# Projects I Wish I'd Finished



## Tmate (Aug 12, 2021)

Many of us probably regret not having finished some project we started.  We either we lose interest, move, or lack the necessary funds, but ultimately live to regret not having completed it.

Near the top of my list was an engine swap of a small block Chevy V-8 into a VW Beetle.  I built a sub-frame for it out of 2" x 4" rectangular tubing, cut the area away for a firewall, and installed a narrowed 12 bolt chevy positraction rear end.  Chevy engine can be seen on engine stand in second picture. 

I had fabricated motor mounts and bolted a Chevy bare block bolted in place when I sold my house, and no longer had room for the project.  Kept the engine, but practically had to give the car away.

I would be interested in projects others started but abandoned for one reason or another.


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## jwmay (Aug 12, 2021)

Never!!! 
Actually a 1'x4'x3/4" piece of steel had been sitting on a dolly for three weeks right outside the shop door recently, before I gave up on remembering why I drug it out to begin with. It's safely tucked away for next time. 
I've got some plant stands for my wife that need finished. The pieces have been sitting in the garage for a year now. I actually think she gave up before I did.
Thankfully nothing as cool as what you were up to.  I'm too cheap to have ever taken that on to begin with. Anyway that sure would have been cool.  Maybe later in life you can revisit it. Never give up! So long as you ain't dead, there's hope!


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## matthewsx (Aug 12, 2021)

Wish I had pictures but I once had a early Ford Ranchero that someone had attempted to put a built 302 in.

should have sold the motor and found a six. 


Ended up selling the whole thing for a little more than I paid.


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## rabler (Aug 12, 2021)

My brain is overwhelmed by the projects I have yet to finish but are still in progress.  I think I've lost track of the ones that just got abandon.

My first car was a 1970 VW bug.  I was fascinated by the V-8 conversions, but that was way beyond me at 15.  I did cut one down to make a sand rail/dune buggy, lots of welding, but same engine, transmission and suspension.  Just pulled the body off, shortened the tunnel frame by 14", and welded up a roll cage/body.  Did replace the floor with deck plate, which given that I landed on rocks and stumps more than once is a damn good thing.  It got sold off when I went to college, that would be a project that I would happily pick up again if I could.


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## brino (Aug 12, 2021)

These two come to mind immediately for me.....

https://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/new-old-continental-band-saw.79622/
https://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/electrical-discharge-machine-version-2-edmv2.49689/

I will finish them, I just need more time!
This going to work 5 out of every 7 days really puts a kink in my plans.....

-brino


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## jmkasunich (Aug 12, 2021)

brino said:


> This going to work 5 out of every 7 days really puts a kink in my plans.....


Ain't that the truth!


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## jwmay (Aug 12, 2021)

brino said:


> This going to work 5 out of every 7 days really puts a kink in my plans.....


Obviously you aren't a very dedicated employee. I'm surprised you haven't been fired with a record like that!


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## MrWhoopee (Aug 12, 2021)

Most notable was the restoration of a '65 VW Karmann Ghia. Started in the late 70s. Got it painted, bought all the necessary rubber while it was still available from VW, even had the headliner installed. Marriage got in the way, then life, then divorce. Sold it for a song when I had to short-sell my house in 2012. It did, however, provide the motivation to actually finish my '63 Double-cab.


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## MikeInOr (Aug 12, 2021)

I don't ever abandon a project, it just gets pushed lower on my list.  So I try to keep track of the projects that I have accomplished rather than the ones still waiting to be addressed.  I do find that as I get older I am more selective about the projects I take on.  The frustrating projects are the ones that made it to about 95% and just living with the unfinished 5% part.

It took me a year to install a 3 zone mini split heat pump in my 3 bedrooms.  I had lots of encouragement on that one when the weather turned hot this year though.  I need to run some conduit to replace my temporary power wiring and finish the covers for the copper lines... but it is too hot out side to think about doing that presently.  I was dragging my feet on the metal stand for the outdoor condenser unit as I wasn't looking forwards to spending a weekend in the shop building it.  To my surprise my recently acquired horizontal bandsaw and mitering metal chop saw let me kick it out in a couple hours without being covered with abrasive blade dust!

I had a 67 ford F100 with a nice running straight six in an ugly body and a non-running 70 F100 with a bad 390 in a near perfect body.  After buying a 2006 crew cab Duramax I finally sold the pair after a couple of years.  I came to the conclusion that 67 vintage ford pickups just aren't a comfortable drive for my long legs and there isn't enough room in the cab to really fix that.

I have a nice 180g aquarium that is up, running and working really nice, but I need to make the hood with LED lighting and build some doors to finish the stand.

My next big project is to do a complete rearrangement of the shop and sell off some machines to make room for the new ones.  I have 3 cabinet table saws; a Powermatic 65, a Powermatic 71 (12") and a 14" sliding table saw.  I have had the 65 for near 30 years and I completely refurbed the 71 with my father before he passed (he bought it off CL for $1).  The plan is to cull the herd down to the 14" sliding table.  I know my father would approve.  After the major shop remodel the aquarium parts will be easier to accomplish.

