okay... my Strictly For Profit T-Bucket Project: materials for frame:$100 dodge rear end: $80 speedway front axle $215 glass body that needs a little work $200 rear coil springs and brackets $140 reversed corvair box & mount, radius rod tabs, trans and motor mounts (u-weld 'ems), rear axle radius rod brackets $250 rear radius rods $100 305/350 FREE (get it outta here and its yours) spindles, kingpins, disc brake caliper brackets and spindle adapter kit, edelbrock intake, holley carb, distributor, master cylinder and pedal assy (left overs from a project i sold at profit) FREE headers $55 stainless gas tank $60 29 A shell $35 total to date: $1235 if i buy everything else new....i'm probably still in under 2500...but it'll be sold before that. dont tell me it cant be done.
By page 4 or 5 these threads usually start answering questions that the original poster didnt ask. Wasnt this more about mags that give a low budget then have hookups that we don't have? Not "Who here can build a rod under $5k"
Yesterday I got steering box free, but I spent 10 bucks in gas to go get it. Where do I put the cost? Everything has a value when it comes time to sell. So I side with -I doubt very seriosly it can be done.
If we can't figure out at this point that a $5k build MEANS help from friends and scrounging for cast off parts, then there's no help for any of us. Apparently the article DID say how he got all the parts, and the implication is that with that sort of determination and resources like we have on the HAMB, anyone COULD do it if they so choose. the fact that others that DIDN'T have shops have done it is proof that the concept and article is not only factual but not misleading. They never said here's a kit for a rod for $5k finished, or how to BUY a rod finished for $5k, did they? I'm reminded of what people can't believe gets built for $2k in the Grassroots Motorsports $200x Challenge, where the cars have to run a drag race, slalom race, and concourse, and have a total buget of $200x (the year of the challenge) or less. People mislead themselves into thinking they can pay someone ELSE to build something like that for them for that money. But that's not the fault of articles like this.
no. the mag advertised a track t built for 5 grand. it was an article about a guy that built a car for 5 grand. he didnt have any 'magazine advantage' he had friends and was in the right place at the right time in a couple of instances. no different than any of us. i spend hours a day 'gettting hooked up' i put countless hours int scouring classified ads and message boards and i've been known to find and claim a freebie or two. the OP called BS on the article. the HAMB just reinforced its validity.
I got @ $8000 or so + 1 1/2 years in mine. Some parts from E-Bay, some from HAMBer's(Thanks!) and some new. Still want to add and change a few things but it's a runner/driver.
I am building my second custom currently. My previous one was a 51 ford chop top. I ended up with a totla investment of 4500 in that one before I sold it. I am currently working on a 53 buick. I keep a spreadsheet at work tracking my costs and I have 4491.05 in the car currently including all of the material to do the interior. If I include the airide components it is just over 5000. I figure my next project will be a little more expensive, planning on building a model a sedan.
Yep, a catchy cover sells issues....All you need to do is own a car to realize $5000 aint beans anymore. Definately a cool ride, I'd pay 5 for it.
I saw the car on display at BTT50s. The thing that really caught my eye was its simple theme. The whole thing is super simple and clean. Excellent craftsmanship to boot. So what if the owner had first access to someone else’s throw-aways. Was R+C stretching the truth? Of course they were. Most folks don't have those resources. The fact is, nobody charges fair market value to the cars they are building, for the parts that are going into them. If I use my own parts that I've had laying around for years that I cannot even remember what if anything I have in them I say they didn't cost a thing. Just because it's worth X on ebay doesn't mean I have to charge it to the car project. That only applies if I have to reach into my back pocket. Yes this hobby sometimes is not subject to the same checks and balances we must use in other pursuits in life. The R+C cost analysis was still a smokescreen.
