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I’m multitasking a bit while writing this column. In between typing incomplete sentences and fart jokes, I’m removing the entire suspension of our C5 Z06 project car so we can send it out for some fancy modifications.
Right now I’m technically half done: The car still has its rear suspension but no front suspension to speak of. While I’ve owned a C5 before, I’ve never really done more than install shocks, so it’s fair to say that this is the first time I’ve had a C5 suspension completely apart. At some point I’ll have to reassemble it, too.
The thing is, that prospect doesn’t intimidate me anymore. I mean, I work for a car magazine and build and write about project builds, so I guess you’d be offended if I said it did. But at this point, I’ve taken apart and put back together enough suspensions of various designs and configurations that it feels natural. Comfortable even. I can look at a bolt or a nut sitting in a disorganized pile and tell you which pivot point it fastens or what component it allows to move–or prevents from moving.
[Pause here for a second while I walk back out to the shop and organize that pile of nuts and bolts a little before I tear into the rear suspension. I mean, I’m comfortable, but I also understand the karmic pitfalls of hubris.]
Obviously I haven’t always been this confident ripping into stuff, and I’m not too proud to admit to a list of jobs that still give me pause. Before I installed the ring and pinion in our Mustang GT project, I had never taken apart a rear end before. I watched Jamie Bell install ours originally at Steeda–and actually paid decent attention–so when I decided that the rear end ratio wasn’t ideal, I also decided to perform my first rear end surgery.
And whaddyaknow, it went pretty well. After reassembly, the car moved both forward and backward under its own power, and it was immensely satisfying.
At this point in my life, I have to say there’s very little I haven’t done, but I’m still a little shy in approaching certain jobs–bodywork, for example. The skill and patience with which body fabricators shape and blend metal, plastic and paint astound me. Patience is a thing I do not possess, and my bodywork skills are basically limited to “make that thing touch (or not touch) that other thing.” Paint? Forget about it. If you can’t put a sticker on it, it’s dead to me.
What really intimidates me, though, is integration. Like, I’ve probably done every job necessary to nearly completely restore a car, but never all at once. I can take a suspension off and put it back on, or remove and replace an engine or transmission, but separating those subsystems and then reintegrating them into a cohesive whole is another story. I look at the restorations Tim does–especially the Lotus Elan project, where he didn’t even have the luxury of starting with an entire car–and I’m in awe of the holistic thinking they require.
I’ve disassembled and reassembled stuff, but there’s always been a “car” there willing to accept or lose the parts. I’m not sure what I’d do if I ever disassembled something to the point where it was no longer a car.
So what’s your limit? And how did you go about incrementally raising it? I’m not saying I want to undertake a complete restoration for my next endeavor (again, back to that patience thing), but it would be nice to hear how people have increased their tolerance and bravery for creating mechanical chaos and then restoring order once again.
Okay, now that rear suspension needs to come on out of there. Back to work.
Comments
My advice, which is easier to give than take, is to write yourself a scope of work and break the project plan into chunks. This is where an old whiteboard in the shop comes in handy.
I'd go with a 4'x6'. Write the parts you need, any outside vendor work, and a high level task list. And ultimately a start date and completion date. If you're really brave, you can track your cost and budget too. Also, I do a tool reset and clean up the floor and bench daily. This helps me combat feeling overwhelmed.
Chunk up the sub-assemblies into separate projects.
So yeah....whiteboard and cash mainly.
In reply to Tyler H :
That was the original plan with the truck. Both for sanity and wellness of the checkbook. Sadly, the more I tore into 40 year old awesomeness I discovered 40 years of crap to go with it.
Another one -- when it stops being fun, hang it up for the day.
NOHOME
UltimaDork
5/3/18 12:47 p.m.
In reply to JG Pasterjak :
...but it would be nice to hear how people have increased their tolerance and bravery for creating mechanical chaos and then restoring order once again.
If you want to see it happening in real-time, just look up the Molvo thread: In over my head from the day it started but I refuse to quit. While I would say that the fear of complete failure has plateaued, the fear of it not being good enough is starting to replace it.
I think Mr Musk is doing the same thing on a more grandiose scale
Pete
Well, I got started as a kid when I found out how much fun it was to take things apart.
Eventually I learned it was possible to put things back together too.
NOHOME
UltimaDork
5/3/18 1:03 p.m.
In reply to MadScientistMatt :
I got started as a kid when I found out how much fun it was to take things apart.
Yeah...what is up with that? Same sickness here. I don't recall wanting to put stuff back together, just being compelled to take stuff apart.
I keep the thought of "what do i want to own" vs "what do i want to build" in the front of my mind. It helps curb my tendancy to go way too far because i just want to build something.
That said, i use a piece of butchers paper on the windshield to keep track of tasks, ideas, and details. As a bonus, it somewhat protects the glass from welding and grinding damage.
I also try to set milestones. Painted and finished sub assemblies. Fab work done. Engine fitted. Stereo witks and sounds good.
Try to treat the whole as one subassembly at a time. Much easier to manage a simple frame off restoration that way. With hevy fabrication projects like the molvo, the dirt track hack amc, or tbe gmiata, that doesn't work so well due to the scope. Those i try to tackle. Y layer. What cant move? What absolutely has to live in that exact spot? Do tbose first, and then work your way up.
I never "come back and finish it later" or "good enough for now". Every single time I finish something to completion regardless of what hardship it imposes. I currently have a car down in my shop waiting on a single little gasket from Rhode Island. I could maybe cludge something ip, but it has to be completely right for me to sleep at night so I wait.
I took apart the whole front subframe and suspension for a Miata today. We'll see if it ever gets put back together. My imagination often outpaces my abilities.
NOHOME said:
In reply to MadScientistMatt :
I got started as a kid when I found out how much fun it was to take things apart.
Yeah...what is up with that? Same sickness here. I don't recall wanting to put stuff back together, just being compelled to take stuff apart.
Yeahhhh. I was probably 6 or 7 when I got ahold of my grandfather’s pocket watch and took it apart (my mom sewed, so she kept some ideally sized tools with her machine). She was not pleased to see watch guts spread all over the floor. She was even less pleased when she realized that’s what they were.
Margie
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