so i have no car. well besides the 02 mustang. but that doesnt count here im sure. haha. im really interested in getting a nice old 49-54 chevy! as a total newbie with no welding skills, very little experience with engines or trans or basically any major mechanical stuff like steering or suspension, would this be something that is very possible? im thinking maybe i could run across a good old beater that runs and drives, but a lot of the cars that i could actually afford dont run. most of em seem to have engines in em though. how hard are these old chevys to get running and driving? like what is the usual drag-it-from-the-field to got-it-running process for these cars? what do you guys usually have to get done during this stage of the cars rebuild? oh my dad and granddad could help a little.. but probably wouldnt be too happy about tearing down an engine. cleaning up a carb is one thing..
READ READ READ READ READ Learn as much as you can about everything. I find its best to become an expert on the car your working on.
ha ive been reading on here like crazy. checking out builds and everything. im not sure i could tackle getting one running from the ground up. im sure i could but id have the parents worrying themselves to death that id be wasting my money haha sucky part about being a broke college kid living at home.
Well I was about to offer you my car for sale, new motor, new wiring, new clutch, etc... but if you are a broke college student-it might be a little rich fer yer blood
hey man, im a broke college kid living at home as well. Turn 20 on the 1st. I have one customer right now, another after the 1st, and 3 cars of my own to finish. Check out my hotrod build in my sig. Just go for it and fuck all the others!
Plan, budget, review, plan, budget, review, etc. Personally, since this is your first project, I'd pick something that will match your skill level. Find like minded motorheads, this place is a good start for locating people in your area. You may well even find people that have the kind of car you want and there is no better source for finding a project similar than people like that. They often know where to find one because they are always looking for parts, etc. The kind of Chevy you are talking about are not hard to find or work on, they are really basic machines, just keep in mind that they are 60+ year old cars and aren't much on creature comforts. Get a shop manual, read it, then read it again, and again, and again.... You are a student so you must be used to that by now. Save your money, grab all the beer cans at school and get the refunds or recycle them, you will get some good cash that way. If there is some legal way to make some money, do it. Good luck, stick around, and learn. Check out the FAQ, tech articles, and do a search function for your questions before you ask a question. If you can't find it, then feel free to ask, at least you would have tried. But generally speaking you will find what you need that way. Best of luck and Merry Christmas!
El Caballo's advise is spot on. Car projects can become very money intense if you let them. Looking on a budget means that you should find the most compete and the least deteriorated car your money can buy. Work on saftey first. get it running. Go to local shows and swaps and meet the people. Get ideas. Learn eveything you can. Don't get in a hurry and over time you will gain the skills and funds to make it into what you want or decide that somthing else is more for you.
thanks guys. yeah i will have to try the search option! believe me i know how to research! especially after the bobber i built. nothing better than pouring over the internet to learn half of what you need to know. the other half is learned during and after doing what you set out to do haha. trial and error.
Might I suggest just dragging home something that needs a ton of work and really isn't worth much. Do everything you can to it without spending much money. Then when you are totally overwhelmed and sick of looking at it you will have a lot better idea what level of project is suited to your skills and available tools/shop equipment. Plus you will have learned a lot.
join a car club in your area and go to some of your local mechanic shops and ask if they can hire you on for a few hrs a week so you can learn some basic skills. go to the grain elevators in your area and place some want adds on the bulletin boards looking for part time work and old cars. ijust found a 31 tudor that has been in the same family since the 40's and hasnt been ran since the mid 70's by asking the farmers that come into one of my area grain elevators. get a basic set of tools.
Tyler, the first thing I did was take a night welding class at my local Vo-tech. It lasted about 10 weeks and costed $200. It opened up so many more possiblilities when I didn't have to constantly stop the project to send stuff out to get welded. Also, you won't pass up a project that needs a little welding, in fact you'll be looking for stuff to make sparks on.
thats a very good idea. im really interested in learning to weld. actually have a how-to-weld book that my uncle let me borrow sitting on my dresser right now lol. we had to weld one small little piece on the bike and like had to take it to my dads friends place. had to do the same thing to get a few pieces for the fender cut. having your own tool is like essential to making things run smoothly.
I would say look into exactly what you want to do to and find your budget and go from there. It may take you a little longer than some others, but stick with it. I am 24 and have had my car since I was 18 and it is still not even close to being done. As a side note if worried about the money and get tired of it you can usually get most of your investment back out of it(that is if you didn't kill it completely). Go for it and the people on this site will help you tremendously if you ask nicely. Oh yeah and have some fun while doing it and it will make it not seem like such lost cause.
This is my first advice when I meet someone trying to get into it. I say goto sears buy a 200.00 set of tools and don't loose em, or lend em out. I got a decent craftsmen tool set for my 16th bday 11 years and to this day have every tool that set came with.
i actually did ask for tools haha that was to work on my bobber with. now might be working on a car with em my dads getting an air compressor too lol so maybe some sandblasting and painting may come of that lol thanks for all the help.
