Feelings on doing a car yourself or buying one done

Hello everyone... My thoughts are when you build a car yourself it means alot more to you. You build it the way you want and you know every bolt and nut in the car.... I have built a few cars and know the feeling very well and the pride when you bring it to shows and people admire it. My question is when you buy a car that is all ready done could you ever have a feeling close to if you have done it yourself? I know more often then none that it could be alot cheaper to buy a car done or almost done then to do a complete build. But what are your thoughts when you see a nice car at a show and you find out the person bought it and didnt build it? Do you think differently about the car? Do you acknowledge the persons ability or info about the car? Or do you look at it as all they did was sign the check! My thought is i dont care for my car as much because i bought it done already. It is actually in the classifieds now. Ive owned it nearly 10 years but i dont have the connection with it I have had with cars I built... I was just wondering if anyone else has ever felt the same...

 

I think it depends, for example, I would never do bodywork myself because a crappy finish is a crappy finish no matter how much pride you got, but I do all the mechanical and electrical stuff instead. Sometimes you don't have the skills or time to do it and
you have to buy something already done.
There are so many good deals out there that pride comes from buying it cheap.

 

Some people don't have the skills or the room to build a car, but do have the money. I think it's fine if they buy one. Personally I like to build. To me that's 90% of the fun. Building it the way you envisioned it gives me the satisfaction and gratification that I'm looking for. If other people like my car, it's a bonus. Each to their own on how they want to enjoy rods and customs.

 

I don't think there is anyone out there prouder of their car then I am of Big Olds. I don't have the skills to accomplish what was done at the level it was finished. I did work to the best of my ability at what I did do AND worked extremely hard at my real job (and part time one) to be able to afford what I had done. PLUS by hiring out stuff done on my car I helped others make a living.

 

I find that the very first question most people ask me is "Did you build it?" and I have to admit it feels good to say yes. But I don't know if it would be any less enjoyable to own one that I didn't build.

The only thing I don't like about a car someone else did is that you may have to guess about what parts were used when replacement time comes around. Like you said, you know every nut and bolt when you slaved over one for a few years, but how could you know where every wire ends or what part was used somewhere if you bought a done car?

I also don't like a lot of the workmanship I have seen on done cars..........not putting myself in any superior position, but there are some cars running around with some really crappy stuff done to them. I would be afraid that if I did buy one I would be tearing it apart anyway to redo some things, so it is just easier for me to build one.

That being said, I would proudly own one built by a lot of builders on here, like Bass, White, and the others.

Don

 

"It is actually in the classifieds now"

Thanks for including that

 

i am trying to finish one up myself, but realize my tastes far exceed my abilities (and budget)

not to mention I don't have the time. I hoped to get it on the road this summer, but now I am looking at next year. What's another year on a build for an 80+ year old car.

 

I don't build whole cars, and I can't do body/paint work, but I the whole reason I'm into working on cars as my hobby of choice is for the feeling of accomplishment with a job well-done.

What kind of accomplishment would I feel by writing a check?

 

If I bought a finished car it would just be another car to me.
I like to build my own, it ain't the best or nicest but I get some pride in doing it and when it brakes down I usually know exactly what went wrong.

 

A car is a car, a well built/restored one will always turn heads, the attitude of the owner/builder/caretaker won't change my opinion of the car. I bought my T because I had a connection to it, my first "Old Car" ride when I was 11-12 years old. Building a car is a lot of fun, but I never bother to ask people is they built or bought their current ride. If people stopped buying built cars there wouldn't be funds to build more.

 

I know that building my car changed my life. In a lot of ways... I've never felt more proud about anything else that I have done in my life. I know that a lot of guys don't have the room or skills to build, and thats fine. The important thing is preserving the cars themselves, and keeping our love for them alive and kicking. For me though, building it myself was the only way it was going to happen. I could never have afforded to have someone else do it.

 

First of all, when I go to a show to look at cars, I don't care if the owner built it. I'm just looking at the car for its own merit, and my opinion of the car doesn't change because the owner did or did not build it himself/herself.

Secondly, I've both built my own cars and bought finished cars. I've bought finished cars, then gone through them when they needed it (my Nomad, for example, 20 years and 300,000 miles later has had glass, engine, trans, brakes, radiator, front suspension and upholstery since I've owned it, even though it was a finished car when I bought it).

I really enjoy working on my cars. But I really really enjoy driving them. If I can buy a finished car and enjoy it today instead of a few years from now, I'll do it. And I'll love every minute of it.

 

We all have different skill levels. With some, it is building cars,with others it's making money. I have to build my cars. But I see no problem with buying a car,but if you do, for God sake,learn something about it.
I really hate it, when I see something I like about a car,ask the owner , and he has NO clue.
It doesn't reflect on the car, but the owner just became a piece of crap.

 

I did not start this thread to have people look at my car in the for sale section.. Let me point that out! If some people take it that way im sorry!

 

Retired a year and a half ago. Stumbled upon the H.A.M.B. and said "I can do that". Bought a Model A
project in April 2010 and said I would have it on the road before snow. Then it was by spring, again by Memorial Day, again by Fourth of July, again by Labor Day, and now I'm back to spring 2012. Frustrating and exhilarating at the same time. Lots of beer and
busted knuckles, but when it's done no matter how it turns out it's my own creation and that's what keeps me plugging along.

