PERFECTIONISM.............and it is killing me!

Her is what Mirraim - Webster dictionary says;

Main Entry: per·fec·tion·ism
Pronunciation: -sh&-"ni-z&m
Function: noun

2 : a disposition to regard anything short of perfection as unacceptable
- per·fec·tion·ist /-sh(&-)nist/ noun or adjective
- per·fec·tion·is·tic /-"fek-sh&-'nis-tik/ adjective

So here I am on Friday night, about 11:30 p.m. sanding on a left fron fender. Yep, plenty of 2k primer to sand on this, and away we go. And then, I notice that the flange for the fender doesn't quite match up to the other fender. What is up with that? Two hours later, they look quite the same. Trusty hammer, torch, welder, it looks good now.

Who would ever notice the flange on the fender? Who would crawl under the truck and say "Hey partner, looks as if your flange is a little bit off, what happened?" But here I am spending another couple of hours, fixing a flange, that no one, (I think) will ever see.

It is sick! It is killing me! Will I ever get my trucks painted and running with the disease of perfectionism, or will it kill me before I can drive my trucks? What causes perfectionism to raise it's dirty little head up at 11:30 p.m. and say, "You gotta fix this now or it ain't ever gonna be right, and you ain't gonna sleep tonite cause of it?" Am I the only one with perfectionism? It ain't nooo fun!!!! I just want to drive my truck, I'm building a driver, not a show truck, but I can't explain that to the perfectionism critter inside of me, don't matter to him, "Just gitter right" is all I hear from perfectionism. Any physchologist on this site? I need help!

Well at least I am admitting to it, well, kinda sorta!

 

That`s the first step, is admitting that there maybe a problem...
Sounds like you will have a dandy show truck instead of just a driver when done though. Want to start on mine next?

 

LOL...admitting you have the problem is the first step....blah, blah, blah....

It could be worse.... I am a bi-polar perfectionist. I get it in my head that it has to be just so and then I work like a dog trying to get it there but then I get so excited abut seeing it done that I don't get it just "exactly" how I would like it and I move on. Then, it haunts me from then on out. Its always in the back of my head..."hey, look there, there's that little so-and-so that you didn't fix just right, boy that looks like crap" . After that everytime I look at that area on the truck all I see is that one little thing that I didn't do just right.

You would think that I would learn my lesson and just make it perfect, thus easing my inner turmoil wouldn't you? Nope! I do it time and time again.

Look and the bright side. Your truck is going to be awesome! (if I ever see it in person I will slide under and make sure and compliment you on your carefully matched flanges)

Bobby

 

The one thing you can depend on, with certainty, is that even when you do everything on your truck perfectly, you will criticize the end result. That is the curse of "perfectionism".

Actually, if you think about it, "perfectionism" is NOT the search for perfection. It is the search for what's wrong with the thing.

"Good enough" is really just that...good enough.

BTW, if you were really a perfectionist, you would proofread you posts for spelling, punctuation and grammar errors. You didn't, so you're OK after all.

 

You are one of us!

 

"Actually, if you think about it, "perfectionism" is NOT the search for perfection. It is the search for what's wrong with the thing".

So painfully true for me RJ. I project my truck should have been complete two years earlier than it was. Way too many unnecessary "Do-overs".

 

Put plates and insurance on it.....if that doesn't get it out of the shop and on the road then you better sell it

 

Well, the alternative is a rat rod...

 

Makes me feel better, I only have old car/truck acquisition syndrome.

 

it's not that bad. things could be worse,your not trying to perfect a chevy truck!

 

I am fairly picky on work I do. A lot of times I will sand in spots that will be covered and never seen or make spend more time on them then really needs to be. Leaving things like that will bug me or I'll pick out the littlest flaws I get that most don't notice. And to make it worst its something you don't even own. I think there are a lot of painters/bodymen like this. Although getting a job and a production shop will cure some of that, at least on work you do for them. At many of those places you will just slap on a good coat of bondo. put away the blocks and sand primer with a da, and take what shortcuts you can, cause they have to go asap and there is another waiting right behind it. Even if you are getting a piddly wage, they don't want to see you spending any more time then necessary, and perfecting a flange at the bottom they would look at you like what the heck are you doing. Vehicles werent perfect from the factory you know. Those early corvette guys if doing a 100 percent correct restoration have to watch how they sand. Got to leave all the horrible factory waviness in the panels I guess, kinda like getting and other cars they try to get the correct amount of factory orange peel in the paint. Actually trying to do subpar work is a shame. You should have seen how the factory panel fit was on the mustang I worked on. Spent quite a few hours correcting much of that.

 

I am a psychologist, and on the basis of your misspelling "Here" "Miriam" "front" and "psychologist" in your post, I pronounce you cured of perfectionism; at least as far as the English language is concerned.

 

I prefer to refer to this syndrome as "Pride of ownership".

 

I have a fear of doing body work on my automobiles, and yet if it isn't mine I will hack it up, weld it up, and prime it up with out a problem..... The final results are great too.... I just feel like I can't ado a good enough job on mine. Anyone else have ADD? Man this is hard for me. I can never finish a project before stating another. I need to find a cure soon (its driving me nuts!)

 

It is not a bad thing illness or not. If not for wanting everything perfect before being put on the road, we would not many postings here. It appears to me that the majority of the members will not be heard from if they were to actually finish a truck. If the "perfect truck" were on the road, the owner would not be as available to the rest of us. That in effect would diminish the general quality of the board. So keep on fixing those hidden flanges and sanding the unseen areas. As long as it is still fun and interesting. Perhaps a survey of "on road" vs. "not" is in order.