what did your car cost to build (we wont tell your wife)

grumpyvette

grumpyvette

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I found this thread posted else were, and had to chuckle and when I think back, theres not a single guy I know that has a firm grip on the true cost or for that matter anyone that probably wants to admit the true costs, but then there also a great many times that we get deals on parts or trade parts that never get calculated into the cost of the cars build cost either and if you calculated the labor hours or research required its obviously never going to be profitable
Id start by asking yourself a few questions and
ANSWERING THEM HONESTLY

WHAT DO YOU INTEND TO DO WITH THE CAR ONCE ITS UP AND RUNNING?

WILL IT BE A DAILY DRIVER AND WILL IT NEED TO PASS EMISSION TESTING ?

WHAT ARE YOUR REALISTIC BUDGET AND TIME FRAME LIMITATIONS?

HOW MUCH OF THE WORK ARE YOU COMFORTABLE DOING YOURSELF
(AND KNOW YOU CAN DO AS WELL OR BETTER THAN SENDING T OUT)?

WILL YOU BE HAPPY WITH THE RESULT OR WILL YOU ALWAYS WISH YOU HAD DONE SOMETHING DIFFERENT?


the last questions damn important, I know several guys that got rather deeply involved in restoring cars and after spending tens of thousands of dollars and years of effort they had really fantastic cars , but NOT what they really the cars they dreamed of owning


sixer said:
what did your car cost to build (we wont tell your wife)
what did you spend all in??? rough guesstimates are okay.

I talking about full car,
What Car - year/make/model
purpose - drag, street, auto cross etc

engine/ trans
Power adders - supercharged, turbo, nos
cage/chassis/suspension,
fuel system,
electrical,
wheels & tires etc.

What HP/Et/MPH

I'm just getting started with my build and im already at about 11k and note even close to having a complete car.
Click to expand...
I did a rough calculation a few years ago in my head, when I built my 1968 race corvette , which I could never afford too build at today's prices, for the 4-5 times what I paid in the 1970s for the parts back then, and while I am 100% sure I missed a bunch of stuff ,and had access to a great deal of parts that were very common and cheap at the time but nearly impossible to find now,I had calculated the cost of the car, plus what it cost me to build the engine and just that total, ignoring hundreds of extras, that I know I spent in minor parts,machine work,(that cost next to nothing then compared to what it costs now) and gaskets etc. and It quickly became obvious that if I had sat down and logically planed out the build and had a firm parts list and a logical list of machine work done in the correct order I could have saved a great deal of time and effort over the, cars build, engine install, rather than the try and tear it down, and try it again style of build, many if not most of us follow.


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About $2800 for the original car completed in 1980.

Make/Model: 1920 TBucket

Purpose: Streetrod

Engine: 400 CuIn SBC with a Dart SHP Block - $6500

Trans: 200-4R - Parts $800 + Machine Work $700 + Misc $200

Power Adders: None

Chassis: Ford 9" Locker rear and tube front axle. New front leaf spring $150

Fuel System: Aeromotive Filters, Holley Pump, Demon Carb 750 CFM, AN Fittings, Fuel Pressure Regulator
w/Return Line, Custom Beer Keg Fuel Tank (Welding)$1500

Electrical: Custom Built CS144 Alternator by Brian, Custom Wiring by Self, FlexALite Fan & Controller, $500

Wheels & Tires: 4 Mickey Thompson S/R Radials, New Center Line 4" Front Rims, $1800

Total price without the original car cost = $12,150

 
$15K for that car is a damn screaming bargain,
that any knowledgeable performance enthusiast would recognize
Ive seen far more than one guy spend that much cash, building just a small block chevy 350-383 engine with miss-matched parts, and badly done machine work,that won,t put out near the power or have the durability of the engine you built alone, let alone the rest of the car, and drive train!!
 
With or without detours and F- ups? :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

(That was before I knew this place)

I'll have to tally up the TT but POWER is addictive… it just got bigger and bigger… I remember "upgrading" from a Performer to a Performer RPM intake. The RPM is a square bore… so I found a 650 AFB… until then it was using an adapter with a Q-jet.

It all started with a 250L6 :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: and a non-abused foundation.

The KG - my goodness, the amount of half-assery on it is mind boggling! It's hard to let the original parts "tell you where the want to go" when they weren't supposed to be there in the first place.

The KG I bought for 5k. A deal considering the very VERY little rot! My wife somehow found back the bill of sale… for some reason however… it had 1,250 and not 5k written on it :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: Technically, I didn't lie :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
 
car oldsmobile cutlass 69 3400e without engine/trans
engine 509 bbc afr heads roller cam 6000e
trans th400 400e
ecu+wirngharness+injectors 700e
fuelpump+filters 400e
roofskin 400
exthaust 400e
interrior 500e
wheels 500e
paints 500e
total 13200e
 
DorianL said:
The KG I bought for 5k. A deal considering the very VERY little rot! My wife
somehow found back the bill of sale… for some reason however… it had 1,250
and not 5k written on it :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: Technically, I didn't lie :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
Click to expand...

I like your thinking !!!

