How do you know when it's time to cut your losses on a project?

As some of you know (though may have forgotten given I've not touched the thread about it in a looooong time), I have for approaching 5 years had an El Camino project that I've been intending to bring to the Challenge. It was originally going to be for the $2012 Challenge- but that clearly didn't happen, and has continued to not happen for the succeeding years. I've gotten a good bit done on it- I'm actually quite proud of the engine build- and collected a WHOLE LOT of parts for it, but since I've owned it the car has moved less than 50 feet under its own power and there's still a massive amount of work that I know needs to be done and even more thing that I know might end up being problems as I progress.

I've not been able to do much on it this year owing to my injury in late spring, but being pretty much back to full and not having other things taking up my time (as much) this week I went out and tried to get back into working on it- but am finding that looking at all that needs to be done on it I realized that I'm not looking forward to doing the work but just have a feeling of being overwhelmed by all of it and how much time it's going to take. And then I think about the even larger mountain of work that needs to be done on the DeLorean after the El Camino is finally out of the garage and that feeling gets even worse.

I really hate the idea of giving up and calling it quits on something I've already put so much time and money into- but I'm more and more thinking that trying to sell the car and all the parts I've accumulated for it so I can narrow my focus to the DeLorean and getting it back drivable.

I'm sure some of you have been in similar situations- how do you know that it's time to move on and cut your losses on a project?

Right now. As soon as it feels overwhelming get it gone. Focus on the projects you want to do.

I'm serious - unless you have a covered place to stash it (where you will not feel worry or pressure about it). But even then, the market is a great place to store things for you. You can always buy another one. And any money you have in the car will almost certainly not appreciate as fast in the car as it will in the S&P 500.

I sometimes feel bad for not completing projects, but really I've learned that is just another excuse I give myself, and I always feel much better after trimming the fat.

EDIT: I know your position well. At one point I had 5 cars and a motorcycle and only one wasn't a project. I was trying to make lists and prioritize and I felt exactly like you, couldn't enjoy the work, but then I realized that even once done I would never drive/enjoy some of them.

Now (even though it is really hard since I am like a squirrel on caffeine when it comes to project ideas) I have 2.5 projects going (and 2 DD's) and I find it is just under my personal limit, but mostly because one of my projects is REALLY long term and I'm not really working on it right now.

When you aren't having fun anymore.

I'd cut the El Camino loose and focus on the D for now. It's clogging up your self imposed car "cap" and preventing any real progress in other areas. You'll feel better and lighter without that huge project dragging you down.

If your not having fun with it, and somebody offers about half what you have spent... You can then take the money and focus on something else. Free up a little time and money and you can then gain some focus. Later you can always find another project to add after you get your current things done...

KyAllroad wrote: I'd cut the El Camino loose and focus on the D for now. It's clogging up your self imposed car "cap" and preventing any real progress in other areas. You'll feel better and lighter without that huge project dragging you down.

The cap on the number of cars is only 'self-imposed' in the sense that I like not having my wife mad at me for having more cars than will fit in our driveway/garage.

If you're questioning if it's time to cut it loose, it probably is that time

When it is not what you think about doing when you should be doing your job.

NickD wrote: If you're questioning if it's time to cut it loose, it probably is that time

This was exactly what I was thinking. Been there, done that and moved on. Life gets simpler then.

Are you working on the challenge car alone? If so, have you considered looking for a partner or two? Personally I find that working on a project with company is much more fun than trying to do it on my own.

As soon as you can't find time for it for 2 months.

Me personally I should probably cut my losses about an hour before I buy the project. That would save me time and money usually.

When you admit that even after putting in the work you don't really want it.
If the car was done today, would you be happy to own it, or would you sell it to get something you actually want?

mazdeuce wrote: When you admit that even after putting in the work you don't really want it. If the car was done today, would you be happy to own it, or would you sell it to get something you actually want?

I rather like the Elky and Utes in general- it was something that I had planned on keeping after the Challenge was done and finishing up nicely so I had something with a bed to carry things and enough power to tow other vehicles. But at the moment that seems like a distant dream more than anything else.

It's definitely tough. I have 6 cars and all of them are projects at some level. Wrecking my Mini a couple of weeks ago has only added to this: Pay to have it fixed? Try to fix it myself? part it out and focus on the other cars? I just have so many projects already...

