Is it wrong to buy a completed rod?

Who originally owned your coupe?

...in 1932, somebody bought it new.


Thats the original owner....and forever more it will be remembered as his car.





Yeah right.

 

I wonder if there is a website out there for construction workers wondering if it's ok to live in a house that someone else built, or if you have to build your own.

Most people can't do everything.

If your skills and/or time are limited, as far as I can tell, you're far ahead money-wise to find something finished or nearly finished that's close to what you want as opposed to farming it all out to shops. Wheels and tires and little stuff like that can go a long way to giving it some of your own personality.

Some people enjoy building, some people enjoy driving and some enjoy both. Do whatever works for you.

 

...the original owner was Henry... what I like about buildin' mine was that it was dragged out of a creek bed in 1988, and it had never been a hot rod...so I'm the 1st to hot rod it. 50 years from now, the new owner will hafta say "Yeah, that's 3WLarry's old coupe...

 

Man, I hope it's OK, otherwise I'd be stuck with about 20 cars that no-one would buy.

 

Nothing at all wrong with buying a finished car. I just sold a car last November that was a 'finished' car when I bought it. But, over the years I repainted it, different tires and wheels, etc. and had fun with it from day one.

The car I have now, I 'built' just the way I wanted it, and yes it fun, but it's no better than the car I didn't build. I've touched every single bolt on this car, repainted, rewired, swapped engines and transmissions, hunted down an automatic steering column, changed wheels and tires, rebuilt the brakes, and a bunch of other stuff.................guess what?

Its for sale, so I can buy somebody elses built car. It doesn't matter, just have fun do'in it. If your not hav'in fun........time to take up GOLF!!

J

 

Having done all of the above combinations from complete builds to buying done, I say there is nothing wrong with it...if you honest about it. Most cars are pretty unique and your only fooling yourself if you try to fake it. To me its always comforting to know the details of a car and that comes from time spent with said car.

 

If you dont build it, it isnt your car.......repaint, different trim, change the interior a little and it will NOT be SO&SO's old car......stan

 

Sure, it's ok to buy a completed car. Otherwise me, and every other person on this site would never be able to sell our completed cars when we're tired of them..................

 

if u build a car a year and start at 15yoa you can only have about 55 or 65 cars in your life u can say u did. but if u buy them u can lie snd say u did'em all but well know thats a lie cause i built'em...............all

 

I'd love to buy a car someday that I could start driving right away without having to totally rebuild it first. Of course that never happens, I just keep buying shit that needs tons of work. But if I ever wise up and buy a driveable car, I will do it without shame.

 

Some of you guys might recognize these cars. The one on the left used to belong to "fordole500",the one on the right used to belong to "flyntstone". Both HAMBers! I bought the '49 for my son for his first car. He loves the car and doesn't want to change anything! The other one I bought for my older son. He wants to repaint,reapolster,change some stuff,you know,make it his. They are both HAMBers now,"stumpy" and "blutarski". Todds car had already been in many magazines,and was kinda known from Paso and Viva. I've been driving it until my Merc was done(almost done). Many people say to me "I've seen that car before at ...". I love that car. Never drivin a car that got more attention. When asked,I give Todd all the credit. Sure I would have rather built my own car,i've built about 40 cars. My sons appreciate what they have and are learning how to do their own work,but they can drive while they're learning. I inherited some money when my dad passed,so I decided to make my and my sons dreams come true. My Merc isn't done. I'll be wrenching on that thing for years to come. Who cares if you didn't build it. Love it,drive it,fix it!

 

my reply to , Hey was'nt that johnys car is no it's my
new car . And who gives a shit , after all originality is few and far between .
Were mostly copying things we've seen or have seen in the past .
My car is my car now and I will put my own twist on it .
Buzz Bomb

 

Well said.............

 

I built my Deuce Coupe from the ground up....started out with a frame I bought in Massachusetts....then a set of HC heads at Englishtown....and on and on from there......

I have kept every little receipt over the 7 years I've been working on this car....I made the mistake of adding it al up about a year ago and it was already close to $30,000.......it's over that now........and I still don't have the interior done........

Bottom line.....you can make out better if you buy someone's project that they may have done the *bull work* on, but have lost interest, or run out of money, etc. You could buy such a car for far less than the sum of its parts, like I built mine.........then you can finish it and tweak it to your own tastes.........

I had no choice though.....I started with nothing because I had just retired and didn't have a lot of bucks to throw at an already built car.......it spreads the expense out over time which helps greatly.....

So now I have a car that I can drive and enjoy, and I can honestly say that I built it myself...I am proud of the accomplishment....

Brucie

 

I guess it's ok to buy a finished car, but not for me. When I was lookin for a house I was looking for the crappiest house in the best neigborhood. Same goes for the cars. Put your soul into it. Every car has it's issues, at least if you built it, you know where to look for the issues.
Lot of people think they can't do alot, I disagree. You can do more than you think, just do it.
The bragging right are worth it.

 

They all change hands sooner or later one way or another. I bought my last coupe and drove (moved in for 16 years) then traded for a roadster also complete? and running and I'm still moving in. Built some from scratch and had a ball, but they all have to move on .Ya gotta do what ya can.

 

In this HOBBY there are guys who only get off on building the cars. after they are "done" they don't seem to care much about cruising around in them as much as getting on to building the next one.
Most of the time the next one is already started anyway and they need the room to build more so they sell the done ones.
If there wasn't guys like you to buy their done cars they couldn't continue building!
Buyers are a necessary part of the process for builders!

