16 years...

[sigtauenus]

I've owned my car 16 years now.  My how time flies.  I bought it when I was 18 and single.  Not sure if I would be able to buy that same car today.  It was a daily driver for about 9 years.  Gosh I can't wait to get it back on the road.

[Gigantopithecus]

I hear ya man.  I've had mine since 2004 and I've only driven it twice.  It's spent the rest of the time in pieces, and no money or time to really get back on it.  That has got to change this year.

[RyanG85]

I got my coupe when I was 16, I put a couple hundred miles on it before tearing it apart. I hope to have it up and running sometime this summer after 18 long years!

[FordDude]

I've owned my car 16 years now.  My how time flies.  I bought it when I was 18 and single.  Not sure if I would be able to buy that same car today.  It was a daily driver for about 9 years.  Gosh I can't wait to get it back on the road.

Well 16 years ago I parked my Coupe. That was when my daughter was born and my priorities changed. It was at point where it needed many things fixed, more than I time or money for. But one thing never really changed, I have almost always kept it in a garage. fd

[Tony R]

I hear ya man.  I've had mine since 2004 and I've only driven it twice.  It's spent the rest of the time in pieces, and no money or time to really get back on it.  That has got to change this year.

I bought mine in 04 as well.  I drove it down the block and back and tore it apart.  Now lack of funds is what holds me back on most everything.

[fbproject]

Same sad story but only nine years worth. But I bought mine in boxes so I never saw it together!!! I'm building a 65 fastback out of those parts - I hope thats what they put in the boxes. :) :)

[dbenichou289]

owned my '68 for 21 years now. 

[sigtauenus]

Well, you guys are certainly making me feel better.  I put a good 100,000 miles on that fastback in the 9 years I drove it.  And that includes college at PSU while home was in NC, then short stints in VA, FL, MS, CA, SC and now back to VA.

[silverblueBP]

I bought mine in April of 94, drove it for 2 years as a semi DD and then ripped it apart. That covered the next 8 years.

[sigtauenus]

I parked mine in 03 when I bought a new Mach 1.  I didn't actually tear the fastback down until summer of '05 or '06.  Gosh its been long enough I don't actually remember, going to have to look at the dates on the pictures to figure that out.  So assuming the car comes back from paint this spring sometime, and that it takes me through the rest of the year to finish putting it together, I'm looking at a good 5 years or so to do the restoration. 

Funny how none of us ever set out to do a 4-5-8 year restoration, I mean, they come apart in a day or two, can't possibly need more than about 6-12 months to put it back together, right?  NOT!

I sometimes wonder what the actual percentage is of cars that get done versus those that are half to completely tore apart in a garage trapped as a perpetual project.

[RyanG85]

Take a stroll through ebay and see how many are unfinished. Those are the lucky ones that usually end up somewhere to get finished....

[Tony R]

I see project cars everywhere.  I look in every garage that is open when I drive by.  Especially if I see a car.  I see 3 mustangs within a 2 block radius of me that don't move.  One is a decent looking 66 (IIRC)fastback that the owner bought but never drives.

[FordDude]

Take a stroll through ebay and see how many are unfinished. Those are the lucky ones that usually end up somewhere to get finished....

Like this one? This is pretty much how the GT500 looked when we sold it. Mom and Dad were moving and the GT500 was not going with them. One of those I will get around to it one day projects. Do I regret letting it go? Every single day. If I had restored it will I still have it? Probably not. It would be hard to justify driving a car that is worth more than my home. fd

[02Lightning]

I bought mine when I was 21 in 1991 and didn't get to drive it until 2004!

[B67FSTB]

Bought my first mustang in 1994 , a 67 convertible , drove max 5 miles , took it apart , and now the body work is half done.I must say that during these 16 years ( man , time does fly !!!!  )  I built a 18 X 36 garage with 4 post lift , bought , repaired and sold a 75 corvette , bought in 2001 a 67 fastback , repaired and restored it and is almost done.
Meanwhile i worked along my regular work to finance all this.
All i want to say : YOU ARE NOT ALONE ON THIS !!
We are lucky that a forum like this,  exist !!

