Thanks Bob......:D :cool:
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Thanks Bob......:D :cool:
most hobbyist i know can't build their chassis, motor, trans. and dif., so if you gonna pay somebody to do all that, then it can't be done. i would think building something like that would be something most people would work their way up to. you take Itoldyouso, and hambiskit experience and knowledge out of it and they can't do it either. i take back what i said if you gonna compare it to a 17 yr. old kid that has never built anything, because he can't build it for 3,000.00, but Itoldyouso, hambiskit and I can. we paid for it somewhere down the line. :eek: JMOQuote:
Originally Posted by hambiskit
lt1s10 is right, because we all cobbled up some cars and ruined a few along the way, before we learned enough to do it better. But this thread isn't designed to be a textbook for the younger or less experienced rodders, just an exercise to see if, in todays market, a low buck car can be built, and still be pretty well constructed. As a byproduct of that, all of us who are doing these cars can pass along some ideas and pictures so that others can benefit.
It is hard, if not almost impossible to build a decent car, regardless of the money spent, without some knowledge and experience. Companies like Total Performance have addressed this problem, by putting out kits that literally can be bolted together, no welding necessary. For some rodders, this is a great way to learn the basics while driving a rod.
The little game we are playing here with this $ 3000.00 build isn't going to be perfect, and may even meet with some criticism when done, but it is just meant to be a "what if" sort of scenario, where we are going to actually try to do it, rather than just put numbers on a sheet of paper. I still think it will be fun, and potentially educational for some members.
Don
in that case you might have enough money left over for a 6 pack.:cool:
I think i could fall under the catagory you guys are talking about,meaning i dont have major contacts, or have i ever to date built a rod from the ground up,but i do know alot of old rodders that i get stuff from,so if i tried this little project i think i might be able to do it,i dont have the knowledge most of you have but i have lots of common sense ,would trading parts with people be cheating,like i said before i make under 40 grand a year, so i have to get stuff wherever i can, allthough i am a building inspector, so people tend to give me lots of freebies,for example, i have 7 quadrajets in my truck right now ,cause i told a few people i needed 1,plus i have a buddy that owns a used car dealership that i can get any junk car i want,is that cheating?, also i can get all the scrap steel from jobs ,all the rest i could scrounge up,tell me if this falls under the rules of a less experienced rodder building a budget ride?I have 2 i could start,the free 30 ford i got or the 36 plymouth i found for 200$
Also im a certified welder so i dont have to pay for that,went to a welding school to learn how so i could do more stuff myself
A couple of years ago, a fellow from Rod and Custom magazine Jim Rizzo built a roadster pickup, that he did a whole series of articles about, that was supposed to come in under $10,000.00 Then he had an engine given to him----his finish paint was red oxide primer---his interior was non-existant (indian blanket)---he had no fenders front or rear. I think he was pulling everybodies chain about the final cost. Nobody ever gave me an engine.---a complete fender package in fiberglass is about $1500, an interior costs minimum $200 even when you make the panels and upholster them yourself. The hotrods that I built, I had to buy everything for. I had no friends, relatives, or aquaintances to give me engines or other high dollar items. I still don't think you can do it for under $3000---am I starting to sound like a broken record yet????
hotroddaddy: No, I don't think legitimate freebies is cheating. Whatever you put on the car at whatever you paid for that part is the actual cost. If it cost you nothing, it has no cost. Like the radiator I mentioned I am planning to use. It was given to me because someone thought it was worthless, I feel I can have it redone for $ 50-$100.00 and have it be servicable. So I will use that figure when I add it into my total. Same if I pick up some scrap steel at the dump and use it for some bracket. It didn't cost me anything, so how can I claim a figure?
Buddies are always giving their freinds cast off parts, so if it works on the car you are building, more power to you. That is the beauty of this low buck stuff.:D :D :D :D :D
Don
I still don't think you can do it for under $3000---am I starting to sound like a broken record yet????
Hey Brian, I just figured out why you think it can't be done. It's that US to Canadian Dollars Exchange Rate thing !!!:LOL: :LOL:
Don
Don---Well---even with the friggin exchange rate (it takes $1.17 Canadian to buy $1.00 USA.) I'd a still been way over $10/000.
