Are you a 100%er?!? Do you know one?!?

100%er being someone that does it all from stem to stern, upholstery to exhaust, everything on their car! I'm far from being one, but I'd like to be! After dealing with some shops, I can understand why you'd want to do it all yourself!

 

I'm a 100% do-it-yourselfer for the simple reason that I can't afford to pay someone else to do it for me. That basically means agricultural instead of artful.

 

I am a DIYer for the same reason. I can't afford to pay other people to do things for me. I built my house with my own 2 hands and I work on all of my own cars.

 

Between my brother and I we do everything but upholstery, and we could probably figure that out as well.

 

There are VERY few people here, or anywhere, for that matter, that are 100%ers. And of the people that are, 99.9% shouldn't be.

Sure, there are plenty of people who can do a car beginning to end and get it running and reliable, and see a project through to completion. But only a fraction of a percentage could do the metal fab, engine and trans building, ch***is setup, wiring, finish body work, paint and polish, gl*** and upholstery all themselves. Rattle can and rustoleum, installation of crate engine, and mexican blanket interiors don't count in my definition of 100%ers.

 

I can honestly say that I have done every thing you can do on a car, short of machining my own internal parts for the engine or trans. I have ***embled both of those and, to some degree, manufactured every other major component for one car or another. All that hands on has taught me that some things are simply worth paying someone else to do. Now I like to hire out machine work, auto ****** work, upholstery and usually final paint. Paint and upholstery depends on how nice I want it. I do tear into a manual ****** now and then, but I'm never excited about it.

I'll happily wear an 87% patch.

 

I'd say most people have their niches, whether it be body and paint, or engine building prowess, etc. Lots of people are competent or somewhat proficient in one aspect or another, whereas they are very knowledgeable or expert in another. Some work almost always gets farmed out to someone who is an expert in that field.

I do not consider myself a 100%er. I do any of the work that I feel I can do 100%

 

I've never done 100% on any one car, but I've done just about everything you can to be a 100%'er. In other words, I've rebuilt engines, trans, rear ends, fabbed parts, upholstery, paint, sheet metal, etc. Even concept dwgs. But never all on one car. Nowadays, for the first time ever, I have more money than time and I'm paying for more and more stuff to be done. Not only is it getting done quicker and of better quality, but it let's me do the work I enjoy.

 

id call myself a 95%er.

My gal has the other 5%. I cant sew, but she can.

 

I can certainly do anything mechanical on a car, but I'll happily pay someone to do my paintwork. I've never done upholstery either, but I can sew fairly decent. You'd be amazed what you learn as a broke college kid.

Save me one of those 87% patches scotty!

 

im not a 100%er but i do all my bodywork, metal fab, customization, rebuild my own frontends, i do my own wiring, i prime my cars, change out cluthces/ axles all the stupid little stuff, redo entire brake system, interiors, but so far i havent rebuildt a motor or trans or rear, but i might get there one day i still gotta rebuild my 390. some things i just dont mind paying up the extra money to have professionally done just so i dont have to stress about it like final paint. and motors and trans and stuff, just so dont have to worry about it later down the road.

 

I guess I'm as close to 100% as I can get. I cant do chrome, and I cant rebore a block or grind a crank, but I can and do the rest myself. Partly because I cant afford to pay other people to do the work, and partly out of sheer cussedness. The trick with many jobs is to break the job into sections, for example: wiring is really quite simple if you break the circuits down into lights, charge, ignition etc, and do one circuit at a time.
I paint in my shed, and use acrylic laquer. It may seem outdated, but things like dirt in the paint are very easy to rectify. I have a stick welder for frame work, and a wirefeed for bodywork, and an industrial sewing machine. I've rebuilt engines and trans for 45 years, and I guess I would not enjoy having someone else do the work for me, even if I could afford it.

 

I,m a 100 percenter although on my 57 I was in the position that I was able to pay Mikes Customs and Cl***ics to do the body and paint for me.I rebuild my own engines,do the electrical, and what ever else needs doing.I used to do body and paint at the former dealership I worked at.I,ve been at this type of stuff for 34 years now and if you gotta save money you gotta learn.....

