Building - Doing everything yourself vs. farming some of it out.

I do almost all of my own work simply because I don't have the money available to pay someone to do it for me.

Still a guy needs to know his limitations and if his skills aren't up to certain tasks it's better to farm them out. That should be the criteria that a guy uses, know your limitations when it comes to building a rod or custom and get help with those items and go on about your business.

Anyone on the board who is physically able can sit and peck and file and sand on a fender until we get it right. It may take a long time but it can be done. With the same token most of us are lost when it comes to rebuilding a transmission or rear differential and in most areas there is someone who will "bench" a transmission for a hundred or what the going price is plus parts.

I get rather tired of seeing the same clowns constantly try to browbeat others into the concept that if you don't do everything on your own car except make the air to go in the tires you are a nobody. We don't all have the same skills nor do all of us have a place we can have a project torn apart to work on it let alone have a parts doner sitting around.

It's taken me 50 years of collecting tools and equipment to have "most" of the stuff I need to be able to reasonably build a rod or custom at home without hauling the parts somewhere to work on them. You can't expect a guy just getting into building his first car to have a shop full of equipment at his disposal unless he has family or friends with a well equipped shop.

 

Way back when I was in the building trade. I built an historically accurate reproduction of a Nags Head boathouse singlehandedly, and I restored a wooden boat by my little ol' lonesome. Am I glad for the experience? Yes.

But to be honest, I really enjoy working with craft specialists who know their trade. My business has been very good to me and I can afford to work with a professional and/or restoration shop. I want to work with someone with the flexibility to let me specifiy exactly what I want. It's been much more satisfying to me than doing it all myself.

Maybe it's just age, and I don't have the patience that I once had. Dunno. Just don't have the motivation- or time- to hit it hard and do it all.

 

well i just wished I could afford to send some stuff out,but haveto try to get through it
just bought tig mig and pplasma, trany jack and tire balancer and tire machine. did not want to but friend sold their equip.

most of upholstery i draw the lines to sew and send it out due to no machine

sure glad I can do bodywork just spoted in a show car

i guess I have seen scrounging most of my life but am still doing it but have made a few acomplishments

 

i say try everything once. cant hurt and you may surprise yourself. but i do everything myself, i dont like depending on others. electrical.... i still burn things up .

 

I will build the car and do most things but farm out the electrical, trim and final paint. In saying that I had friends help rebuild the engine and transmission. I'm multi-skilled but not that confident in my abilities when I want to go fast.

 

I like to do everything myself....sense of satisfaction I guess. I have always been a hands-on hot rodder.......learned to do whatever was necessary at an early age because I had no money to pay for work. When I broke stuff, I could always fix it....better and quicker. Got certified as a welder and inspector, built quite a few engines, rebuilt just about everything on a hot rod at one time or another. If I don't have the right tools or equipment I buy them and will always have them.......saves money in the long run. Learned to do body work, paint and R&P naugahyde interiors as a teenager. It was like building a complete hot rod shop one piece at at time over 50+ years.

 

Do most of my own work - sometimes have to give myself a little (or a lot) more time than I might be happy with to get to the level I like. A lot of guys mentioned not doing chrome, I found if I do most of the nasty polishing stuff on my Baldor before I take it to the chrome shop it ends up cheaper ( and many times ends up better looking). The other thing I've learned is that if whatever you're doing isn't up to snuff, throw it away and start over.

 

On my cars, I do it all except final bodywork and upholstery. And that's OK.
On my homes, the older I get (the older my wife gets - I don't age!) the less I do. With a family home and two rentals, I've blessed myself with a friend who's an outstanding carpenter. On those things it's easier to just write a check and share a great dinner together after the work's done.

 

Traditional hot roding was a U build it no frame and running gear kits and crate motors. You used what you could scrouge up and strip off the stuff you didn't need.

 

Amen to that!!

 

Well said . Having been in the custom paint bus. for almost 40 years , I've been fortunate to have worked for some of the best fabricators / builders / manufacturers in So Cal. When I started my roadster I called on my friends in the industry for help and insight. the end result is a well built and safe car that's fun to drive and pretty much troublr free. I've seen the many years that these guys have put into learning and perfecting their craft and that was the level of craftsmanship I wanted . I admire those of you that have the skills to do much of your own work , however my skills are limited to my own profession.

 

I'll send the car out for upholstery, and I wouldn't begin to think of wiring the thing, I'd want to blame someone else for the fire.

 

Having limited space and tools there is only so much i can do. I turn to club members and mates for help and normally get most things done or pointed in the direction of a man that can. Not having a huge budget to play with has also forced me into doing things i thought i couldn't do. Did my first engine swap in years not so long ago and going to do all the suspension mods with some helping hands over the following months. I'm glad to be doing these things but when quality and tricky work needs doing, on many things i have to pass it on.
I've wanted to build a nice hopped up motor from the ground up but lack the skills and knowledge. A friend ( engine builder) has offered to over see the build with me doing all the donkey work. Really looking forward to getting started and tearing down the old block. I know its going to be expensive but there's no rush and it's all going to be learning for me and no doudt will take a while.
Just long for the day when i can have a huge garage like some i see on here and fill it with tools and cars and learn alot of the things that hold me back on builds. Day dreaming again!

Dan

 

My rule is to do it myself if I have the tools. If I don't have the tools how much does it cost to buy them? If the tools cost less than the labor charge I figure I get the tools "for free" and have them for next time. But some things are just too costly.

So, I do bodywork but leave the painting to someone with a spray booth. I might assemble an engine but leave the machine work to an auto machine shop. I have my little MIG welder but for heavy duty welding, go to a welder etc etc.

It also pays to have someone do the work if you don't have the skills or time. Or if you just don't like doing certain things. It's supposed to be fun after all.

 

I do everything myself except for block boring/machining.......I found that I need to do everything myself in order to call it "mine" (good or bad)....
Tom

 

I do as much as I can. Figure that it is a learning experience. Not alot of talent in this area anyways.

 

This goes for me too. I have nearly finished my ground-up AV8 build. It's taken three years. Boxed and zeed the A frame, shortened the torque tube and driveshaft, welded a LOT of new metal into the body, rebuilt the trans, brakes etc, wired it up, painted it, halfway through upholstery. etc, etc.

 

My Daytona is the 'do everything yourself' car. I know mechanical, and I have enough friends who will teach the body and paint work, upholstry as I go. To keep this in context though, the chrome will get sent out (would love if the shop let me do the work...), the machine work will get sent out and I can't sew. I can buy the interior kit for the car and do the install. Many of the parts being powdercoated may be sent out.

As many mentioned, no foul with sending stuff out. I want to learn with this so we'll see how things go.

 

I've done complete cars in the past ( the works ) and still do the vast majority myself. But there comes a point in time in your life where you realize that your time is worth more to you than buying a service or part that will get you down the road quicker. It used to be a pride thing, but once you can prove to yourself and others that you can get the job done and you get older that seems to fade some and you learn to farm some things out. Bartering was good also but seems to becoming a lost art lately. So I guess if you can afford to farm some stuff out and your good with that, why not?

 

I painted the plastic bonnet emblems on my Buick with nail polish. Does that make me a rodder? Heheh,

 

I do everything myself apart from trimming, tried but just can't get it right.

On customers cars I do most of it but I put the paint & bodywork out as i just don't like doing it !!!