The days just keep clicking by... and never seem to get any longer so I can put in some of the things I want to do... lately (for the last several months) they start about 4 am or so and end around 10:30 pm... the job takes about 10-12 of those, meals and chores take from 4 to a couple more, rest and cleaning my tired old body take the rest... there seems to be no change in the forseeable future.

Notice there was no mention of shop time or truck time or fun time. I've finally come to the decision that if I want to finish this truck and not leave a pile of parts for my grandson that I will need help. That was the first hard part... admitting I need help (isn't that the first step ???) I do have a little more money than time right now...so it's time to get 'er done.

I've talked to my painter/bodywork friend and asked if he be willing to finish off the frame so I can start reassembly... he'll also get offered the final block sanding one the cab if he's interested. The mechanicals I can handle but the rest I'm gonna have to farm out... He's tentatively agreed to the frame work so hopefully I can get some progress made... and make those progress reports I hate to read while my truck sits waiting !!!!!

Now, I just have to bend my ego to this plan and move ahead...(Hard part #2)

Hopefully before long you guys will have more opportunities to pick on my work...

later
John

 

Hi John,
I never had a problem admitting I need help, I just have a hard time convincing people to do it for free. Whemn moneu is low there is no where else to go.

Later Man...

 

This may sound a little backwards, but I can't help but wonder if elliminating your truck and shop time might make things worse!

I have a horrible schedule as well - mainly because it is irregular, but one hting that really help me straighten out all the kinks and frustrations is going out to the garage, turning on the radio, and turning a wrench! It gives my mind something else to think about and fun things to plan - another bubble.

Maybe, it might be time to get some help with your work and the chores, instead of treating your truck like a luxury you can not longer afford the time to have. I would say its as necessary a part of your healthy mind, and your ability to step outside the slave world as you are ever going to get.

And if it is intended for the grandchild someday, then the sense of pride an that legacy shouldn't be delegated to someone else either.

You are a VERY smart man!

I'd try hard to make the work and chores more efficient or get help there! It sounds like they are suffocating you in life, and necessary to pay the bills or not, it won't do you any good to get consumed by them and get sick or just have to give up!

Just my opinion!

 

On the HAMB, you know what they'd say... Goldchainer!! but here we know you're far from that. No shame whatsoever in letting a pro accelerate your project. I made the same decision for bodywork and paint, and I'd guess it saved me 2 yrs. Not sure I would have saved anything by doing it myself, too.

 

Not to take anything away from you, John, but I'm in the same boat. Frustrating reading progress threads (on other forums as well), knowing I can't do anything right now. I admit I have sought solace in knowing that some of us, you included, have been going at it longer than I have, and I then feel that I don't need to rush things short of satisfactory results. In other words, I've learned to take this as a "hobby", and not as a "job" to get things done. I thank you for that. And so, I say do what you want to do.

At work, there's two signs above the excavator shop's office, 1: Price, Quality, Service. Pick any two. 2: Around here, we spend so much time on the urgent , we have no time for the important.

 

I have to agree, because it's exactly what I am doing with mine.......Leave the final body to the pros cause that is what you will be left with for years to come so why not do it right.

 

Economics 101: Some times it makes more sense to pay someone to do something they do best while you earn the money to pay for it by doing what you do best!

 

John,
I know how your feeling, I'm kinda in the same boat as you with the time thing, it seems like a never ending project, and a little help would be nice.
Maybe we need to take a idea from the Amish, and have a good old fasion truck raising, just a different location each weekend...
No shame in hiring some help John.. its still your heart and soul in that truck..

 

John

That's a way better plan than just letting a few more years go by while the truck mostly collects dust. I'd like to give you a lecture about not letting life pass you by, but I know many of the reasons that caused this situation. You've got plenty of sweat equity in your truck. It will still be "yours".

You'll be needing a street name to go with your rapper chains you'll be sportin at the 'nats though. J-Dawg might work for now.

 

hey John,,


I don't remember seeing any rules about who turns the wrench!.. Besides, you've contributed much in other areas.. great articles, and been super helpful.. heck I wouldn't be anywhere NEAR where I am without your help..

I couldn't paint if I wanted to (or if I had any skill), I know my limits.
I did all the major bodywork myself, and thought it was pretty good.. took it to the painter and he said, and you want me to do the bodywork too, right!..
sheesh...

I didn't rebuild my engine or tranny myself either.. so, you do what you can, and get help where time or skill require.. heck, I'm waiting for the interior guy to be free..

Go for it!..

Sam

 

I just wonder if this isn't some ploy to get yet another Front End on that Chassis?
Oh Dear - Look - A jag Front Clip!!

 

I know what you mean. My life seems to be " Work-sleep Work-sleep Work-sleep Work-sleep. I have threatened many times to do something different but work always seems to come first. Just yesterday I told my wife I am going to spend one day a week on Lucille (the 52 Ford PU)(AKA the other woman). I have been so slow at work maybe I can pull it off this year.

 

WHAT!!..and miss all the sanding, and sweating, and more sanding and dust in your sweaty face, and dust on the floor, and sanding, and sweating, and sweeping and mopping and dust everywhere???!!

Glad to see you have your priorities straight..As has been said , no shame in letting someone who knows what they're doing ..do what they do.( It IS still YOUR truck!) LoL!

 

I am farming out the wiring on my truck to a buddy of mine...its not that I can't do it but with a 200+ mile per day commute for work and a 2.5 year old daughter, I just won't make my goal of driving the thing this summer if I don't get some stuff taken care of when I am not there

do what you gotta do man

 

When I first started reading this thread it sounded like so many "i'm giving up and selling the POS" threads I've seen. Glad to see your moving forward towards your goal. Farming out work on your truck is like handing the keys to your teenager for the first time. Good luck John and I hope your schedule lightens up for you real soon. Rich