the first car i built at 15 was a 80 camaro 350.4speed. anyways it was a 500 basket when i bought it and did all new floors and frame rails,new paint,interior,t-tops! (man those were fun!lol)wiring,engine rebuild etc,etc,etc.............. when i first bought the car i sat down with pen and paper and "did the math" and it was a "hey i can build my zapper for 3 grand!.............mor5e like 8 by the time i was done and that was with 0 labour charges except final paint. my dad asked me what i had into it,i told him and he said "if you factored in labour,tools,time,headaches etc you would be into it for almost 20k not to mention you could of bought on done for less" he was right on all counts and i knew it,i turned it around and told him' #1 i loved working on this pig and knowing its done MY way and by ME was worth more then anything else #2 yes i could of bought one done just jump in and go for around 5-10k but i was 16 working part time,i did not have that kind of cash just sitting ion the bank,but weekly runs to the parts house and scouring junk yards and swap meets was more then doo-able. #3 you cant count your labour if you enjoyed doing it! for me building the car is more fun then driving it,i have a friend who has been building his 32 for for longer then i have been alive! 35 years and its "almost done" its a passion for most of us that cant be explained. im building my 50 fleetline right now im 3 years into it and am in no rush to finish it.
^^^ that is so lame! It seems I mght have aquired a few extra bits and pieces cause I occasionally change my mind on things so I will use these to build my next merc a little more economicaly, sides, if one is good two must be better, even almost as good as three. I better submit this reply before my wife walks into this room.
Realistically by the time I'm done with my truck I'll have 18K in it...that includes consumables and raw materials (but NOT labor). The only thing I'm subcontracting out is my interior. SO I really dont think that I did too bad seeing as I A) built the truck myself the way I wanted it and B) it's truley a new truck, nothing has been untouched. Everything has been re-built or re-worked. AND the last time I checked you can't buy a cookie cutter truck that appreciates for that....and it wont near as cool.
I always have a good idea of cost with my builds since I research parts and materials before hand. My labor is free since I do not build them to sell. IMO starting a project not knowing what it will cost leaves a partial project to be sold at a loss, I have bought lots of them over the years. Doing the work yourself and using donor cars for parts keeps the actual net cash out reasonable.
My problem is I have champagne taste and a beer drinker's budget. LOL. I'm frugal. So, I get buy cheaper. If I won the lottery, I would build a six figure car, but ya got to live within your means. It helps to be resourceful and mechanically inclined. Paying other peoople to do the work will send the cost thru the roof. Helps to know how to paint, weld, upholstery, a/c, and wire a car. This is what has helped keep my costs down. I told my son ,if you can read, have the tools, the health, the time, you can build the car of your dreams. Four years later, my son opened his own custom shop with talented guys working for him.
Hey Guns , your wife called......... and bro?????? your in trouble.......... lol man i hope mine doesnt have a alieus on here ....
Doing it all myself and only farming out what I don't do(glass) =priceless You don't build your dreamcar with intent to sell it off, so why keep track of your time? You'll never see a penny for it. So all you need to figure is parts alone. I've been trying to get my hands on an older hotrod thats been sitting in a barn for years. If I ever do get my grubby little hands on it I'm sure I could build it for less than 10k
"We all spend what we can afford one way or the other - sometimes, we end up spending more than we expected though." Everyone I knew in the "olde dayz", spent everything they made minus 10% to live on for the hot rod. If you are really dedicated, you can do wonders that way. You have to be single though or know my former GF. She put her 90% in the pot also.
This one sounds close to me. I know how much it cost me to get to the point of that first trip down the street, but after that first trip, who really keeps track? I much prefer to get it safely moving, drive it through the summer, then work on it more through the winter again. Winter is for building/improving, summer is for driving and enjoying. My "dream car" is usually only a dream for about 5 years before something else becomes my "dream car". Build it, drive it, improve it, enjoy it, sell it. Repeat. Gene
I am sad to say I had close to 35000$ in the 52 somthing I will never do again. the body work alone was $ 15000.
I unfortunately kept track of every receipt on my 1955 F100. When I decided to sell it to build my 1935 Dodge Brothers I found out I had $27,000 tied up. Wow! I got half of it back.
Too much that's why mine all look like crap, except to me....doing it yourself under 25 unless you get crazy with One off parts..paying for a custom to be built 75+
You really waste money when you don't plan things out. When you rush to do things without really thinking them out and then change your mind and have to spend more money to make the changes. I could have had about 10k in my Pontiac, but due to poor planning and changing my mind so much I probably have closer to 16-18k into it. I just consider it a learning experience for my next car
Cannot imagine spending that much on a car. You guys must be sick. Where would you get that kind of dough for a hobby?????? I have $13000 in my 63 Dodge MW. That seemed outrages to me but I spead it out over a few years. The car to the left I have $3500 in including a spare set of tires. The new dragster I am in about $600 so far (motor at its current stage included.) My Car hobby budget is $100 per month. Don
I have less than 35K in ALL my cars, actually less than 25k.....Let's see....That is a 1930 Ford Coupe Project, a 67 GTO, a 72 Blazer, a 1979 F250 Supercab, a 1980 mercedes diesel, and a 1998 S10.
Down here everything is more expensive due to distance. Being a small population things were not produced in high volume compared to North Ameriaca & Europe. You pay extra for the privilege of owning and building car down here, plus our regulations are more stringent so we have to jump through a few more hoops. Nothing is as easy it at first appears as everything must be imported. By comparison only a few chassis and body (Repo glass) builders as well as turn key type builders. There are a few shops out there as well and just as many dodgy back yarders.
