how long does it take you "average guys" to go from parts to rolling???

not necessarily done, but from a pile of parts, or concept to driveable ???

I started pulling my project down this summer, I now have a pile of parts, still buying a few here & there... I had hoped to have everything together to atleast "rolling" by next summer... unfortunately life & other projects interfere... I'm still optimistic I can get it rolling in one year, & detailed to all but final paint, by the end of year two... I'm trying to get something accomplished each week on it, so I'm always moving ahead on it ( working on front suspension right now )... just curious what is normal for the "average guy" ???

 

18 months to years

 

I'm a year into mine, and its in more pieces now than it was when I bought it!


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I bought a project model A a few years ago. The frame was done, motor and tranny were mounted, brakes hooked up, etc. It took me two and half months to mount the body, install gauges, seat, fuel tank, wiring, aand work out the other little details to get her on the road. It was just satin paint and no finished interior but I drove the hell out of it all over the midwest.

 

Last couple of projects have taken 12 months to 2 years.... but they are never done...LOL

This truck has taken me about 12 months working in my small garage/shop after work in the evenings and some weekends....still need to take it all back apart to paint it...
Tom

This is the truck in august 2011....


This is the truck early September 2012.....

 

you've come a long way on that one in 12 months... nice work

 

We've done it in as quick as 88 days and other times it has taken 6 years. The one we did in the 88 days was because my Son had preordered every part, down to the smallest cotter pin, and had it sitting there ready to be used. That made the build a lot easier.

Generally, it takes time because of money and the time to work on it. A year or two is normal though, I think.

Don

 

DON... I don't think of you as "average"... ( totally meant as a compliment )

 

If you were to poll the guys at the local cruise night here in Stl, the answer would be about 15 years. For me, I just sold a project that I started in '90 and never got around to because we are too busy building customer's cars.

 

Thanks, but my ex wife would tell you differently.

Don

 

Takes me about 18 months. My buddies don't understand, they don't (the projects) build themselves, you can't wish them together. When I get home from work I go to the shop. 20 minutes a day gets something done. Make a list, a long list. Cross off what you finish and add to the list it helps.

 

I am doing something this build I have never done before, gathering up all the parts before I begin. I have engine, trans, rear end, wheels,brakes, roll cage, custom headers pre paid, all bought up, I have started on gathering as much NOS parts as possible including front fenders, grille, etc. I am starting next on body rubber and glass. Hopefully the paint and interior will be all thats left. I am hoping to do this build in 18 months or so, time will tell.......

 

I work on mine at the body shop 2 nights a week...3 hours a night. Come home to build the hard parts...engine/trans, dash, insturment cluster, steering wheel, drill axle etc during the week.
I started in '07 with a bare frame [with front axle] and a junk body...only ended up using the top from the body and scourced everything from Steve's, ebay, HAMB classifieds and local guys.
I still gotta make up a decklid skin and then start blocking/sanding/priming...prolly another 2-3 years of work being realistic..lessee, that comes to 7 or 8 years.

 

Built the '32 pickup in less than 6 months..start to finish



On the other hand it took exactly 9 years and one month to the day to build the wagon. HRP

 

Depends on if it is my car or someone else's. I am not as fast as I used to be but I have managed to finish someone else's a car in as little as 6 months lately. My cars even the easy ones take any where from a year to I'm still working on it.

Here is an example, I have a partially assembled car in the driveway that I am going on my fourth year, when I was young and healthy it would have taken a couple of hard weekends tops.

My excuse is, that contrary to popular belief, I have paid my dues and don't have to get it done in record time.

Of course take this with a grain of salt I may be talking out my ass.

 

This thread makes me feel better about my projects and gives me hope..

 

Took me a bit less than 6 years from start to....nearly finished. Sometimes your priorities have to shift from your project to family, and work, and lots of other issues. And I tend to work slowly. It helps to prevent me from making stupid mistakes.
It did help a lot when I retired.

 

Went from drivable to parts and back to drivable in about 18 mos.....

 

A lot of things determin how quick a project will be finished. Cash flow for starters, if work is farmed out how fast the other guys is ane then there is always skill evel, time spent thinking about how to do something is not time spent wrenching.

Some people work faster than others for a lot of reasons, drive is one as well as stamina and coordination/dexterity, health or the lack there of also plays a role and sometimes when we are learning we don't know what needs to be nit picked and what does not.

I had a fella working under me one time that was slower than the advent, but we were not in a high production situation and what he did was always perfect. I put him on jobs that required everything to be on the nats ass. I had another fella that spent forever thinking about the best way to do a job before he ever turned a tap, I fired him. In the time he figured out the best way to do it he could have done it the worse way and been onto bigger n better things. If the second fella was an apprentice I would have kept him on knowing that he was oing to get faster, but he was a journeyman.

Some of what we do has a very large learning curve, there are things for instance that i do that require no though whatsoever on my part. But they are things that I have been doing for a very long time, there are other things that I still have to think about because although I have done them more than once they are things that I have done before I have either done them few and far between or it has been a very long time since I have done them.

 

It usually takes me two or three years from a pile of parts to a finished car.

15 years ago I built a '55 Chevy from parts to finished car in 8 months.
I'm 15 years older now so those days are definitely gone

 

There is actually a fella on here that finishes a car about every two years, look for a Jalopy Journal article called Turd Polisher.

He is a pretty dedicated fella and stays at it. He once said that it takes nine months for him to get one painted and assembled, that is after everything is fit and worked out.

Never mind looking here is a link to the blog:

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=294914&highlight=turd

 

Not sure about the importance of an expediant completion date..I enjoy having something to work on, a reason to go to swap meets, searching all avenues for parts, the anticipation.
Once it's done, it's kind of a bitter sweet thing..like now what?
Normally not long after, I put it up for sale, and look forward to another project. I am trying hard to break up this trend I've been on, as I really envy people who have kept their cars for years on end.

 

Porknbeaner Very good input .I m kinda a late bloomer car wise .Never cared for cars until a few years ago.Now I can't stop thinking about them .Every other thought is car related . I took a Automotive class 2 winters ago at UAF .It kinda sucked I felt pushed through and not enough hands on to fully learn. I tried finding a job at a shop but no one would hire me. I'm covered in ink from head to toe but I ended up at the scrap yard which is better for my family in the end.So I get to work on my cars on the weekends .

 

40... there are other projects that need fixing... I'm pretty much a newbie at this, but I have my old survivor Nash, that could use a summer of freshening, but I'm hoping I can hold off until I have something else "cool" to drive... then there are 2-3 other vehicals waiting to see some work, & the road again...

but you do / should get some enjoyment out of working on the project ( I do... I just have more projects waiting for their turns )... this summer when it was hovering around 100* & high humidity, I was still motivated to pull apart my current project, even though I was fully sweating off a t-shirt in about 20 minutes... MRS. MAGNUM thought I was crazy doing that when it was so hot... thing is, I got some satisfaction "mentally" even though it was brutal "physically"

 

I don't know about pay but a scrap yard is a good place to learn abotu what goes where and how hard it is to remove it or replace it.

 

3 years on this one and should have been done last spring. I need to get off my ass and just do it. Bed needs painted yet.

 

For average guys, not your pro builders, I think if you set a time constraint, you will find yourself getting disappointed. Just let it take what it takes and call it good. If you rush it you will inevitably forget something, if you take too long, you will lose interest. Find a happy spot in the middle and enjoy the build. I've had my '29 roadster for about a year and I'm beginning to put it back together now. So, another year I figure...or two..

 

one month to more than 15 years, depending on how motivated I stay.