Projects How do you fund your project cars?

You work for:
1. The bank (paying interest on debt)
2. The boss (making him money(
3. The Government (paying taxes)
4. Yourself

I choose #4. Avoid debt, it just costs more. Be self employed. Write off as much as you can.

I sell a lot of stuff on Ebay as a hobby to pay for my hobby.

 

Saving for it and a lot of overtime....That's why I have had it for 50 years...It took that long...Never used family budget money for build funds...

 

Old cars on the cheap 101.
Low expectations. Don’t expect to build a top shelf ride on a scrapyard budget. Or don’t expect to own a 32 on a glass t- bucket budget.
Trade for parts. I get a lot of parts by doing sheet metal work.
Do as much as you can yourself. If you don’t have a skill needed, learn it.
Tools. I’d rather buy a tool than buy a sheet metal part.
I don’t own a new truck. You can fund a lot without a new truck payment.

 

At the start,was paper route an mowing lawns,then pinstriping n names, signs,after a little ,airbrushed Wild Car T-Shirts,under art name "The Bat" out of hell. Sometimes trading.

 

Bought the remaining stock of a Speed Shop that opened in the ‘50s and closed doors in the ‘70s… Three pickup truck loads..

All the parts were NOS.. In original packaging.

small investment… Big return

 

REMEMBER THE TIME THE FRONT BUMPER GOT STOLEN OF YOUR MOMS 55 CHEVY??......

 

A wise man once said: Pimpin ain’t easy.

 

Worked my ass off for what junk some would say I have but they didn't start a 40hr week job at 17 or buy their first rental duplex (with a garage apartment which made it a tri-plex) at 19. I paid it off in 10 yrs and hope to make a great profit when I sell it in two years or so.. Worked on my early school buddies cars as they made it thru college for some extra cash and had a little extra income thru my 20's from my properties. Didn't really look at it as flipping cars back then - if someone made me a good offer - i sold and I moved onto another builder - most all cars I drug home didn't run. Still doing that a little and still going to auctions when I can find a good one. Like most I buy and sell for a little profit to fund my habit.

Stillrunners - rollers runners and rusty parts.

 

This is how my son is funding his project.
Step one. Buy the worst, cheapest example you can find.
Step two. Post a pic of the very very rough project, and someone feels so bad for ya, they give you another body.
Step 3. Buy a parts vehicle. Listen to dad and keep the parts you need and sell the rest for what you paid for the parts vehicle.
Step three. Use that money and buy a sheet of metal for your dad to build you a floor.
Step four. Have a dad that does sheet metal work and tools.

 

Started working when I was 14 and the longest I went without a job was 2 days not counting weekends. Got a job as a Plant Repairman at the largest coal fired power plant west of the Mississippi when I was 18 and unlike all my friends who also got hired I didn’t buy a new truck or new boat or waste all my money at the bar chasing girls, I bought a house when I was 19 and started building wealth. Worked at the power plant for 10 years then I became self employed. Sold Snap-On Tools for almost 30 years, worked an average of 80 hours every week. Loved it when customers would declare “Must be nice to just drive around all day and collect money”! Cool thing is, when I started selling tools, I loved every minute of those 30 years, till the day I didn’t, and that’s when I retired at 57! My grandfather always told me to save my money, that I’d be glad I did. He was right! Now, if I want something, I just buy it, cuz they’re not going to line my coffin with the cash I didn’t spend. I had an old guy explain life to me a couple years ago and it really helped me set my priorities straight. His name was Babe, and he asked me and my buddy how long we thought we would live. I said maybe 85 years, my friend John thought maybe 83…
So Babe takes out a tape measure and pulls the tape out to 85 inches and asks me how old I am, I was 55 and then he shows me how many inches I have left. He does the same for John, he’s got almost 4 feet left. Then Babe tells us he’s 83 and he only has 2 inches left…
We had met Babe at a swap meet and we were buying some things from Babe cuz he was running outta tape. I’m not an expert or even someone who is that smart, but I just try to live my life like I’m almost to the end of my tape.

 

Money tree in the backyard.

 

Once I stopped working on Jeeps and motorcycles, I had plenty to spend on hot rods...