 

Just had this conersation with a bro, I am defintly a 95 percenter, not sure if it is a lack of trust of the job getting done or just because I am cheap! I also build parts I could actually buy, that is a whole nuther story.

Dave

 

As far as what defines 100%, I'd say that everything that can be accomplished with typical home garage type tools, other wise where do you draw the line. Even if someone has a machine shop in thier home, do they cut thier own nuts and bolts?

I would consider myself a 100%. My last project was an off topic car, but I did everything from structure repair, rust repair, paint and body work, wiring, complete interior, gl*** installation, suspension, engine rebuild, trans rebuild and even added some custom touches. And I didn't use a crate motor or roll my paint job and it was quite show car worthy thank you.

I also look at every part of a project as learning experiance. I look forward to learning new things so when a project needs something I've never done, I look at it as an opportunity to learn something new.

 

Here is one DIY dude , and allways can take a look in to mirror if something isn´t pleasing eye... Had to learn the hard way and now i´m convinced that i can do just about anything my self or at least learn to do.... So far i have made all the works from ground up , exept machinery work for engines because i dont have all the equipment.

If someone is scared to try something that he/she hawen´t done earlier , just go ahead with open mind and you will suprise yourself what you can do!

 

I do everything but upholstery, i can't even sew a ****on on my shirt hardly.My old man is a diy, like makes his own jets for carbs on the lathe kinda do it yourselfer.

 

100%er is a hard to define. I think the guy portrayed (can't remember the name) in the movie "The Worlds Fastest Indian" would be close to a 100%er. Pouring his own pistons and etc. I call myself a parts replacer and half *** fabricator. I can do most things to build a car and if I can't, I research and try and figure it out and ask questions. This internet thing has changed everything and information is easily accesable so therefore I steal ideas and put my own twist on them. I don't hire out any jobs except machining because I can't afford the equipment. I have had some stuff hired out on some previous projects but, my experiance is that mostly I get nothing but **** back that was too expensive and not done the way I wanted it in the first place. What I enjoy most is the investigation and then the implementation of what I have learned. That being said I am pretty much a 30%er I don't pour pistons and I started with something someone else designed and manufactured to begin with.

 

My goal has always been to TRY to do 100%. I learned a ton working in the garage with my dad over the years, from engine building to paint work to wiring and everything mechanical in between. Haven't tackled upholstery yet, but that will be coming soon. The satisfaction of doing it yourself is most importatant to me. Besides, I don't have the funds to pay someone for work I'll gladly do.

 

I can do it all...but that does not mean I want to. and for the record, I have yet to install a headliner that looked right. call it my achilles heel...But me and headliners don't get along.

 

25% body and paint.
25% frame and suspension.
25% wiring, upholstery, interior
20% engine ***embly, engine/transmission build
90%

I contribute the other 10% to engine machine work (IE: boring, hot tank and alignment rack, tire installment on rim)


Although on this build I might be pushing the 99% ...Houston!: We have a machine shop at our disposal.

 

My car is a 95%er. My pops did everything in our attached garage except the interior. He always said that if mom had a sewing machine, he'd a tried that too.

 

If I had all the tools, space and time. I'd be a 100%er. The three I've mentioned all cost money. I don't have money so I try to do the most I can with my limitations. I can't even afford to have someone do it for me. So I would be honest and say I'm a 50%er, half of the time.

 

Henry Ford was the closest anyone will ever come to being a true 100% er,,,,

Raw materials in one end of River Rouge, and model Ts (and later) out the other.. figuratively speaking...

I think he still outsourcsed tires, even he couldn't quite pull it off...

 

I've usually done most of it but I wouldn't come close to calling myself a 100% builder.

When it comes down to br*** tacks few of us have access to the equipment to machine the block, heads and crank for an engine, let alone the skills to properly operate them. I wouldn't say that should be grounds to knock someones effort.

