Hot Rods Does it seem like the ring is never within reach?

This has been a most interesting thread to read so far.
I have been most fortunate, in my working career, to have been a Teamster that made good wages and retired successfully with great retirement benefits.

Combined with the element of not having any kids, the wife and I have more than enough monthly income, so there is no issue about the money.

But I have been down the rabbit hole with pouring money into a couple of projects, over 25 years ago, when the prices were not so bad on materials and gas and paint and parts.
Man are those days long gone.
I was obsessed with this very cool off topic 46 IHC KB-5 retired firetruck.
I had a stash of cash to work with.
I bought the truck for $3000.00, so that was the ante to get into the game.
It was all stock and it was running as well.
I wont get into the modifications that me and my friend did to it, but it was unique in the aspect of , what it was originally and what it turned into.

When I was $15,000.00 into it and it was far from finished, I looked into the mirror, and said, " hey dude, what are you doing ? "
I just sighed and kept going, so by the time it was road ready, it had consumed $30,000.00.

Don't get me wrong here, I am not complaining. I had a blast with that rig, and I drove it over 20,000 miles, going to various air shows and other car and hot rod related events.

It's first road trip was me and my friend that took it to the RENO AIR RACES, we used it as a vendor display, to sell my T-shirts.



I even had a custom 10 K capacity tilt-bed trailer built for it, which cost another $5000.00 for it, no regrets about that either.

If I had to do that project again now at 70 years of age, and the prices of everything now, at what they are, in my estimation, that project could have easily soared to 50 K or even 80 K.
Anything truck related back then, was higher than just car stuff.
Back then, the gallon of "Dupont Imron" Egyptian red, cost $100.00, and me and my friend did the paint job.
Back then, the local guy here in Seattle that specialized in painting trucks, charged a minimum of $7000.00 to paint a truck, and after all of the work me and my friend did, I know exactly why he wanted $7000.00 to paint a truck like mine.

All old news at this point, no regrets about the money that was spent, I have a ton of great memories and pictures of all the places that truck took me to.




Fast forward to now, my driveway is empty, the firetruck lives out at my friends place and is being taken care of properly.
I sold the 47 Dodge Business coupe to my friend @Hitchhiker , and it will live again, and I will be able to come up and visit and go for drives in it, when he has it road worthy.



I stashed the 65 K, I had set aside for that project, after good consultation with @squirrel about that project. First time in a very long time that I actually solicited advice and actually took it, no regrets about that either.

I find its easier to have the cash stashed, for unforeseen emergencies, and I have a lot of great friends that have hot rods that I can go places with, I pitch in for fuel and grub as well. It's all good !

As for any real advice to anyone, young or old these days, this picture certainly has a "RING " of truth to it.

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But hey, don't let that discourage any of you, if you have a dream, and can handle the cash outlay, whether its for award winning rides such as what Cody Wall's builds, or for the cool "lemons" projects that Jim Forbes does, just do it and be happy that you can do it or have done it.

Practicality, has never been a valid reason, to get into the Hot Rod habit and hobby!

Your results may vary !
Thanks from Dennis.

 

I know ,, I have had for close to four decades,,,


You can make 500 -550 hp pretty easy with stock parts , close to max thoe with a head around 190-200 cfm , pin,port your own heads ,
6,000-6,500 rpms ,cheap TRW pistons or cast , cam around .480-.500 lift Stock 2 bolt blocks , 400 cid ,
pretty much same for 427-454 more head cfms & little bigger cam ,
Smaller then 380 cid , engine needs to work harder = more $$
I seen here many times one's wanting to wing 8,000 Plus Rpm's & ""Live"" = 16 valve's 2k , heads 2,500-3 K,ish,,,, Rocker
1,800 ish = 6-7k heads , Just top end ,,

 

A good option for SBC roller blocks are post 1986 SBC 350 truck or van engines. They're still fairly plentiful and still pretty cheap used. The nice thing is they're already setup for roller lifters, and they're one piece rear main seals.
When I began my '39 Chev coupe build I watched the local ads for weeks while I was doing all the rust repairs, and one morning I saw an ad for a 1990 GMC van 350 short block with 4 bolt mains. Since I didn't want the late model style heads anyway, this seemed perfect, and the seller was only 10 blocks away! I got to the address and it was an import auto repair shop. The engine was on a stand and had already been fitted with new bearings and rings, and came with an Edelbrock Performer RPM intake. Price? $100!!
Took it home and pulled it all apart to check clearances and ring gaps, and reassembled it. Put a new roller cam in it, and a pair of Dart SHP heads, and dropped it in the car.

 

Yup Americans complaining about the cost of parts is humorous sometimes.
Amazingly we are cheaper than you guys down there.
https://www.partsengine.ca/brands/dart

 

Thats why I loved going to the scrap yard.!!

 

I have 4 also. 1 new in the box. Couple bottle jacks and 2/3 old house screw type jacks [yes I did use them to jack my house up], plus 6 scissor jacks, 2 old time rugged ones and 4 modern small car ones. I guess I'm rich?

 

I just heard on the radio(state of Washington radio station) what minimum wages is now....$$$$$$$$$$$ WTF !

WTF !

 

Remember when the saying was "if it won't go chrome it" well the price of chrome has
ended that little song. Fast is a whole lot cheaper.

