Profession / Hobby?

[Donny]

Wondering how many here have this B Body appetite as a hobby, or profession? I ask because I wonder sometimes why more time is not allowed to me to mess with my 2 projects? As you know, I'm often busy working on 'your projects', well, not your B Body projects from you all here, but, others that come in for media blasting, etc. I no longer get angry at this reality, I just roll with it, after all, its paying the bills! What I may end up doing is farm out some aspects of my 2 B Body's to some place that has the time to tend to the stuff I never get around to doing! But, we'll see!

So, anyone here wrench on, or do some aspect of work on these and other cars for their profession, and have not secured the time to mess with your own stuff?

 

[DART340H]

I know the feeling. I work 7 days a week with NO TIME to work on my junk but it pays the bills. It's either work alot or no job at all. I feel your pain!

 

[roadrunnerman]

I know what you're saying Donny. Being gone a month on the road and home for 4 days, our vehicles don't always break down when i'm home. If i'm gone when they do, I have the wife take them to a guy I know to repair them. He is putting a wheel bearing and rear brakes on my p/u this week for me. As far as my project cars, they are something I work on as a hobby. I am not building them to sell 'em unless somebody offers me a gazinga load of money.
I see your point where you would like to get your cars done, but then you would have to turn away a paying customer. You built your business/reputation from the ground up and now the cash flow coming in prevents you from doing what you want to do on your own cars. Maybe if there is a shop that can work on your car in exchange you can do some blasting for them if they have some work that they are doing for one of their customers.
I'm usually the "family" mechanic when I am home, so that cuts into my time working on my car too.

 

[Mooky]

mine sets near a 65 mustang I am in the middle of putting new rear quarters on after floors and then a 2 coat white....4 kids a wife and 2 nice B bodies always find the rest of my time to spend with me ;) if you press real hard to get to your own cars..it won't seem like a good time when working on them.just seem like another day at the office...swap around work and do what ya can when ya can, but especially take em out and remember why you got into them....vroom vroom

 

[wannadrag]

When you start doing it for a living its no longer a hobby.I prefer to keep the two seperate.

 

[fla 66 cuda]

Wanna drag is correct i always wanted to "do the custom car/car restoration thing as a living" never got the opertunity THANK GOD too many folks i know did and got burnt out on cars,i'm in the marine busness [boat trailer manufacturer] and i look forward to playing with my car at the end of the week. I was redoing a 73 charger [for my son] but a guy made him an offer he could not refuse so it went byebye [first car my son and i made money on] and it was not done yet!!! Now i'll have some time to redo mine [no money] but plenty of time!!!!

 

[Donny]

Well, I'm not doing it for a living per se...I still engage in this part time, like 30 hrs a week. Its still fun, I still get enjoyment out of doing this work, when I don't, I'll bail.

 

[747mopar]

It's all hobby and passion for me, I've had a lot of people ask me to paint or fix their cars but have learned over the years that it ain't worth it. I always end up making very little money, they always end up being a pain in the @#^ and I can't stand fixing other peoples junk while thinking about what I could be getting done on mine. I get what your saying though, I've had mine almost ten years but two kids (love em) and a full time job doesn't leave a lot of time or money so you just do what you can and be glad you at least have one.

 

[Moparsmitty]

I really enjoy working on old cars ('75 or older for me) but I wouldn't want the responsibility of doing it for a living. Best to keep it a hobby for me so I can work on 'em whenever I'm in the mood.

 

[Propwash]

I don't do it as a profession, but I do work for friends and friends of friends from time to time. Usually welding, sheetmetal or both. Welded up a cracked John Deere mower deck for a coworkers uncle and patched a floor pan in a '56 Ford Victoria Saturday. Took me a whopping 3 hours. Old guy with the ford was grinning ear to ear like I just handed him a winning lottery ticket. I don't charge much, if even at all. Heck, I got invited to ride in that same '56 Vicky for this years town's Flag Day parade. Guys mower deck I fixed gave the wife and I free dining and drinks for two at his supper club. So, I get to cruise down the main drag in a pretty cool old ford, during a parade...Then take the wife out for a couple cocktails and a decent dinner at a good old Wisconsin Supper club. Keep the money......it's the sentimental things that stick.

I agree with Jay and the other folks.....I keep my job and the car hobby separated. I've noticed you tend to see mechanics driving broken down jalopies and auto body guys with rusted/banged up cars. Not for me...

 

[snakeyes]

hey prop quit that we are all not like that

 

[Propwash]

hey prop quit that we are all not like that

Oh I know........maybe I just notice it more cause it's kind of a contradiction of sorts. My real good friend is a full time mechanic and his vehicles are absolutely pristine. 2 of his coworkers, I gotta wonder if they push their vehicles to work..lol

 

[Meep-Meep]

Car thing is a pretty serious hobby. I consider myself pretty lucky because my job is centered around precision machinery but of a different type. I thought a long time ago if I were a mechanic I'd get burned out. I have always done and still do work for people on the side.

 

[Budnicks]

I use to build race cars to help support my Drag Racing addiction, I had built 26 race cars over a 16 year period, with help from a few buddies/friends/racers, from 1981-1997 & only 7 were actually mine or my partners, the rest were, mostly Sprint Cars & Drag cars, just to support my expensive Drag racing addiction or for close friends/fellow racers, so I could afford to race at the level I wanted to... All while still running a Construction, Consultation & Maintenance/Facility Management Company for a Larger Western Automotive Dealership Group 125 strong, during the week... I had no time to do anything except, work, travel, build & race, but I loved it thou.... my schooling, family life & relationships suffered some, but they all usually helped me & traveled with me too... I was young it wasn't any big deal it was just what I needed to do to be able to race...

 

[kb67mopar]

I do this solely as a hobby but sometimes it feels like a job. I have parted 4 vehicles now to help support my mopar addiction and make it possible and each vehicle i do this with it gets harder to bite the bullet and make the investment (in time that is).

I am a mechanical engineer as a day job which sometimes I wonder how I can sit here at a desk when I could be working on things. But then I take a side job replacing a motor mount, power steering hose, brakes, or whatever for somebody and realize I would never do this for a living...I'd resent my own cars after a couple years if i was forced.