Others no matter how skilled they are find that there is at least one part that they either don't do as well as they would like, don't like to do or don't have the facilities to do.
If you work on your car in an attached garage in the house your family lives in it may not make good sense to spray paint in that garage.
If your welding is suspect it may not make good sense to attempt to weld pieces that are critical to safety. Not to say that you can't fit them up and tack them in place and get someone with the skill to weld them correctly. 35 years ago I built my T bucket frame that way. Tack it together at my house with my Wards 110 somewhat of a welder and pack it down to my buddy's house and have him weld it right and haul it back home.

I've probably seen 5 really nice cars in the past 40 years that I could say were close to 100% owner built by non professional builders.
By that I mean a finished and detailed car that had show quality paint and upholstery, the ch***is work was top notch and the owner had ***embled his/her own engine.
I've seen hundreds that the owner attempted to do everything and something is always lacking. Usually fit and finish or safety.

With that there are more than a few revered cars on the HAMB with build sheets that read like the who's who in traditional rodding circles. Engine by_______ Ch***is by________, body work by_________ paint by ________ wheels redone by________ upholstery by__________. Do we knock those cars because they wern't 100% built by the owner or give them the "oh wow" and go on?

I think the issue should be "can I do this right and safely and will it be safe when I am done". Meaning, welding, brake, ch***is and steering. If you ***emble an engine wrong and it breaks, you just end up doing it again, if you paint the rig and it doesn't turn out you sand it off. If you sew up the interior and it doesn't look just right you do it over but some things may be safer to farm out.

 

100%-er?
Seems hard to define....I'm with Thorkle Rod on that one...

BTW-I'm about a 10% hahaha.
Which has it's pros & cons....benefits of having good friends, and pitfalls of being a girl I guess.

 

I am, kind of. Cutting Gl*** is the only thing I have not done, but I've installed a lot of it. My 51 Vicky is the latest example of Home Built. I worked for years as a motor builder/machinest. I know how to run a boaring bar, grind cranks, do head work. I worked in a Chrome shop for 2 years. Like most I started doing tin work on my own stuff because I was Broke and Married. I worked for a while in a Body shop then as a Grunt in an Upholstry Shop. I know the Basics. The 51 Shown took myself and my Brother 12 weeks to build from Junk Body off the frame to what you see. I could not have done it without him. To learn it all and get "Fair" at it took me 40+ years. I now have things I perfer to do and others I don't like to do. On this Car all the Machine work on the Motor was done by Summers Machine then I put it together. My Brother did the 700-R-4 while I was doing the Motor. All the Upholstry was done right here. The Chrome was done at Oregon plating. The Gl*** was cut by Rick at Valley Gl*** and he also installed the windshield for me. Doing it All is over rated. Friends like to help out and all these Co's are owned by Friends. Other than the Plating shop I could have used there equipment and done the work myself. I find a lot of pleasure in saying who did what to get the Car done to this point. It's also the first Car of my own to have Paint and Upholstry in more than 40 years. When you do this **** day in and day out somehow getting to your own doesn't seem to happen. I'm now over 60 and trying to finish a few things I started when I was 30.
The Wizzard

 

I left out Von Danno for laying the Color on my Firewall after I spent to many Hours taping it up. Turned out way Kool. Thanks Danny
The Wizzard

 

Same here , have done everything from all the fab, interior , rebuilt my own motor and trans, front end and body and paint , because it cost to much to pay some one else to do it.

 

You know what makes a TRUE hundred percenter????

Knowing which 10-15% you should farm out, and being a good enough judge of character & craftsmanship to get exactly what you want out of those people.

I would say the problem is more logisitical than craftsmanship. There are alot of talented people that quickly acquire any craft before them. The problem is having shop space where you can weld/grind/paint/s***ch/buff/etc. You literally need 4 or 5 seperate workspaces to do it right.

Any home builder who claims hundred percenter out of budget necessity is only kidding themselves. If you ever acquire the cash to hire a top notch craftsman to do a challenging task, you'll finally see the true 100% limit.

The journey there is ****ing awesome!