Stand back, 'cause when I start braggin' the shit gets deep.........I don't have a crankshaft grinding machine, mill, or lathe, so I farmed that out. Had a pro cut the glass, mainly because I don't have a stone to round the edges and would have felt cheap cutting it and then taking it somewhere to clean it up and having it tempered. The only welding I didn't do was on the spindles, had Johnnys Boiler shop do that. Did everything else myself. Chopped, narrowed, sectioned, and channelled, the body from a 4 door. Did the body work, paint, built the motor, did the upholstery, assembled AC system from assortment of junkyard parts. Had a radiator shop build the radiator to my specs. Did all of the wiring, even made new spokes for the wheels. Sanded the first paint job and had a buddy lay on a new coat 'cause I was going to enter it in a show. Won first prize at a pretty big show(400 plus cars, 11 categories) Proud of that. Not planning another project because I built this one just like I wanted, so what would I do? Duplicating it would be kind of boring. Am doing a little up-grading, just converted the clutch linkage to hydraulic, don't know what posessed me to not do that to start with. I'm keeping a lookout for a cheap bare block to (someday) start buildin' a tire-burnin' 290 to replace the 250, but not this year...........
EVERY THING,,,,other than upohlstery,,,but you know what,,,why is it that it always seem that senerio???? guy,does EVERY THING from the design in his head,,all the metal work(ie.replacing everything except the roof!),then the actuall body repair,suspension rework,,making everything work(swapping rear ends,trannys,,etc...,the actuall engine work(rebuilding) etc... ..painting the damn thing,,,then putting the thing back together and actually driving it and people DIGGING it,,then you have to say ,,,"well,,i built it but ,so & so uopolsterd it,.,) ,NOT that there's anything wrong with that,,but i didnt CAST the rubber for my tires,,or actualy re-chrome my own bumpers,,or whittle out my steel wheels out at the factory....or ,,it just seems that when you say that it always "takes away " from it a lil bit...
with a combination of the tools at home and the tools at work i can do it all, cept for interior, oh yea, and casting, cant do that YET!
I did all the work on my 40 except the boring and valve grind. I even did the upholstery because my wife was "busy" she said. I did not use a kit but cut my own patterns. Boy was that a straight up learning curve. 2400 hrs in the build but I loved every minute of it. Starting a flatty blower motor for it now. Fourdy
I'm way to cheap to pay anyone to do anything for me. I do everything myself from mechanical work to paint and body, and i've dabbled in upholstery.
I've never been able to finish a car enough to actually get upholstery... I can staple a blanket, or some fabric to a piece of plywood,, but that's about it. For me, Its all been a part of the learning curve. I learned how to weld on the floorboards so that no one could see how bad of a job I did. I chopped my first car 4 times before I was willing to back it out of the garage an let someone see it... My engines always cough and spit for a while before they actually carry me down the street,, but each time I do it myself,, and each time, I get a little bit better. ... And looking at my cars... I still have a ways to go before I actualy know what I'm doing.
Man... upholstery must be a mystic art!!! Ha ha ha.... I'm happy to say I've done it all in my backyard garage (actually Dad's garage). Wiring, paint, engine rebuilds...etc. Even "practiced" a bunch on upholstery in customer cars... But I always sell 'em before I stitch my own!!!!
Everything except chroming and some machining by neccesity. More time than money. I like to think of it as being thrifty with a little talent and alot of persistance.
Is it beacuse working with fabrics has been for years considered "women's work?" I for one, would like to redo my entire interior from start to finish, but I know I can't "sew" for shit...and "sewing" has not been traditionally a man's forte. It has to be learned, like bodywork or anything else...but there's something about a guy slaving away at a sewing machine that drives most guys off--(or am I totally off base on this?) If I'm not, then GREAT! Lets start a sewing club! ) GMB's RULE! Pillows and Tablecloths for all on the HAMB! Seriously, I'd like to change that line of thinking, whip up a killer interior with a borrowed sewing machine, and make my own....then help others in need. I need to expand my skillset. anyone else?
I try and do everything possible myself - I often find myself "wasting" time making brackets or some other parts that'd really be cheaper to buy. For some reason buying parts holds little to no interest to me - ESPECIALLY NEW parts. For me the journey is more than driving some perfect car that you got some PRO to build - that's fine if that's your bag - but for me - I am never happier than "wasting time" in the garage building my car. The thought of having someone else spin wrenches on my cars gives me the chills. Over the years this has resulted in more and more "tools" and thus more capabilities - mastering the Hot Rod is really no simple task - I've enjoy it far too much to let someone else work on my stuff!!!! The thought of PAYING them to boot - just makes no sense at all to me. On the other hand - I see people whose only goal is to DRIVE them. Given that they wouldn't "waste time" building them as it takes time away from driving them. Different strokes for different folks....... Naturally the FINAL GOAL is to drive them - but I feel a little sad for those who miss out on the other half of the fun. Such dilema's ehh?????
