getting burnt out, then re-lit?

[Jim Ratto]

Noticed Zach G. mentioned somewhere that I had gotten bored a few years back. Yep, there was a long dry spell when my car sat covered in dust and cobwebs and the least enjoyable thing I could think of was driving it or turning wrenches on it. In fact, one day a friend of mine got on me about letting the car sit without even a bath and we got into a "discussion." I had my reasons. I'm not posting to let you all in on my life story, or to lecture anybody....just some points of view.
When I was younger, still a teenager, everything in the VW world was "new." Sure, some things were so poorly executed on other cars that even a young idiot like me knew it was "wrong." But I hadn't really been down any paths yet. So the sheer excitement of getting into a new hobby gives you a high strong enough to be self perpetuating, and keep you into it.
I think your peers have a lot to do with it too. If you hang with people that are either always on you to spend ZERO time with the car and related stuff......or if you hang out with those that do nothing but nag you about "what are you doing to your car? Are you going to racetrack? Get it jetted? Why'd you do that, why'd you do this....?" you're bound to get sick of it quick. We all need a temporary break.
An obvious reason to have wind taken out of your sales is lack of bucks. Been there...killed my enthusiasm really fast, when you've got other commitments....spelled H-O-U-S-E, F-A-M-I-L-Y, C-A-R-E-E-R....etc.
Another easy way to lose interest? Be the victim of bad advice. Let others make your decisions for you, without knowing anything yourself. Whenever somebody asks me "what combo should I build?" I try to be up front with the good and bad, and suggest the person asking go learn about it too so they can ultimately feel like they made the good choice for them. When I was younger, I got some bum advice. Luckily I got more good though. Way more.
Friends are good judges. Really, sometimes they know us better than we know ourselves. If you find yourself reliving wacky memories with friends and the conversation contains any of the following words..."nailed it!", "seven-grand", "scared the shit out of him..", "...was running awesome", "sideways"...then you're into it. Otherwise these memories wouldn't mean anything to you.

I guess it comes down to where you and the car fit together. If you realize you have no emotional attachment, and only want to look at things in a practical fashion, then you're not burnt out, because you never got really into it.

Personally, nowadays, hopefully I've found some balance. Before, it was 25hr, 8 days a week....job, hobby, friends, club, girlfriends, eat, sleep...all of it revolved around the car. When it crased down a few years ago, it was hard to figure out. I think things just kind of all came to a wierd stop to quickly, starting with the end of my illustrious career at Buggy House. Some of the dudes I hung around with were too into "gotta shave a tenth" and it got old fast. Now I know the car is fast enough to be stupid if I am stupid, and it is simple to take care of. I look forward to the Saturdays before Nicks....get up and take my time cleaning the car out in the sun...cup of coffee, tunes....and by the afternoon, it's time to park it and have a cold beer. And stand back and look at car shine, and wondering where the last 21 years have gone.

Anyway, for what it's worth, that's my take on getting 'burnt out.' Thanks to all my friends, new and old, that got me interested again.

[stealth67vw]

I'm glad I could be part of kicking you in the ass, revving up your engine so to speak. Having supportive friends, more financial security, patience and an understanding spouse can really turn things around. It sure did for me.

[Zach Gomulka]

I know Im a young'un, but I came pretty close last year. I was broke, (well, still am!), and my GTV was just sitting outside, unloved and out of order. I was getting tired of the same old shit on the CLF, the same old shit in HotVWs, and had no inspiration besides from my buddy Slinger. Then I found some new old shit in the form of the Lounge I cant tell you how much of a kick in the pants finding this site was. Finally, a whole group of people just as wacky as I am!! I felt like the little fat girl at the end of Blind Melon's music video, "No Rain" 

[larry mck]

Jim, You were one of the guys who keep me interested, then I pushed too far (DRKC). I still am all over the place when it comes to cars, but I've always had a hot rod VW and always will. I'm glad you came back from the dark side.  I'll see you this weekend if So-cal is not burnt down.

[Jim Ratto]

Jim, You were one of the guys who keep me interested, then I pushed too far (DRKC). I still am all over the place when it comes to cars, but I've always had a hot rod VW and always will. I'm glad you came back from the dark side.  I'll see you this weekend if So-cal is not burnt down.

Thanks Big Larry. You've kept me rolling too. Besides, if I got into tennis or something, who would be waiting to send you into a mess again? What fun would my life be without knowing you're ducking under your house windows and hiding out? Huh "Billy"?
See you Saturday,
Jim

[stealth67vw]

I'll see you this weekend if So-cal is not burnt down.

No kidding, I hope my plane can find the airport and I hope the airport is still there Sunday night when I leave.

[Jim Ratto]

I'll see you this weekend if So-cal is not burnt down.