The only purchases I have a problem with is a car that DOES have a HISTORY and reputation and is recognized and expected to look a certain way and someone goes and buys up this piece of Hotrod or Custom ART HISTORY and DESTROYS it by drasticlly changing what it looks like.
I don't mean bolting on a different set of wheels, or adding shocls or front brakes so it can be driven safely, but something like buying that '39Ford "Matador" posted up thread and cutting the back off and making a truck out of it, just because they can.
That's a crime against the automotive ART WORLD.
And I don't want to hear any of the "It's his, he can do what he want's with it" crap either.
Some of these cars are rare enough it would be like buying a Michaelangelo of Van Gogh and cutting it up to make a collage out of.
If you buy a car and the seller says "I only want to sell it if you don't plan on changing it"respect that, or go buy something else. there's thousands of copies of most of the desired cars out there to choose from, don't buy one if it's not at least similar to what you want it to stay as.
Don't buy a "resto rod" or restored running stock car if you're just going to yank the body for a modified and scrap or sell the rest, that's not only stupid but it's an EVIL waste of a complete car in my book.
Go find an unattached body instead.
Hear what I'm sayin'?

RIP #5

 

We never really own a car anyways. We're just enjoying it til the next guy gets it. That might be your son,daughter grand kid,or maybe the kid down the street who spent all his spare time helping you. What if you couldn't sell the car you built because nobody wanted to own it cause it was yours? We would all be stuck cars and no money for another project.

 

After what I have been thru over the years, I wouldn't hesitate to buy one "done"...make it your own in some way so it's not always going to be "so-and-so's car" and then you will be happy. The hard part and potentially expensive part was absorbed by someone else.

Be sure to inspect it closely at first though, as to the quality of the work...particularly the chassis & welds.

Buying something "already done" can save a lot of $$$ especially if all you have to do is re-spray it to get it to your liking.

If I could afford it, and it was a quality build, I would make some small touches and call it my own. Of course, I would never take credit for the work that had been done to it before me, but I would tell people that, and then tell them what I did.

mercman1951

 

Then take the time to learn about not only the bike you bought but bikes in general. You could answer something like. "The guy I bought the bike from, Hatch in Midland, did that and he told me he........." Boom, question answered by you on how something was done and you just gave credit to the dude that did it. Problem solved....next.

PS, I'm assuming you bought the bike from Hatch.

That's right Denise, I got it from Steve. He's a really cool guy who's been more than willing to share his knowledge and expertise. Three weeks ago He and I had it down to the pistons sticking out of the case to replace some stuff. Between building two hot rods, figuring out what I'm doing with my circle track car for next year, working 48-60 hrs. a week, and school starting this week hasn't left me with much time to learn a new hobby. However, I am learning a little at a time. I just took my first spin on a bike ever and it was pretty cool. I'm sure it will turn into another passion.

 

I don't think they're ever really completed. You can always change or modify something to make it your own.

 

I guess if you got the money.
but read my byline/signature just to answer your question.

 

i'm mixed on this one.
i've never bought anything that was finished. heh.
you get that thing home and drive it around a little, next thing you know you're hunting parts and pulling stuff apart, switching some stuff up.

that said though, just sold my last motorbike, and that thing was fully done.
the dude that rode off on it had a pretty big smile on his face.
and he'd never be able to build one for the price he paid.
so you can't knock that i guess.

i have a terminal condition of falling in love with the next junker.
with vissions of grandness clouding every decesion.
'ahhh crap, i'll just sale this finished stuff, get some money together, buy this hulk, and no time have my next sweet ride'
yeah right. hah.

gary

 

why are you capitalizing every 1st letter of every word and how did you know i got my car from a billy boy named bob?!
creepy

 

Even If You Buy A Supposed Complete Car,there Are Always Things
That You Will Want To Do To It.this Is What Has Happened To My 32 Sedan,and After Those Are Done There Will Always Be More.
Deucemanab

 

I think every one should buy a completed car especialy if its a 37 Ford Humpback Sedan... hint...hint...

 

I think it's fine. I try to find something that is "driveable" but needs some work. I picked up a T bucket about a year ago that wasn't quite "finished"- red primer, no interior, and after 1000 miles or so, needed a new motor, brakes etc.. So I was able to put the new motor in, paint the frame do a little engine turning on the firewall and guage pod and "make it my own". Now I just have to get the interior done and have a tonneu cover made and although I didn't build it originally, I won't have a problem saying it's "mine"

The main thing is never take credit for something you didn't do.

 

I was following a similar thread on building/buying a race car (very applicable) . . . long and short of it, it's pretty cheap to buy someone else's project/car/etc... because they almost never get what they've got in it out of it. There are exceptions to every rule, like a guy raiding junk yard, getting stuff give to them . . . buddies working cheap, etc, but factoring time in and that makes equation a bit lopsided. Buying someone else's car, even if it's done is pretty economical route. Someone's going to get a sweet deal on an old Buick that'll have brakes redone. . . metal work done . . . great running old low mileage car. *Sigh* If they ever buy my car.

 

MyOldBuick: I completely agree, and if I ever were to buy a complete rod, that would probably be why, they are usually a very good deal....as long as you don't buy it at the Barrett-Jackson....hahahaha

 

I plan on driving my car over a cliff, nobody gets my baby. Ha Ha