Oh, see, I thought it was like the Yen, 20,000 = one dollar.:3dSMILE:
Don
Hey, by the way, started bending up the bed last night for the '39. Used alot of your tips to do it. Thanks again.
i built this car for less than 1500.00 useing stuff i had laying in the floor. i had 700.00 in the motor, including the blower. it ran 11.0 sec. 1/4 mile, stock short block, 200.00 heads, stock conv. shifted at 5,000 rpm's. best i could tell i had about 2800.00 in the car. raced it 3 yrs. and sold it for 3700.00.
Good going there, as a 1st time builder and having limited $ to deal with like this aproach. I am currently build a 57 chevy truck , like you been doing lot of swapping and deal making. I got a rolling chassis only, no motor or tranny, but guy thru in a old carb that could not use and I sold it, and bought a 283 from a guy at work, so I got it for nothing. I too are on a budget but think it is in reach to do same. Keep up the good work and progress reports.
Mike: really great looking drag car. Bet you upset alot of guys who had mega-bucks in their cars, when you beat them. Of course, how could they tell, because your car looks high buck.
When I was a teen, there was a guy in our town who had a '55 Chevy. He had only $ 400.00 in the car, and he was beating everybody around. Of course, he had stolen a brand new 409 Chevy off a dealers lot and used the entire drivetrain in the '55, but that is another story altogether.:LOL: :LOL:
I heard a few years ago he was found shot in the trunk of a car, so I guess his ways finally caught up with him.:eek: :eek: :eek:
I agree with the comments about starting with a donor car. Every once in a while I take a bicycle to the local industrial park and start peddling around. It enables you to go slow, and see things you would miss driving a car. I carry a tablet and pen, and when I see some interesting car sitting next to a body shop or garage or business, I jot down what it is and where I saw it. Then I can call them later, or stop in, and ask if the car is for sale. I find that most body shops and garages have little interest in old cars sitting around (by old, I don't mean '32 Fords, just cars of the '70's or '80's) so you can pick up one of these for a song, and sometimes score a good running engine and drivetrain for very little money. When you strip the car to it's bare bones, just call the local junkman and away it goes.
By buying the entire car, you get a much better deal than if you went to the local junkyard and bought each component individually.
So far with the bicycle routine I have scored numerous cars, like an Olds with 455 engine (the one my kid is using in his '29) at least 6 Fox Mustangs, a van that I fixed up and sold cheap to my girlfriends Son, some Grand Marquis Mercs, and some I can't remember. The average cost ranged from $ 50.00 to $ 400.00.
And, the exercise is good for you too !:3dSMILE: :3dSMILE: :3dSMILE:
Don
OK- I got this for a trade on a 53 Chevy PU I had put on a S-10 frame. I paid 500 bucks for, and got it running with a fingernail file & some fresh gas.
So I got 500 in it total now.
The frame was free for hauling it off.
how do you shrink these things??
Go into the place where you keep the pictures, and right click on that picture. Then left click on edit. Then left click on image at the top of screen. A box will come up, select stretch and skew. change the 100% to something smaller, like 50%, do the same for horizontal and vertical. Then left click on ok. left click on the x to close out the picture, and it should say, do you want to save the changes to this picture, left click on yes, and you should now have a smaller picture.
Don
Itoldyouso, capitol garage(it was a wrecker serv. in richmond) gave me that pont. body and a pinto car that i used the front clip off of when i started building the drag car, to get it off of his lot. i used the clip, brakes, steering, master cylinder and paddles out of the pinto. that thing would fly for what i had in it, but with the blower on it everybody thought it should have been faster. i couldn't make them understand if i run it 100 more rpm's than i was running it it wouldn't stay together. the motor and trans. was a motor and trans. that i had left over after installing a low millage used one a few weeks before and i put a set of bearings and rings in it, bolted a blower on it and went racing. i paid 300.00 for the blower, and it was so wore out you could see day light passed the rotors, but it would pump 4 lbs. of boost and thats what i wanted. i think the only thing on that car that was new was the shifter, it had a th350 trans and the shifter had 3 levers, i wish i still had that shifter, you dont see them no more, and i forgot what it was called. if anybody knows i'd like to know.
Lighting Rods
you are right, dont see them much no more, thanks
You would really kick yourself if you saw what these are bringing on Ebay. I don't remember the exact price, but saw one a little while ago, and it was going for stupid money. I wanted it, but no way could I justify the money they were asking.
Don
dont tell me then.
is this the pic. hambiskit?
try this.....too small, but I got it now....Thanks Mike
Capitol Garage....wow, used to drink right across from it. Till big arm John picked up the pool table & threw it....
