The real costs of a slick ride

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Not only do you have to have a sicker 63 wagon that me (well mines got prettier lines, but man you do nice work) but you've also got to offer to buy mine up!

Ha! I tell you what, when I'm done with it this summer I'll come out to an event you're at and we'll have a duel. You aren't too far off on the map.

Cheers!
 
It took me 6 years to build my car and a whole lot of money. I was single made a decent living so I could do this without affecting anyone else. I did pay someone to do the fab work, mini tubbs,radiator ,fan shroud, mandrell bent headers and exhaust,patch panels,bodywork,custom gas tank,etc. I disassembled the car down to the unibody and put it on a chassis stand. I did all of the paint work on the undercarrige,trunk,engine,compartment,interior. Paid someone to do the exterior paint. I did all of the reassembly of the car. It still cost some coin even with all of my labor. I built this car to keep it for life. If you keep a car for 25 years after all the money you spent on it then I think it's ok. People spend $30,000 on car and don't have it 5 years later. You have to be in the hobby and the car for the long haul otherwise the big dollars you spend you will never get out of it unless it's a really wanted car. Jayson
 
I'm not good at keeping track of the smaller parts, but I paid $3500 for my Barracuda. The engine had already been rebuilt, headliner and carpet installed by the previous owner. I put over $4000 into paint and body, plus probably another $2000 or so into other parts such as emblems, wheels and tires, etc. So I'm somewhere around $9500 into it, and still need seat foam and covers. Luckily, my insurance co covers it for $12,500.
 
FreeSandwiches said:
What would y'all say you've spent on your babies? Time, money, blood sweat tears? How much does planning effect the final cost? How do you really KNOW what it should be when it's done?
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Well, I havent had a major project yet but like anyone else here I know many that have... Money always varies, you pretty much always end up spending more than you expect to initially unless you get really lucky with some deals. Blood, sweat, and tears.... a lot of each will probably be "spent" by the time yer done. As for the final cost, I dont think anyone can really "plan" that.... more like a very rough estimate. And last but not least, they're never done :-D
 
And as for wisdom... everyone I have talked to has told me the same thing. Don't rush it. If the car sits in the garage without much done for a year or two, then so be it. It took my parents 10+ years to build the willys we had and they drove it every year. That car was many many different colors at time and looked like an odd jumble of parts, but it all came together. That's how projects are. Don't stress over the money and finishing it quickly, enjoy the time you spend building and even if it's not pretty, take it to shows, go cruising, and enjoy it. All of that can only help make it more enjoyable.
 
hemizach said:
And as for wisdom... everyone I have talked to has told me the same thing. Don't rush it. If the car sits in the garage without much done for a year or two, then so be it. It took my parents 10+ years to build the willys we had and they drove it every year. That car was many many different colors at time and looked like an odd jumble of parts, but it all came together. That's how projects are. Don't stress over the money and finishing it quickly, enjoy the time you spend building and even if it's not pretty, take it to shows, go cruising, and enjoy it. All of that can only help make it more enjoyable.
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The car sat for a year and a half with a broken diff, then the junkyard motor blew in it so I was forced to start putting the rebuilt one in. That has taken me about a year. Something I have learned is that just because someone is a mechanic and has a ton of interest in helping you with you project, putting it in their garage can mean lost time and parts. hehe.

90% of the work has been done in the last 3 weeks just because I got it back and now I'm in the full swing. I guess I'm feeling the pressure, but it's a good pressure. I hope to keep up the momentum, but the figures for future bills sometime get scary ha.

I think the labor of love factor is the consensus. If I was doing this because I wanted to make money at it or something I should go to wyotech... but that would pull the enjoyment out of it for me. A project is a project and there is nothing better than making something yourself for sure.

Thanks for all of your encouragement and advice guys!
 
are you still running the slant six? do you have any pictures. you can come down for mopar magic in sacramento in september. wickedsix drove down from nevada last year and raced his slant six duster.
 
