How much money do you put into a car?

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I agree with the labor of love comment. Build what you want and enjoy it!!!! My wife told me I'm like a little kid with my Duster because I am having an absolute ball taking everything apart and rebuilding it! She asked me if I would be upset if she backed into once it was done, and I said, Absolutlely!!!!!

My car was a /6 3 speed car at birth - came with a 340 4 speed 8.75" setup. It will be a fun driver when done!!!
 
People spend thousands on hobbies, golfing,fishing or whatever and there is zero return
You'll get something for your car.
 
Everyone has their own opinion. I don't agree much with the guys that tell you if you're worried about money then you're in the wrong hobby. You can be frugal and still build these cars for relatively cheap as far as Mopars go. I build on a budget for several reasons. Few of them being that I don't want to spend all my money on a car and the fact that I want to drive the car so I don't want to fix it up so nicely that I'm afraid to drive it. I don't want every scratch and chip pissing me off as I'm driving. I don't care what the floor of the car looks like under the carpet either. As long as it's not rusted, it could be 4 different colors and I wouldn't care because how often am I going to pull the carpet up and check out the floor?

Some guys have their entire cars dipped or blasted. They have their undercarriages detailed and powder coated. They get $10k paint jobs with perfect body work done. They use NOS parts and have everything rebuilt brand new. Their restorations cost $30k and mine costs $10k. Sure their car looks better than mine from close up, but from 5 feet away they look the same. The extra $20k spent isn't worth it for a guy like me but it's well worth it for a guy who likes to pay attention to every detail.
 
rumblefish360 said:
To be real honest about the matter, I can sum it up into 4 words.

DON'T KNOW, DON'T CARE!

Cause if I did keep track of how much my happiness my hobby costs, it might make me unhappy. It could be worse. I could be giving my money away at a bar with dancing girls, drugs and gambling.
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I like your style!!!!!
 
64DartGTinAZ said:
My wife put it in perspective. If you buy a new car for 30k-40k and keep it for a bunch of years, you probably trade it in for $10k so if you put say $20k into a project car you bought for $5k it'll be worth $10k, you're still money ahead.
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Brilliant

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depends on if your happy with the options your car has already .....adding option it dont already have usually runs into more $$$. like bigblocks 8 3/4s

if you start on a car that already has the equip. of your choice then thats an easy project.

i have never had more than 6K into a restored car, but i do everything myself, and that was changing options like a big block swap, but i do everything myself and have access to parts...........i am not comfortable with any shop having my car to do whatever they want with it.

nobody will ever care about your car like you do......the more you do on your own the more inexpensive the build.
 
I bought my car thinking I would just have to do a couple little things like BBP brake swap up front to make it complete. Motor and everything was done, good rear, built tranny, interior was 90% complete, all the expensive stuff I did not want to have to pay to have done. HA! I was kidding myself! Whole new 4 link rear, whole new fuel system, motor getting rebuilt now, interior is completely stripped out except the dash, going to have to rewire the whole thing, going to change to all aftermarket gauges, all new exhaust, all new front end, where does it end? I'd like to say I haven't lost sleep over the thought of what I've ended up putting into this thing. But now I've come to accept the fact that if I want the car to MY standards, it's going to cost some money to get it there. I'm already in it this far and need to see it through. And in the end, I will hopefully be glad that I did it, regardless of all the money I throw at it that I won't get back. HOPEFULLY!
 
I usually start a project with every intention of tracking every penny, then I get into it and give up on tracking money and figure it will cost what it costs. Besides if I knew how much I had into my stuff I would probably cry.
 
money+time=finished project
I know this exists only in fairy tales, but if you have a finite plan, then its just money and time. obviously the larger the plan the more time and money. a shortage of money, can be compensated for with personal time. Past that the faster the money comes in the faster you get done.
Like me....Two week......Two Dolla.
BUILD WHATS IN YOU!
Andrew
 
Here's a problem I've run into a couple times.......buy a clean car. Strip it down to nothing for paint with the intention of just making it just a "cool cruiser". Paint turns out killer. Now nothing else on the entire car can stay in the condition it was because the killer paint job "ups the ante" on everything else.....bumpers, grille, trim pieces, door handles, taillight housings, dash pad, gauges & bezels etc.

It's like you wanna start out building a nice little cottage and realize half way thru it's turning into the Taj Mahal. Ain't complainin', just that....now it's a 5-year deal.
 
