I think paul and francisco have made some great points, and I also think if your willing to learn and have good, capable friends, you could build a 10k trad rod. But let's not forget the op said he can get 10k to start with and put more money in later. So I bet we can all agree for 15k he can put together a decent looking driver quality hot rod.
That's not a budget beater. It's what I call a nicely done hot rod and an incredible looking car for the $7500.00. Glass or not, it's the route you chose to get what you wanted and like me a glass car got you there. Nice job, one more " hot rod " on the road.
Here is a great start with alot of the hard work done. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=481104
from your neck of the woods i found some good starts on a hotrod for under $10,000, it does depend on your skills and willingness to learn, wheeling and dealing may be required. http://cnj.craigslist.org/cto/1817575217.html http://cnj.craigslist.org/cto/1774330501.html http://cnj.craigslist.org/cto/1819491033.html http://cnj.craigslist.org/cto/1796845325.html http://cnj.craigslist.org/cto/1761044352.html
You are right he is an idiot. Only car i ever spent that on was my Max Wedge 63 Dodge. Under five should get you a decent driver the next five will make it super. Oh I forgot. That is if you build it. But if you're like most rodders /racers i know, you can't just buy one for that. You might actually have to build it. Don
"25 grand"? You gotta be kidding me! Maybe its that price if you're a "checkbook hotrodder" and pay someone else to do all the work, but real hot rodders do as much of their own work as they can. Buy, trade, barter etc. 10 grand will get a lot for the wise buyer.
Nice car! You're a good example of what I said to Francisco whatsizname. This is what hotrodding is all about, not some trailer queen boydster.
Heres a couple of bodys to look at, www.trinketsandjunk.com the 26 has a lot of potential as does the 30 coupe. Want to help this guy find his parts and prove me wrong or just blah blah for post count? Who has a good running engine and trans to fit the budget?
If "YOU'RE" going to call someone an idiot, at least know the difference between "your" and "you're".
Networking is the key to keep the build price low. Also shy away from period correct "must have" parts. You may of found a nice early overhead Caddy motor but it'll take $1000 to put a modern stick tranny behind it. Kelsey Hayes wires sure are nice but a set of 35' 16" spokes will do the job just fine. You can see where I'm going with this.....
Theres a 500 caddy in the classifieds, a 283 early, a 331 hemi, a 394 olds and many more, Id go 331 hemi, but thats why I'm an idiot and can't build a car for 10 grand. Theres also a t frame for 75 bucks, but you may as well make one if you put any power in it. So, OK, The idiot has a 26 Ford with a 331 Hemi so far, and a $75 frame, I'm at $3500. I need a rear end, suspension, brakes...seats.. lets go I'm Building a hot rod so far, I'm not taking out the Hemi, My budget is 25. You can have the 283. I found a set of www 15x7 smoothies for 800 bux on here, for a fuel tank It would be, if that guy has that oxygen tank from the ww2 bomber, put a bladder in it some crash foam and weld a fuel bung on it, I think that would polish up real nice and you would have a story in your trunk. I think ill use an explorer 9 inch out back, that way i wont have to narrow it and Ill have my brakes, oh I use discs, cause I drive like an idiot as well, very fast, and I like to stop. Im at 5k now, with the rearend.
It is very plausabile to build a car within that budget, but there are some key factors that you are going to have to address first. One of them is what is hanging me up on my '29 You need to figure out what type of car you want, and where you want to go with it. Once you figure that out you can then figure out what TOOLS you are going to need to get the job done. This can be a Huge cost to you. If your goal has fabrication requirements, except to see a large chunk of that 10k budget going to all sorts of tools welding, torch, grinder, clamps, hoist, stands, ect ect (never mind skill set we are just talking budget). Which is where I'm stuck. I can either spend all my budget on tools to get the job done but not be able to afford to build the car.. .or well. save more money. Once you have the basic tools you are going to need or at least access to them, if you have friends ect things get simpler alot quicker and much cheaper to build. In some cases it will be cheaper if to pay others to do some of the work if you only plan on building 1 car If you are looking to get something that requires nothing more then simple handtools ie basic mechanical, paint & body, maybe lowering. (ie no fabrication) Then 10k is a solid budget for a good cruiser as long as you stay away from the go fast parts. You biggest hurdle is going to be picking a good car to start with which will save you alot of time and money in the long run.