I think it's best if you don't add up the receipts on your build at this point , Jim!!! But to answer your question...it all depends on the level of the build it'll take to create your "dream car", and whether you count the labor if you're personally doing all of the work. If you pay someome to do the work, that obviously has to be added.
Depends on what year and make of car you are building. 32 Fords cost more than say a 32 Plymouth to build. Body and parts even though they are the same cost more. I'd say most cost at least 25,000 plus......................
i dont add up my buils anymore. i prefer not to know.what i spend isnt even relative to what it would sell for anyway.i do alot of i quess that will have to do builds now.wanting to build a badass flat head i am now just happy to have one that runs good and dont overheat.i will settle for things now that a few yrs ago i wouldnt have dreamed of doing.i build cars and bikes because that is what it takes to keep from going on a rampage!ive had many people think we are very well to do. NOT.i just learned how to do it cheaper.and its also a ego thing with me.if i knew the true cost of things i wouldnt even go out in the shop....
I agree with you Don,,when I pulled the wagon out of the barn I thought I could clean it up,,get it running and be driving in less than 6 months and for less than 2 grand,,that went out the window fast! I spent my initial figure just buying tools that I had never used or needed in the past because I started with much better body's. Suffice to say I spend a lot of money on equipment just to build the car,,missing parts were hard to find and needed re-chroming when I found them and it took 9 years and one month to the day from the start to finish it. We,Brenda & I have never owned a new car and '54 Wagon was built for less than a many new cars and means more to her than any late model would. Is it worth what I have spent if we were forced to sell,,probably not but that isn't why I built the car,,as Don said,it's a hobby. I don't fish,but I have a friend that probably has 100 grand or more in a couple of bass boats,high powered outboard motors and fishing equipment,,it's his hobby and he loves it as much as I love hot rods. I've built cheap & safe hot rods and I have blew a lot on the wagon,,I have enjoyed them all. HRP
When people who don't know old cars see mine, they often say "you can make lots of money restoring and selling old cars". I see many ads that say $50K invested must sell $20K, some are b.s. but lots are true, and that $50K doesn't include thousands of hours of "free" labor by the builder. I stopped tracking my expenses, I just want to enjoy the cars.
Interesting........I just build stuff and never really think about the cost. The builds keep me busy and out of trouble which would proably cost more. My first hotrod I jointly owned with my younger brother, a '28 Ford roadster. I was 12 years old then in 1958. Still have the car and have less than $1000.00 into it. Runs great but needs another paint job which would more than double the car cost. Last time it got painted was mid '70's and material cost was $154.00. Last car we painted at the shop cost $8700.00 just for the material.....I also have a 1934 Vicky I built to race at Fremont Dragstrip in the late '70's, Chevy with 6x2's, 4spd, ran high 10's, still runs but not as good, daughter who keeps all the shop paperwork says I have about $600.00 into it. In 2003 was tired of always building other folks rides and decided in addition to all the other cars I had, I NEEDED another one. Employes John and Brian said they would help. Got ahold of the late George Santos who helped me with the motor and 15 days later, 972 hours of work and a little over $14,000.00 we had a kool 1926 Ford that ran in the high 8's first time out, had a ball with it until they kicked us out of Paso. I constantly stay in the build at my shop helping other's learn all the skills to do their own work so they can afford to stay in the hobby. If you don't do your own work it's NOT your hobby. Most of my customers work with me at my shop one to three days a week welding, bending, and painting to try to keep the cost down and still spend between $35,000 to $160,000 per project. CRAZY!!!
I read over some of these posts. Although I still don't have cars finished I've had for over 30 years, plus those I drive, which is constant upkeep and improvements, my last work in progress ??? is my 1948 Chevy 1/2 ton panel. First project ever I was gonna keep track of every penny spent. Yea right. I came to this conclusion. If I DIDN'T have a wife, kids, home, bills, eat regularly, etc. I could afford to finish my panel truck. If I don't tell my wife the truth on how much I do spend on it I may live to get a little more done. I also realize that the little I have driven any of them compared to how much time I spend under, over, and in them working, it really doesn't matter if I ever finish! I've had so much fun with cars and car people I should pay my own labor!
To answer the original question, I have about 6k in my current project, not including my labor but including initial vehicle cost. The original purchase price was $2,500. The engine ran well. I did take the engine apart and checked clearances but I did not replace any major components. I'm doing a 90%, frame-off, restoration with some minor modifications. The cost does not include tool purchases. I expect to finish for under 10k. I've done, and expect to do, 99% of the work myself with some help from my son. Not to disagree with your premise, but I think it is possible, with a little research, to fairly accurately estimate the cost of a project, certainly within about 25% and assuming your goals don't change. But you do have to understand all the steps that you will need to take to build what it is you are trying to build. I will say that I am very frugal in many ways when it comes to my hobby. In tools, less so, but in other ways, definitely. As examples, I've never paid any money for my sheet metal supply for replacing body panel sections and my current project had a fair amount of rust. Even in tools I find bargains. I have an older, bench top, Austrian made, metal lathe I bought for $22.50 at an auction with another $200 to tool. My point being that someone does not have to spend tens of thousands of dollars to build a safe, reliable, and enjoyable car. Regardless of what most tv shows and magazines might lead you to believe.
the most expensive car WE own cost ME the Least !!!! When you build hot-rods you do it for the love of the game !! And last of all I would say the true Hot-Rodders don't have a clue how much money a car cost them to build !!!! >>>>.
The Jalopy Journal