 

Flipping or parting out cars, need extra space, it can take over vs working on your project.
I built and sold sbc's, mild performance and circle track claimers.
Teens into early 20's I sold a lot of weed to fund my racing endeavors pounds into quarters or ounces, and dealt with very few people.
Now I have a job, I did part out 2 newer silverados, not much fun anymore.

 

when i was young i spent most of my money on fast cars pretty girls and beer the rest i just wasted

 

I was on a roll when I got the 34 Chev in my avatar in 2004. I first spotted it in a field in village a few miles North of our farm in back in 1988. Not knowing who owned the property, my mate was able to trace who owned it and passed on the details to me. The owner said I could have it for free. So I did some horse trading so to speak. I knew of a gully full of old wrecks that included a few early Fords.
I had discovered this gully the same year I found the 34 Chev. In 2003 I rang the town’s lands department who was able to give me the name of the owner. I rang him and he said I could help myself.

So in 2014 I worked out a way to collect my 34, that involved the Gully of wrecks in the other town. In my town there was a local rodder who operated a Tilt Tray business “a rollback truck. He was always looking for early Ford parts especially 39 to 48 stub axles to attach to his Model A front ends.

Next to the gully sat a 39 Mercury Sedan and 46,7,8 Ford sedan both with complete front ends. I approached him and did a deal, we would go to the town to collect the stub axles along with the cab of a 37 Ford truck sitting in the gully and drive back through to the village to collect the 34 Chev.

In the end he got the two sets of stub axles for the cost of the fuel in his truck and I got the 34 and 37 for free. The plan was to sell the cab to finance the build. Since the cab was pretty beat up, especially the roof, I was hoping I would get $150 for it. I ended up selling it for $400. The following year. The money covered the cost of a complete 302 Cleveland and C4 transmission.

At the end of the year I found a 38 Willys and 48 Bedford Ute lying in a gully in another town. I knocked on the door of the property and the tenants gave me the number of the owner. The owner turned out to be the mayor of the town. I made him an offer, I think it was $50 for both.

He accepted the offer, it was doing him a favour getting the junk out of his gully. I contacted the rodder with the the rollback and for another $50 I had both sitting in my back yard. I went onto trading them for a 34 Chev hood as mine did not have one.
In 2005 I really got serious and started driving out into the Bush around my area and finding stuff, a couple of mid 20’s Buick cowls, a 28 Chev cowl, a 34 Master Chev Cowl and rear fenders and even a 32 Roadster door, I wonder what happened to the rest of it.

It was all free for the taking, and I sold everything I found. My two best finds was the back of a 33/34 Roadster not a Model 40, that I sold for $1000 and a 37 Chev Truck that I paid $50 dollars for from a nearby farm and selling for $850. I even went back to the first gully where we got the stub axles and 37 Cab from and removed the rest of the front end from the 46-48 Ford and sold it for $150.

My point is that wheeling and dealing enabled me to get the parts I needed for the 34.

 

Well, I work all the overtime I can. I basically live at work. 3rd worked the best, but now I'm on 1st, but not the best shift in my opinion. My house is crappy. My daily drivers are broke down. I have a line of credit I use for the hard to find parts and need money now type stuff. I keep 10k cash on hand for the local finds, or aka my rainy day fund. I don't ever go out with family or friends. The hobby has consumed every spare dollar I have. I rarely sell cars or parts. I just keep buying more and more and more. My wife was good for a while with it, but now she isn't having it. My daughter is almost 3 so that will get expensive. Bottom line, I worked too many hours, racked up too much debt, and bought everything that was on my bucket list. Now I have to slow down on the hobby, pay my debt, and start fixing the house to keep the wife happy. It was great while it lasted and I did build a barn to hoard my projects in, so I hope I can find some balance and get back into it later in life. I won't totally stop, but I can't go full bore anymore. This hobby is expensive and can take over your life. I need one more car on the bucket list. If I can keep them all, I will slowly fix them up over the years. Only time will tell. I wish I could only have one or two nice cars, but I just can't pick and choose. On a single income, its hard to have nice cars, nice things, and a nice house. No easy answer for money. Good luck.

 

Sell one / buy one, or trade one for the next one.

 

I have a secret way to fund my projects. I am 66 and keep working!

 

If you build them
From
Junk, you can fund them pretty easily.definitely more time than money in this one.

