WINTERTIME WRENCHIN’
EVEN THOUGH LAST YEAR’S SHOW SEASON HAS ENDED, THAT DOESN’T NECESSARILY MEAN YOU HAVE TO SLOW DOWN. In fact, it’s probably the best time to get your butt in gear. With fewer events, there’s no excuse for getting out to the garage and making some improvements to your ride. It’s the perfect time of the year to get everything crossed off your custom wish list.
With that said, the holidays are the one point in the long, dark season where you might not have as much time to get out to the garage as you’d like. It’s a great time to see family and friends, but if you build trucks as a hobby, you’re unlikely to get in a lot of wrenching at the end of the year. Time in the garage can be therapeutic, though, especially during the hectic holidays. Try to think of it as an escape plan; it might keep your build goals on track and give you a much-needed break from eggnog and carols.
Another thing that can put us in a bind is that we end up forking out plenty of greenbacks to make sure others get some nice gifts. We hope you were able to plant a seed and tip off a few family members about any tools or parts you wanted. If you’re really lucky, they might have all pitched in for something big. If not, we’re sure you got some cash or gift cards that could be used toward your project, or maybe you’re the frugal type and set some cash aside for a personal splurge.
EVEN IF YOU DON’T HAVE A LOT OF TIME OFF FROM WORK, YOU MIGHT BE ABLE TO ROLL YOUR TRUCK INTO THE GARAGE AND GET SOME REGULAR, CONSISTENT WORK DONE ON IT.”
Either way, you most likely have more to work with now that the holidays are over.
With more time on your hands, there’s no reason to slack off. Opportunities like this only come once a year, and you need to take advantage of them. Even if you don’t have a lot of time off from work, you might be able to roll your truck into the garage and get some regular, consistent work done on it. You don’t have to spend long straight shots of time. If you only have a few days, hours or even just a few minutes a day, it all counts toward finishing up your project.
For those with big goals, there are quite a few major shows that kick off the season. Taking your pride and joy to one of them could serve as a major push. The mere thought of the thrill of riding in your own creation and sharing it with others can drive you through the cold winter nights when you’d rather just call it done and head inside for a warm drink.
For those of you on the northern and eastern side of the country, things might be a little tougher because of snow, and you’re likely confined to working inside a garage. Those of us more south and west are fortunate because we can use driveway space, but even that has some drawbacks, like wind and rain. Yet even with our shared obstacles and challenges, we should all soldier on and make the most of this useful time to further our projects. It will bring us that much closer to realizing our goals and showing off our hardwon customs once they’re finally complete.