I just went through this myself. If you are finding yourself without motivation to work on it and have another project that you feel is more important, sell it and don't look back. I sold my project CSX earlier this year, and it was the right decision. I've done more to my Trans Am in the 4 months since than I've done in the past 5 years.

I did that with Kimini, facing the hard truth that I enjoy building cars more than driving them. Managed to sell it for the parts cost and never looked back, putting the money into the next build. You don't "owe" the project anything and it's not a personal weakness to get tired of it - sell it and move on.

What if it weren't for the Challenge but just to get it moving and useful again? Sometimes putting yourself in a box as to what you can do or spend can limit your enjoyment. As a bonus a running driving vehicle is usually easier to sell than a basket case, so you would likely be better off putting it together to sell it anyway.

Always had projects going way back. Wasn't so much lack of interest or money but lack of time. Went through a plant closing, new job w/ excessive OT, family ordeals w/ elder parents and still didn't have a life. First things first.

Parted out an XJ project and got the Chevy 4X4 project about 90% done before selling... and not looking back. Sold the MC project to a co-worker who made a father/ son project which ended up great. While that wasn't my style it was like a huge weight was lifted off my back.

Haven't lost my desire to build, there will be more projects down the road, maybe in retirement but I'm satisfied where I'm at now.

Nothing wrong w/ walking away for a while.

Junkyard_Dog wrote: What if it weren't for the Challenge but just to get it moving and useful again? Sometimes putting yourself in a box as to what you can do or spend can limit your enjoyment. As a bonus a running driving vehicle is usually easier to sell than a basket case, so you would likely be better off putting it together to sell it anyway.

It would obviously be easier to sell running and driving- but one of the bigger things to be done is fixing the essentially non-existent driver's side floor, to which the dash, steering column, and the entire interior are currently out and I'd be very uncertain of how safe it would be to put a seat in without fixing the floor. I'm also not 100% certain that the transmission is going to behave, I was having a problem with it when I had it running before but I'm not sure whether that was an issue with the linkage or something with the transmission itself (which is yet another daunting concern).

If you like the car and think you would like to keep it after the challenge perhaps you should just relieve it from the challenge pressure so you can buy some of it into completion. I find the hardest part of the FIATA is spending 4 hours gabbing a part from scrap that I could have bought for $40 without the budget cap.

itsarebuild wrote: If you like the car and think you would like to keep it after the challenge perhaps you should just relieve it from the challenge pressure so you can buy some of it into completion. I find the hardest part of the FIATA is spending 4 hours gabbing a part from scrap that I could have bought for $40 without the budget cap.

For better or worse, for the most part I should have pretty much everything bought that I'll need other than misc odds and ends that wouldn't be a budget problem. It's mostly labor that remains, and for example I'm not going to pay someone to fix the floors- even without worrying about the Challenge budget I imagine that would be more than I'd want to pay.

Id sell. I stuck a project out i felt the same way about, spent 4k more then i wanted and still ended up hating it purely because the build drug out. Lost my ass parting it out after 2 weekends at the dragstrip.

This thread hits too close to home. I have a 24v swapped E30 that has been sitting for about 2 years because I keep changing things on it. I get it running and then I tear it apart to "fix" something else. Currently the gas tank is sitting next to it because I need to get it cleaned. Now that we have another BMW, I'm ready to move onto something different.....like a V8 FB RX7.

My advice is to do the opposite of what I've been doing.

Well, the responses here pretty much solidified what I was thinking- it's time to cut my losses and get on to something that I'm much more excited about. I'll be splitting my time over the weekend working on fixing up the new winter vehicle I just picked up (a 2007 AWD Jeep Patriot) and gathering together all of the parts for the Elky to take pictures and post everything for sale. Ideally I'd be able to sell all of it at once so someone could finish the project in their own way- I've got enough parts that there are plenty of ways they could go with it.

Sell it and move on. I'm selling a bunch of used kitchen cabinets and granite countertops this weekend. I've had this stuff for almost 10 years and haven't worked on it in 8 years. So out it goes so I can get the FX16 inside and start addressing the minor issues there. I've been planning to get the FX16 into the garage for over two years now! It's happening!

So don't feel bad about a project where your interest has waned. You just said you have a DeLorean project. Now that sounds like fun!