I don't think you read my entire post. I said clearly at the end that it "could" be done and that the car being talked about probably was built for under $5,000.00. No where did I say it couldn't be done. What I infact was trying to say was that for the average guy, building a car from swap meets, ebay and catalogs...it would be very difficult to accomplish this task. Seriously, how many guys are going get the "free if you get it outa here" engines? And to the other post with the flathead in the car (very nice car by the way ) how many guys are gonna find a good running $300.00 flathead engine and trans? Let's assume (yes, I know you shouldn't assume ) you can do almost all the work yourself except paint and interior. You also might want new tires if you can't find really nice used or nos ones. If you work backwards....paint for a small roadster on the cheap end would be $1,000.00. Interior done tastfully and simply again for same small roadster would cost??? maybe $750.00 on the cheap end? Then you buy a nice set of new tires from Coker and that might be anywhere from $400.00 to $600.00 depending on what you want. With just those 3 things you're well over $2,000.00. Then what if a rebuild on the engine is required and so on? Guys, listen....I'm not saying it can't be done. Hell, my current project is going to be under $6,000.00 and will have a rebuilt flathead, buick drums and so on along with new tires. I was just commenting on the fact that the article was misleading and that to build a car that looks like the one in the mag. for under 5 grand, you have to be able to do everything yourself AND get a bunch of stuff either free or really really cheap. Just my 2 cents....
The car is great, Jim did a great job on it. Congrats on being in the magazine. The thing that would bug me is... You get your car in a feature, and they put up this figure on the build cost that comes back later when you decide to sell. You just know some stupid bastard will whip out that magazine and tell you "But ya only got five grand in it!" Doc
thats because the 'average guy' is , well, average... its the guys like me that keep our noses to the grindstone and our ears to the ground. it doesn't just 'happen'...i put in the groundwork. i guess i'm blessed that i can do it all. maybe not to the 9's, but i can do it. and what i cant do i lear to do. and on the expensive parts.....i found a set of brand new coker wide white radial big n littles on brand new TQ rod wheels for 500 bucks. lucky? maybe, but i spend LOTS of time looking for stuff like this and i dont balk. i buy. even if i dont need it at the time, i KNOW it will come in handy later or turn a profit for something i need to buy. thats how you do it. yeah. i think that is the whole point. learn how to do everything you can and be opportunistic. it helps to have a little scratch put away for when those super duper deals come along also, but nowhere in the article does it say that this happened overnight, that this was his first build or that he was 'average'.
Alteredpilot, You're right. You bring up a good point about the guy not being average and also about putting in the leg work to scrounge around and find deals. Hell, to me...that's some of the most fun about building a car. I go to every swap meet I can, I talk to every guy I meet. I make calls. Buy something I would never ever use because it was really really cheap and use it for trade bait down the road for something I really need!! I have been working on hot rods since I was old enough to hold a wrench. My Dad got me into it because he has been doing it since the early 50's. Some of the guys here on the HAMB know my Dad and his cars, so I've been blessed with a great teacher which goes a long way in being able to do things on the cheap. I do almost everything myself. I "can" paint, but usually don't becuase I don't much care for it, but everything else is done by me. I guess what set me off about this article was that there are a ton more "average guys" reading those mags than guys like you and me and it makes it seem like anyone can do it. Like the idiots that think shopping at home depot makes them a plumber!! LOL If it was a small publication dedicated to guys who "get it" as far as car building (like the guys here on the HAMB) I would have been ok with it, because most of the guys on the HAMB are true car guys and either do most of their own work or at least know how much work is involved in a project like that. When mags like Hot Rod and Rod & Custom print articles like that it makes me a little angry becuase they spew to the masses that the only cost in building a car like that was 5 grand. Simply not true. That guys has thousands of hours in building other cars to get to the point to be talented enough to build that car. I guess I'm a little defensive of true car builders, sorry about that. I think you and I are on the same page, I was just coming from a different angle. Matt
Barnes and Noble....free magazine reading....soft chairs.... Add a cup of starbucks house blend coffee (1.50).....cheap entertainment.
When did everyone become SO CONCERNED for the uneducated masses???? I can't think of the LAST TIME (or ANY TIME) I've read a car magazine and thought "Oh, that's TRUE, but what are THOSE POOR UNEDUCATED FOOLS going to think???" So plenty have people have agreed it CAN be done, but it's just because THEY HAVEN'T done it the bitch fest creeps along????