No kidding, I hope my plane can find the airport and I hope the airport is still there Sunday night when I leave.

guess I coulda come up with a more sensitive subject title for this post huh? 

[nicolas]

well i can see myself in the first part of the story really. allthough i have a small appartment and a son to raise. but i get your point fully. i think it is good to have a commitment to your hobby or passion or whatever you want to name it, but there is other things beside it. friends and family. i still personally don't have a couple of friends living in my hometown who talk cars like i would like to. the best buddy i have is my girlfriends cousin who has a subaru, but loves VW's as well. he really is as pasionate about my car as me, but he knows about mechanics. so that is a BIG plus. anyway the point i am at is not a burnout, but rather the knowledge that it is allright to have car that costs the same as a 'regular' new car, but that i can't get too carried away investing in it and wanting to be everywhere and know everything.
i dont know if this makes any sense anymore, but
i will try to skip the part where the car will sit for months or years and try to enjoy the good times and talks with people i meet at the shows. appart from finishing the car, that has been the nicest thing so far.

[louisb]

I know where you are coming from . I was at that point about the time the old CLF went away. Not to long after I got laid off for four months and ended up taking a part time job to pay bills. No extra money for cars that is for sure. Then I decided to go back to grad school, for the second time. What little free time got spent with my wife. I went through a succession of basket cases because that was all I could afford and none of them got done. (Basket cases may be cheap to buy, but they will cost you three times as much as a good car.) The breaking point for me was when I had to sell everything I had scraped together for a killer 2332, (Flanged crank, scat H-beams, etc), to pay for a new heater for the house.  I didn't do anything VW, no shows, no forums, no project cars, I didn't even go to the club meets for a club I helped found. It got too depressing see folks enjoy their VW when you don't even have one.

Finally got to the point this year where I can sorta afford a car and be able to do some of the stuff I want. Working full time again and almost done with grad school (Though the wife keeps putting crimps on those plans. Something about fixing up the house that got neglected too while we were short of money.) Came back to the hobby but boy was I in for a shock. Prices doubled or tripled, The new CLF had become the drag racing forum with very little for us street guys. (Plus if you were nto a 30 year vet of the gasser wars you were looked down upon.) And turbos, turbos everh where. Anyway, glad I found this forum. Lots of good people here with cool cars and great ideas. Plus it is more geared for the street and actually driving your VW. Not to mention I get to hang out and chat with the folks that used to and still do inspire me. I know the first generation of Cal-Lookers probably looked up to the Vitones and the Bergs of a generation earlier. But for me it has always been folks like Bill S., Sarge, Kieth S, Deano, Dyno Don, etc. The folks who were building the fast cars of the seventies, eighties and even early nineties. 

Anyway, enough from me.

--louis

[Lids]

I know I stopped working on my car, same priorities that jim has already mentioned.  I have owned my car for over 14 years now.  Sometime around 1999 I just stopped being interested, never went to shows, never bought any bits.  Still got the magazines, read them within 10 mins, put them away.

I was surfing the web and stumbled upon ebay a few years ago.  Jick who i had known since 87, emailed me asking if it was me bidding on an item on ebay.  We had both moved away, different circle of friends, but cars was what we really had in common so its nice to know that cars is still what we have in common.  We had both moved to London, so we hooked up.  It was good to see that the '59 i found for him had about as much work on it as mine.  Well I started to go to shows, this forum and vzi have helped me make new friends.  And i am enjoying it all again, much to the missus dismay.

If its in the blood, you can't get rid of it.

[Sarge]

I could probably write a book on this topic!  My "burn-out" came from too much time at the drags...the wait in the staging lanes, the missed shift, the lost race, driving back and forth from the track with close ratios on the freeway, you name it.  So, when DKP folded in the early 70's, I still had an urge but wanted to be as far away as possible from the "restrictions" of a drag strip...something I still feel the same about today.  The sand dunes at Glamis welcomed my wife and I for the next 20 years...no more rules, ulcers, and regulations...just loads of new friends and plenty of stress-free excitement behind the wheel of a lightweight, scary fast rail.  I still had the '69 sedan through all of that period with several different engine combos, but I never went to the track, Bug-In, or any shows.  My "re-light" came coutesy of Keith Seume around 1998 for which I will always be gratefull as well as re-joining the best damn car club there is (IMHO of course!).