Johnny Temberlake, man knew how to make a $. i worked there for about 2 yrs 1964 to 1966, as a mechanic. got drafted into the army, ended up back in N.C. until i moved back to rich. in 1980.Quote:
Originally Posted by hambiskit
I certainly hope someone can bring in a safe driveable car for around this price,as this is my goal also on my 29. I've spent just over 1200. so far and have a grill shell,hood, cowl and doors,windshield stantions,chromed 4in drop front axle,complete jag rear,and front frame horns to weld onto my 2x4 frame rails. Yes I have had to be very picky to avoid buying used parts that end up costing the same or even more than I can buy new. I don't see anything wrong with using actual cost when trading services or bartering as anyone can do this if the desire is there. This is my first hot rod,but certainly not the first car I've ever built. I'll probably end up with a lot of dirt modified parts on the roadster,as this is my background,and I can score parts very cheap at the tracks. To those who are trying this good luck and think cheap, and to those who say it can't be done,you may well be right, but the funs in trying.Hank
Progress Report on the 50: measured up the existing frame for a replacement, and I will be at the junkyard tomorrow weather permiting- it rained all day here and the junkyard isn't fun in the rain. I dug out a forged steel 350 crank I got free from a friends expired Corvette engine, and called the machine shop to see how much it was going to cost me to get the thing turned seeing's how it had a rod bearing still welded to it. Seems he's building a race engine and was looking for a forged crank today- told me that if I'd bring it in and let him see it, and if it was any good at all that he'd swap me a new stroker crank (cast) for it. DEAL.
I have a set of 7, 10:5 to 1's on 6" rods flat tops I got free from a bud in the garage, so I need to find one more piston and rod to match. I need to find a 350 at the yard tomorrow, maybe a non-runner that I can turn over that I can get cheap.
If I find anything I'll post a pic. tomorrow evening......anybody else??
Total cost as of today : 500.00 bucks
Total cost as of today : 500.00 bucks
__________________
Think about this. In the past it was cool to say you had a ton of money in your car. Maybe it will become the rage to brag how LITTLE you have in your car.
:whacked: :whacked: :D :D :D :D
Don
:D Only if it doesn't look like it...LOL
After this one I have another one I'm going to do the same way- only no wifey rules. I bought a motorhome from a friend that he was renting out as a beach room, a Dodge 79', has a 440 max wedge & 727 tranny with only 65k miles on it. It's been a party coach so all I want is the drive train- I'll scrap the rest out. I paid 500 for it. I also picked up a 71 roadrunner for shooting (labor only) a 38 Biz. coupe in candy. The roadrunner needs a grille & mud pan from the picture- the rest of it is there.
Wanna bet on the 3k Mopar??
".....Wanna bet on the 3k Mopar??........:LOL:
"...only no wifey rules....."
I was going to post earlier about the realistic rules thing, I think it's appropriate. As people who have been in the buisness/hobby for a while we often come across gonga deals/freebees because of that whole networking thing. Keep in mind it's a 2 way street, even the first time builder starts getting to know of the local ner-do-wells (you know the crusty old hot rodders) will run into them. While we often talk about what a good deal/freebe we found how often do we mention the parts we donate to other peoples projects. I personally gave 2 working transmissions away in the last 6 months. Then there was the kid whos pieceing together the Falcon that scored the $500 basket case Hemi at about 1/3 it's true value.
I do think that realistic freebes should not be counted against the cost of the build, but maybe a realistic cost should be mentioned to give a person a feel for what he could expect.
One of the reasons a lot of my projects are long term IS to give me a chance to "shop around" for the parts I need at the best deal.
One of the things I'm also tyring to do with my journal on the 64 Ford is to give lower cost alternatives to how I'm doing some things.
All really good points, Mike. I'm like you. I ONLY buy something when I can get a deal on it, and will wait until one comes along. That is why it took me 6 years to build my '27.
Deals are out there, you just have to keep looking, and waiting.
Don
I was kidding.....I'll have over 5k in the engine. I'm doing this 3k thingy because I want to see if it can be safely done. I have enough "trading stock" laying around between 3 garage's that I could build one free at this point.
When I am able to put the 50 on the road, and I can keep it under 3k, then I'm rolling it right back into the shop for the dress down & if it doesn't move I'll chrome it, paint it, or hide it. **) **) **) :cool:
"....then I'm rolling it right back into the shop for the dress down & if it doesn't move I'll chrome it, paint it, or hide it.....":LOL:
Yeah, I hear you. Like I had mentioned in my post about the 64, I'm shooting to see what I can do for around 5K (but pointing out how it could be cheaper).
