Hot Rods Your thoughts on buying rotted A roadster hot rod.

saw a reply "what's your time worth". my time is free, I get 24 hours every day. my time only has value when I work for others and they pay me. how come nobody ever asks someone watching sports all Saturday what their time is worth?

hobby time has no monetary value. a better question would be how much would you enjoy the build?

 

So I bought this for $650 and was found in the sitting and rotting thread. The frame and motor were trashed. So was I crazy. No title.

 

this is what a 2,000 dollar roadster looks like



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I was thinking the same thing. it must be a ct thing

 

I'll sell u this for $1750 Canuck bucks. Front 1/2 of '28-'9 touring. No rustout!

 

I was lucky to get $225 US for the same at last fall Good guys swap meet... Counted my blessings it was gone.

 

For me it's not the time, or the money I'd put into it. It's how much he wants for it, and more important, how much it will take in work to get it solid. Beyond the rotted away metal, how far do you cut back until you get to solid metal that you can weld to and save it? It might look like the lower 6" or so, but you might be halfway up the doors or body before it got solid.
Looks like a lot of frustration to me, and having been there before, I tend to not give up, even when that voice keeps telling me to toss in the towel. Better for me not not even start.

 

One positive in buying it is that you wouldn't have any time to get in trouble.

 

No. I'd pay that much for it.

 

I don't know, I may be crazy but I paid $1700 for my '30 tudor and it was just about as bad. No title and all. People thought I was crazy but now that it is all together everyone says I got a good deal.
Remember with this deal after you replace the quarters with the good ones you can sell the rotted ones to someone making a roadster out of a tudor and get some money back. I think the OP said the asking price is $2500 but he was thinking $1800 is where he should be, if so I think 1800 is good 2500 maybe a little to high. Remember Model As are the new '32s! they ain't cheap anymore, especially roadsters.

 

I saw that one on Kijjii as well. It is cool but it seemed a bit steep. There are a lot of other bodies listed on there that are a lot more complete for a little more money which let's face it, your going to be spending that money to bring that one anywhere near being on the road. Let alone if the title is not there.

 

I would tackle the build for sure. I would like to give less for it than that. Its definitely buildable but not there really isn't 1800 dollars worth of buildable there.

 

It's funny (not haha funny, interesting funny) how we all look at this from different points of view. Ive enjoyed the different perspectives in this thread.
This hobby for me is purely passion. I like a car that has soul. Soul isnt rusty or solid. I buy the cars that speak to me. Maybe its the red paint, maybe its the dash? I dunno but i think that little roadster is rad.
The cost of admission pales in comparison to the cost to get on the road. If you build that car it would be YOUR car. It would have part of you in it. Sometimes a car has a vibe thats more than the sum of its parts. So sick I fuckin love that thing.

 

I've learned to start with the best possible vehicle (or parts). It may cost more up front or take a little longer to first acquire but it cuts out a lot of work and money to get to the "starting point".

By "starting point" I mean the getting the car to square one where you can begin building a hot rod.

Plus, Model A roadsters aren't all that expensive comparatively.

 

I could buy that thing and make money...I've bought similar and sold it for more. Just sayin.

 

Put all the patches on and channel it, it's already ready for that.

 

I have seen "done" cars that have needed more work to make them "right".

 

for example: https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/truck-into-a-coupe-my-next-pet-project.850807/

 

If the decimal point makes it $180. it's a good price, but without a title it's worth no more than $200.

 

So true, I get a lot of satisfaction out of the challenge. Sometimes I could save a little money by spending a little more at the start but what's the fun in that?

 

RIF, reading is fundamental. The OP mentioned he had paperwork to go with it should he buy it.

 

True so it has more value to him or anyone with an A that would rather upgrade to a roadster. (some may laugh at this being an upgrade)
I went back and looked at the pictures again, I really think it ain't too bad, what is the difference of replacing the bottom 1" of a panel or the bottom 3"? I get it, the doors yes, with the rot in the inner structure and all. No subframe? not many "parts bodies" with subframes left anyway. Rear quarters? it comes with new ones, can you buy a roadster with NO rust in the quarters for under 2 grand?
If I had the space and it was close to Maryland I would really think about it. Lucky for me I don't have any room and this thing seems to be more than a day drive, or my mouth may overrun my brain.

