Are there any guys or gals out there with cars or trucks on the road for less than $5000.00? I know its able to be done but want to see what is being done on a low budget.I live in the rusty north so most drivable older cars are in the $1,500 up range. And any thing pre 1973 field find or basket case project starts around the same price. Looking for guys that start with nothing no special tools no dads shop no family or friend help.
me, i bought a 45 gmc for $3500, pulled the drivetrain that was shot from sitting outside for 15 years, found a front end and rear end that was removed from a 46 chevy pickup, it was a 59 chevy car rear with new brakes and the front end had 50's brakes installed and new, paid $200 for every thing springs and all, i bought a 250 I6 running with a flywheel and a rad for $100, i had a sag 3 speed with a bellhousing someone gave me years ago and i bought a shifter from the wrecker for $25, i bought a new duel master for $40 and all new brake lines, borrowed a set of wheels and paid $30 each for used tires, a few other ods and ends and in two weeks i was on the road, drove the truck for 4 years till it got hit, just waiting to get her on the road again.
I wish i could get anything to start building on for 1500. Problem is that people often want to much for anything. BUt i am still looking.
I think I'm around 5K now, maybe a little over. Your number one goal should be safety and not having a car under 5k.
Is there anything in particular that you're looking at buying? My '65 Chevy truck was built for around $1500. That's because alot of Chevy truck parts up to '73 are interchangeable and pretty easy to find at your local "pic & pull" type junkyards. Once you decide what kinda car/truck you're gonna build, it's time to do alot of research to find out about upgrades you can do on a budget. There are plenty of threads here on this particular subject because alot of us are on a budget. Here's the truck... The motor that came with the truck when I bought it. I just "freshened" it up and it was back on the road....
Best advise I can give you is ... network, network, network. Let everyone know what you are looking for, even ask people whom you don't think of asking. And of course use the web. I got some smoking deals right here, sometimes it is a matter of right place, right time. I agree with the folks that say focus more on the safety and not so much on the budget.
Our problem up here is rust most field cars over 20 years old are total rust buckets check koolkemps build pics.
safety is always an issue we need to p*** a mandatory safety check in our province and are liable to be stopped and retested by our transport or police department at any time. It is hard to build a HAMB friendly budget car up here. I do have a 1967 non HAMB car now but still trying to build some thing more in the basic pre 1934 body style. I just got a call on some free T sedan body parts and have an A frame we will see.
from this, was a family gift several years ago, but sat waiting. Truck was FREE. took it to a show and shine for les than 600.00 and 3 weeks of work. New gl*** is all thats left
If you're going to bolt something together, not needing to rebuild the engine, I'd say that $5000 is possible. I read not much of a garage or tools available. Doing a lot of fab work and building a hot motor on something bigger than a T variation, unless somebody GIVES you the foundation, seems out of the spending window. I know what it took for me to do my ch***is fab work and build my engine BEFORE buying any shiny stainless fasteners or pretty valve covers. Before buying the first aerosol can of primer for the swiss cheese body. You had better be very frugal and resourceful to keep it under the intended dollar figure. It's not impossible.
Yes definately let people know your looking for something, the more eye's the better. Also you gotta have freinds help especially if you want to do it on a budget, it's also nice to bounce ideas off each other. Like everyone else said safety first.
Roadster pick up or a modified will be the cheapest build for a early 30s style car. No side gl***, wipers, doors etc.
Friends are a big help if you plan on building on a budget. I did my build for under 5G's but. But there is know way I couldnt have done it without my Car club buddies. I got my truck out of a field for 100 bucks..Picked up about 500 dollars in steel..my front end was the mostexpensive thing i bout..around 1800. 1 of my C.C. buddies gave me the bed, another gave me the rearend. ****** only cost me 135. & my tires cost me about 700. I have added a link to my thread on the build of my truck..feel free to check it out. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=311232
Truck $850.00 motor $400.00 trans $100.00 rear end $100.00 tires $900.00 Amount of fun I have had priceless !!no I am building a 33 3 window and I built my shop truck for about $4000.00
...built this rat truck for around 5 grand...lots of swappin and diggin in the old parts lying around....all the work done by me.
hands down the absolute best way to build an under 5 grand hot rod is to buy someone's busted project. Keep your ears and eyes open. Every now and then some wanna be finally realizes that he bit off way more than he can chew, and decides he wants a simpler hobby (like stamps), and dumps his project. Best thing about this type of deal is you usually get a hell of a lot of new parts. And of course this economy helps too. If you have the money, and they NEED the money, christmas could come early.
Depends on how you do the math. If you get something FREE and sell off some parts, reinvest that profit in more parts, sell them and keep rolling you'll have a free car and money left over. It may take a lifetime, but my '30 Roadster doesn't owe me a dime.
I bought this one in '04 and was driving with new tires for less than a grand. Jan 05 we changed the engine and ****** for an engine and ****** that I built from pieces for about 2500. The swap cost us about 400 to do because I changed out some things. That makes us in for about 4K It was never pretty but it was dependable and fast for what it was. I drove it daily until '09. The original price was defered by some swaping and trading, the engine ****** combo was unexpensive because I built it from pieces and shopped around a lot for good deals. My current project will cost me a bit more than that before I'm done but that's because I have allowed myself some ammenities.
The Jalopy Journal