guys, it doesn't have to cost a lot of money to build a car. i'm into mine for around $6000 including the cost of the car itself ($2000). its got a strong running 360, stout 904, 8.75 rear end, dual exhaust, slot mags, etc etc. still needs paint/body work and maybe some re-chroming or replacement chrome parts. the key is PATIENCE. to wait for that good deal to come along or to do some careful shopping and junkyard crawling to find what you need. also the patience to do the labor yourself instead of going for the instant gratification of having someone else do it. yes, this car has been a two-year project so far but its been on the road for more than half that time as a daily driver. I have done ALL the work myself with the exception of some heavy lifting requiring a helping hand. and before you all start talking about "well, i need a pro to do this or that", keep in mind that this is only my second project car and i've only been wrenching since 2003. before that time i didn't even know how to change my oil. so i just jumped in with both feet, a good attitude, and a voracious appetite for information on my vehicles.
it CAN be done for cheap and still run good and look cool. proof right here.
-Tim
 
slantscamp said:
are you still running the slant six? do you have any pictures. you can come down for mopar magic in sacramento in september. wickedsix drove down from nevada last year and raced his slant six duster.
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http://www.millerhooks.com/Pics/Dart

I need to take some new pics. It's getting there. Hell yeah slanty!

How could I resist a trip to sac town. I'm trying to put together a LeMons team and their ARSE-FREEZE-APALOOZA also in september, I wander if they are close enough that I could kill 2 birds with one stone.
 
I guess everyone's opinion of "slick" is different but mine are slick enough for me. Lol.

The Duster I paid $1,500 for and drove it home. I put a tune up on it and daily drove it for over a year to work everyday.

$12 2 cans freon.
$300 two new rear quarter panels
$40 case of primer
$40 sanding blocks and paper
$300 Keystone rims from swapmeet
$100 carpet
$150 Shifter
$50 Manual valve body kit
$50 for a transmission rebuild kit which I had to learn to do myself last week.
$60 alignment.

Free-- My labor and the 8 1/4 suregrip with 4.10's out of my Dart before we sold it.
I did all the body work including learning how to weld and installed my own quarters.
I guess the total would be around $2,600.

My wife's 66 Dart GT (factory ac) we bought with 49,000 original miles on it for $1000 and it needs carb work or I might have drove it home too.
$300 swap meet Cragers
$200 new tires
$50 carb rebuild kit
$150 new gas tank and sender from ebag

Total is around $1700 so far, but I will be purchasing alot of stuff in the future when we tub it, get the stuff I need to put the 340 in it (I traded for the engine) and put a cage in, the 8 3/4 I traded for also. I need to learn how to set up my own 8 3/4 too because if I have to pay someone else to do this stuff, I wouldn't be able to afford to fix up my cars. It is moving slow enough now.

We had a total for out 75 Dart that ran 12.9 with a mild 360. I don't have a break down readily avail for that one but we only had about $5,000 in her including the price of the car.
None these cars have received paint yet but I have painted 2 trucks before in my home garage and I am sure I will paint the 66 Dart, 74 Duster, and the recently acquired and not included 66 Barracuda for the cost of materials.

Gives me something to do on the nights I have off at home when the wife is sleeping besides talking to you guys and learning how to do all this stuff.:-D
 
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Ouch.

I'm finding that the car isn't too much fun when I'm buying stuff for it. I 'm just making it safe to drive and as comfortable as possible. if something breaks I'll fix it. Thats all I have the heart for at the moment. I can't get into any more fights with the wife over this thing. She'll never understand that a few hundred bucks for a SBP disk setup that's local for pickup is a good deal.
 
Good luck on your car.

I quit keeping track of my expenses on my dart in 1989 when I had it painted for $4000.00,which would be who knows how much today.The paint and body work were done right and have held up well.Quit keeping track and just enjoy your project is my advise.I still change something and throw some more money at it every year.This year is superstock springs and edelbrock heads,both sitting on my shelf waiting for the time

Just increased the insurance to $32,000 last year ,helps me sleep at night
 
Loaded question. A guy here in town did two cars. Very nice cars but the guy has money that you and i dont have. One he took to the Nats and won big. A 74 stroked out Duster which he spent $74000 on. The other went to SEMA which was a 69 RR or he called it a RTX with a 426 Hemi. He has north of $100000 in it. I said the guy has money. He never expects to get his money out of em. That's not the goal....Enjoyment for him gets it done. He hauls the stuff to a show car builder and writes the checks. This would be the top end but on your car, if you do alot of the work your self and make a good driver you can do it for $15000 or less.
IMO.
Small Block
 
Most of the cars I buy are wrecks or someones unfinished projects. I once bought a '71 V code Cuda (in 2001) for $8,000 that was a basketcase. The guy had been collecting parts but never got around to restoring the car. After I sold off the duplicate parts ( he had three sets of tail lights, two grilles, 2 440's, 2 six barrell set up's, etc.) I was able to recoup $6,000. I try to barter, find swap meet deals, what ever I can to keep cost down.
 
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