I have a really nice 5hp 3ph cyclone dust collector that I need to plumb at least the woodworking side of the shop with.  I will arrange the woodworking side of the shop with that in mind.  I paid $150 for the beautiful cyclone, blower and considerable duct work knowing that I would get to it "some day".

I also have a ~1000lb stainless steel 4' x 6' optical table that will be my new workbench top.  I need to build a stand on casters with cabinets for that.

One of my daughter's friends (16yo) is starting to get into metal working.  I have a deal with him to give me a few hours of help cleaning the shop in exchange for the smallest of my 4 drill presses, a 13" floor standing Chinese model.  I figure that is a much better way to get rid of it than deal with the CL hassle for the $150 I could probably get for it.  I like the idea of of helping a young man just starting down the road of crippling tool addiction.

That is about it for my confession!


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## Boswell (Aug 12, 2021)

With the decades of experience, I could easily be a professional project starter


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## MikeInOr (Aug 12, 2021)

Boswell said:


> With the decades of experience, I could easily be a professional project starter


Cool!  How much does that job pay?


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## Boswell (Aug 12, 2021)

MikeInOr said:


> Cool! How much does that job pay?


I'm sure I have a business plan I was working on around here somewhere ...


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## C-Bag (Aug 12, 2021)

I had  66’ VW Sundial camper and i had the best independent painter in Merced do the bodywork and paint. It was metalflake root beer brown on the bottom and Mercedes silver on the top. The engine was out of a‘73 super beetle that only had 500mi factory miles on it and I put a set of 40mm Kadron’s on it with aux oil cooler through a Porshe oil thermostat and all aircraft oil lines, hi volume oil pump. new chrome Porshe style wheels and Michelin tires. New trans and rebuilt the reduction housings along with all new rubber throughout. But I was transferring to college and didn’t have time to put all together so sold it to a friend of my brothers for basically what I had into it.  15yrs ago was in our old neighborhood and saw it. He was still driving it.


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## Brento (Aug 13, 2021)

brino said:


> This going to work 5 out of every 7 days really puts a kink in my plans.....
> 
> -brino


Totally the truth. Also makes it hard to get off the couch right after you get home from a long hot taxing day. I know i have that trouble lately


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## mmcmdl (Aug 13, 2021)

I miss my Vette and Chevelle SSs . Maraige , kids and mortgages took over . The 03 6 liter diesel has been draining the bank account lately . I'm sorting things out these days and will figure all this out  .


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## Superburban (Aug 13, 2021)

Started this suburban over 20 years ago (Damm, how time flies). Had most of the metal work done, working on the interior when my father in law passed away, and I lost a place to work on it. Had it in storage for a few years, when some kids broke all the windows out, and messed up a bunch of the body panels. Then Pa changed their laws on getting rebuilt vehicles inspected, so I ended up taking it to the scrap yard. If I had known I would be moving to Co in a few years, I would have found a way to keep it. 

Thats where I got my user name.


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## graham-xrf (Aug 13, 2021)

I started out messing with a South Bend 9, then another before the first got finished. To be able to do the jobs, I needed a welder - and a mill drill. So now with other domestic house-related issues pressing, and along the way getting gifted a granite surface on a stand, I no longer had the space for anything, and these projects got shelved, along with the chemistry and electronics stuff. Life became all about woodwork and building construction projects and hiding out from COVID.

So in the end, in what might be a relatively extreme example of project mission creep, I set about making some space.. (as much as the laws allowed)..







The interior has now been painted out.
OMG - What have I done??
Link Part 1
Link Part 2
So now, I am backed up in a series of sub-projects.
"You gotta fit the vertical blinds"
"The electrics need connecting up".
" The outside render has to go on next week, and then there's the flagstones".
" What about all that LED lighting"??
Etc. etc.


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## C-Bag (Aug 13, 2021)

brino said:


> I will finish them, I just need more time!
> This going to work 5 out of every 7 days really puts a kink in my plans.....


When I was punching a time clock it was never about starting a project, it was finishing. And the longer it took the lower it usually sunk on the project list and that meant less and less energy for it. I’ve always suffered project overwhelm. And often the only thing that got me started when I was young was not understanding how big the project was.

Now I have a much better idea what I’m getting into and can work through it without being overwhelmed. Having my day job here at home and moving to projects when there’s slack is also a bonus. It also makes me ok with doing things in stages. For over 20yrs I had to work out of my in laws shop and that was a pain as it was neither convenient or as close as my garage.


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## Tmate (Aug 16, 2021)

About 25 years ago I started to build a 3/4" to the foot model Heisler geared locomotive.  I bought a book by Kozo Hiraoka, a Japanese engineer who builds these things in a kitchen-sized shop in Tokyo.  His stuff is amazing, as his patience must be.  I got as far as the crankshaft and called it quits.


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## Janderso (Aug 16, 2021)

A buddy and I thought we would earn some extra money and rebuild a VW bug engine.
This was in 1977. I was 20 working in the parts dept. and my buddy was a mechanic at the Ford dealership.
Neither one of us knew anything about a VW. Couldn't be too hard.
We dropped the motor, piece of cake. Then we started taking off all the sheet metal shrouds. 
Somewhere along the line we put the engine on a pallet and took it over to a local engine rebuilder.
Never again.
The first car I drove was a VW bug. In the 60's they were everywhere. I think I was 14. I got in, started the motor and off I went.