If you are starting with absolutely no tools whatso ever than yeah maybe (but that's a big maybe) but you certainly don't need any where near a large chunk of $10,000 in tools to build a car and you certainly don't need them all at once. A decent mig welder an good grinder and a good drill/ drill press will allow you to do the vast majority of Fab work you are going to perform on a hot rod. Hoists and stand etc are nice but definitley not even close to a requirement to build a car. Sometimes you have to be just as resourceful and inventive with how to accomplish tasks in your build as your are in gathering parts.
Ok, I found the dash, Im going to cut an aluminum cylinder thats 24 inches in diameter into 1/6Ths, it has ribs in it going around it, Im going to put pods onto the round polished cylinder section for gauges, I found a company that sells doe leather hides, its very soft, I want to rub my face in it, I will use that for my upholstery, I will make some seats out of sheet aluminum, put a nice foam form in it glue it up with upholstery glue and hand stitch the doe skin, my hiney should be happy. I found a couple of old torque tubes, I'll make a lakester exhaust out of these, I can make a glass pack to keep J Law off of me, Wrap abit of steel wool and glass around a little shorty. With steel for floors frame and such Im at 7500.
no reason on earth ya cant for 10K... Mines not much to look at but buyin parts as they present themselves and not rushing, i've got all the hard parts i need and maybe another 40 hours total and i'll have a driver. For just north of 3 grand. Its the patience part that'll save you cash and headaches in the end. Just enjoy the build. But whatever ya do.... BUILD SOMETHIN!!!
I donnu man this is the boat I'm in, I don't have a hoist, which means I can't pull the body from the frame, pull a motor, or the bed of my truck. I have a welder which cost around 1000-1200 with a helmet, gas ect ect but I have no means to cut metal (cleanly or straight) at this time at my house so I can't make a frame table, cut out pieces for patches, or even cut square tube to make my frame. I have an angle grinder which is good for some grinding but can make a mess of others. If I lived down south still where I have friends into wrenching on cars that would be one thing but where I live now It's a one man mission. On the plus side I do have access to a ton of equipment from my work (paint booth, and alot of fabrication stuff, even a cad/plasma table thingy) but I can't leave my projects there and they aren't in a transportable state as I don't own a car trailer so I do what I can haul back and forth with me there. I'm hoping to be able to build my basic frame this summer @ work. Which will save me from needing alot of equipment at home. So to just price it out if you have nothing. Welder and all safety gear 1000$ Cutting equipment 200-500$ Bender (for exhaust, cage work, ect) 700-1000$ Hand tools 200$-500$ Painting tools 200-500$ (gun, sanding equipment, paper, ect ect) Then at least another 250-500 in other things like vices, grinders, drills, or if you need to borrow stuff from friends you looking to spend just that much in pizza and beer ^_^ That's a bit less then half his budget if you want to be doing fabrication, and I know I'm on the light side as there is always a ton of misc stuff that I wouldn't come up with unless I spent more time thinking over everything.