[SOB/RFH]

JIM.....THIS HAS GOT TO BE ONE OF YOUR BEST TOPICS EVER!!!!!!!! Thanks!!! I was about to let this ship go away too as:
a) I did not have as many friends as I thought
b) One of my best friends died (Mark H)
c) I was outdone by the young guns in street cars on trailers racing on a regular racetrack
d) The "cam going flat" syndrome hitting my harder then a sledge hammer
e) Fun....is the name of the game and did not have any fun anymore

So I got the car together, broke in the cam with my Mark H T-shirt on and his optemistic aproach in my mind and, lo and behold....It worked. Thanks to the guys at FAT Perf, Mike and Susy Herbert and the Kopenhagen Door Puller (KDP) for support and help during this time. So now I go to the local track and looses to modern Pokemon cars and old amercan iron but I have tons of fun, drive my car and have a part of my life that separates from my regular work and makes me inspired. Slowley I have gotten all gremlins out of the car and it goes as fast as I set my OWN goals to and it drives like a champ. Guess I still have to get inspired to wash it, but that point is getting closer.

Thanks Jim for all the inspiration!!! Happiness is a Hot VW!!!!!   

[Jim Ratto]

hey SOB...I'm flattered. Thanks for the props. This is something I have been wanting to get written here, because I think a lot of guys go through it, and unfortunately, maybe they get misunderstood? Yeah, we can't forget our good friends that we share interests with, and we need to be enthusiastic and on the lookout for new friends too. Moving down to So Cal helped me, for a lot of reasons, some obvious, some not so much. One is that getting with my beloved wife has opened me way up and given me a new drive to do stuff and come out of my shell. More important than anything else! When we were married (and I had my car for sale  ) she surprised me at the wedding with my grooms' cake, a replica of my trusty old '67, complete with BRMs and MH slicks (she gave the baker a pic of my car at Carlsbad 1999) and I relaized that she understood that that silly car is part of me and probably always will be. Two and almost as damn important is the guys I've met down here. All the DKP guys, especially Sarge, Bill and Stephan. These guys talked me into coming around Nicks with the car, and soon it was just a given....first Sunday of the month, on the freeway to OC. Plus other guys like Dave @ Proformance and DKK Rick Meredith and Dave Galassi have all become cool friends. Lastly, I shed the obsession with the race gas, prima-donna motor. Accepted the little 74 stroke motor for what it was (until cam went away  ) and then went back to drawing board to come up with an honest attempt at a driver that would still beat some ass if I needed it to. No lying to myself ("I can drive around 325' cam....can't I?").
Anyway, it probably happens to all of us.

[Carlos De Alba]

Great Topic.  How long did it take you to write it Jim??  8 work hours?? hahahahahaha

My burn-out came after I had a bad accident.  I went against the wall at Terminal Island (Long Beach)  I had no money to re-do the car so I sold it and went on to other hobbies.  Hector Bonilla is the one that got me back into it.  The best part about getting back is that you get meet some great people...........yes yes Sarge that includes you and Ratto........

[Jim Ratto]

Great Topic.  How long did it take you to write it Jim??  8 work hours?? hahahahahaha

My burn-out came after I had a bad accident.  I went against the wall at Terminal Island (Long Beach)  I had no money to re-do the car so I sold it and went on to other hobbies.  Hector Bonilla is the one that got me back into it.  The best part about getting back is that you get meet some great people...........yes yes Sarge that includes you and Ratto........

hahaha actually I wrote this one on home time. I didn't make my usual $400.00 per post. You's a great guy (or something  ) too Carlita. 

now back to WORK. 

[Carlos De Alba]

  .............

[Sarge]

Great Topic.  How long did it take you to write it Jim??  8 work hours?? hahahahahaha

My burn-out came after I had a bad accident.  I went against the wall at Terminal Island (Long Beach)  I had no money to re-do the car so I sold it and went on to other hobbies.  Hector Bonilla is the one that got me back into it.  The best part about getting back is that you get meet some great people...........yes yes Sarge that includes you and Ratto........

Next time I run into Hector I'll have to ask him WTF he was thinkin'     You should be a little more respectfull of Jim and I or we'll cut your beer and stogies off Sunday at Drag Day...

[Carlos De Alba]

Great Topic.  How long did it take you to write it Jim??  8 work hours?? hahahahahaha

My burn-out came after I had a bad accident.  I went against the wall at Terminal Island (Long Beach)  I had no money to re-do the car so I sold it and went on to other hobbies.  Hector Bonilla is the one that got me back into it.  The best part about getting back is that you get meet some great people...........yes yes Sarge that includes you and Ratto........

Next time I run into Hector I'll have to ask him WTF he was thinkin'     You should be a little more respectfull of Jim and I or we'll cut your beer and stogies off Sunday at Drag Day...

I said I got to meet some great people like Sarge and Ratto.............and I get this BS..............WTF.............   

 

[Sarge]

 

[Jim Ratto]

you guys are weird. I hope nobody is planning on following Sheep into my wife's clothes closet Saturday.