Jeez I can't believe this can go on, I just said on another post. Henry Ford once said " there are some that think they can, and other that think they can't, and they are both right!" If you believe that you need an after market chassis and a new body and built mostly by a pro to pass a 23 point inspection to get a windshield sticky. 5 grand won't get you there or even close. If that pile of rusty parts laying out behind a shed looks like a car to you, 5 grand is a fat budget the GMC $340 before and after total $817 52 ford pu with extra rolling chassis Free 57 chev pu traded for a $60 396 chev engine dodge touring body I have the rest door fenders Free 49 pontiac fastback free 52 plymouth 2 door hardtop wagon built from three cars I have less than $400 in the three 47 and 48 Buicks $110 for the pair 1949 UPS truck $350 1949 plymouth wagon $125 1948 Hemi powered 3 window Ford $30,000 (whoops how that happen
AMEN! Plowboy, you hit it right on the head. No matter if you are setting out to build a $5,000 or a $50,000 car, You've gotta WANT it! Unless you've got a huge bank account, you have do be dedicated enough to stick with it (sometimes for years) until you have what you want (no matter your budget). I spent way more than I originally planned on my '32 roadster, and thought about abandoning (selling) the project several times during the four year build duration. I'm just too stubborn (dumb) to quit. Only the "gold chainers" get the luxury of "instant gratification" and those guys will never understand (or enjoy) that sense of accomplishment you get from the first ride around the block in a hotrod you built yourself. I know several guys (dreamers) around here that have "perpetual" projects that will most likely never be finished. There is always a million excuses, but the fact is - they just don't want it bad enough. End result - no car!
$4500 total cost maybe less motor was free from my brothers suburban going to the junk yard frame free Jim A was throwing it away tires $60 2 used from pats tires $20...2 used motor cycles from the swaps$40 cab $125 turlock swap hand built the back section seats $15 flea mkt paint free body shop throw outs rear end $400 the currie axels the most expensive part on my car the list go's on and on just be prudent and focused it all falls into place
I'm a windshield away from being road worthy in my Model A and all I started for free with was the rearend and tranny. I have $3500 invested now. I plan on being completely done for $4000 by the time I factor in glass and windshield frame and other odds and ends. I built most of the body by hand or with repop sheet metal and build my own frame. The rest is a mix of parted out cars and junkyard parts. All the brakes and steering components are new as well as engine gaskets and lines. Low back can be done. I also built it in my kitchen and canvas garage with hand tools, no heat, and a borrowed welder.
Don't bring the GRM challenge into this! Its simple how they build those cars...they flat out cheat! And if you are the editors buddies, they let you! Creative accounting, $1000 set of wheels that was a freebie, selling a door handle on ebay for $300, complete wiring job that was "pulled out of a shops garbage and installed - cost was zero", 200ft of DOM 1.25" tubing that was given to them for free, ebay purchases from friends for things like aftermarket injection systems for $100... I do however believe that you can build a rod for well under $5000 if you have some skill and lots of time. It will not be the fastest-best handling-coolest car around, but should drive well, and be plenty cool for any of us...
you guys are freakin crazy i dont know who builds your stuff for you, but if you build stuff on your own it is very doable. why do you have to have brand new rims on your "traditional hotrod"? why cant you run old rims that are just painted with tires from the local shop for more like 300 instead of 600 from coker. maybe if you used alot of recycled stuff instead of bought everything new you'd see that 5k is VERY doable. this was only directed at people who say it is not possible
I think the big thing would be body and paint. If you can do those two things you will be way ahead $$$ wise. Good used radials are only $20 each, and you can grind the walls for wide whites. The local wrecking yard here has engines for $100 in the U-pic yard, but I would buy a complete running car with a rusty body for $200 instead. I am doing the interior on my 49' myself, and its costing me about $250 in materials. The doner vehicle for my 49' Cost me $400, but had a great running motor, and a rebuilt transmission. I am using the wiring harness, frame and runing gear, engine, transmission, and tires off of it. Thats most of the parts you mentioned above and more.