 

In 50 years of building hot rods I've never borrowed a dime. At first it was sell one to build one but after I got the chassis and parts business going I was able to cash flow my cars. I still like to sell one ever so often to help with the next one.

 

I've probably impulse bought more cars than I have cars I planned for and thought long and hard about. And so far the cars that suddenly appeared to me and I jumped on quickly have all been no regrets at all.
I bought a '63 Falcon Futura just because my wife saw it come past our house on a trailer, and I walked outside to see where it was going? It turned the corner, and stopped about 4 houses down. I walked down to look at it, and came home a half hour later and told my wife I just bought it.
I was perusing Ebay one day, when I did a search for "Austin". Had been toying with building an Austin gasser, and up pops an old Austin sedan. I refused to buy off Ebay, but when I looked at the location it was 40 miles away. I contacted the seller, who had a cheap "buy it now price" and an hour later I was at his place with my trailer to haul it home.
My current build I'd kinda wanted for decades, but wasn't looking for it. Strolling through the local swap meet when there on a trailer was a '39 Chevy coupe. My buddy and I started talking about it, and I mentioned I'd wanted to build a '39 Chev coupe for years. Seller came up to talk to us, and 20 minutes later I was shaking his hand, and walking away with a receipt.
I like spontaneous, spur of the moment purchases myself.

As Jim mentioned. If you buy junk, and build it yourself, you can afford a lot more builds. I don't have $20k into building all three of these cars; including the original purchase prices.

 

Early 70's pic of my Stude and off to the side another VW I had towed home to sell parts off of. I could get the VW's for free to haul off and sell some of the good fenders - doors - hood etc and when I thought it was done - I already had a buyer for the pan to make a dune buggy out of - the pan/frame was always good for a $100 bucks !

 

Stimulus checks

 

I started working full time at 16 in a grocery store, got into a job at a milk processing factory at 18, construction at 19, equipment operator and woodyard manager at 22, trucking at 27. Married at 18, wife worked too. Purchased my only new pickup in 79 and kept it for years, but I tried to keep her in a newer vehicle since I didn't want her broke down on the side of the road. Money was tight, not much for a project, but I bought and sold several over the years. Did a lot of work for the next door neighbor, sometimes he'd pay me, other times I got his cast off parts that I used or sold. Then we adopted two boys in two years, so money was even tighter for a long while.

I still bought, sold, and traded for cars and parts on the side as I could. I never went into debt for a project or a part. As the boys grew and the wife had to take a disability retirement, we no longer had to have her a newer car, so I'd buy something, we'd finish wearing it out, then get another. Still follow that.

I worked my ass off, lots of 6 day weeks. After the boys were grown, I cut back to 5 days a week, but still sold a few parts and cars along. When I built my Maverick, the first project I really finished, I used parts off of cars the boys had culled and only bought when I had cash. Traded it for My 47 Lincoln, and it's been the same way. Save up, buy a few parts. Takes longer, but I don't have debt hanging over my head. Paid off the house last year, couple of months ago paid of my last semi truck. Still have a couple of credit card debts stemming from truck repairs I had to have done, but as soon as they go away we'll be debt free. Semi retired now, have a good house and vehicles, work 3 days a week most weeks, all I want to do. Going to finish up my car, then probably will just piddle with small stuff, no more major builds.

But I still get that urge to build a Track Style 27 T Roadster.....and I've got a good 350 sitting out there...................

 

Check under the couch cushions.

 

She ever let you blow the horn and ring the bell?! Cool!
6sally6

 

Slow and steady. Never used any household funds for cars. Find one fix it a bit and repeat plus having a good trade for many many years as well as my wife's career.. Now being retired with no debt and a decent retirement and money stash-no worries. Can play and build cars without any effect on our standard of living or future needs but still build with a plan and an eye on value when done.

 

Back in the early 90’s before I retired, I needed more money than I had to pay a rod shop (about 20k) and had to sell my shares of Apple, now worth about 6 million. Since retired I do most of my own work and pay what I need out of cash flow. Once retired, no deadlines, so easier to spend only what you have on hand. Car can take as long as it takes to get built.

 

Funny....my dad bought and sold old work cars - we kids would kinda fight over who would get to vacuum and clean them out .....I got good at pulling out the back seat !