[sheep]

you guys are weird. I hope nobody is planning on following Sheep into my wife's clothes closet Saturday.

hahahahahahaha....................SHUT UP

[Sarge]

you guys are weird. I hope nobody is planning on following Sheep into my wife's clothes closet Saturday.

hahahahahahaha....................SHUT UP

hey look...the Big Wheel's here!   

[Jim Ratto]

you guys are weird. I hope nobody is planning on following Sheep into my wife's clothes closet Saturday.

hahahahahahaha....................SHUT UP

hey look...the Big Wheel's here!   

big wheel? Jackstand is a better nickname. 

ok seriously, Sheep has played an enormous part in keeping the VW thing going for me...since we met in high school. He was the only dude I trusted to drive my car when I couldn't. I probably post more about stories about sheep and I than I do about VW's themselves. Maybe we can get JHU or one of the other moderators to create a Farm Animal section on the Lounge just for sheep.

[Carlos De Alba]

you guys are weird. I hope nobody is planning on following Sheep into my wife's clothes closet Saturday.

hahahahahahaha....................SHUT UP

hey look...the Big Wheel's here!   

big wheel? Jackstand is a better nickname. 

ok seriously, Sheep has played an enormous part in keeping the VW thing going for me...since we met in high school. He was the only dude I trusted to drive my car when I couldn't. I probably post more about stories about sheep and I than I do about VW's themselves. Maybe we can get JHU or one of the other moderators to create a Farm Animal section on the Lounge just for sheep.

How sweet.............. Were you guys a couple back then ?   

[Jim Ratto]

you guys are weird. I hope nobody is planning on following Sheep into my wife's clothes closet Saturday.

hahahahahahaha....................SHUT UP

hey look...the Big Wheel's here!   

big wheel? Jackstand is a better nickname. 

ok seriously, Sheep has played an enormous part in keeping the VW thing going for me...since we met in high school. He was the only dude I trusted to drive my car when I couldn't. I probably post more about stories about sheep and I than I do about VW's themselves. Maybe we can get JHU or one of the other moderators to create a Farm Animal section on the Lounge just for sheep.

How sweet.............. Were you guys a couple back then ?   

Carlita...you just earned clean up duty Saturday. How's that? And not just the empties.... dishes, pinata debris, litter boxes, Twister board sanitation....

[sheep]

you guys are weird. I hope nobody is planning on following Sheep into my wife's clothes closet Saturday.

hahahahahahaha....................SHUT UP

hey look...the Big Wheel's here!   

big wheel? Jackstand is a better nickname. 

ok seriously, Sheep has played an enormous part in keeping the VW thing going for me...since we met in high school. He was the only dude I trusted to drive my car when I couldn't. I probably post more about stories about sheep and I than I do about VW's themselves. Maybe we can get JHU or one of the other moderators to create a Farm Animal section on the Lounge just for sheep.

How sweet.............. Were you guys a couple back then ?   

Just for the record, I was the man in the relationship

[Carlos De Alba]

you guys are weird. I hope nobody is planning on following Sheep into my wife's clothes closet Saturday.

hahahahahahaha....................SHUT UP

hey look...the Big Wheel's here!   

big wheel? Jackstand is a better nickname. 

ok seriously, Sheep has played an enormous part in keeping the VW thing going for me...since we met in high school. He was the only dude I trusted to drive my car when I couldn't. I probably post more about stories about sheep and I than I do about VW's themselves. Maybe we can get JHU or one of the other moderators to create a Farm Animal section on the Lounge just for sheep.

How sweet.............. Were you guys a couple back then ?   

Just for the record, I was the man in the relationship

Sheep, I knew that.............

[Carlos De Alba]

you guys are weird. I hope nobody is planning on following Sheep into my wife's clothes closet Saturday.

hahahahahahaha....................SHUT UP

hey look...the Big Wheel's here!   

big wheel? Jackstand is a better nickname. 

ok seriously, Sheep has played an enormous part in keeping the VW thing going for me...since we met in high school. He was the only dude I trusted to drive my car when I couldn't. I probably post more about stories about sheep and I than I do about VW's themselves. Maybe we can get JHU or one of the other moderators to create a Farm Animal section on the Lounge just for sheep.

How sweet.............. Were you guys a couple back then ?   

Carlita...you just earned clean up duty Saturday. How's that? And not just the empties.... dishes, pinata debris, litter boxes, Twister board sanitation....

Because of my post or my nationality???   hahahahahahahhahaha 

[Sarge]

Carlita...you just earned clean up duty Saturday. How's that? And not just the empties.... dishes, pinata debris, litter boxes, Twister board sanitation....

ALRIGHT!!!   Beer me, Bitch!!!   

[Jim Ratto]

get to it! YAW!