 

As I mentioned before. Unless you stumble upon a primo body they ALL need those patch panels and sometimes subrails or subrail repair. About 15 years ago we built two rods for a wealthy customer starting with what looked like nice restored As. One was a 28 touring and one a 30 roadster. Once stripped both of these needed a ton of sheetmetal to make right. So, IF I was the OP and had paper AND could get the price down a bit this thing would not scare me.

 

It's not ideal, but it's real!

 

Only if it had owner papers,*with out them worth much much less down to near zero. If you never had to deal with getting plates for a hot rod with out papers,then pass for sure.

 

Neat car. It's going to take a lot of work and money to fix it up. On the bright side, that will improve your skills and keep you out of bars. If you're looking for something to keep you busy for a few years, jump on it. You can amaze people with the "before" pictures and have something to be proud of when it's done.

 

What is the meaning of "no ownership"?

Does this mean no title?

Is a title required for licensing in your province?

If there is no title, and a title is required, I would check with the transportation department in your province to determine methodology and cost to get a title. If your government is as efficient as the one where I live, the decision to buy or pass becomes moot. The parts would rust into the ground before a title could be acquired. Plus the cost of the parts would be negligible compared to the cost of the title.

Played that game once. Finally (after a few years, and more than a few dollars) gave up and sold the project to the junkyard (no title required).

Jon.

 

Yes, just substitute ownership for Title. It’s not a huge problem here. I have a couple titles on hand I could use.

 

If I could buy that in the UK for £1800 ( $2400) I wuld be all over it . Stop looking at the rust and look whats there . It needs lower repairs on the spare lower cowl panels, and the rear quarters are brookville seconds so basically good solid panels , deck lid is good and doors need repair .. Sub rails could just be a framework and sheet metal installation, no need to splash out on repros, but the original add says he has them ? F1 front brakes / hubs , A front axle ( nothing wrong with that and it can be dropped , 40 rear end , and at least 2 decent 35 wires .. brakes and axles are always going to be gone through so whats the problem with these parts ? nothing I can see ..

Im looking at this from the perspective of being 3000 miles away in the UK where none of these parts are easy to find . Indeed I think I paid more in postage costs to have a pair of rear quarters shipped from Brookville ..

You could go out and buy a good looking body at three times the price only to find out its a piece of shit under a ton of plastic filler and a coat of primer . and you then have the same amount of work to do but you just paid over the odds for what looked good. ( ask me how I know )

There is nothing to hide with that body and no expectation what you see is what you get and I see a pretty decent start to a cool old school hot rod that originated back in the day and just fell into disrepair and neglect , By the time its redone there might not be much of the original left but its roots are in the right place .. With the bits that are there I think its a good start . Offer £1200 and take it away . Ifyou have a title as you do then its just time and a massive does of effort .. Dont set the goal to high for the finished item, its never going to be perfect for the right budget . If you want a show car sure start with a mint original. You will have more fun with that old warhorse and the right to say you saved an old hot rod ..

my coupe started with less..

and the roadster is complete junk .. needing everything that the one offered here needs .. looks can be deceiving.

 

right now there is a complete but typical rust (lower 6 "s all the way around) body shell, no frame, on FB in the states $4,000 USD ...up here a guy offered me a '28-9 rear 1/4 for the bargain price of $850 cdn. you have 4 of them so there's your $ right there....find a subframe and a stock rolling chassis w eng. serial # for reg. ...probably double your money and then some...I love the hamb but there are many fellas on here who shy away from rust repairs and turn up their noses at what they deem to be "parts cars" (from their 1970's -'80's perspective)...I personally enjoy working with metal and remember many of the negative responders already have a nice car in the garage...