The cost of a car

[dartman]

Pick up my Demon in March (off of ebay)2008 racing it in May 2008. Came with two motors(both are PARSON & MYERS 340 stock legal) and a s@#t load of parts for one low low price.I was building a 73 duster,I had 10 in it,no were near finished,sold it for 6.bought the demon for 20.car ran .996 under the old index.

[Philip Saran]

I like this thread, it hits home.



After having Jeff Lee beat on my head to put a roll bar in my 1969 Barracuda
340-S and make it a stocker, I could not bring myself to cut it up, I sold it to a
buddy and then went out and bought a "turn key" bracket Duster BB for more
money than I had ever paid for a project car before.

Of course it came with NO safety equipment and a gas tank full of rust.

My last real race car was a Duster so I guess in my mind it's only OK to cut up
Dusters.

Now I'm into it about $10K and it is done except for paint/bodywork which will
have to wait awaile, but it is ready to be fired, then it's off to the muffer shop and
then a front end alignment.

If all goes well it will be in Vegas at the end of this month for Mopars at the Strip.

[cicero819]

Robert check out Freeman Mcneal V/SA 85 Caprice at Indy this year he won Class with -1.o71 under, he told me he bought the car complete from an another racer who had done all due diligence on the car and was qualifying everywhere with so much regularity that he was enjoying the car more than his S/G. Those are rare but can be had. Nothing beats getting a car running properly when everyone tells you to move on.

[NewHemi]

In my experience, time is the biggest factor/cost in building your own car.

If you are married and your spouse is not a dyed in the wool car enthusiast, you are sunk before you start.

Even if not married, and I am not. Having the time to get done what you want to get done takes sacrifice.. Maintenance on my house, is suffering. Cleaning my house is also lagging behind. My girlfriend regularly reminds me that we haven't seen each other for a while...And so on....

Then, there is the money. My first estimate on any project, is my honest best estimate. I then double it. Then, I double it again... I rarely miss by much, either high or low. But the biggest mistake you can make with a project like a race car, is not to set out the time line and costs ahead of time.

I know a lot of guys who just didn't realize it would take years instead of months, and 10's of thousands rather than just a few thousand dollars to finish a car.

If you have to have something you did all on your own, and did entirely your way.... then it will cost you.. in time and money.

Our drag pak car has sucked up more money than I could have ever guessed, and I actually had to sell one of my 1970 RT Challenger convertibles to get over a short cash flow crunch. But it was worth it, because this car has been an incredible adventure.

But if I was going to do something else, I would buy a car already built, and then tweak it to my liking, and save trailer loads of money.

David
The New Hemi Guy
________
Pregnant gangbang

[MEXJOE]

Here is a good way to find out IF you are ready for racing stock / super stock.

If you can fill a 5 gallon pail with $100.00 bills Then lite a match and
( WITHOUT FLINCHING !!) throw it in the pail ... YOU ARE READY!!!!

FYI...
To race Pro Stock it will a 55 gallon drum full !!!

[Robert Swartz]

Originally Posted by MEXJOE

Here is a good way to find out IF you are ready for racing stock / super stock.

If you can fill a 5 gallon pail with $100.00 bills Then lite a match and
( WITHOUT FLINCHING !!) throw it in the pail ... YOU ARE READY!!!!

FYI...
To race Pro Stock it will a 55 gallon drum full !!!

Hey Joe, similar to an anology I gave a youngster at a bracket race, 20 some years back. He came up to me, admired my car and asked "what kind of money it take to build something like this"? I pointed over to a big Buick, Caddy, something that was parked close by, told him "go over and fill up the trunk of that car with $100 bills, three-four times, you might be ready to start"!

I appreciate the advise. I knew this would be expensive, it has become more clear to me. I don't have 25-30-40K upfront money I can throw into a car. I'm neither intimidated by the costs or the work. You all may be right, I may never get it together. For me, I desire the accomplishment.

Just for laughs, if I had that pail of $100 bills, wouldn't it be more prudent to put it toward the car? They will get burnt up, eventually!

[Chris "drooze" Wertman]

Time == Money I guess.

You can pay and have it fast, or do it yourself and it takes more time.

Im assuming youre a "handy type" who can do machine work, fabrication, welding, painting all yourself ?

My buddy make some of the most insane things Ive ever seen out of junk and sheet metal, all hammer worked....takes him 2 years but .... lol

I have yet with the exception of gears and the like of "hard part" (engine parts heads, etc) like brake calipers ever seen anything on a car I couldnt do given enough time, do I want to spend 100 hrs doing something I can buy for $100 , hell no, but well if I didnt have $100 I would...

What do you have ? Not have ?

I am just curious what the high dollar parts you see as remaining ?

Motor/Trans ?

Originally Posted by Robert Swartz

Hey Joe, similar to an anology I gave a youngster at a bracket race, 20 some years back. He came up to me, admired my car and asked "what kind of money it take to build something like this"? I pointed over to a big Buick, Caddy, something that was parked close by, told him "go over and fill up the trunk of that car with $100 bills, three-four times, you might be ready to start"!

I appreciate the advise. I knew this would be expensive, it has become more clear to me. I don't have 25-30-40K upfront money I can throw into a car. I'm neither intimidated by the costs or the work. You all may be right, I may never get it together. For me, I desire the accomplishment.

Just for laughs, if I had that pail of $100 bills, wouldn't it be more prudent to put it toward the car? They will get burnt up, eventually!

[dartman]

Originally Posted by Pete Muenzer

Thats a good deal! I was guessing I have about 25 grand with the cost of the car and probably would be lucky to get 10 grand. So at this point it would be counterproductive to try and sell.

It was a rust free Duster,a hard find here on the east coast of Canada