Ya know, I feel lucky. See, I just got back from a seminar on how I can make millions from buying these vitamins then selling 'em, turning the money into foreclosed properties and reselling them. I am going to take some of the cash I make from that and use it to open a bank account. See, keep this quiet, I got an e-mail from a guy over on the Sumarian Diamond and Gold Council. They have this unclaimed pile of diamonds and gold in storage. The death of the president of the coucil has tied up their liquid assets. I just need to set up a bank account to get a wire tranfer, so I can wire half of it back to pay the excise tax. Then my guy will split the profits from selling the pile of diamonds and gold with me. I am going to use all that money to build me one sweet ratrod!
Deer season of '78 got me a free 31 coupe that was "truckized"..cut out in the back to fit on a '40 Ford frame....(Instant V8 and juice brakes!)...I ended up scrounging a lot of parts to save it over the next 19 years--including a $850 coupe bought from HAMBer Mecutem at the NSRA Nats in Kazoo....that had enough stuff with it to save the other coupes I had in 'da collection... I've got 4, and with a passenger's side door, I'll have another one... Being a packrat helps when it comes to saving old cars. Once I got her on the road, I ended up getting my (_Y_) chewed out by all the restorers "for butchering a perfectly nice Model A coupe"... Fact is, all the "Restorers" turned down this same car, that they could have gotten for free, because it was "Too Rough"... I thank God for the metalworking lessons I learned in R & C and to the Lincoln Electric company for their affordable 110v MIG Welder, the SP 100. And to retired Navy CWO3 "Ed" Markus for teaching me how to oxy-acetylene weld back in 1972. Today, with the parts available and the technology that's out there, just about anything can be saved by the hobbiest. And if you do your own work, at a low buck price too!
YA know really it isnt about the money. it is about doin it. I have the one bolt rule here. If i go to the shop i have to install at least one bolt or the equivalent. Of course it become two bolts or ten bolts but bit by bit i get it done. I try to do everything but the final spray and on the Senior dragster i have decided to discipline myself to do that too. Time is the enemy of money. If you cant get rid of the idea of rushing then $$$ it isnt a problem. Slow and steady or constant progres will always succeed. Now for those who buy everything , (some even buy finished cars) and drive different ones all the time because they are constantly buying and selling. Those folks arent hot rodders anyway. They are prostitutes
How could you of possibly been "deceived" by that T-Bucket buildup? In 10 years, this is the one and only time I've ever heard that from anyone, especially since the cost was broken down (in dual scenarios) at the end of the story--maybe you missed that. At least you're in the right place to bitch about bs.
Well if you take your time (20 plus years) it can be done 1950 Chevrolet Truck ...........$700 Towing it home .............$ 55 Repairs to make it a Driver .........$125 Pacer Clip ................$100 Rebuild same ...............$300 Kit to install .................$100 Valve job (Machine Shop Time).......$120 78 Nova Parts car (whole car) (I used the Rear End, Steering Column, Brake Booster and Pedals).......................................$100 Sell the Nove for scrap (credit).......$ 25 Junkyard seats ...............$ 35 Carpet & Door panels (Materials).....$ 75 Paint-Bodywork ..............$500 (Materials only, traded the labor With my brother. I built him a Killer sound system in his car) New Carb ................$200 3 Core Rad .................$225 Wheels/Tires ...............$350 Misc .. (Little things I may have forgot) ...$500 Total .........$3400 All the labor was on me, including the grunt work on the paint/body. Now this doesnt include maintenance and things that just wore out due to use. Its just the stuff to get it where it is today. Works out to about $165 a year.
I understand how you feel. I haven't seen the article in question but the average joe can pull it off even without the freebees. it takes a lot of savvey swapping and tradeing, and persistance. My next driver should come in real cheap, mayhaps less than 5K. But I'm starting with a body and chassis that I got less than a grand invested in and a motor and tranny that will be on its 3rd ride. Granted it won't be a pre-war roadster or coupe, but it'll be fine for me. A gennie Pk'n'Bner ride. Hell I might even get around to painting it someday.
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