Projects 100 Buck Mystery Tub!

So, at an undisclosed (sorry, dudes) location SOMEWHERE on the west coast I stumbled across this mystery body. I asked the owner what it is and he has no idea, it was at some time a four door which he cut down and tacked together so it looked like something, but the real kicker is he only wants a hundred bucks for it (or best offer!). It's pretty thin sheet metal all around, but I've got an uncle willing to drive it back down for me from where it is back to Los Angeles. I'm pretty sold on it, but I want that final impulse..
Should I buy this as my first hot rod? I've got a '62 Corvair in my driveway and I can't drive for another year (damn laws..), so I've got plenty of time to work on a rod project. Maybe not the skill or the funds quite yet, but I figure it's a good start..

 

looks pretty far gone , depends how determined you are to be able to make sompthing out of it , if you really want it i would offer half and go from there ! good luck if you end up with it

 

looks pretty sad, man. That tin is pretty worked over. If you are visualizing it a certain way (is it talking to you?) then go for it. If not then you might want something different.

 

save your hundred

 

If i had to guess i would say maybe durant there is one near me i can just about score for free for the last three years and still havent gone to get it . keep saving unless you just cant live with out it!! good luck on your choice

 

Dudes on here have made amazing cars with less... but not much. If the pictures are any indicator, you could use this as a template to recreate ALL the panels I see, but that is a shitload of work, especially for someone without some serious skills ... I don't have skills like that and I'll tackle some crazy shit. Do what you want.

 

i think you are better off spending more on the body you start with and getting something more complete and solid. you will end up money ahead in the long run.

 

I've dragged home some pretty nasty crap and I have to think I'd only go $100 if the trailer comes with it.

 

$100 looks pretty steep for what I see there. I say pass on this one and keep saving while you look for a better start. Good luck !!!!!

 

what is your skill level? I would make him an offer of $60. would make a cool modified.

This is what I started with




now

This is my first real build.

 

yeah, i would say pass, at best i would say you would endup with some kinda modified, but there are plenty of cowls and what not out there available for the same price, and if you really look around you can find pickup cabs and stuff for cheaper and in better shape. the only way i would say buying it would be good, was if it was some sort of massive mission and you saw things inti you have never seen before and are ready for a serious undertaking. another thing if you are building a modified what types of tools do you have, can you weld, can you form tin at all?

 

$100 yard art!

 

From a guy that's worked with stuff that far gone, I say leave it be...it's so much nicer to start out with something more solid, or at least parts that are more solid, than to spend months reshaping the body and still have a chassis and drivetrain to build after all that work...

 

Im just curious but after replacing 95% of the panels is it even worth buying something this rough just to say its old?

 

ita make cool yard art.

 

what ya got there is yard art. i wouldn't necessarily pay $100 for it. i'd haul the fucker away for free and hang it on my wall though.
in reality, you being young, inexperienced, etc. you may as well save your $100 and scrounge up a little more and get something in better shape. otherwise, you'll just hack that thing all up and junk it in about four months-believe me i've been there as a know it all kid-then again, for $100 it could be a good cheap lesson learned.
up to you dude.

 

if you want a rod(on the cheap) id get like a model a cowl and go from there. if you cant visualize your car done, itll probably turn out funny. you can always practice your metal working skills on it though!

 

He's going to give you a hundred right! I would take it if it was free, but I wouldn't give money for that. I started with about the same for my Touring, but it was free and was going to scrap if I didn't take it. Even then I thought about it for a while.


Tim

 

Yep, pass on it. You really do not need the frustrations it would cause. Start with something in better condition. Start with a Ford model T or model A body of some sort. That way the $$$'s that you put into it, is always really easy to recoup.

I like the word recoup, and I like the word coupe even better!

 

hmm...hundred bucks aint much in the big picture. but i guess what you need to ask yourself is "how much is this hundred bucks gonna cost me?"

ive seen more done with less like others have said...but it was in the hands of someone who had the skills, tools, and time to transform it into something bitchin. it can be done...but do you have the motivation?

 

I've seen something like that in pictures, if it is indeed a cut-down four-door tourer. Those rhomboid doors ring a bell. The name escapes me: an ambitious but ultimately unsuccessful attempt at an inexpensive American car on Ford lines. If I remember correctly it had solid disc wheels, as were fashionable in the mid-'20s.

 

I do own a MIG welder and have a fellow HAMB'r not more than two blocks from my house, and between us some of the fabrication wouldn't be more than we could handle.

I just haven't seen much around where I'm from for anything under a hundred bucks that wasn't a few pieces of chrome.. Guess it's just impulse.

 

looks like an old drag car, but yard art

 

Man save up 2-300dollars and i will personally help you find a truck cab or a good cowl in so cal to start with.

 

The back panel on that thing is actually the seat back of the front seat.
It was a totally wooden structured car and has not even a hint of the structure left.
Best find a car that is a car or a piece of a car than a pile of rumpled sheet metal that dreams it is a car! Is that a challenge or what?

 

at 14 you have the right idea....but......listen to these guys.
and not that it means much to you now but we sold this truck cab, with doors, a dash, the bench, a frame that was already z'd in the back, a 10bolt rear end, and some other goodies for about 500 bucks.


keep searching, you have time.

 

well then let him learn his lesson for the good lord's sake.. are you guys kidding? almost everyone so far who has replied to this said they built something with less or the same to work with and you're still tellin him to turn it down? WTF?? dude offer the guy $50, go up to $75 and if you get it for that the lessons learned trying to staighten it out will be worth more than that.. I try not to get indignant about threads too often but this just pissed me off, ( may be due in part to the 12 pack of AmberBock I just finished off) but it took me until i was 26 to stop makin excuses and build a hot-rod and this guy is willing to dive into some crazy vintage tin-savin work at 15-16 years old and every one is tellin him to give up.. I don't care if i piss every one else off.. BUY THE THING AND BUILD A HOT-ROD!!!!

 

These guys amaze me, I know some of them spend a hundred bucks on beer for the week end. I think if you have the $100 and its not going to strap you, and you have a bunch of time on your hands, and if you have a place to work on it that won't get you heat from the folks, you should buy it. You could get a lot of experience working on this thing and if you screw it up and in a year or so and you decide to scrap it you are out $100, beats learning on a Model A or T body. I have spent more on books for school and learned less. I would offer him about half that though. Only you know your situation and only you can answer this question.

 

A-Fuckin-men.. exactly what I was gettin at... glad to see a like minded thinker here..

 

I don't know she looks pretty rough. I'd pay a hundred for her though. I'd pay a hundred for her and then search the hamb for free parts and try to come up with the cheapest rat rod ever!