• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Working on cars alone VS having a buddy over...

Kern Dog

Life is full of turns. Build your car to handle.
FBBO Gold Member
Local time
8:27 AM
Joined
Apr 13, 2012
Messages
35,082
Reaction score
123,367
Location
Granite Bay CA
One of the things that I like about construction is that there is often a sense of camaraderie among the guys. It is sort of like a sports team or the military in that you have several men working together toward a common goal.
Many times, I prefer to work on my cars alone. Distractions from others can cloud my thought process and lead to screw-ups.
Other times though, I like having friends around. The jokes, the stories and sometimes pranks make it a lot of fun.
I joined a car club in 2004 for this very reason. I figured that guys that joined a Mopar club might be the type I'd like to do car projects with.
It has not worked out that way. While they are nice people, most of the members never do anything. No car shows, no junkyard crawls, no interest in car movies and IF they have a classic, it never shows any progress.
That is very disappointing.
One friend of mine here has all but lost interest in cars since he sold his Challenger to fund the purchase of property. I've reached out to the car club guys but as stated, most of them are nowhere near as car crazy as I am. I do know of a couple more though.
Sometimes if I commit to the guys coming over, it motivates me to get up and moving. If it is up to me (And it is cloudy or cold) it is easy to just stay inside.
Do you enjoy having the guys over or do you prefer to work and tinker alone?
 
I like to work alone. But it seldom works out that way. Most of my neighbors show up and want to talk. Most of them are not car guys. Every time my garage door is open I have at least one person show up. There are guys in my neighborhood that like the old cars but as far as work on them they couldn't tell you what kind of engine is in their car. Just like when they come to check out Mikes Roadrunner sitting in my driveway. They ask what engine I say 383 the first word out of their mouth is "383 Stoker". I shake my head and want to shut my garage door. The only good neighbor that was a car guy and very cool to talk to moved back to Oregon. I liked that dude because we busted each others chops all the time. Sad thing was he had an addiction to FORDS..
 
One of the things that I like about construction is that there is often a sense of camaraderie among the guys. It is sort of like a sports team or the military in that you have several men working together toward a common goal.
Many times, I prefer to work on my cars alone. Distractions from others can cloud my thought process and lead to screw-ups.
Other times though, I like having friends around. The jokes, the stories and sometimes pranks make it a lot of fun.
I joined a car club in 2004 for this very reason. I figured that guys that joined a Mopar club might be the type I'd like to do car projects with.
It has not worked out that way. While they are nice people, most of the members never do anything. No car shows, no junkyard crawls, no interest in car movies and IF they have a classic, it never shows any progress.
That is very disappointing.
One friend of mine here has all but lost interest in cars since he sold his Challenger to fund the purchase of property. I've reached out to the car club guys but as stated, most of them are nowhere near as car crazy as I am. I do know of a couple more though.
Sometimes if I commit to the guys coming over, it motivates me to get up and moving. If it is up to me (And it is cloudy or cold) it is easy to just stay inside.
Do you enjoy having the guys over or do you prefer to work and tinker alone?



.......you'll welcome here any time sir. I love the mopars and the BS....beer too.
 
I’m like you, about 50/50 on company or not, usually if there’s company it’s Miller time and nothing gets done, and when I need to focus for tasks like screwing together an engine or something that I don’t do every day I think I prefer to be by myself so there’s no distractions.
I think we belong to the same car club. Lol. Most the guys in mine are quite a bit older than me and I’m no spring chicken, And most of them hire folks to wrench on their cars, no community projects going on here either. They do like themselves a car show though which I’m actually not too fond of sitting at all day.
I cut them all slack though as maybe their wrenching days are over as they’ve ‘been there done that’ and have already forgotten more than I’ll ever know…. :)
 
Personally I’m really trying to get my son involved more and that’s it. Friends, neighbors really don’t care for all the distractions, advise want to keep my head focused. Working on cars is relaxing and having all the extra is to much. If i want to talk ill go to work.
 
.....I'll add that, now that all the heavy lifting is done and folks in my neighborhood can see that a car can be resurrected, I get a lot of Sunday visits. People really love these old rides.
 
I like wrenching with someone only if they know their stuff.
 
I’m from Pennsylvania originally but moved to New York about 16 years ago. I joined the only local MoPar club in the area which was nice while it lasted. I have lived in this town since 2013, most of the people I know are either old farts like me or are younger and have their own lives and families.
There is one guy that stops occasionally that is driving a 69 340 Dart and another one who has a few cars that he is working on but neither seem to have any interest in lending a hand. When I tore my 361 down I was at a loss, I knew I couldn’t pull it alone or put the 383 back in so I asked for help here on FBBO. Two members offered to help and were a huge help and couldn’t have done it without them. My hat off to Don and Matt!
There have been several times since that Don has driven down to lend a hand and I am thankful for his help.
 
Last edited:
Normally alone, but when I know I'll need help I solicit it from from my X-SIL who's company I enjoy. Pisses my daughter off but our 6 year old grandson DJ always shows up too. Our 72 C-10 is DJ's in 10 years if he's a earns / deserves it. The plates are DJS TRUK, and he knows its his.
 