After my first experience about sending a car out for paint and body, I may now include doing an "at home" (my shop is at home damn it :p ) paint job. But realistically as the car will eventually be sold it may still be farmed out. However I will include what it would have cost in material for me to do a single stage urethane paint job.
At this point in my project, things like new weather stripping, a heater core and cheap stereo have already been purchased and figured in, which are things that on a really tight budget could have been left out or lef for a latter time.
I know all about that trading stock stuff, it's amasing isn't it. If I took scrap price for the stuff around here, I could probably buy a car.:D
Rain....yuck. No Junkyarding today. I know what you mean Mike- just a note about your "at home" paint job...single stage is labor intensive, doesn't cover as well so it takes 3x as much, and is a lot slower drying so more bugs can have the time to donate legs & wings to create your own new graphic designs. I would go bc/cc and use a heat gun to assit the drying time for the topcoat, at least to help skin it over. Just be sure to tape off the inside door so you don't kill the wife kids & pets, unless you have one that won't quit peeing in the floor & then you have a helper. :HMMM:
Just be sure to tape off the inside door so you don't kill the wife kids & pets, unless you have one that won't quit peeing in the floor & then you have a helper.
I also learned you don't spray paint in the garage when the clothes dryer is running. Turned all my ex-wifes nurses uniforms a nice shade of Purple when I was painting my frame. Those clothes dryers suck in a whole lot of air.
Can't figure out why she is my EX- Wife?????:confused: :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused:
Don
"......Can't figure out why she is my EX- Wife?????...."
Yeah I've got a couple of those. One came home to a pair of manifolds in the stove and an intake in the dish washer..... Well how else was I going to cure the paint or clean the intake??????? She ws not amused:rolleyes:
on the subject of cheap hotrods, I was searching on Ebay and found a neat way to go cheap and still look good, use a '47-54 Chevy/ GMC cab, chop it, smooth the cowl and use it like an early 30's hotrod, looks good actully. I saw an auction for custom frames for that purpose, and a cab mounted, looked good.
Yeah I've got a couple of those. One came home to a pair of manifolds in the stove and an intake in the dish washer..... Well how else was I going to cure the paint or clean the intake??????? She ws not amused
And I think I read how to do that in "Hints from Heloise":D :D :D :D
Don
PROGRESS REPORT # 2
Went over to the shop today and began working on the front spring perch for the $ 3K Bucket. The frame I got on Ebay isn't a Total Perfomance, as advertised, but I am still OK with it. The side rails are fine, and are actually 2 X 3 heavy wall tubing instead of the more common 1.5 X 3 thin 1/8 inch stuff. This is 3/16" so it is a little heavier.
Problem is the front and rear perches are ugly, and I want the car to sit super low, so I have to modify the front by reworking the existing perch, and I am going to Z the rear portion of the frame to drop it about 12 inches there.
To get the front low, I decided to mount the front end suicide style, with the cross spring mounted to early Ford wishbones, so that the axle, a 4 inch dropped SuperBell I beam will stick out in front of the frame by about 10 inches or so. And, to get the front even lower, I am going to mount the spring to the top of the perch, rather than the more common method of putting it under the perch. I think it will also give it somewhat of an early Lakes car look.
The first picture shows the perch as I got the frame. I decided it was way too long, so I shortened it by about 2 inches. I wanted a neat cut, so I put a cut off blade in my circular saw, and cut the snout off. The area with blue tape on it.
Once that was done, I reshaped the sides of the perch to give it a little better profile, and cut the bottom of the perch out for access to the nuts I am going to put on the new perch bolts. To reinforce the top of the perch, I made as 1/4 thick steel plate and slipped it into the underside of the top plate, and will weld this to the sides of the perch for additional strength.
I then made a new top plate to hold the spring down to the perch, and am going to add some little gussets to it, with holes drilled in them for looks. I will use grade 8 bolts on everything on the suspension.
Tomorrow I am going to order the correct length front spring from Speedway (31 inches eye to eye) and when that comes I will fab up some mounts and gussets for the lower part of the wishbone, which will also act as a mount for the spring and both front shocks.
So far I am still at $ 900.00, because I spent no money today. Just used some pieces of scrap steel from the bin.
I'll post more when the spring shows up, probably later this week.
Don
And finally, this is how it ended up. We are also going to reweld and reinforce every existing weld on the frame. I just don't like the way they did it.