Hot Rods How do we fund our builds?

60 years old, 45 years full time employment. That helps.

 

I swap sell trade and mostly just use cash. If I don't got it I work on someone else's for my hot rod fix.
In the past I have done some pretty sketchy shit to raise money but that is not HAMB appropriate so just go back to my first sentence.

 

I have a separate car account, started it years ago. I would put overtime and later bonus from work in it, any time I sold a car or bike the money went into it. My wife is aware of it and has raided it several times for other things but doesn't care what I spend on toys as long there is money in the account. Works for us but is really just an extra savings account.

 

Never took any money out of our regular wages. Bought.fixed and sold various cars to fund the others. Stuck with what I was familiar with-tri 5's, 40 Fords and a few C1 Vettes. Also wired and finished cars for a few friends. Worked for me. My wife keeps track of the money. Still do at bit now and then. Payed for our cars and down payment on a couple of rentals as well.
At 77 I'm slowing down a bit.

 

If I was again a teen in the 1950s like I was,even knowing what I do now,I'd still do same things.
Make a plan that is a bit flxible by what could be found ,a little $ saving from news paper rout,extra $ from doing pinstriping an names on cars plus some wild"T"shirts,but really the big parts came from hunting down junked cars in the woods an over grown lots,that had some parts I thought may work for my hot rod. Drag those home an pile up in weed in back yard,tell enough was there too bolt some things together.
Now days talking to a few kids,many don't seem to have scrounger drive. Must be to EZ to find on WWW @ high $,so think its the only way?

 

It’s interesting that we mostly all have a variation of the same theme, except for Beaners “sketchy shit”. I personally, have never worked a street corner, or the end stool in a dumpster bar.

 

I fund my projects the old fashioned way.

 

Easy.....Wife is a trust fund baby.

 

I looked hard but I never could find me one of those......
I finally married one that made more than me, she just increased her spending to include my income. Didn’t see that coming. Ouch....


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I always put house, wife, kids and general bills first. Once I had two kids out of college and on their own money seemed easier. I have always done my own stuff except paint, upholstery and machine shop work. My current stuff I have two I am doing myself and one that is going to as be close to perfect as possible. I am getting that fabrication done for me as I don't have the skill level and I still work 50-60 hours a week.

 

I save my money. I'm good at it. I also sell stuff.

 

Work hard for years and never passed up ot And flipped a lot of stuff.

 

Back when we were pre-teens - my brother grabbed discarded bicycles off the curb and brought them home to restore - paint - tires - maybe a chain. We hit pay dirt when the Sting Ray's showed up....we could get that sidewalk bike - with mainly the help of Western Auto - turn them into a Sting Ray with the high handle bars and a banana seat. Basically have done the same - bringing cars back to life to sell and fund my habit. One main problem is I have trouble parting with them....but if something else shows up...it's time to go for something. My little motorcycles help feed the passion as well........or what ever else I might discover someone might need....

 

work a full time job. Look for deals, buy and sell and trade parts. I am patient enough to just sit and watch the market. Good luck on good deals helps too.

 

Pretty much always had to sell my current Hot Rod to finance the next one. Problem is, the "next one" always cost more to build than the one I just sold. So, I just convert some of the wife's "bill" money into "parts" money and then I try to lie my way out of it. Sure it pisses her off...but the system has worked for years. And...we have electricity MOST of the time...

 

I had my wife get a second job...

 

Just work longer, harder and smarter.

 

Beg ,steal, barter. The usual things most people do. Most times i flip stuff for profit. If i can turn a buck i will buy it , not just car stuff.

 

I pretty much ponied up the bucks out of my wallet to build my first one recently. Sold most of the original A parts to recoup some costs. Reading through these posts makes me think I should start flipping cars. I have storage space and room to work them over. Need to recoup more, but keep the hot rod while building the next project.

 

I don't. That's why my projects aren't going anywhere.

 

My wife just gives me an { Allowance } lol. I'm not good at controlling my spending when it comes to car parts, or going to Rod events etc. So my wife who does our family budject, just gives me allowance. Over time, if I save up. I can keep my old jalopies going. Works for me. Not only is she the cute one, but has all the brains too. Ron.............

 

I used to do side work, buy\sell cars and parts. I enjoyed that, now it just work too many hours in the steel mill. They have been short handed for so long, I can't remember my last 40 hour work week.

 

Money to fund cars generally not from household budget. Buy when opportunities arise, swap, sell, repeat. Keep ears open and watch for potential buys. Talk to everyone. You create your own luck.
At work one of the younger guys lamented being broke and I must be rich to drive the hotrod I built. I replied your only working 4 to 5 days a week what do you do evenings and weekends?

 

I've been at this for 45 years, and my disposable income from my jobs and now business and investments has changed dramatically over that time. When I was young and poor, I would seize any opportunity for an extra buck to fund my car stuff. Parting out a vehicle, buying and selling cars and or parts, work overtime when available, take on side jobs, etc. At the Tradin Times, they had a deal where you could place an ad, and pay when you sell. There were times when I had 100+ adds for car parts from stuff I was parting out. I would get the TT the hour it hit the newsstands and scour it for things that were listed too cheap as flip opportunities. Like a 40 horse Merc outboard for $100. I drove about 90 mph to be the first one there! Then I started going to auctions. Farm, estate business and liquidation, whatever. I would bottom feed, and buy up stuff that was way underpriced, just because no one there knew what it was, or wanted it. THen I would flip the stuff by placing ads in the Tradin' Times or the newspaper, and eventually ebay. Like a scuba tank compressor. No one knew what it was, but it looked expensive, so I paid $100 for it. Once I figured out what it was, I sold it to a dive shop in Florida for a few grand. That was really fun, doing the auctions, and really helped the car fund. But online bidding killed the bottom feeding opportunities at live auctions. Also during those earlier times, I made money on every daily driver I ever had. I would only buy one that was way undervalued, maybe in need of repairs, drive it for maybe a year or so, and then puff and buff it, sell it for usually a 50-100% profit when I found the next bargain vehicle.
I also pulled off some house flips for extra cash. Like a house full of mold because the owners abandoned it in the winter, the pipes froze, then flooded it when they thawed in the spring. By the time the bank found it, it was a mess. I gutted it, sanitized and remodeled it, and flipped it to help fund the purchase a classic car. Then as my roofing business and my real estate business grew over the years, and and the expenses of establishing a home and raising kids went away, I found myself with enuff disposable income to pay for my car fun without anymore side work. There is always a way if one is creative, looks for opportunities, and is willing to take risk and work hard.

 

I made a deal with my wife if I work Saturdays for more overtime (60 hours m-f) I could keep it for car stuff, she said if you are dumb enough to work Saturdays go ahead and use the money for cars.

 

Simple. If I need something I reach in my pocket. If the money is there I buy what I need. If the money is not there then I wait until it is.

That philosophy is based on one of my dad's little talks. "If you don't have the money in your pocket, you really don't need it"

 

Here i sit, waiting on my coronavirus stimulus check

 

Many times I relied on the "beg for forgiveness" not "ask for permission" method of acquiring needed parts but only if I was sure it wouldn't be a problem or deprive anyone else in the family funding for their interests. It sure helped to have an understanding wife who knew I had to feed the addiction. Lot of parts and lost love projects got sold to fund new interests as well. Never did turn down any overtime either. Its been fun and I don't regret anything.

 

When I met my future wife, she said her daddy was rich!
I didn't realize that "Rich" was just short for Richard...

 

Overtime Checks... ..