Back in the early 90's I restored a 65 Corvette. I did it to make money and I built the most valuable car I could with factory fuel injection, close ratio 4-speed, factory side exhaust and matching numbers drive train. I had $24K into it but I really didn't like the car. It was noisy, hard to drive in traffic, and the removable hard top meant I couldn't lock it. Even if I could lock it, it was too valuable to risk getting it stolen. I did manage to sell if for $35K. But $11K divided by countless hours probably worked out to something like $1/hr.

This time, I'm not thinking about resale value because I will never sell the car. But I am keeping track of every penny spent just to know what I have into it. I'm guessing I'll come in somewhere between $20K - $25K with a ton of spare parts left over. I know I can never sell if for that, but I don't care.
 
sooo..... lets see.... $35,000 divided over 24 years..lets see now... that only comes to $1458.33 a year for a hobby. Now if I smoked and averaged $5.00 for a pack a day that would be $1825.00 a year. So for not smoking I saved $366.67 dollars a year and am healthier for it and have a pretty awesome car.
Also... not a dime ever came out of my paycheck to go into my car. All was done with selling parts, working side jobs, etc.. for "play money" hence the 24 years !!! lol... Hey....its all part of the fun !

-RPM
 
when i was younger i had 10 e bodies lined up all at one time in varius stages. Got tired of the car hobby sold them all. Got married built a custom bike and the wife wanted a a body dart. Bought her a dart from california. Then the bug hit again. Then we bought 4 a body cudas from one guy They were in rough shape. The wife wanted the 68 convert. Built her the cuda to what she wanted. We went against some peoples rules but we mini tubbed it and added some futures we liked. It has overdrive ,fuel injection, disc brakes a/c etc.
When I had all the e bodys tried to keep everything original, not no more.Just wanna have fun.
The dart I prostreeted, it has 76000 miles never had a panel repaired or replaced also have a scamp with 48000 original miles The car is still like new and original from arizona
Sorry for being long winded but it seems like when I go through a car it cost 30 to 35 thousand but then they show good top and bottom
Thanks for you time
Brian
 
Didn't think about the cost at all while I was building it - and enjoying it. Now that I am trying to sell it to do something different the reality of "putting stupid money in a stupid car" hits home hard... It all depends on what you want and what you can afford I guess. If you plan to sell it eventually and get your money back, start with a car that is popular (boring) and watch what you put into it. Otherwise just do what you can and enjoy what you build..
 
My story is kinda special , i was 17 and wanted to built something with my dad.. we bought a 74 cuda , invested over 60k , took 2 years , won a lot of cars shows , was on tv etc.. finally put a cold between me and my dad , i was too young too drive it , and he was too crazy about it.. strored the car for 6 years , bought another car ( duster ) in the 5 years of storage of the cuda i invested 23 k in my duster ,,and now the cuda is out again , but need lots of tlc , store a car for 5-6 years was the worst thing ever .. and in and out i bought other mopars since 2002 so i spent over 100k , but i dont regret anything... the only thing i regret is that i didnt take my cars that much .. while you restore it you cant drive it ...but now its another story ,

The worst thing in my opinion is to have a trailer queen ..been there done that... never again in my life ...enjoy them , drive that , scratch them ,,i dont care anymore , i want power and torque ..this is why i felt in love with these cars ...not to go car shows.

Thats was my lil story folks !
 
Heres the way I roll....

Bought a 72 Harley Sportster in crates for $600...spent a winter putting it together and a few $$ on parts at the swap meets. Traded the Harley for a 64 Belvedere...pulled the drivetrain and installed a 440 I built myself. Traded that for a 67 GTX that needed an engine rebuild and paint job. Sold the 6pak intake and carbs that came on it for $800 and rebuilt the motor, and paid a buddy $400 to paint it and I bought the paint. Total investment to date, not including wear parts and the rims... about $3500!!

How much do I spend on cars?? As much as I need to but as little as I have to!!! Geof
 

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I got to thinking about this question. How much do i have in my Dart? So I added it up and came to a grand total of, TO DAMN MUCH!!!!
 
You don't do what I'm doing to a car to make money. I am being really frugal in case I do get an offer I won't take it in the shorts.
 
I plan on putting enough into mine to drive it while it looks good. Getting ready to replace steering gear it leaks. Add sway control replace all shocks and add new leaf springs. Might add the x pipe. Then next year new power plant and headers. God willing I can hit the lotto andI can afford body and paint one day.
 
How much :-k never added it up, but just like my family she will get her needs
and be feed on a diet for her own good :D

She will never be replaced so I will keep moving forward
I don't wan't to know ether :glasses7:
I am still personalizing her and keeping my dream moving forward.

I bet a few folks could make a close guess :D
 

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