Bragging about build cost

" Finally, when someone talks about how little they may have in their ride, it may not be boasting. They may simply trying to let others know that a cool ride can , indeed, be built on the cheap if they would just apply themselves. They can be an influence to others about how affordable something can be. "

You're right, and that's one of the positive spins on this topic that's better to think about than the negatives. Still, most automotive specialty venues and practices are just a bit ego driven. Whether you built it or bought it, it's there and probably even a degree of a required element that makes them all stand out. They're all 1 on 1 examples and should be something to be proud of. How cheap, how expensive, how rare, how fast, how low, how shiney, and everyone involved from casual spectator to seasoned pro will want to observe such things at one time or another. Like I said before, there will always be more to it than wrenches and welding. The rest is perspective.
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Very true. I see lots of build posts that get very few responses yet a thread like this or how much the general lee should have sold for get to 3 or 4 pages in a matter of hours.

 

My sister asked me when i was redoing my chevy if i knew what i had invested in it.

I told her i realy did not want to know.

She just laughed!

Many hours of volunteer help!

Most expense was the paint and interior.

 

I'm with Kripfink(pg1)

I honestly dont know how much money I have in my build....dont care, nor care to know either....I've always tried to keep it budget, but occassionally some money will get spent....I keep all the reciepts in a shoebox for insurance purposes if I ever need em....I dont EVER intend on going through it.

I do know that I have a metric ASS TON more time than money in it....

 

On my first build I had it down to the penny. Now, K sa ra sa ra what ever it is, it is. if I have the money to buy the part I buy it!

 

i kinda fail to see the usefulness of this,the original post..

it cost what it costs,cars are expensive.youre a hotrodder or youre not.

 

I am all about posting progress, questions and productive topics all over the place...That is the very reason that we are all members to several forums I'm sure, to tap into a multitude of knowledge pools. However when you post a single open minded , and beat to death thread on multiple forums to just stir sh!t than your post is rendered pointless as is your input. Not the only one that feels this way since the OP was banned on KB.

 

X2 No kidding.

 

The memories of collecting parts from my youth to now, some of which I still have, are priceless to me. I tow them around from move to move. Shed some, keep some. I keep recipts but it would scare me to add them up. I've used parts from years gone by on just about everything I've ever worked on from the odd nut and bolt to stuff I've aquired for a specific build. I enjoy this aspect of our hobby but it doesn't have a price to me. I'll be using parts I traded for 25 years ago on my current build. I know what my number is and if your number is higher than mine, It's for Sale. I've made money on very few of them.
Wait a minute.............., still don't care. Never will.

 

Building hot rods is my stress relief, keeping track of how much it costs and how much time I have in it would stress me out.

 

After four plus decades of hot rodding, I can tell you that people will lie about cost and size! And I have no idea how much I have in either of my hot rods.

 

This is how i think too. Im not a rich guy, but any $ spent on my passion, is of no concern to me. As long as i get my fix, im good.

 

I kept track for a while on what I was spending but I gave up on that crap and just started building a hot rod that I wanted and quit giving a S*^t about others idea of what my truck should be or how many hours, dollar bills ect I had in it. I just enjoy my time in the garage welding, grinding, blocking and painting ect.

 

All the statements about build costs being immaterial are quite consistent with the other tendency to boast about how little rather than how much we spend on a build. It underlines the fact that the hot rod value system is emphatically not about wealth and status.

It's the same with the "build it the way you want it" posts we get on every second thread: we sometimes paradoxically go to great lengths to express to everyone how we really don't care what they think! Nothing wrong, dishonest or inconsistent, in that, really. We value independence of spirit and consequently give expression to the fact that we do.

 

......It does'nt matter....you dom't keep track of how much beer you drink in a life time...numbers don't mean nothing...

 

And to think I could have been a millionaire instead of a poor ass car guy! Someone mention beer?

 

I dont keep track .. When i did , i kept worrying about it. If its cool and you got the cash , go for it and enjoy.

 

I try and keep track as close as possible, few years back had a OT truck stolen that i had done quite a bit of work on, never recovered . When i went to settle up with the insurance company, They asked some questions about the vehicle, i took my folder with any receipts and my hand written notes on what and how much. I ended up getting $1800 MORE than the first number out of his mouth. He handed me back the folder after he made some copies and said ,Good thing you have that or i couldn't have authorized the additional MONEY. Also it is great proof of whats in the car if you ever want to sell.

 

Amen to that. Everyone is so concerned with money. Money's great...it buys you things. Its what you DO with those things that makes life enjoyable. Heck, there's lots of people with high-dollar rides that just sit there because they're too busy or they've lost interest. Get something real and roll up your sleeves! Drive, restore & enjoy these things!

 

Or they are scared to drive it due to high cost/not a real car guy.

 

I don't know who orginaly wrote this but so true!

"The experience of hot rods cannot be explained substantially to those unfamiliar.

It cannot be shared with the unfeeling.

It cannot be defined without prior knowledge.

It's either a part of you or it isn't and nothing can change that.

Such is the nature of the soul and such is the way of the hot rod."

 

This whole "you have to figure your own labor into it" makes no sense at all.

If I bill myself $10k for labor, then pay myself $10k. . . I've spent ten grand, and earned then grand. . . and in the end that cost me nothing.

How much you spent on a car is just that. It's how much money you took out of your pocket to spend on that car.

If I got a free 1932 three window body, I don't add $17k towards the total cost of my build. One might add to the overall value of the car, but not to the overall cost of the build.

 

Right on zombie. What's my "sit-on-my-fat ass-in-front-of-the-TV" time worth? What if golfers kept track of how much they spent? 19th hole included, I'll bet it's more than the average home builder spends on his hot rod.

 

To me, there's nothing worse than somebody telling you an outrageously ridiculous number they spent on their car without you even asking. I had a guy tell me he had $50K into a Dodge Dart, which looked to me like a cheap home-garage paint job and a new crate motor. My conclusion was that he was an idiot or a liar or both. Up to the point he said it, I kinda respected him and his car. Afterwards, not so much.

My real problem was that he insulted my intelligence by thinking I would believe him.

 

Most of the folks at a event who asks " what have you spent on it "
Do not have a clue as to what it really costs to build a nice ride and MOST think you are lying .... and could not possibly have that much $$$ in a old car. Especially when dealing with the popular models ( 32 to 40's Fords ... and a few others / Willys coupes/ ect )

 

He's insulting your intelligence and his heart is in the wrong place. These guys are around but more often when a hot-rodder is an idiot or a liar he's claiming that he's got $49.99 in that show winner. He's still insulting our intelligence but at least he shares our values.

 

I think it's just people trying to say "I built it, and was creative enough to not spend a ton of money on it to make it cool... I am neat"

 

Precisely. That's the stuff most of us believe in, whether we're honest by nature or not ...

 

Some guy was bragging to me at a cruize on saturday night it had cost him $130 000 ,then in the next breath he wants to know if I want to buy it. My reply is no I build steel cars.

 

I don't worry about cost I set a budget and when it reaches that amount I stop counting!