Is your car ever truly "Complete" ?
 

I'm sure I am not the only person... But when I look at my car, I see an unfinished piece of work. I see at least a thousand extra things to fix, improve, or modify. Whether it be relocating the battery or taking out the gauge bezel to make sure all of the needles for the voltage, oil pressure, coolant/water, and fuel are at the same point while the car is off. Sometimes it is as menial as using epoxy to fix little plastics under interior panels that no one will EVER see. Is anyone else particularly concerned about piddly shit? I feel as though my car will never be finished...

Can anyone really explain that feeling when your car is truly complete?

I suppose I'm more interested to see if anyone feels the same way.

if your racing it...its never complete because your always changing something or trying to make it better

aha i wish i knew that feeling. i wish my car was complete. probably wont be for another year

Totally, though for me no vehicle will truly be "complete" unless I can take it to Mars and back. ;)

Many people consider my RX to be a POS, but I take great care and pride in all the little things. Sure, it's still a non-turbo 80's shitbox, but it's MY non-turbo 80's shitbox and I will take credit for all the good (and bad) that it has. In a sense, it's an extension of who I am since it would be nothing without me putting my time and effort into making it what it is. It is an eternal project that reflects on what I can learn and accomplish, and as I learn more and accomplish more, it becomes more. I hope it is NEVER complete, since that would mean there is no more for me to learn or do.

I know what is in it, regardless of what other people see in it.

if i ever 'completed' a car, i think i would have to sell it and start something new.

the joy i get from lusting after parts, lying awake at night planning out builds and styling in my head, wasting all my free time surfing forums and parts websites etc is just too much to give up. i love driving as much as the next guy but a car to me is much more than just a mode of transportation or a toy to have fun with.

i feel naked driving a car that doesn't have a significant accumulation of my own personal touches. if i ever got to the point that i couldn't think of anything else i wanted to do to the car, i think i would get bored of it. i think the state of 'building' a car causes me to have more of a connection with the vehicle. if i wasn't planning anything for it then i wouldn't think about it as often, i wouldn't be itching to drive it to check something out or test a new modification.

i don't think a car would ever be truly 'complete' anyway.. there will always be something else to do

unfortunately i feel like this about both of my cars, and that's not good for the wallet :(

-sean

nope, usually "done for now"

constantly have a list in my head of things that need to be done

yes! i've noticed the difference between running a turbo and an NA is that you get a lot of time to clean/polish/wax stuff on an NA....

my vert is done, i started with a really nice car, bought the two triangle vents ($11 each, new), changed the oil, put air in the tires, and detailed it, and i'm 99% there

with the turbo car, its done in concept, but aside from the rear suspension, the car is totally in pieces..... it'll be neat when its done, REW engine/ECU, full suspension, stock body...

My fun turbo toy FC? Never complete.

My na slow daily driver FC? Always complete, unless something breaks (which is hardly ever), in which case I fix it ASAP.

Unless I find a stock one, that's a complete car. OR I sell the car. It's not complete, but it's not my problem anymore!

The answer is no...

I was just curious.

Perhaps it was just something bothering me. I absolutely love my car, but there are so many tasks that I'd like to complete... Almost too many. I am very pleased with the fact that it runs and drives. I'm too meticulous for my own good. I guess if my car were completely finished, I'd be bored out of my mind.

I appreciate the responses. They've helped.

The problem is that there's this whole "bigger fish" syndrome. You (and everyone else, just like me) see people stripping their cars down to nothing, installing quad-turbocharged, peripheral ported 7 rotor engines that make 1200hp and 48tq and you want to do it too. Then you see another guy doing suspension work and want that same suspension and wheels too. Then, later at a car show you see some other guy's interior and now you want that too. It will never be done because there's always a bigger fish and it's in the nature of guys like us to try and emulate what we like.

And we're all pretty much broke for the most part, so that holds you back too :lol:

Never.

There's always something to make the car better in some way, or after a while my tastes change, or just experiment with something. It will go on as long as I live too lol, I won't part with the car, and will always need something to tinker with.

Boggles my mine how people build a car, then sell it shortly after because they feel its done...

Hahah never. My 7's always in pieces and my friends thinks I am insane. My dad called me clinically insane to my face for tearing down UIM to check to see the condition of the injectors. I just have to always fix the tiniest things and nitpick. It'll never be done, and the parts collection will never be finished. It's just the way we seem to think

^^^ +1.

Never.

I actually had this conversation with someone today. Personally speaking, things change constantly with the way I want to finish the car. At first, it was a simple bolt on OEM ish project. Now, it's turning into mini-resto, fuel computers, re-paint, new seats, wheels etc etc. Plus, half the fun is receiving those awesome new parts and putting them in!

one day it will. lol

only open-checkbook builds done by an absentee drop-off owner are ever truly done... it's when the keys are given back to the paying owner.

Even on a na car there was always something, maybe speakers and amp, different wheels, maybe change of exhaust, carpet, seats

I drive a 2009 car and i have a list for that also, lol

I think this thread begs the question: Is your life ever complete? The obvious answer is no lol. But a car is much like a person's life... you can be contempt with how it is, or you can always be trying to change something about it. Whether it's how it runs, or how much power it makes, or the noise it makes, or how good the stereo is.

So I think the answer in reality is never. Nothing in life is ever complete.

^ true.

i think one reason i can say my vert is complete is that i've actually done a bunch of different projects, and i kind of know what i want and how to get it.

i've done NA and turbo, i've done 3 rotors, i've done the aftermarket ECU's, i've done all the suspension, hell ive even done the hardest one, stock original.

the other factor is that the older i get the more the compromises that Mazda made are the same ones i'd make, in a street car. a race car is different, its a totally different driving cycle.

i believe an rx7 is never done. i have rebuild my car twice in the last two years between those two years ive modified the interior with a custom toggle switch board and gauges all around bucket seat relocated battery and wire tuck. my seven was build to cruise with a bridge turbo motor. but turned out to be a all motor peripheral port build for track. i guess wat am saying is that there is always room for improvement a project is never done.

Whenever I do finish this project, I am finished. Then it will purely be maintenance and keeping it looking good. I will only do major work if something breaks and needs repair. When I get the itch again, I'll find another project.