How can a sewing not be manly?!?!? By day I sew bucket seats...and at night the wife is happy cause I can hem her living room curtains....it's a win, WIN situation...... Ha ha ha. Hell, I even cook (if you count fried Bologna sandwiches!!!).
I did the truck for about $400 in fabric and wood, real wood for the window garnish mouldings. I can speak from experience, I've done two cars, the first wasn't anything to brag on, but this one gets requests for me to help with.. I always decline, because one can't "help" with that kind of thing. It's kind of neat, when people ask, "where/who did the upholstery?" Actually, cloth and wood are fun to work with, they're forgiving, and easier on the hands than bustin' rust and grease. I have to clean up the garage real good and don't work on clean/dirty at the same time! It's always a teaser when I point out that the headliner is probably the easiest part of upholstering. The hardest is getting everything neat around the window garnish mouldings. The roll-down shades in the back get a lot of looks.
I only do my interior myself. I am just joking I have tried interior stuff and I cant do seats for the life of me. This question (and ones similar) bother me. how do you define "farm" out work I know lots of guys who have built there cars from scratch, but used all store bought parts like moon tanks, Fat man IFS, air ride kits by application, grills, and a million other products Then I have some buddies who make their own gas tanks, suspension mounts, hell there have been a few guys I have met who have made there own intake manifolds, but may not be able to do paint (or arent happy with their skills) Are you asking who does EVERYTHING custom themselves? cause otherwise the question leaves a grey area
Well . . . I don't have a hot tank or mill if that counts . Otherwise , Boyd is a frickn Jimmy Buffet disciple at my garage. . . swaZZie
Well, I farm out machine work and chromeplating, but do my own body, upholstery, wiring, painting, pinstriping, wrenching, exhaust, putting air in the tires, applying decals to the firewall, putting gas in the tank etc.....
Everything except upholstery and machine work. I do not have the tools for either of the above, the rest I have tools for and am happy to do it.
This will be repetitive, I fabricate my chassis, suspensions, body work, paint,etc. Engine machine work is sent out, as any aluminum welding as I do not have a TIG.
I try to do everything. Obviously, my lack of some tools holds me back from a few things. If I can't do something or haven't tried it, I'll give it a shot. Lots of trial and error in my experiences with building the Peter Beater.
I'm doing everything, pretty much. I do the body work, prep, and paint. I did the sub-frame changeover. i'll do whatever "upholstery" work is done (door panels, new carpet, seat-covers). For good or bad, I do all the "engineering" and design. I'll build the bumper(s) or nerf bars, or whatever. So it'll be my fault, as usual.
i farm out any chassis welding (or anything that is life endangering if it breaks ) other than that i am self sufficient (providing i can get the tools to do the job)
My wife and I do it all, even upholstery. We can't afford to pay someone else in the first place, in the second place everyone else seems to have different ideas on what we are doing and how we do it...so screw that. I guess that's why our cars get built so slowly...we'd starve to death if we had to do this stuff for a living but all in all, we are happy with what we do. That's the important part of it.....and.....we don't care how they do it in California either!
This sounds vaugely familiar... I farm out what I can't do myself. That would include upholstery and engine machine work. Most of the rest, if I can't do it, I know a friend who does. And I make sure he (or she) gets compensated to their satisfaction, be it cash, pizza and beer, or services of what I can do. No, not THAT!
To which I say...Bravo Sierra! You can translate that to B. S. and in deference to Ryan's rules, I won't translate it any further.
I farm it all out, I just can't stand to get my hands dirty, wouldn't know even where to start and being independtly wealthy as I am I can afford to pay someone else to do it and never notice the money is gone. The truth is I don't like to work on trannies and I'm not an upholsterer, so the tranny usually ends up with a good friend who likes that stuff, and I usually take a beating on upholstery. I don't own a machine shop so that normally gets farmed out also. Although once in awhile i do talk the shop owner into letting me do my own thing, it costs more that way as a rule but I just don't let someone have my parts if i'm not comfortable with their work. well that and its a thrill for me cause I don't do it for a living. So does any of this really matter, do i get a prize if I say I do more than anybody else? 'Cause if there's a prize I'll change it around a little.
Farm out. If a farmer has a piece of land he don't want to farm hisself, he farms it out. If he had one extra kid that he didn't have work for, he would farm the kid out. So I guess the old-time English teacher would say, you can't Farm Out paint! It's, Paint out. Upholstery out. rebore out. Of course in the vernacular, If I told Mrs. Edwards, my first english teacher, that I had a hot rod, she'd have whacked me with a stick!
The Jalopy Journal
