How much money behind your build?

My wife and I have a budget. I use zero from the house. I sold some items and bought my 47 ford panel.
A friend of mine was going to donate his 99 S10 to goodwill, until he found out I was needing a frame. I bought it for $200.00.
I removed individual parts as I stripped it down to the frame,and listed them on CL. I sold everything except a few parts that I still have.
By doing this,
I am $650.00 to the good on all that I have already spent buying the panel, steel and supplies. I am doing this complete build myself, so the cost is very little for me, just time. I am also unemployed so this project has kept me from getting lazy.
I am about to say screw the rat race and retire.

 

I really like working on cars, but I'm not super attached to any of my projects. I'd sell any of it if a good price is offered. I then take that money and re-invest it in tools or new projects. Over the years I've been able to acqire a pretty nice setup and can honestly say theres a bunch of my stuff all over the country that I'm pretty proud of.
A lot of my cars I've only hung onto for a few DAYS before selling. Most people wont do that. I've even sold a lot of cars before completion if the offer is right.
When I started this most of my cars had less than a grand invested in them. Projects today are in the tens of thousands.
Most people think that if they had a million dollars they could turn it into ten million easily. But they never have been able to turn a hundred into a thousand. Go figgure.

 

Im kinda in the same boat, 2 kids, not much money to spend on car parts, but I also dont spend money on any other toys, hobbies, etc..

I have a little less than 10k in mine from start to finish, never left my shop, still needs an interior...
It can be done, just takes some scrounging and help from hot rodding friends.,

Oh, and its also taken me about 5 yrs to get to this point.

 

I don't know what is in it, low low 5 figure and I have done from the frame up (all but welding the front end in) myself. I chose to buy a lot of reproduction stuff rather than reworking what was there because I wanted to drive it in my life time. That jacked the price tag quite a bit. I've bought quite a few tools too and that is part of the figure. I usually sell my previous car to fund the next one and bank my monthly allowance in my "Hot Rod Fund" to keep it moving forward.

 

I'd say the thing that drives me nuts the most about it, is on nights after work, when I'm standing in the garage looking at all of the what-if projects that just need some cash to get going.

I find myself most nights just cleaning up the garage or working on something small that doesn't need much cash.

 

save your pennies . i would take the '66 hd off you hands .................. steve

 

Do all the work yourself and take your time. You will save a ton of money.

 

That's the one I was thinking about, but the wife said NO.

 

Well,

I've been planning my build for about 10 Years or so, and I have saved all the money I need to finish it up-my problem is time-I'm lucky enough (so far) to have kept my Job, but I only get Saturday's to work on my project, so it's been a long road-the Kids are all gone (which saved me a ton), and my Wife works, so we are doing o.k.-

 

I used to work at a shop that built nothing but 53-56 F100's. I used to get a lot of sidework from customers who would come in for parts who really had no clue on how to work on their vehicles. So I would go to their places after hours and install a wiring harness or something and pick up a chunk of change that was all spare cash for my projects.

 

Toy money comes from sidelines, aka part time jobs, selling off excess parts, s****ping metal (body from donor car, frame from project car).

A lot of the pieces are horse traded back and forth between friends. Needed steel for frame fabbing, two friends donated materials. Only had to buy one four foot piece at the local steel supply.

When toy money runs out, project stops for awhile. Just how I do it, to each his own method.

 

I try not to think about it. As long as I have money in the bank, I can save some each paycheck and my bills are paid, it's best to just not think about it. I will tell you it's the best money I ever spent so far!!!

 

Probably one of thethe biggest reasons I got burned out on going to rod runs and shows with the 48 a few years ago and just let it sit until I got involved here was the constant string of "What's it worth?" or "What Cha got in it?" questions at events I attended.

I don't sacrifice home or family dollars for the vehicles we have and a lot of times the vehicles sit while life gets in the way of hot rods or customs. Well, I have to make an exception, My 30 year old daughter is still fussing because we never took her to Disneyland so some things might have gotten put by the wayside.

As I am not building the 48 to be sold or traded and it's cash value is of no real interest to me I don't keep tabs on it. I do keep tabs on everything that goes into the other two but that is simply because I keep a binder on each one as a build book and a record of where all the parts came from so that when I wheel up to the dmv with it for inspection I can honestly tell them where everything came from on the rig.
Lately it is my bonus check (if I get one) overtime and my share of the tax return that go to buy tools and major car parts. Part of the bonus this year bought my 8BA flathead for the AV8 and part bought a compressor. Overtime paid for the Torch setup that popped up on Craigslist and the 500 Cad for the 71 GMC that is usually my daily driver.

I was around too many circle track racers in Central Texas who's kids lived on beans and weenies so that the dirt track car could have new pistons and the only new clothes the kids seemed to have were race sponsor T shirts. I didn't want my kids to live like that. My oldest son did show up to highschool many Monday mornings sporting a new rod run T shirt but he never got shorted a decent meal because I bought a part for the truck. Often I bought a shirt to take back for him and not one for me.