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## Janderso (Aug 16, 2021)

matthewsx said:


> Wish I had pictures but I once had a early Ford Ranchero that someone had attempted to put a built 302 in.
> 
> should have sold the motor and found a six.
> 
> ...


What year? I had a 1970 with a 302. My first car.


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## Janderso (Aug 16, 2021)

mmcmdl said:


> I miss my Vette and Chevelle SSs . Maraige , kids and mortgages took over . The 03 6 liter diesel has been draining the bank account lately . I'm sorting things out these days and will figure all this out  .


Get rid of the money pit.


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## macardoso (Aug 16, 2021)

rabler said:


> My brain is overwhelmed by the projects I have yet to finish but are still in progress. I think I've lost track of the ones that just got abandon.


I can relate to this a little too sharply.

I have a true character flaw that I cannot let go of old hobbies and let the new ones replace them (and be comfortable with that). I constantly feel like I have to give attention to my new thing, whatever that is, while simultaneously expending just as much effort on all the old hobbies I used to enjoy. Worked ok for a while, but now there are not enough hours in a day. Makes me feel bad I'm not out whitewater kayaking, while rockclimbing, with a lathe strapped to by back, and scraping in my mill, all at the same time. UGH.


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## matthewsx (Aug 16, 2021)

Janderso said:


> What year? I had a 1970 with a 302. My first car.



1963, most definitely did not come with that engine....

John


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## matthewsx (Aug 16, 2021)

Janderso said:


> Get rid of the money pit.



My 7.3 is still going strong at almost 300k

John


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## Janderso (Aug 16, 2021)

matthewsx said:


> My 7.3 is still going strong at almost 300k
> 
> John


The 7.3 is a no frills workhorse that will easily run a half a million miles plus. Mid 2003 they went to the>>>>
 The 6.0 was a great engine, proven. The EPA and Ford got a hold of it, the Ford engineers released it to market without testing to see how the EGR cooler and other add-ons performed. In 2004, they tried to fix the issues cheap.
We saw plenty of angry customers. On the other hand, once the issues were addressed with proven updates, they could run another 200-300K without incident. (In my experience)
The 6.0 and the 6.4 were temporary power plants until Ford could release their own 6.7 in 2011.
IMHO


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## savarin (Aug 16, 2021)

Well I havnt abandoned it but geez the time frame has expanded.
I first started on these in 2003 and am still working on them.








						The Giant Binocular
					

Its time to re-visit the binocular. This is roughly what I want.   I started these over 5 years ago but got side tracked building recumbent bicycles. Now I've almost finished the refractor I've started back on these. This is being built entirely from scratch including grinding and polishing the...




					www.hobby-machinist.com


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## Tmate (Aug 22, 2021)

Vincent motorcycles are the Holy Grail of antique bikes.  I obtained this 1950 model back in 1968 from a guy who unfortunately was making a chopper out of it.  In my stupidity, I traded it off without restoring it to original.  Vincent Black Shadows today are going for as much as $100K.


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## wachuko (Aug 22, 2021)

They do not call me the Professor of Pending Projects for nothing...

I have several cars all in parts in the garage in different stages of completion ('67 912, '81 911, '91 911 Porsche and a '61 VW Bug), a friend gave me a sandrail as well with a new VW dual carb engine in it, then there is the '67 John Deere 112 tractor, the milling machine that I am converting to CNC, the laser engraver that I started to increase the printing area capabilities and switching the controls to better ones, and... and...

Looking forward to retirement so that I can spend more time in the garage...


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## Janderso (Aug 22, 2021)

Somehow that lawn tractor looks out of place on that floor


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## wachuko (Aug 22, 2021)

Janderso said:


> Somehow that lawn tractor looks out of place on that floor


The floor was painted just to make it look a bit better.  Eventually I want to install some porcelain tiles.  The tractor makes the floor looks much better than it is 

Tractor will look better once it is done.  Work in progress, now rebuilding an engine for it...






But it will go into a shed that should be here next month.  Need to get all the lawn stuff out of the garage.  Small shed, 10'x12', but it will be enough for the two tractors and attachments...


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## Dave Smith (Aug 22, 2021)

Tmate said:


> I would be interested in projects others started but abandoned for one reason or another.


I remember in 1961 we were in Denver and came across a VW bug that had a huge Cadilac V8 installed driving on the street. what a project he had accomplished--he didn't have much room for sitting, but he was driving it and having fun embarassing hot rod drivers on the street .
it almost makes me sick thinking that I must give up on a project for any reason. even that I have only built it in my mind or if it is almost finished.---I have well over 200 projects to do and I am getting close to 78 years old. I definately don't move fast like I used to except when I think of new projects that would use up some of all my raw materials. I could list all my unfinished projects but I don't have the time and you would find this response tooo long and my estimate of over 200 probably doubled. I need HELP!!!
Dave


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