There is. My 1994 Jeep Grand Cherokee ZJ — a five-speed “Holy Grail” that I saved from the dastardly clutches of the great junkyard in the sky. I’m thrilled it’s no longer doomed, but on the other hand, it’s also the car project that I never seem to be able to finish.
I’m on a lot of Facebook pages, and what I see — especially on pages dedicated to models that tend have an older following — is a lot of people giving up on their projects.
This post right here is something I saw all the time on the Nash Metropolitan Owners page:
I myself am only 33, and I have a never-ending Nash project, so maybe this has less to do with the owners’ age and something to do with the car itself, but in any case, today on Autopian Asks, we’d like to hear from you about the car project you’ve been procrastinating most.
Maybe it’s a leaky seal you’ve been planning to replace for months, or maybe it’s something bigger like a full restoration that you’re halfway through. What’s your never-ending project, and what is it that made the project lose steam?
For those of you who have no lingering projects and only complete ones, how did you keep the momentum going?
My own never-ending project is the five-speed ZJ that I plan to turn into an overlanding vehicle. It’s been three years, and it still sits there, unfinished. What’s it going to take for me to make it happen? I think the answer is simple: a deadline. Moab, 2025.
I have a Golf harlequin that I did a VR6 turbo swap on in 2019 just before my oldest was born, and then converted to Microsquirt when the factory ECU died. About a year after that the ringlands gave up the ghost (unrelated I’m sure :p ). I pulled the motor, fully rebuilt it and its sitting on an engine stand ready to be dropped into the bay…. yet it just can’t seem to happen. I’m thinking there’s an invisible forcefield preventing this last tiny step from happening…. Maybe someday
Engine swap between two ’97 Rangers.
Just got finished doing a refresh on the one I owned at the time – shocks, light assemblies, tuneup, timing belt – when my son got in an accident a week into having a license. It was driveable, just, but the nose was bent out of shape and the rad support needed to be replaced. Frame shop wanted $1800 for the job, but a kid had a very nice one with a blown motor for $800. Engine swap time. I got to the point of having the donor motor on the chain coming out of the bay when I put a pan under the tail of the trans to catch the fluid…and there its has sat for over a year.
There’s always something more important to do, it seems. Or the ground is too wet. Or it’s too hot. Or this or that. In truth, having to cut out the trans cross member because the bolts in the frame mounts were seized really killed my momentum and sapped my enthusiasm for the whole enterprise.
Yes.
Let’s see, fir my peterbilt I have 2 new mudflaps needing installed, wire loom needs put on the bumper lights, and I need to do a polish. Dreading the polish. 6 wheels, 2 100 gal tanks, both steps, bumper, grill surround, quarter fenders, stacks, air breathers, and mirrors all by hand, because I’m too cheap to buy the power tools and definitely not paying $1200 fir the pro. And a set of half fenders on order, gonna need to install them. And I have an itch for more lights… I should drive one of those plastic semis. Less upkeep. But the 389 looks sooo goooood!
I sure am gonna install that backup camera I bought with my headunit in 2021, any day now; any day…
Oh and connect the Crossovers for the component speakers I installed in A pillars during the same project, they’ve been there for three years and never made a sound.
I still haven’t done anything with that rear window in my ’97 ZJ…the window mechanism failed in the up position, the glass is firmly wedged in the frame, and I never have rear seat passengers, so it’s a non-issue. It would be nice for it to be functional though.
And now I have a similar issue on a rear window in my ’09 WK…I think that one may be a failed actuator though.
Both vehicles could probably use a new set of door seals, too. Nothing is actively leaking, but some of the seals are looking a bit worn.