In just we each spend on our cars we are a diverse group.

We have the guys who scrounge, save and dig for and collect parts for years to build a car they have planned and end up not having a lot tied up in a very nice car.

We have other guys who tend to build every piece on their cars them selves and catch a deal on the work they can't do them selves. Ten hours and a buck fifty in a bracket that they could have hit the buy it now ****on on Monday on, had it in the mail box on Thursday and installed in Fifteen minutes on Saturday morning but they didn't spend that fifty dollars that it would cost to buy it and get it delivered to the door.

We also have a segment who does buy and order parts and pieces every week and spend more cash than time on their cars. sometimes it's guys for who life gets in the way of having time to build a car or conditions don't allow for doing a lot of the dirty work of building a car. The kids ball games or quality time with the significant other might rate higher on the scale than designing and fabricating a bracket or crossmember out in the garage when they can spend a few bucks, have it delivered and bolt it on and get several other things done in those few precious hours set aside to work on the rod.

Everyone is different. My best friend and the guy I call my Big brother tends to find the highest price to pay for items I hunt around to find the lowest prices for. So all of us don't have the same bargain hunting ability or desire.

 

we saved for a long time and waited until we could afford what we wanted.

that said, the car we bought has a nice interior and decent ten foot paint. things i would never be able to afford to do on my own.

the downside is the car has been neglected in other ways and needs my attention. the POs idea of wiring was wire strippers and black tape. that i can work on as i wish or just rewire the whole dang thing in one shot. but the interior and paint is finished and the rest is all hiding and out of site to most other people.

 

I just sold a big train collection to help finish getting the parts I need to finish most of my 55 Ford project . I am on disability and the is NO EXTRA from the one ****py check a month ! So I buy and sell parts to make a couple bucks here and there so I can get something for the 55 Ford . Most of the time it might take a year or so to save enough for the parts I need . I have been gathering parts for my 302 engine and trans build for 3 years now so you get the idea ! I know most are probably better off getting parts than I am but I will keep digging til I finish the car one day , I hope !

RetroJim

 

17 years and not done but heck it's an MG midget so it's small.
$2500 so far. Trades, eBay, one kid all growed up, side jobs , side businesses
little **** left to buy that adds up but can be a runner if it warms up enough to get myazy bones out to tha garage

 

nope not alone!! im the same as well
for the most im getting out of debt so I can start setting aside a little more from week to week now

 

Never had any real money, maybe $1000 here or there. A couple locals and I have made an annual 3 day trip to a "lost" wrecking yard to buy parts to resell and trade. This has financed most of what I've done so far.

My dad and I have never built anything together so... years ago I started scrounging a mix of 32-34 Ford truck/pickup parts to build for my dad as a way of saying thanks for putting up with my ****. He kicks in cash when he can but its a typical low budget build, it should being as "finished" as it will ever be for $6000. I have $2365 in it now, still missing the rear fenders, running boards, grill radiator, etc. I've scrounged a runner 292 Y-block and th350, 33 cab, 32 doors, bed off an old 32 show truck with a million tonneau snap holes, old fibergl*** front fenders, a dropped axle, spindles, front disks, heavy truck ch***is (to be shortened), rear end, etc..

Here are a few pics of the "parts pile".

 

Our project stopped dead about a year and a half ago when I was laid off. Thus no mad money for the hot rod. Well I'm back to work now and things are looking up for us. The 37 is in shakedown mode.
I don't want to know how much we have in the 37!!!!

 

In all I have about $4500 in my OT '78 F150. Cheapest frame-off resto possible. Next project, I'm setting a strict budget of $4000. Some things I could probably live without such as heater, custom wheels, etc.

 

For my own stuff, I work-trade or barter as much as possible. I have about $400 in actual cash in the current (stalled) build, and it is a rolling ch***is, with a SBC, a T56, and a 9" rear, with almost enough '29A CC cab parts to make a decent cab.

Not too much barter going on these days. Everybody needs cash, including me.

 

Once all the family bills are taken care of I try to eek out a little for parts here and there. For me ebay has been a giant help in that if I see a tough to find part I can put it on the card and then pay it off in one or two months. It just seems easier (less painful) than taking cash out of the bank. The reality of it is that this is a hobby and the family comes first. If I ever did come into a big chunk of money I wouldn't dream of dumping it into a project car anyway. I don't really worry about how much I got in it because I'm not a flipper and by doing it a bit at a time I don't have to compromise on the parts I choose for the build. My method is slow but I don't owe anybody anything either.

 

No clue on how much I actually have invested. I have an Idea, and a pile of receipts for parts in case I need them. I told myself NEVER to add it up as it would probably sicken me.

 

It's good to know that I'm not alone. I feel like I'm on the 10 year plan, but I see there are others in the same boat.

It's driving me nuts watching all these cool projects getting going and getting finished, and I feel like I'm stuck in a hole.

Good news, as of today I have about another $250 to spend on parts to get the 235 put back together and closer to getting back in the car.