 

Oh I should also mention that despite the fact that sometimes it feels the same as it did, money wise, when I was young, only I have way nicer shit now…

 

Okay, I've gotta get in on this. I just bought a 1/4" pipe plug at the local mom and pop hardware store for $5.93! I'm gonna search through my unorganized collection.

 

A friend of mine is known to drive across town to save thirteen cents/gallon for gas.
What's my point?
Hell, who knows!

 

Right on, right on.

 

Good one, My wagon was parked next to a Viper bright red, flares... $100k car, few yrs back, I came back after 3hrs walking Turkey Rod run swap meet. Guy says, well done, everyone taking pics of your old wagon, no one looking at my Viper. They were all mumbling a word... "Patina".. what is that?. My Response...Old worn, scarred look... faded aged paint, a war torn survivor.

 

In today's environment. The bargains are in the "takeouts" for LS modern drive train swaps.
These build shops want these engines gone.....
Find one built with big dollar parts, hear it run before takeout.

 

I have a buddy that is a fireman, his second job is LS conversions. He calls me when he has a decent takeout.

 

Well there you go.

 

Tell you what Bryan, his car might be alright, but after seeing that sideways glance from his girlfriend, I think she's green with envy .

 

It does seem to get to this point at times.....

 

I'm putting a new wiring harness in my 41, it comes with a wire for high beam indicator, I look up the light to match my turn indicators, damn thing is $15 bucks plus tax and shipping. I just couldn't justify $25 bucks for a 1/4 inch blue light that I don't really need, but now I'll have an extra unused wire to match the other 7 I'm trying to hide somewhere.
Later on that day the topic of dinner came up so I suggested calzones and cinnamon sticks, somehow I didn't have a problem spending $58 bucks for that. Just think, in a couple days I'll have nothing to show for the $58 bucks except a savory memory, now that $25 dollar light would've been around for decades lol
But which looks better ???

 

I guess here I am, saying that's not bad price increase... The banger and flathead stuff is through the roof these days.... I guess its all perspective. What was a 20k pickup truck is now 50k. What was a 50k house is now 500k. Just the times a changing.

 

Yep, me too. But after some thought, the kids moving out of the house may have helped with the idea I have more money (% wise) to spend on stuff now then I did then.

After more thought, I also had a lot more stuff back then, today the quantity is much lower. Spending the money on few projects leaves me more money for better quality on fewer things. But of course, that is all based on my view point, to others, it might look like the same old junk I had when I was younger.

I'm going to quit thinking about it, while I'm still ahead....

 

I can totally understand the desire for the Dart block. To make reliable hp, that will last past the first real pull, you need a solid foundation. I also understand the desire for 600 or more hp. Doing things twice is likely more expensive than doing it right the first time.

As for paying for it, it does take a little more now for everything. I guess my best suggestion is think about the total amount you put in the car, with all of the savings by doing much of the work yourself. You can't cast your own engine block. Some parts you just have to pay the going rate. You can help reduce that overall cost by doing some trading/selling of parts you have. Flipping unneeded parts to get the desired part. Or buying parts when you find them cheap ahead of time. That does take some cash away from the immediate cash, but if you have that project planned out it's a great way to save some on the parts. Hot rodding takes resourcefulness, I know you have a good amount of it.

 

Root - turns out, we have some things in common. This thread, and a few others lately, have pushed me to post a bit more. I’d say you need to be patient and ready to jump at the deals, they are out there. Case in point…I bought this today for $1200, including the stand. 1964/66 327 (small journal) .030” over, tapped snout, ARP main studs, and some sorta serious looking boom boom pistons.

As long as those dart blocks have been on the market, there’s got to be someone who got addicted to meth and is ready to sell for a bargain price. You just need to be ready to enter the meth lab. I did today. It was scary, but turned out ok.

 

My trailer ($300 beater trailer) with this weeks haul.

a 292 Chevy, and a military surplus gen that’s donating a Willys flatty banger
Probably around $250 worth of junk

gonna make 700hp? Nope. Not even combined.

but I got my ring. Been looking for a good 292 for over a year. Found lots of em but not this cheap amd ez to grab.
The Willys banger was a bonus. My youngest is building an early 50s Jeep

 

I need to go picking with you .

 

I believe its More humorous what Australians are willing to pay for parts !

 

I sold a

Nice looking, match piston part number to head type.... and you got a winner.

 

Interesting thread!

I have to admit Root my first thought that came to mind was my 84 year old Dad's thinking that things should cost what they did 30 years ago. However after digesting what you said a bit, I get what you are ranting about!

For me it has always been more about the lack of time instead of the lack of money & it took me decades to figure out that it was OK to let people you trust do things you don't have time for! Example : I bought a Butler stroker kit for my 421 & for the 1st time in my life I let my machine shop assemble it completely. Also since I just got my new Summit catalog a couple of days ago & am working on my OT Morrison Chassis car, I see a Blue Print 632 big block making 815HP for $17.5K complete with EFI or $1k cheaper with a carb. Couldn't possible build it for that & definitely don't have the time to either, so that might happen next year.

Keep searching there are deals to be had as mentioned previously & I am sure someone here would send you a link for what you are looking for if they see it.

God Bless
Bill
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...ar-transport-hauling-open-or-enclosed.614419/

 

Can I go with you guys?