Solutions For Your Project With A Shortage Of Cash

I buy parts collections and cars whenever I can and sell until I have my investment back then I store the rest, then when I get to my project I pick the parts I need and start selling ones I probably won't ever use, until I have all the pieces I need to fund my current project.

Doing this with my current project a 1932 3 window with a blown v12, and so far I've not spend any money out of pocket.. and I'm probably over 80% there with the money I need.

Example.. I bought a firetruck for $2,500 because I wanted the engine. I sold the fire fighting equipment for $2,500, kept some of the cooler pieces (dash and such), made a frametable out of the frame, a welding table out of the truck bed divider and traded the body for another V12.
End results.. my original investment came back to me, I have two complete v12's a set of cool lights and miscellaneous parts, a welding and a frame table, only invested a couple of days of time to get it all parted out.

 

I get what I can dirt cheap and find the right person who wants what I have and trade for what I really need. Trade, barter, whatever it takes. Alot of times, I'll trade out labor for parts, cars, someone else's skills, whatever. Just remember to keep your project on a need basis. Every project has its needs whether it be tires, brakes, engine etc.

 

i plan on starting my "build" and "build thread" (1952 Chrysler T&C) in the next couple of months. i foresee the build taking a loooong time to do but it will probably be almost exclusively paid for by eBay profits. eBay was something we started doing in late '98 as a way to pay bills and afford some other things we needed or wanted. i scoured resale shops, garage sales and attended auctions for things i could flip in a hurry. some months brought several hundred dollars, some didn't. now, it'll be a waiting game.

now, divorced and almost remarried to a woman with a good job (my last was not so motivated to work), the eBay money is going to fund the build instead of paying bills. the way it'll work, hopefully, is that the build will not cost much out of pocket.

 

this kills me..
who gives a flying crap (its a pennsylvania thing) that your car has 6, 3 or TEN carbs... be it 97's or 94's..?

and why is it so critical NOW that you have XXX rare part, or are using YYY??


every one of my cars has been an evolution.. my 40 woodie wagon included.. and it will continue to change.. as I am able to do so..


I know SEVERAL guys with projects that are still NOT on the road for similar reasons, most likely the next time anyone sees these cars will be at the auction held to settle their estate.. simply because their so particular

 

All of the above!

 

I guess it's all in what you like and want out of your car Sawzall. I happen to love my engine and have put a lot of work into making it look (and hopefully run) the way I want. I am sure those 97's are going to be a pain in ass but so is pretty much everything related to an old car for me at least anyways. Shit if I wanted it running and that's it, I would have left the 350 that was in there when I got it. But the process is just as important to me as the end result so I want my car how I like it.

Critical? no. Desirable for me? YES! I mean you wouldn't criticize someone for wanting their paintjob absolutely straight right? Well the same goes for the engine bays for some. I am sure many of cars could have just rolled down the highway just fine with primer on them but there's a few that went the extra mile and decided that this was THEIR car and THEIR dream so they wanted to take it all the way.

I'll definitely get the car running with a 4bbl as I have to break it in with one but I don't think it'll be long before I am swapping out the intake and trying to work out the bugs on that 4x2. It's important to me to be proud of my car and the work that I put in. I guess that's why it important to me to get those 97's running.

 

I tried selling blood, but they said they wouldn't take five liters. I said, "It's okay. It's not mine...." Oh well. Back to the drawing board.

 

I'm another one who votes for, buy a whole car if you can get parts you need, part/scrap the rest. Bought a 65 Buick Electra, was running driving, old guy drove it till about 3 years ago when gas prices got too much for him. Sat for 2 years, got it running, runs and drives great. So I got myself a 401 Nailhead, T400 transmission, finned drums, and a big old boat that I can eventually scrap for $600.

I'm planning my hot rod project out. And that plan has changed a lot. Went from a 26/27 T touring front half modified on an A frame, to a 28/29 A tudor sedan on 32 rails with wide fives.

Now I've got a lot of parts to sell to start funding the pieces I need to fill in the gaps because I've been buying and accumulating when I come across the right deal.

Right now is a buyers market, things that are worth the money are still worth the money, but things people have been holding on to, they're letting go, fools that were paying insane amounts for stuff and expecting insane amounts, have eased off. So start scrounging up some cash.

 

It's been working for me so far. All my buddies are buying engagement rings, I just bought an engine! Same type of commitment I suppose, isn't it?

This is exactly what I do. I have my banking set up to automatically deduct a small set sum the same day that my pay checks come in. That money goes to a different account that my debit card doesn't have access to. I never factor that bit of money in to my week to week budgeting, because it's never there for me to see.

 

My economic situation has been bad since several years before the recession hit so has my health.

I have resigned myself to the fact that it is going to take me longer to get it done.
I guess I just won't be as cool as someone else for a while, life goes on.

As far as financial help from my friends I don't expect any of my friends to help me, why should they. They have their own life to live and it comes with its own obstacles.

 

don't buy crap for the car that you don't need to get it on the road. i was saving for tires, but bought aluminum heads my already running flathead.

newbie mistake, one of many.