I am in the middle of rebuilding a '66 Chevy truck with my son, it was a $300 pile of rust when we got it. I am also trying not to break the bank, I have a 2 kids, a wife, a mortgage and also a nasty motorcycle habit to feed...My advice is to look for the best car you can afford, even if it leaves less for parts right at the start. I am really glad to be saving this truck from the scrap yard (after all, they aren't building any more of them!) but for the money and time I've put into it already, I probably would have been better off saving a little and getting one in better shape to start with. Might be finished now instead of halfway! Of course the up side is, everything was so bad that I really couldn't mess it up worse than it was...Only half kidding, this is the first major project I've built, and I have learned a lot, but it was nice to know I couldn't really make it worse. Just re-read this, and I want to be clear that I am having a ball with this truck, and I wouldn't trade any of the time I have in it with my son for anything...I love the machine, I love seeing the progress, and the day we take it on the road thefirst time will be amazing....
First stay in college. Then save up enough money to buy the best condition running car that you can afford. Having a running car is a great motivator.
everybody started somewhere, if it is something you are gonna stick with start invetsting in it any ways that you can afford and keep the family from kicking you out and what not, get ya a project and get started, work on when you can with what you have and buy and learn as you go......how i started..in my little one car garage, with a car that i had to keep going so i could get to work.....with very little help and very little tools......just did what i could when i could.....i would try to find a car that maybe has a little bit of work into it already, something that you can get parts for at the normal parts stores.......later 50 chevy with a 235 already would be good, pretty simple, can get alot of parts still in the parts stores.......and just fix it as you go....
The best experience is to just do it. Its always best to start with the best car you can afford. 49-54's are getting very popular but they made plenty of them and if you take your time you should be able to find someones project they either got tired of, needs the $$$ or ?. The best advice I ever got was "If you want a car so bad you cant see straight, walk away cause you might be making a mistake" in other words it might be to good to be true!!!
yeah ok so Christmas came early at my house! my dad works for the tennessee department of transportation and has to work all night so he wont be here tomorrow. sooo i got my tools tonight! nice black chrome set of stanley sockets and wrenches. dewalt angle grinder. a dremel and my brother and his wife got me some screw drivers and a tape measure. lol my dad already has most of this stuff, but having my own is sweet. makes me wanna get to work on a car right away. thanks for the advice! im thinking of taking the whole idea of finding one that runs and works well pretty seriously. best car for the least money sounds to be the way to go. ill be sure and start a thread as soon as i find a car!
What he said...The way You described Your situation and prior experience, going to college and trying to revive something fresh out of the field while first trying to figure out how it MIGHT´ve "ran when parked" means You likely won´t do too well at either. The most common blunder with too many young guys buying their first car on a budget, as much as I hate to say it. See finishing college first as an investment, and then as a first thing go after the best running car that suits Your taste and purposes. No disrespect to ´49-54 Chevy -owners, but in the scheme of all cars from the ´50s those cars are still fairly common out there, which means each increment in Your budget will broaden Your selection exponentially. It´s one thing to start learning the basics by maintaining and repairing something that actually runs properly, as opposed to "re-inventing the wheel". Just saying.
i would go with the welding class for starters... next is to get a good assortment of hand tools, wrenchs, hammers, mig welder, a benchtop drillpress is nice and relatively inexpensive... just remember tools make your life easier thats what they are for... craigslist is the place to look for tools and welders and stuff, also hit up local auctions.. buy name brand tools and welders and such, that way they'll last and you buy them once... as the car goes, sounds like you know what you want, just be patient, seems like things pop-up when you least expect it.. its also good to have a stash of cash just in case something comes available to purchase.. good deals go fast..
good deals do go fast. right now ive found a car that i think i might could get for $500. ran when it was parked 3 years ago. is there anyway i could go wrong with a price like that? heck scrap value would be over half that im sure.
Go to car shows meet people, go to the library look at the car books, go to barnes and noble and pick up some tech manuals. Read Read Read Read. Ask questions on here but don't get upset if you do not get an answer right away or get razzed when you ask. Start by learning about the basics, tune ups, brakes, suspension, electrical. Not an easy thing to get into and do not expect to get things done quick. It takes time and practice.
My 2 cents. Study your ass off in college and when you graduate fool with cars. If you want to work on a car ask someone in your area and I'm sure they can find something for you to do. They're a grossly expensive time suck, and you need to focus on getting laid and studying right now, not some damn car. College is no time for project cars. In the meantime, take that welding class, take an auto class, take all the classes you're able to. You know, I took a summer class 20 years ago cough and just yesterday I realized I could use what I learned then today rebuilding heads and starters and grinding valves and whatnot.
im a broke collage student too and have been building cars scince i was in hs and im on my 4th now. my best advice is get what you can afford thats easy to get parts for,and that has a eng and trans. and be painent... and take your time looking for a car too
The Jalopy Journal
