Cars X Girl

Modifying a car is a ton of fun, and probably one of the most rewarding journeys you can begin. However, it can easily turn into a horrible nightmare if you aren’t careful about how you go about it. Finding the motivation to begin a car build, and then keeping it until the project is complete, is just about half the battle, and a big part that I know all too well about.

I know enough about it that I figured I’d try my hand at writing my first ever series about it. I’m not sure how many posts it will span, but it’ll be as many as is necessary to cover it the way I think it deserves to be covered. Not only that, but I’ll tie in my personal experiences to show that yeah, I’ve totally been there before. (But I think it’ll be around three or four, we’ll see.)

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That being said, welcome to part one of Finding (& Keeping) Motivation for your project car! I know it’s a rather cliche statement, but I feel like a car build needs to be started with one thing in mind: What you want the finished product to look like, AKA, begin with the end in mind.

What you see is what you get, sort of.

More times than I can remember have I been told to visualize outcomes. Sadly, nobody ever told me this when it comes to cars, but it’s something that I’ve decided is rather vital to any successful build. When we want something, it’s natural to envision what it would be like if that item was a part of our lives, whether it’s a new electronic gadget, furniture or a new tool. Whatever it is, we create a picture in our minds about how our life would be if we had that one new toy.

After we’ve convinced ourselves that life would be far better if we got that new shiny doodad, we go about constructing a plan on how to get it. Setting aside x amount of dollars, picking up an extra shift, cutting back on whatever or selling something old, each of these is a step in a plan created when we’ve begun with the end in mind. We know what we want the outcome to be, we know where we are now, and we fill in the steps in between.

Failing to plan is planning to fail.

Alright, time to bridge the gap between what I’ve just said and cars. I know it’s easier to do this, because I have a “master plan” for my own Miata build. Is my project finished? Of course not! I really wonder if she’ll ever be “done,” I do like to have something to do after all. But without knowing what I want her to eventually be, I wouldn’t know where to start.

The decision to buy a Miata was cemented in my mind after watching them do one thing: autocross. A Miata autocrossing was just so… Inspiring. I wanted to be the person in the tiny little car zooming around the cones, and Miatas are just about perfect for autocross. I knew I wanted a Miata after that day, and I knew I wanted her to autocross and autocross well.

I did my research, and came up with no shortage of things to get. Of course, I knew what I wanted to end up with: A turbo-charged, daily driven semi-aggressive looking Miata. A sort of “sleeper” style car, one that car people would immediately know was serious but non-car people really wouldn’t look twice at. I wanted her to be comfortable driving on the street, on the autocross course and on the track, and to do it all without crazy adjustments.

For the most part, that’s still my vision. I have some of the first bigger mods down, and I’m getting ready to go about prepping the car even further for the inevitable turbo kit she’ll be getting. But I really wouldn’t know that, when I go to replace my brake pads this time, I want to upgrade my brake lines to stainless steel ones, because eventually she’ll need more braking power to go with more horsepower.

Eyes on the prize.

Having a clear vision of what you want to end up with is key, and you can’t really argue with that. It works in just about every area of your life, so why not apply it to cars as well? When you see something new, just ask yourself, “Does this take me a step closer to what I want my car to be?” If the answer is no, forget about it. It may not apply to everything, but it should help you remember that you want more for your car than where it is at any given moment during the build process.

However, do let yourself celebrate your achievements. When you do feel like you got a step closer to that finished picture, let yourself feel good about it. Take pictures along the way so you can look back at how much you’ve accomplished so far. Knowing where you want to end is great, but you do need a reminder about where you started and how far you’ve come too.

Keep a look out for part two in my mini-series, where I deal with finding inspiration.

Meg

In 2007, Meg began learning about cars. Two years later, she had a very modified '97 Miata and a '90 240SX project car, as well as the Rookie of the Year autocross title. Life now completely revolves around cars and she wouldn't have it any other way. CarsxGirl is her way to encourage others to get into racing (it's not horribly expensive!), to document & share her car builds, an outlet to share & improve her automotive photography skills and to show that real car girls do exist!

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