 

I bought a couple of 49 merc 4 drs out of a local junk yard for 400.00 a piece a couple of years ago. Parted them out, bought more more parts, sold them, you get the idea. My wife is pretty understanding of my hobby choice. Only difference now is I have to sell parts or do side work for extra cash, instead of using household money. As for the original investment in the merc parts cars. It was my vacation pay. I have always found creative ways to finance my projects. Trading of parts or services is always good too. Stay focused on your build. Don't try to do multiple builds at once otherwise you'll end up with 2 projects that are partially done and won't be able to finish either from lack of funds. Ask me how I know.
Matt

 

brother you are dead on.for me and i mean just for me,i have a couple of cars that i can and do use as dds.so i also have a couple of cars that are now in the process of getting it done from top to bottom before they hit the streets.the engine bays are as important to me as the paint and body.it has to be perfect.to me if the engine bay aint just right it looks like the builder just got tired or lazy. i know that that may not be the case but it still runs thru my mind "why the hell didnt he finish it" cant help it just the way i am.to me its attention to EVERY detail.that may be why a 1 yr build takes me 3 yrs.hell i probably wont live long enough to finish the one i want to drive the most.make any sense. not to me but its still the way it has to be. hell i cant see how people drive rat rods. it would drive me insane.

 

And according to Jeff, Chris is an oversized Sasquatch. I love my rat rod!

 

I'm 66 yrs young. I only have own 3 new cars in 50 years of driving .I bought my 1st new car a 67 GS400 when I was 20. The next two new cars I bought was one in 1987 and one 2003. I went to work with, freebies, clunkers, hand-me-downs,etc. I worked a 3rd job only for my toys. Did all the work of the cars civilian and rods myself. Did all my own home repairs, remodeling, etc myself. Worked as much OT as I could find. I put the family 1st . I made sure the wife with the kids had a new car every 8-10 yrs

 

sometimes I can sweet talk the old lady in letting me use her tip money on my jalopy. but most of the time I am trading work in the machine shop and talking to experienced gentalmen in town and learning how they did things back in the day. Also using the grand advice my Grandfather tought me-a lazy man is a smart man,cause he finds the easy'st way to do things! If you want it bad enough you will find a way to handle the situation. Also there are H.A.M.B.'ers who are always willing to reach out and help one way or another.

 

one of my buddies has a huge shop building. everyone in his circle of friends brings their unwanted parts to him. the parts that are dropped off to him are free for the taking if you are in our circle. if one of us hears about the another really needing a part we usually can scrounge it up pretty cheap through our extended respective networks of salvages, other friends, scrap metal yards and 'fill cars', i.e. cars that the counties pushed off into rural ditches years ago to hold the land. very little cash changes in this circle. we are car guys. we know cash is sometimes a lot easier to scrounge up than oddball parts and we all know we will eventually need something that can't be found at the chain stores so we all take car of each other when a vintage parts emergency arises.

we also count on each other's abilities to help one another out. my buddy Brian has the big shop and can fix or build anything. Mopar Mikey works at O'Reilly's and gets us great deals on parts but is also a front suspension whiz, Steve knows tag/title laws, Nick always has a trailer we can use, Jimmy works at a tire shop, etc. I'm the 'internet guy' because I can place free craigslist ads (buddies swear c-list always asks them for a credit card number) and because I am registered on some Mopar boards, the HAMB, a gun board, a pick-up board and can always get tech questions answered for them. There are a lot of older guys in our hobby who are just plumb skeered of them thar interwebs and I fill that niche.

I also drive a truck for a living and have a pretty damned sharp eye for vintage tin. I never forget where the stuff is at. heck, my dispatcher laughs at me because I tell other drivers stuff like, "turn left at the baby blue '58 Chevy fleet side with no front clip" or "look for the primered '63 Caddy in the driveway".

honestly though we have been doing this for twenty + years in good, bad or indifferent economies. we are car guys. we help each other out because we want that same help back if/when we need a help.

 

Parts cars is how I always did it without a lot of money. Buy the right car, take off what you need and sell what you don't to recoup the cash. I feel guilty but in the 70's gas crunch days you could buy a used muscle car for cheap, great parts to build a hot rod with.
Still doable today (well, maybe not musclecars!). Right now I'm helping a buddy build a 27 RPU, he's got a small budget. He found a 54 Dodge moredoor for sale for $500, rusty body but a running baby hemi. We spent a half a day pulling the motor and anything we thought we could sell. Sold around $400 in parts and got $260 for the rusty shell for scrap. He ended up with some extra cash and the hemi didn't cost a dime!

 

I'm not sure what it's like everywhere else, But in New South Wales, you are not permitted to scrounge in junk yards unless you have some sort of scavenger's permit. You can't even take stuff to the tip now without taking out a mortgage. so, whatever I need, I have to buy .
For me, when money is tight, I just have to tell myself that it wont always be like this, and that in time, things will get better. I dont know if they ever do, but you have to stay positive.

 

A scavenger's permit? What is this world coming to! Dear God, save us from this bureaucracy.

 

I'd love to buy a better car to start, but I must suffer from attention deficit because I just cant wait long enough to save that kind of cash. The most helpful trick I've found is to keep the project money separate from household expenses etc.

I started by selling off extra parts, for instance, buy a frame, sell the rear end and brakes. Then I started working the occasional weekend, and now I've started a little side business, the proceeds to go directly to the build.

Basicly, I've been building my car $200-$300 at a time. As others have noted, prioritize your projects and do as much yourself as possible.

I wish there were HAMBers in my area, that would be another great resource in trading labor and skills.

-Chris

 

Rattle cans are your friend, chrome is a five letter word that turns into a four letter word RUST. Cars are by nature a money pit, $5.00-10.00 here many many times. Spend your money carefully and do not extend yourself, Cash on hand only no credit cards. There are lots of things you can get used, but spend on things that will make a safe dependable car, not flash. I know a guy who is doing a frame off car who will spend $$ on flash but will not rebuild the front end as it will not show. WRONG.
Take your time and get it the way you want it without puting yourself in the poorhouse.