 

Either way just enjoy it. There is nothing better that having people smile at you while cruising down the street. Take a kid for a ride, take your neighbor or someone who has never experienced the thrill of riding in a cool old car. The expression on their face will be priceless. It will truely make your day!!!!

 

I'm a build it over buy it guy but lately I've been cruising the classified and Craigslist for the right 49-54 Chevy that's a driver. My 2 drivers are 2 seaters and my current project is an old truck. Now I have the Studebaker as a family car but haven't even started on it yet so I've been thinking of picking up something that is nice and runs nice as a family cruiser. Yesterday I took the wife and kids out for dounuts and we took my O/T truck. It would have been nice to take an old cruiser instead.

 

Very true... I have been working on mine for over 7 years. Unfortunately money has been hard to come by and minor family emergencies have taken up alot of my time. I just have to keep reminding myself to have patience it will get done.

 

It is way cheaper in the long run to buy a finished car, but I would much rather build it even if it is not perfect. Just feels different driving a car that you build yourself vs a bought car. I dont think I could buy a finished car and leave it alone, mods would have to be done to make it "mine". I dont hold a grudge against those who only buy finished cars, they are the ones who by mine when I am ready for something new.

 

I have had both, ones I built and ones I bought. I would say that I enjoy the ones I build way better than the one I bought. There is nothing better than being a thousand miles away in a vehicle I know every nut and bolt on, and knowing it will get me back. Just a wonderful feeling that I don't get with something someone else put together............JMHO

 

Moreso when it's your blood, sweat and tears in there.

 

I have done it ... BOTH WAYS ...

I see no real difference in ownership bought VS built. I bought a old 40 Ford coupe, up and running. Drove it for many years and did a little to it as it needed it. I did not build it ( or rebuild it ). Both my 32 Fords were ground up ... turn every bolt type of builds and I do not enjoy them any more than I did the old 40 Ford coupe.

As a matter of fact ...
I had more FUN in the 40 than either of my 32's.

I generally do NOT ask if the owner built it. Lot of folks LIE
Hot rodding is full of Drug Store Mechanics ... you know the guys whose car education came from reading car magazines at the drug store

Usually, within 2 or 3 minutes of talking with the owner, you KNOW if they built the car.

I think it is great for some folks to BUY a ride. It allows others to sell and build or buy something different.

.

 

One's skills at building a car along with the lack of space, time or equipment shouldn't keep him/her from owning a hot rod or custom. Our go to builders who are members here on the HAMB would be as broke as the rest of us if having to build your own were gospel here.

I like a lot of others here have to build my own because that is the only way I can afford it. One step and one part at a time over a long period of time. Some things would most likely be a not nicer if I could afford to farm that part out. That doesn't mean that I don't peruse the classifieds and see what finished or almost finished rods and customs are for sale there. The Idea of buying a running and driving car and going out and having fun often seems a lot better than looking another two years building the current project before I can drive it even as far as down the driveway.

 

Well I have to say it matters to me! I do look different on a owner built car, cuz I respect the craftmanship! It might not be absolutely perfect, but nevertheless the dude or dudette built the damn thing! Hats off to that!
If you buy a done car from a shop, it better be perfect right!
I am very proud of my cars and I built them myself together with my wife. It's so importaint to me, even though they are in no means perfect, but I built it! A bought car would never mean that much to me, unless it's Allan B's 1951 Chevy, The Bozio Buick, a Fonz merc or the Hirohata merc only because they are all super cool and trendsetters in their own way.
It does annoy me when somebody look down their nose at my cars and don't build their own stuff. I just can't take them serious!

Klaus

 

I agree with Larry W, the owner needs to have complete knowledge of his modified car. Also, if the non-builder owner is having someone else build his car, the owner needs to be actively involved in directing the build without overstepping the builder's authority. That way the owner shows that he has an understand of what modifications/restorations were made and why. So, he should not just say, "Put in a V-8 engine with three-twos" but instead, with knowledgeable advice, carefully choose the engine and its modifications and know why and how each of those modifications were made. The same would go for the rest of the car.

 

I personally enjoy the build process.With that said I would sure like to own Doane Spencers 32 ,I think guys like Bruce Meyers enjoy many of the previously built cars the own.

 

I am sure not everyone who buys the car built is this way but I notice the ones that buy them around here get arrogant and don't want to talk to anyone except their inner circle of friends at a show but the builders will talk to just about anyone who wants to discuss it. It may be a defense mechanism to avoid questions about some of the details of the car but it really is annoying at times...

 

Very true.... if you dont build it yourself you will never understand the blood, sweat and tears that go into the build. My mentor always told me he can appreciate an owner built car even if it was a little rough around the edges because the persones heart and soul was built into it.

 

I can honestly say it is nice to say you built the car and explain how you did certain things,I have built a bunch of cars over the last 40 plus years and bought a couple already finished ones.

Both feel pretty doggone good,,some guys don't have or care to learn the skills involved to build a car from the ground up and I'm OK with that.

I purchased a 1932 Ford Roadster from a friend so I know how it feels to have instant gratification,I also know the direct questions of "Did you build it?" and "Say,Is this whats his names old roadster?"

Never the less,I still loved that car and only sold it to get my hands on the '32 Coupe that I had wanted for a long,long time.

Satisfaction in owning and driving your car or truck is what makes the commitment worthwhile,ether way it is a financial thing and I believe if you are enjoying it that's all that really counts. HRP

 

Looking down your nose at someone who bought instead of built, is like refusing to listen to the piano player because he didn't build the piano.
Making money is a skill too.