I'm in the middle of my build right now... what I'm after is a period build 30 Av8. What I started with was a 31 4 door sedan that had caught fire burning the top section of the car.it was complete and it cost me $2.000 I sold /traded the engine and body for brakes,wheels,a good running 36 v-8 and 36 trans. traded the stock axle to a restorer for a dropped axle then traded that for a vintage bicycle that i then sold for the money I needed to buy a 32 wishbone and axle. I made my own K-member out of some spare junk. My buddy is building a model A right next to mine so we have gone halvsies on a couple of parts piles to get what we need then sold what we didn't. I now have a roller with everything but body and grille shell. It's taken alot of resourcefullness and ingenuity along with flexibility and frustration and help from my buddies but I have half a car and only $1100 invested. seems to me that is what hot roddings all about
You do not need a hoist to pull the body from the frame, buy some, or pilfer some, 2x6 pine studs and half a sheet of plywood, build 4 2 foot by 2 foot boxes, screw the plywood to the studs, now it wont collapse, screw 2 sets of 2x6's together, unbolt the body, jack it up, slip the boxes and studs in there, screw all of it together so its stable, go do the front, roll the chassis out. Go get a set of casters with big wheels and some junk pipe, ask a junker going down the street, I buy steel from them all the time, make yourself a little roll about so you can push the body around. You can rent a gasoline drive welder for 450 a month. You do not need a bender to own, unless your'e a shop, you can rent one or you can check out an electrical shop, they have the benders for service installation, if you befriend them and they have a shop kid they will usually charge you minimal.
I assume you are starting from nothing as far as tools. I would assume that if someone is going to under take the task of building a hotrod they at least have some basic hand tools/ drills etc already. If they have nothing building a car is maybe a bit too much of an undertaking for a first project. If you are starting from scatch then yes as I said originally it could be more but.. You can cut pretty much everything you need to with an angle grinder just need practice, patience and proper layout. Most guys building a hot rod are not putting a roll cage in it so no bender required. You can buy mandrel bends to do an exhaust system so no bender needed for those either. Hoists can be improvised. I pulled an engine and lifted the cab off my truck by attaching a pully rope system off the roof of my gargae total cost was probably $30 and that was because I had to buy some lag bolts to bolt a 4x4 to the rafters to spread out the load. Lots of guys build frames without a chassis table. Paint is a ways away so you can save up for those tools for use later down the road. Guys think they have to have a specialized tool to do every job you don't you just have to learn to use tools to do multipe tasks and then add to your tool collection as you have the funds. I cut everything for years with a right angle grinder, I finally went out and bought a plasma when I had the funds. Is it easier, faster etc than a grinder, of course, and I wouldn't go back to the grinder if I could avoid it now for anything but at the end of the day the result is the same they both cut metal.
Alot of assuming going here on this this thread. What this thread needs is some sort of direction of what a traditional hot rod is to him. I could easily build a hot rod for 10 grand. Lot's of reserch and searching rather than buying is what I do.
10 grand will definitely get you there on a DRIVER, as long as you have skills or buddies to help do most of it. I don't even have 7K in my truck yet and I cut no corners, and it's no slouch in the horsepower department. I guess you could spend 25K pretty easy on a car to put inside a 30K trailer Thats just my .02
The key is 1) networking 2) doing everything yourself 3) having the will power to walk away from stuff that doesn't suit the budget. 1) is obvious, join a club, get to know as many rodders as possible and let them know you're on a budget build. 2) tackle EVERYTHING yourself. I've taught myself painting, panel work, upholstery, welding, mechanics, wiring, everything except machining and chroming. 3) easier said than done... I've got about USD$10K in my 28 A tudor, and I've pretty much done with the spending, time and labour are what's needed now.
A few years back, Leroi "Tex" Smith built the "Dollar per Pound Street Rod" (may have been Hot Rod) and the build was featured in a mag ... I think it was R&C but I am not sure, it may have even been made into one of his books. The whole idea was a budget Hot Rod could be easily built. I think getting a hold of these articles would make a great first step and I am sure someone here can help find them.
First of all throw away all of your "Street Rodder" type mags... Then promise yourself that the credit cards will only come out for new parts that are really needed to get the project running/driving. My '56 F100 with a blown 354 Hemi will be running/driving for way less than $10K... lots of guys do it on the cheap BUT if you insist on having everything "now" and don't want to wait a little for the right deal you are sunk before you start.
With your $10K and that little bit extra you mentioned you could be in this. BTW I have no connection with this car nor the seller, just saw it this morning and thought of this thread. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=488896 The cheapest car to build all things being equal will be a little modified as minimal body panels to fix and paint, no wipers, no side glass, doors dont need to open etc, maybe something unique like this. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=5401804
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