Projects Beginner Car Purchase

Ya done good ... also, consider a Chrysler built car or truck from the '30s, too. Way less $$$ than Ford stuff, later running gear bolts in if you pick the right stuff.

 

Done good by not buying it yet?


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Yes , consider yourself lucky. You dodged the proverbial “bullet” .

 

Ya, a long term pain in the ***. been there.

 

Find a a-bone if this is your first hot rod

 

It is as true in Real Estate as it is in car buying, don't settle on "close enough". The car you buy today, you have to sell tomorrow. You might settle but your buyer may not.

 

Tim just a suggestion and considering what Moriarity and others have said, look for something in the very late 30's on up to the 50's. If only for the ease of part available, I've seen too many beginners bite of more than they can chew and then sour on the hobby or lose a lot of money. There are cars out there for you just keep looking.

Pat

 

Seems like good advice in responses so far. I didn’t know the Chevy’s had so much wood in them. I, too, am basically a Chevy guy, but the Fords have so much more support it’s hard to beat.

Here’s a cost comparison: About two years ago I paid $9500 for the ‘31 Model A in the picture. Others runners I looked at were roughly similar in asking price. Paint and interior pretty good. It ran, but needed some work on the brakes, etc. if it were to be a good driver (I made it a hot rod anyway).

 

If your 6’-1”, skip the 30’s era pickups


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I had a good friend buy a 31. A gleaming shiny light purple coupe. Wonderful looking, decent driving . He had a 54 chev. belair he sold to by the coupe only to find out after having it for a while all the wood was just gone. Major expense to fix.

 

6’6”, I tried to sit in one, no bueno lol


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Chevy's are actually roomier than a Ford but when you are done fixing it up, it isn't worth much more than you paid for it, in my opinion. I've been down that road.

 

I'm going to ask you a question and you need to answer it honestly. Do you want to build a car yourself and do you have the tools, time, money and skills to do it? If the answer is no, find yourself one that is already built because it will cost you a lot less. If the answer is yes, welcome to the club of us masochists who actually get pleasure out of the dirty, hard work of building our own.

 

Adding to the wise comments here, Make sure you know where the serial number(s) is/are for the make and year car you are looking at, and how they are supposed to be attached. Worse than a termite car is a car with altered numbers or missing paperwork. Unfixable.

 

Wow! Looks like anyone can build a Ford!

 

My first hot rod was a 33 Chevy 3 window. the wood was gone and this was 1963. I was 13 years old and my dad taught me a valuable lesson. He taught me to gas weld and I built a tubing frame to replace all of the wood in the body.
It took me 6 months to do , but when I got done the doors opened and shut like they were supposed to.

 

This is a really good piece of advice. Buy a project only if you want to build a project. If you're shopping for projects in the hopes it's a cheaper way to get into a finished car, you'll be better off buying one that's already finished.

If you like this era of Chevy, I have seen some really nice ones for sale, fully restored, in the $10K-$12K range, and if you can swing $7500, you're not that far off. Paying $10K for a car someone already dumped $25K in is a better deal than restoring one yourself, even if the car was free.

But if you do want to build a project for the enjoyment/challenge/learning experience of it, you're on the right track. It's a buyer's market for projects, and if you keep asking questions the way you did here, the right one will find you eventually.

 

I have a 1931 Model A coupe deluxe and it seems super roomy especially compared to my 1936 Chevy truck. They can still be found....in fact I'm considering selling mine....way too many irons in the fire. My kids do love the rumble seat though!

 

Truck cabs were nearly always a lot smaller then the same years of cars. At 6'6", your going to be into the 50s trucks before you find one you will be comfortable sitting in. Cars from about the later 30s and newer will be more comfy then anything older then about 35. That kind of ****s if you like the older cars, but those are the facts. Gene

 

Have you been trawling the HAMB cl***ifieds?

There's quite a few running/driving vehicles near your budget. Might not be right-next-door location, but near enough.

And, *most* of these guys are honest! You can trust 'em, it's the internet. Just make sure the listing party has been active on here - seriously - it's a really easy thing to check.

 

post #42 at 6' 6" I Suggest you give thought to a sedan 30's car so you can move seat back for leg room, a chop top is questionable for head room. If you want to drive the car a fair amount, comfort is an issue IMO. I've seen at cruises/shows, big guys/small cars and most that I've talked with do not drive car that much, just a toy, too uncomfortable to actually cruise. You didn't say anything about age, total budget, skill level, tools, shop space, time to work on it, etc. etc. Everyone starts somewhere/sometime, I've read that 80% of car projects are not finished by the original guy. I'm not looking to discourage you, just want to mention some things to consider. One possibility, a running driving car that you ease yourself into the hobby, then if you start a big/long project you have a driver to enjoy hobby, cruises/shows. One last thought, a project will cost generally cost 2-3 times what you thought, take 3-4 times longer, depending on your skill, experience, etc. Good Luck, Enjoy whatever you do. Welcome to the HAMB. Warning ! The Car Hobby is an addiction, once hooked, can last a lifetime, Hello, my name is John.

 

Tim, I am in Mustang. If you need someone to go with you to look at a car, give me a shout. I would hate for you to buy something beyond your abilities. There are other hambers in Tulsa as well.

 

Hello John! I am also a fellow Jon, I just really like Monty given the username. If you mean my age later twenty something, time plenty of it, two car garage with one car, skill level low but I’m an engineer lol so on paper I might look good haha.

I’m leaning towards what you said about buying a driver as a starting place and I felt that way with the Chevy but I’m thinking if I had to deal with the wood there would come a point where it might sit for 6 months to a year in terms of welding a frame for it or waiting on a wood kit. I think at that point it would be discouraging if that’s my first attempt. I know myself so I’m just trying to setup myself up for some level of success and would definitely reconsider the Chevy/wood route at a later date if I got into the hobby.

I tell you though, this i6 that was in it sounded gnarly with a straight pipe. Almost sounded like it was cammed but the guy I was going to buy it from never did anything with it and before, he bought it from the original owner so I knew it was a modified engine or had any performance parts


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Forgot to mention this in my first reply, but yeah the Chevy *was* running and had a dead battery when I arrived. I wouldn’t consider buying it without it running first at the price he wanted, not to mention the wood part of the build that everyone mentioned here, so it wasn’t necessarily a car that couldn’t run.


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***le missing.Another nightmare for the first timer........

 

It was mentioned earlier that you might look into Mopars as well since they are bigger than Fords of the same era. As a Mopar guy, this applies to all projects but especially to Off brands (anything but popular Fords) Get the most complete, together and rust-free example you can find and afford!
Getting that coupe home only to find you cannot get the trunk lid, trim and repair panels will cost you more time, money and effort than waiting for the better example to pop up, every time.
There are examples of good looking bodies on here that once stripped turned out to be nightmares, so spend some time learning how to examine closely.

 

I didn’t notice that, quite right though. But a few clicks I came across that.

 

That means making sure that the numbers on the ***le can be found on the car i.e., ID tag, stamping on the frame, etc. If a seller says something like "sold on a bill of sale; ***le will be easy to get" then consider something else. If it were easy to get he probably would have already gotten it. Some states do sell old cars by ***le only but you should have done your homework on what YOUR state requires.

Oh, I almost forgot-avoid an open ***le. In this case you are not buying from the owner.

 

Are you settled on a coupe? With your height I would consider a Model A Tudor. They make nice hotrods and are plentiful as well. They have so much more room inside.


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