[Mr Anonymous]

If you are ever offered the opportunity to be a part of something like this, my advice is to just jump in with both feet and haul ass. We (family and a handful of friends) did something like this for my Dad, when his health began to decline around 2007. It took two years to do his 389 powered Studebaker. It hadnt run since 1969. We took from 2007 to 2009.

What was supposed to be a "wedding anniversary" party was the premise behind getting his old hot rod club buddies together and unveiling the car. By unveiling I mean starting it up from a number of houses away, doing a rousing 30 second, three gear burnout, and then pulling into the parking lot just ahead of the smoke cloud. I did it all while wearing one of those clumsy boots from breaking your right foot a week earlier!

We listened to him and his old club buddies BS about the old days, and it was one of the best days of my life. He and most of them are gone now.

Was the car perfect? No. We didn't have TV budgets, a hundred workers nonstop, vendors trucking parts in every hour. I took some shortcuts that were necessary, and I made a good handful of mistakes. When you mention the project to someone that can help, they always do, and the enthusiasm is infectious. It also led me to stop doing business with a guy that always did spot on machine work for me, and for the first time ever, I didnt double check what he did. I have a screwed up 455 pontiac that I still havent taken apart as a result.

Urgency is a big motivator.

Overall, it was a project that badly needed to happen when it did, and it got done.

Like I tell my body work buddy, "It doesnt have to be perfect, but it has to be done."