What do you do when a project is way over budget and is still not driveable let alone finished. Don't know if I should try to sell it part it out or park it and let it rust away, even the best case scenario i would only get back a small fraction of what I have put into it
If you can preserve it in current state, and have someplace to put/park it, just put it aside & wait for finances to improve. If you have to sell it you'll likely take a big hit. What type of car? That matters too.
Sounds like bad planning or not enough research. It happens sometimes. More than folks will admit. Maybe you need to sell, get something else and start over.
Are you building it for you or to flip? IF for you who cares if it's over budget? I haven't built a car in budget in my life. Just build it and enjoy it.
I never set a budget because I won't stick to it anyway. I build it the way I want and when I run low on funds I just wait until I save enough to go to the next step. I always find things to do on it that take more time than money while funds are tight It gets done eventually.
If you can, find a place to store it inside at a low or no cost so it won't deteroirate. Then wait until your finances improve and finish it. It may take a while more to complete, but otherwise you will take a huge hit if you sell it now. A lot depends upon your age, life expectancy, your financial needs, type and model of car and if you have the patience to postpone your project. Hope it works out for you.
Dude... that was... funny! I would store it and save to get it driveable. Follow the advice here: http://www.how-to-build-hotrods.com/hotrod-advice.html Don't sell it... you'll regret it.
I was getting over budget very early in my build so I set a mental cap of what I could afford per month for parts. It made what I originally thought was a 6 month project to almost a 3 yr project, but I got it on the road. Still have things to do, but it it mostly all there. If you don't have the money, it might just take more time. That is exactly what happened to me.
Don't worry too much about it. I say, tarp it up and wait for the money to come. If you were doing it to save money, you picked the wrong hobby and if you were doing it to make money... well... you might be crazy. You did it for love and when more money comes, you continue. That's my take on it.
Let's see........way over budget, not finished..................sounds very normal to me. So what is the big deal, EVERY project goes way over budget and takes a lot longer than any of us thought. You push into a corner and then work on it some more when finances allow. It is that simple. These things rarely have a timetable or realistic budget forecast. Don
The car is a 31 pontiac coupe this is a car I have wanted to do for 25+ years i am not new to building project cars and this was going to be the last one i will ever do. 2 years ago I finally found a good car to start with it was a solid original car it was a little more than I wanted to pay but was the best one I had found so I got it. I started out with a good sized budget that could have bought a couple nice muscle cars. A lot of work has been done and it has been done very well all the parts I have used are top quality and I am very happy with the shop that is doing the fab work. I knew going into this that doing a non ford was going to be costly but didn't expect to be 10k over and still not be able to get a driveable car which at this point I could live with untill I can afford to finish it. The last couple years my health has been deteriorating and isn't getting any better my wife has been very supportive with this even though she isn't into the car thing. Lastly this project has not caused me financial problems but I had hoped that after I am gone the wife would be able to sell this but I would not want her to try and sell an unfinished project
Is it a vehicle that means something to you, sentimental value? If not, you might be better off to get rid of it unless you have a place top put it indoors. If you keep it, it might eat at you as a reminder of something you didn't finish. If you let it rust away you won't get anything out of it. Maybe you can take solace from somebody else getting some enjoyment from it.
Is it close to driveable? Rat rod ad enjoy it? My parents are getting up there and dad's been slowly cleaning house, so I understand that. I wouldn't s**** it out, find someone who share's your dream and sell at a minor loss? Most of all, pray for wisdom?
If you started with a good car why was so much put in? With a good car and 10k I could have built a driver in a few weeks at my shop.
All my projects take more money than I planned and take longer than I planned. I just keep picking away at them and hope they are finished before I am.
By good car it was a rust free car to start with but a 31 pontiac is basically a wood buck with the sheet metal nailed to it so prety much all the wood has to be replaced. The car was also chopped and channeled. All that was used from the original ch***is was the rails. The engine is somewhat exotic and that and the drivetrain was 10k. This is a unique car and done would be awesome but right now I just don't know if I want to keep throwing money at it
Unless you're desperate for money there's no reason to sell it. Put it aside until a few bucks show up. There are always things to do on a project that don't cost anything but time and when you are short on money for parts just spend the time sanding or grinding. As I've gotten older I quit worrying about finishing projects when I realized that it doesn't matter if you don't. Just enjoy the time spent and friends company.
An unfinished car is worth the value of the parts. Trying to find a buyer for an unfinished 1931 Pontiac with an exotic engine might be a little difficult without taking a fairly large price hit. The labor that you have paid for will also be tough to get back. If you are willing to write off half of what you have in it, sell it. Neal
I am in similar cir***stances. I'm getting ready to go back to finish probably the last car I'll build. I've been lucky to be able to build cars for others to finance my habit which is what I'm doing at this moment. I also save huge sums of $$ not paying others. That's given me the luxury of not keeping tabs on the $$ I spend on my car. It does make me have to work harder than I should when I run over budget. But it was my idea so I shut up and keep working. I'm doing exactly what I want and have no complaints. The car I'm building for myself will be worth damn good money but only if I finish it, but they never sell for what you put into them. You are at a fork in the road of life. It sounds like you can't/shouldn't spend what it will take to finish the car properly. I can guarantee you will not get it all back being a non Ford as you already know. Figure out a honest/reasonable figure for what $$ you can expect if you sell it as a project or part it out. Talk to your wife and decide if you should sell it now or if she is willing to try and sell it herself. If she is willing then you can keep dumping $$ into it and hopefully get to drive it. Make sure she knows more money spent in the future will probably be lost. Getting old ****s, I don't recommend it to anyone if you can avoid it...
You (as in any general person) don't need a truckload of money to build a Hot Rod IF you have the car and its in reasonable shape. The real money stuff comes in at the bodywork/paint stage. Now...IF you are into every expensive ch***is/drivetrain trinket you can possibly source from a catalog and have all the work farmed out to builders, then yes, it can get expensive very early on! If thats the case and you love the car, accept that the car will be worth less than you spent and just finish it and enjoy it. True value isn't all about the final cost. This isn't a money making hobby...not for most "owners" anyway! Even people who do all the work themselves are hard pressed to break even, especially if they factor in their hours of labour.
Rat rod never It's not an issue of lack of money just not sure if I should keep spending it Engine is still a pontiac
Sounds like you're starting to think about your mortality, and worrying about whether you're doing the right thing to finish this rod. I can tell you it wont be worth a fraction of what you've invested if you sell it now, unfinished. The only way to maximise the value will be to finish it, or get it very close to done. If you want to sell it at a loss and wait for the reaper, then that's your choice. But I'd forge ahead and stop thinking about how much time I may or may not have.
Me too, finish it, or..at the very least, get it to driving stage so if you do croak, she at least has something to sell. Better, get it to driving stage and....DRIVE IT while you got time, they're cars, not investments, use it.
The Jalopy Journal
