Post-project: bliss or blues?

[myatt1972]

Just f**k it off and get a 1st gen Rx7, you know it makes sense

[911hillclimber]

What bike did you get or are after?

[Brewster]

Will I feel different next year when the sun's out? Will I feel different when all the bugs are ironed out? Will they ever be ironed out? Will I feel different if ever it stops raining?

I know *exactly* how you feel. I have poured a significant amount of money (for me) and time (for anyone) into my car. It's still far from finished and the bugs I need to iron would make Widow Twanky faint. I'm feeling a bit blue at this stage. I still have scores of man hours to get it 100%, but I'm struggling for motivation. I rushed putting the mechanicals back in the car so I could drive it before winter in an effort to spark a bit of love for the car again. Not that any of it was unsound, just that I should probably have taken the winter to finish it 100% and then that first drive would have been more special. Maybe?

None of what is left is difficult. Just time consuming. It's also the little touches that make all the difference to a car to someone who simply gazes upon a finished project. It's been an all consuming project since I started stripping it down last year. I might leave it for the rest of this year and start again in January.

[Darren65]

What a weird thread!

[gridgway]

I have toyed with the idea of selling the 914, and though haven't put it on the market so far am seriously considering so it next spring.

I'm seriously contemplating buying if your thoughts do turn to selling!
Graham

[KS]

What a weird thread!

Come on Darren, you can't just leave it at that!

[Darren65]

What a weird thread!

Come on Darren, you can't just leave it at that!

Sorry, back late the other night and too tired to elaborate!......I've been pondering...

The journey? - I've gone through five years of restorations now and have to say its been a painful, draining and really quite horrid experience!.....for sure it's been a lot of fun at times and there have been many highs to balance against the lows, I've met many great people that have become friends, gone on a huge learning curve and enjoyed every step that has taken me forward.....but it has been hard. The cost, both financial and more importantly, that of time is huge. Spending hours, days, weeks obsessing about the project, fretting over detail, the constant hunt for parts, driving thousands of miles, the countless phone calls, the lengthy conversations, the pushing, begging, pleading, hoping, wishing, wanting, waiting!......you could say I've found it quite difficult! And this is from a guy who has access to both a bodyshop and workshop and the resources to push things on, who has been in the motor trade for over 25 years, who believes he can talk the language and understands how to get things done. How anybody manages one of these projects working a 9 to 5 or building the car themselves is beyond me!

And all for what?........A CAR!

In my mind this is an addiction no different to drugs, alcohol or gambling......the guilt factor has at times has been unbearable and difficult to live with and in many ways embarrassing!
But then for both of my projects I've had a very clear vision in my head and a single-mindedness of purpose that's kept pulling me along, to......

The destination? - My first project and indeed, first drive, in an early 911 was taking it back to show the original UK owner who hadn't seen the car for over 25 years. A real petrol head and wonderful guy who couldn't have been more appreciative that I'd gotten in touch. I was anxious about driving the 'car of dreams' in case it was a disappointment but I needn't have worried. The drive, feel, balance, look and aura of the car was everything I'd ever wished for and more. The more miles I travelled, the more I got to know the car, the more I loved it. Fantastic on an early morning solo blat but even better with like minded individuals, and now long time dear friends, the trips to France, Germany, Wales and beyond are vivid happy memories that will stay with me forever. And these experiences have only just begun.
The frantic rush to get my second project ready saw me take a trip to Wales. 2 days, 8 guys, 7 x 911's, 3 RS's and about 700 miles! The stuff of dreams, you couldn't make it up! And in a car that for me is the epitome of a sports purpose early 911, I can't stop looking at it or driving it and every time I do the appreciation becomes deeper. I'm living the dream and loving every minute of it.......better still is the future 'journeys' yet to come, the meetings and get-togethers, the trips and drive-outs, the banter shared with friends. There's lots of good times to come that no doubt will be a blast and all due to a common interest in old Porsche's.


The journey was a necessary slog, the destination is Nirvana!

[Darren65]

Well you did ask!

[911hillclimber]

That is a surprise to me.

I got the feeling you took the 2 cars in your stride! Having the resources to fund these cars via specialists I thought made the process very easy!! (I don't have this experience to draw on, just my view on what I see and read)

I have always taken the DIY approach unless something was beyond me, usually gearboxes. so DIY body, DIY paint etc while I worked/family etc.

Very very hard indeed, needs a good wife. My commitment to my Lola race car really broke my concentration at work (Design Director), so not good.

There is a honeymoon period, and then the cooling down.
I have been though 5 of these projects since 1974 and several mini adventures inbetween and the older I get the destination gets less important.

Doubt I could do my 911 again from where I first started. The standard today, set by Barry etc is so high I'm embarrassed by my humble efforts.

I have recently found 2 wheeled project far more do-able.

[jamie]

Hi Keith,

A few years ago I restored a scooter (the one you saw at the Porsche Experience Centre at Silverstone two summers ago). At the end of the project I had exactly the feeling you describe.

So I rode it around a bit - just mundane stuff like going to the shops and so on. After a while, I just began to love it. I found it turned boring day-to-day things into a bit of an adventure.

If you set out planning to have an adventure, then it's not really the same, since you automatically set out with high expectations.

You can't really ask more of a vehicle - what is means to you is experiential. If you don't do anything with it, then it's just some metal and plastic arranged in a nice shape.

Perhaps worth trying with the Porsche?

[Darren65]

I got the feeling you took the 2 cars in your stride!.....

....not quite!

Sorry Graham, my post was meant as a tongue-in-cheek tirade in response to Keith's request for more detail..........I thought my initial comment pretty much said it all!

However the gist of my comments are true and the restorations were a love/hate necessity to obtain cars I could never have otherewise afforded..........for me it's all about ownership and trips and driving and hanging with other dudes that own old Porsches.

I'm now where I want to be!

[gridgway]

Well I'll vouch for Darren's enthusiasm. Following him in Wales, we are going at a good pace, yet even so Darren was taking every opportunity to drop back a little and floor it. I'm not sure whether it was for the noise or the chance of a dab of oppo or both. But he's utterly dedicated to the task and clearly enjoying it to the absolute full.

Road trips are undoubtedly the cure for uncle Keith's blues!

Graham

[yoda]

Word

[Lightweight_911]

Word

???

[KS]

Just to let you know, I have no intention of not using the car (especially after all the heartache!), but I was intrigued to see if anyone else felt that initial excited anticipation disappear. Part of the problem for me has been a) the time of year that the car was finished (i.e. just in time for the weather to turn – and, boy, has it turned down here) and b) the mapping still isn't right – or there's a wiring problem – which I don't have the knowledge to get to the bottom of quickly. And I'm impatient...

When a car is done, I just want to be able to get in it and drive, not worry if it's going to develop a misfire for no reason or, worse still, leave me stranded. The main reason I went with EFI and an ECU was to try to achieve modern drivability and reliability in an old car. I don't want to become one of these guys on Megasquirt forums who seems to delight in telling of their problems and how they might solve them. Maybe I need a better make of ECU – Omex, Canem, or whatever – but Tim seems to have got his MS ECU sorted.

It is a fascinating subject for a psychiatrist!