[Midlife]

Funny how none of us ever set out to do a 4-5-8 year restoration, I mean, they come apart in a day or two, can't possibly need more than about 6-12 months to put it back together, right?  NOT!

When I tore Midlife down in 2002, I expected a five year restoration timeframe, and accomplished it with 2 months to spare!  Paint Prison took up 1.5 years of that time, though...

[Fast68back]

I trailered mine to TX from FL in '02, never drove the car until July of '09. Car has been in my family my whole life, up until that first drive I had only ridden in the car maybe three times.

[crazyhorse]

I bought my 1970 fastback as a bare shell in January 1997 at 16 years old, and bought a $300 even rougher 1970 coupe from a police impound lot the same day for parts.  I had it together and driving in a month, and drove it for another month, then started working on things that really needed to get fixed, which led to other things, which led to the car being all the way back apart in my parents garage.  It got worked on while I was still at home, and summers in College as money permitted, then I finished school and got a place of my own and it got put on the back burner. (and didn't have a place to put it at my residence)  The wife and I now own a house, but with the current housing market (and a kid on the way) it still sits waiting...  Therefore I'm at 13 years and counting on mine.

[daveSanborn]

I bought my '66 off eBay as an unfinished bare metal shell/roller in June of 2007.  It came with nothing really re-usable except for the narrowed 9" rearend.  I finished all of the body work and painted it in October.  By January of 2008 the car was 99% done (no stereo installed).  I was driving it on a regular basis in late January/early February of 2008.  Eight months, start to finish.

What takes the rest of you slackers so long completely escapes me.

[sigtauenus]

Yeah, but weren't you retired from AD by then?  Little bit different than the numerous stories involving HS and college.

[daveSanborn]

The first Mustang I resurrected I was stationed in Yuma on AD in 1998/99.  It took me a year.  It got stolen shortly after I finished it.  I came across a '67 Coupe that I had 75% done (out of paint shop) when I stumbled across a '68 FB.  I bought the FB (another shell car) in October of 2000 and drove it completely finished from Yuma to NC on a weekend the following February, roughly 4 months later..... and I also finished the Coupe during this time period... all while still on AD..... except for the month of January while I was on terminal leave.

Yes, I'm retired from the military now, but I still work a M-F 8-5 job.

My point is only this.... it will take you only as long as you let it to finish any project.

[RustyRed]

I will have owned my car for two years this April.

I've been driving it the whole time for the most part.  It was off the road about a month when I torn the front end apart to replace the radiator support and fender apron.  It was off the road another month or so when we pulled the old motor out, cleaned up the bay and put the new motor in.

Of course, shortly after the motor was in it was down the better part of another month for the wiring project from hell...I blame Mid...most of the time there was waiting on my wire harness, LOL!

With the floor pan / carpet replacement we did back in November '08... it was off the road for maybe 10 days but part of that was painting the roof to prevent some rust from getting out of hand.

[johnpro]

I'm with Dave.  I haven't figured out what takes people so long.  I completely rebuilt my '66 in about 5 months and it became my daily driver for the next 8 or so years.  This was with a rebuilt front end, rebuilt transmission, reuilt engine, most of the electrical replaced, etc., etc.

It did take me longer to build the '69 because we bought it as we were moving to the new house and didn't have any funds for a couple of years.

[Gigantopithecus]

Life and a lack of funds got in my way for the last few years.  Plus, we're trying to get rid of as much debt as quick as possible, so whatever extra cash I have gets sent off. 

[sigtauenus]

The first Mustang I resurrected I was stationed in Yuma on AD in 1998/99.  It took me a year.  It got stolen shortly after I finished it.  I came across a '67 Coupe that I had 75% done (out of paint shop) when I stumbled across a '68 FB.  I bought the FB (another shell car) in October of 2000 and drove it completely finished from Yuma to NC on a weekend the following February, roughly 4 months later..... and I also finished the Coupe during this time period... all while still on AD..... except for the month of January while I was on terminal leave.

Yes, I'm retired from the military now, but I still work a M-F 8-5 job.

My point is only this.... it will take you only as long as you let it to finish any project.

Holy crap!  Are you sure you're in the right line of work?