc and MIG over and told me to weld up a dumpbed we were custom building for his truck.

Learned to drive clutch at 10 in that same truck, my dad threw me the keys and said "Plow the driveway, I'm going back inside where it's warm...Don't hit anything." I understood the concept of driving a clutch and because of that, I was 'ready' to do so on my own.

Same goes for painting. I was 15 and my dad handed me the keys to the paint closet. "Go grab a few paint guns and spray your car."
 
74Dusted said:
Nothing about cars really scares me these days, there are things I dislike but I handle every aspect of the project/restoration myself (except machining tasks like Boring, I don't have that equipment yet. I do have a few lathes and such but nothing capable of boring a block.)

Body work, wiring, welding, paint, etc I know how to do. My dad was and still is a firm believer in the "You saw me do it once" or "You kinda understand how it works" concept, where if either of those apply, you're completely ready to do it on your own. The whole dive in head first learning process.

I learned to weld when I was 9 or 10, my dad rolled the Arc and MIG over and told me to weld up a dumpbed we were custom building for his truck.

Learned to drive clutch at 10 in that same truck, my dad threw me the keys and said "Plow the driveway, I'm going back inside where it's warm...Don't hit anything." I understood the concept of driving a clutch and because of that, I was 'ready' to do so on my own.

Same goes for painting. I was 15 and my dad handed me the keys to the paint closet. "Go grab a few paint guns and spray your car."
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My old man was instructed by moms," no cars, no hot rodding...!". I was racing BMX with a neighborhood kid, he goes "Oh yeah,... My whole family builds/ paints/ modifies, every thing..." . I was doing Chevy cam swaps, hosing primer, and shooting paint, and chassis rebuilds,... 90 days later. That family would be laughed at nowadays, but three auto shop business(es), now exist....because of that familia...
 
A couple things scare me when it comes to cars. I am very apprehensive to rebuild an auto trans, but I really want to at some point. Body work is not in my realm. I take forever and it is never good enough so that will always get farmed out.

Right away I will tear apart my front suspension and rebuild/modify it. Nothing earth shattering here except I am very afraid that the K-frame holes where the lower control arms attach will be busted out. That scares me cause I don’t know how I will repair it while ensuring everything is in the correct spot.

Being cheap and inventive has brought me a long way, but the advice here on FABO has been my most helpful tool in my build. That and my FSM. People on here always recommend them and it’s very true. Buy the car first then the FSM right away after.


Cley
 
I've got so many round tuits at my house I can go pee in the woods without my feet touching the ground.
 
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