Luckily for me my mechanic neighbor who just turned 88 is into older cars. He still runs his auto repair business out of his small shop. He is 30 years my senior but both our wives say when we talk we sound like cackling old hens talking about cars.
He knows way more than me automotive wise as I have been in construction for most of my life.
I know exactly what you mean when you talk about camaraderie amongst the crew as we always referred to ourselves as a beloved core.
I still mostly do things by myself because I have worked on these old cars since I was a kid but it is nice to be able to work on a car with someone who can be there to guide and teach you things I am not sure of from a seasoned mechanics point of view. He can rebuild a model T transmission as I saw him do it once.
 
You have to ask... :D
beerestoration2018 245.JPG

I work alone... with nobody else.. cause when I work alone I can only blame myself...
 
I can work on stuff, or I can socialize, but I can’t do both at the same time. Especially if I need to think or plan, and I can’t think or plan with someone else talking.
But that’s just me, I’m not a super social person. I do socialize occasionally, and I have a few close friends, but if I’m out in the shop I prefer one of the cats to be there, rather then people. People ask too many questions.
My shop isn’t like most, and if someone calls it a man cave I will find a way to get them out of there as quick as I can. It’s a workshop, a laboratory. To call it a cave is demeaning. The same if they look at my car and their next sentence begins with “You should...”
Its 24 by 40 with a ten foot ceiling height. It’s drywalled and painted inside, two tone on the walls, grey epoxy floor, white shelving. Besides being where I work on my ‘70 WannaBee, it’s where I design, layout, and build from scratch tube radios and guitar amps. I used to build custom rifles, I still fix a few for select customers. Although I don’t smoke pot, I have a small grow op in one corner where I am trying to breed back to what pot was in the seventies, before it started to smell like dog ****. The opposite corner has my ham radio station where I use some of my massive radio collection to talk around the world. There are rolling benches where I have various projects going. This afternoon I worked on removing the horribly done modifications to a 1970’s Heathkit tube shortwave receiver. If I feel strong enough after supper (I have covid) I may go back to
4A51EB8B-2AB5-4292-9E3D-A57D9794DD35.jpeg
work on replacing the rad support on the WannaBee.
I have a killer, analogue old school stereo that I blast myself deaf with, the speakers are beautiful old Sansui’s that I rebuilt and reconed. Having King Diamond singing about ghosts pushing granny down the stairs in her wheelchair isn’t conducive to good conversation.
So I dunno, people just slow me down and get in the way.
Picture from a few years ago of me using my ham radio with my horribly abused rescue cat, Ruby. R.I.P. She lived alone in the shop for a year or two while we healed her mind and body as best we could. Then we moved her to the house with the others for a few years until she died. That cat adored me.
 
Last edited:
My kids aren’t interested in my cars and my best car buddy is a half hour away. So, I work alone except for those rare occasions when I need a second pair of hands.
 
I find myself working alone, and I kinda think I prefer it that way. Which is good because my hiatus from "car life" has created a vacuum for "car buddies" so there's not really anyone to help wrench anyways.

My one man show is one of my main reasons for joining this forum. Might not be physically holding a wrench, but the information here is often just as helpful as a 2nd set of hands.
 
If I don't know the person personally and their skill set. I won't let them even to touch a screwdriver to tighten down the screws on the door sill plate! I guess it takes a person with a special kind of stupid to allow **** like that to happen? Dude, you really need to start looking out for yourself and **** everybody else! Haven't you learned that yet as old as you are???
 
I'm definitely a loner! Still doing some carpentry work, ALONE, and absolutely working on my old Mopars alone. ruffcut
 
Well, my Dad and best friend live right next door, and we are always doing stuff together. If he sees the garage door open and he’s not busy himself, he will always come over and it’s on. Most of the time tho, I find myself all alone out in the garage. Although I have a brother who’s into Mopars, we rarely ever work together on anything. I like things done my way, and even at work I prefer to work by myself. I can’t take the slow pace of the ground crew, and find myself waiting and waiting, so I usually climb down and just do it myself. I’m there to get things done, and I usually work 3 or 4 steps ahead, and I’ve developed a lot of little “extra hands”, so I can do most things myself. By the time I explain what needs to be done next, I can have it done and 2 or 3 more steps. I don’t mind the slower pace in the garage, I just put on some music, medicate my mind, and get focused on the job. Sometimes the bride will come and snap me out of my zone, but that’s only for a few minutes.
 
At work, I usually work alone but get help when I have something heavy to move or need to take a long measurement. Most guys don't work as fast or as clean as I do and I get frustrated with sloppy work.
With the cars, it is almost as if the car itself is not as important as being with friends.
 
I have a friend that has worked with me and at times for me since about 1994. We work well together and have basically the same mindset. I am about 18 years his senior and most everything is mine with the exception of some tools. Our passion for the old cars is equal and as my hands are becoming to shakey to work around freshly painted surfaces he does much more of that lately. We work together and acomplish more than a lot of others. Neither of us like the company that invariably shows up if the doors are open. All they ever want is to look and/or BS.
 
Auto Transport Service
Back
Top