WinkingDog.jpg


 
thats kind of similar to my elk rifles in the safe, for decades I kept slowly either upgrading my elk hunting equipment quality by trading in older rifles and buying better, and newer quality rifles and scopes or just buying a new better rifle and scope occasionally.
I also had a sales program where I worked, that gave out $100 money order, bonus incentives, for top equipment sales, by an engineer , every month and I rarely failed to win that, in my area, or for the state, so the extra $100-$200 a month sure helped!
the result was that one day I had the safe open and the wife looks into the contents and comments,
"you obviously need to pass out some better contraceptives in that safe,
the rifles are obviously breeding like teen age rabbit's watching rabbit porn 24/7 ,
when the door too that safes shut and the lights are out""

I just grinned and said " well boys will be BOYs!"
......she turns and grins and said
" from the results Id say theres a WHOLE lot more FEMALE RIFLES in that safe!
 
I stopped counting when i reached 15k$-20k$.CAN,
Parts is 30-40% more expensive MINIMUM over here.. shipping, customs.. taxes.. and shop % on parts.
Like when i got the blower case bore repaired.. about 200$~ shipping to send it and 200$~ to return..+ job price.
 
$950 for the car, eventually i paid another $500 to ship it from colorado when i moved here so call it $1450

Make/Model: 1982 Datsun 280ZX Turbo

Purpose: Street Racing, transportation untill i got my vette.

Engine: was 2.8L turbo sold motor for $400

Trans: had a BW nwc t-5 that sold for $150

Power Adders: upgraded the stock t3 turbo to a t3tO4e with a .63 a/r hotside... sold those parts and broke even

Chassis: stock nissan independent front and rear, factory sway bars and end links, cut factory springs, gabriel replacement shocks all the way around were like $180 if i remember correctly

Fuel System: stock lines with a walbro 255, wix fuel filter, aftermarket fuel rail, and holley injectors, sold it all and made $200

Electrical: haha i guess i upgraded the fusible links.... that cost about $1 in materials and $25 of time

Wheels & Tires: factory 15x6.5" turbo wheels aka "swaztikas" as they are called for their four spoke look... front tires are 225/60/15 and rears will be upgrading to the 275xPRO mickey thompson tire (thats a very loosely sized 275/60/15) once the car gets running... fronts were $130 and rears will be about $450

Total price= i think it all adds up to $1486 total so far, however im without a motor and tranny and driveshaft and fuel and cooling system and turbo.... so yea itll probably be about $500,000,000 when im done haha
 
Indycars said:
philly said:
so yea itll probably be about $500,000,000 when im done haha
Click to expand...

I think they call 500 Million a NO BUDGET CAR OR the sky is the limit !!!

Click to expand...


rick if you're a gambling man you may know a thing or two about circulative power of money... even on a losing streak on a shitty slot machine its gonna throw me enough cheap hits that are gonna recirculate funds thru the machine... so when i put $100 in there and over the course of an hour i can tally up all my small wins to another $90 then we can say i circulated $190 thru the machine even tho i only slid in a hundo and i left with nothing.

same thing with the cars, i buy parts, i install parts, i swap parts, i remove parts, i sell parts, to buy more parts, to make moves with and get other parts, so that i can hopefully get this thing together how i envision it in my minds eye. i think when its all said and done i will have circulated a WHOLE LOT of MF money thru the machine. see like i had a legit 12 second turbo datsun that hooked on the street with a 235/60/15... and in the end all i really have in it now is less than 1500 bucks out of pocket, but theres like 5000 dollars worth of back and forth and breaking even and losing some and winning with others type of deals going on there. hopefully once its thru... the dollar amount out of pocket wont be so ridiculous that i cant make it back up by takin peoples lunch money winning races out here. id like to have the car eventually pay for itself. heres hoping
 
That works to a point Phil.
When you go to make big HP & TORQUE 900+ , Like 1500-3,000 HP,
you need a Premium Billet Cranksaft & Billet Steel Rods, Or Titanium Rods, & Should have Ti Valves & Shaft Rockers.
$10 k Spent immediately & Need much more.
 
At least 2 sets of Diamond Pistons too.
In case a leanout bullshit day occurs.
Fix it & run again.
 
Phil

Just claim those losses on your income tax, then you will come out
smelling like a rose!!! :D
 
Indycars said:
Phil

Just claim those losses on your income tax, then you will come out
smelling like a rose!!! :D
Click to expand...


if i could only claim my project cars costs as losses over the years i think the govt would OWE ME money. lol id be the first guy ever to make 45 k a year in paychecks and report 750k in losses
 
philly said:
if i could only claim my project cars costs as losses over the years i think the govt would OWE ME money. lol id be the first guy ever to make 45 k a year in paychecks and report 750k in losses
Click to expand...

If you are building and selling cars, then you should consider doing it as a
business Phil. When I raced sprint cars in the 80's, it was done as a business. I
'm not sure if it's a rule-of-thumb or a law, but you only have to show a profit
one in five years. I had business card and seeked sponsorship.

Just show you put some effort into making money and running it like a business.
You don't have to prove you were smart about it, there is lots of people in that group.


 
Indycars said:
philly said:
if i could only claim my project cars costs as losses over the years i think the govt would OWE ME money. lol id be the first guy ever to make 45 k a year in paychecks and report 750k in losses
Click to expand...

If you are building and selling cars, then you should consider doing it as a
business Phil. When I raced sprint cars in the 80's, it was done as a business. I
'm not sure if it's a rule-of-thumb or a law, but you only have to show a profit
one in five years. I had business card and seeked sponsorship.

Just show you put some effort into making money and running it like a business.
You don't have to prove you were smart about it, there is lots of people in that group.
Click to expand...

yea we play those games... its nice to have a sleazy accountant / street racer friend
 
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