Method for Starting a Project

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I like to tear it all the way down. Lose a bunch of parts. Buy a bunch of expensive parts and then sell the parts and the car for way less than I bought them for.
 
Putting a project together right now that it is so obvious a PO lost some small but impossible to find parts! Good thing I will most fret over it NOT being 100% perfect in MY lifetime!!
 
Without seeing the project it is hard to comment.
I have done three full teardown projects.
The first one had I known more I may have done in phases and kept the car on the road.
The second one justified a full teardown and took me 6-1/2 years.
The third one was purchased to be a driver project but once I saw the paint I knew it was a full teardown. I'm closing in on finishing it at about 3-1/2 years.

Space is the number one motivator. Lack of it make it hard to get working, plenty of it makes it easy. I managed to do a full teardown on a c-body in a two car garage, talk about tight.


Alan
 
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The Barracuda I bought as a rolling shell and stripped her down completely.
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The Dart I bought mostly complete but rough so I stripped it bare and blasted it .
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The 75 Crown Coupe was complete so I nibbled away at the interior then under hood then mechanical and finally paint .
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ESP47 said:
I like to tear it all the way down. Lose a bunch of parts. Buy a bunch of expensive parts and then sell the parts and the car for way less than I bought them for.
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Amen !! Even after I may have completed a project car,, I seem to loose money on every one of 'um :BangHead:
 
mbaird, Love those land yachts. They are perfect long range road cars.
 
I play with these cars for fun. I’ve done one 100 point restoration, lost my *** on it. So, now my cars are drivers, that said- 1. Make it STOP. 2. Make it STEER. 3. Make it RUN. 4. Make it PRETTY. That’s how I do them, one step at a time! HAVE FUN!
 
dddDuster said:
I play with these cars for fun. I’ve done one 100 point restoration, lost my *** on it. So, now my cars are drivers, that said- 1. Make it STOP. 2. Make it STEER. 3. Make it RUN. 4. Make it PRETTY. That’s how I do them, one step at a time! HAVE FUN!
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Back in the late 70's (I think) I found a little tidbit in either Hot Rod or Car Craft that goes something like this:

When building a car your priorities should be:
1. Safety
2. Reliability
3. Performance

And always in that order.
 
Took me my whole life to convert this car from a Sahara Beigh slant six to the current 360 changed everything added front and rear frame rail caps torque boxes new leaf springs sub frame connectors trunk floor rocker panels basically built it from the bottom up a solid foundation as others have said. I had the opportunity to get the body work done sooner than planned but had to go for it. After a 10 grand paint job I still have mechanicals to do and it's not fun working on a car with a mint paint job.
Defiantly want to keep it running but I would get the drivetrain complete before painting if I had another lifetime to do it again.

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Bodyperson said:
T

That would depend on what you have for equipment and how much room you have and funds. I try to set small goals instead of turning it into a bare shell acid dipped rotisserie restoration. I'm just not that well equipped, funded or motivated. It's amazing the extent of restoration some people pull off. Beautiful cars. Top to bottom.
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Have a bank account ready and you will be set
 
Chris1974 said:
Took me my whole life to convert this car from a Sahara Beigh slant six to the current 360 changed everything added front and rear frame rail caps torque boxes new leaf springs sub frame connectors trunk floor rocker panels basically built it from the bottom up a solid foundation as others have said. I had the opportunity to get the body work done sooner than planned but had to go for it. After a 10 grand paint job I still have mechanicals to do and it's not fun working on a car with a mint paint job.
Defiantly want to keep it running but I would get the drivetrain complete before painting if I had another lifetime to do it again.

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Great looking car... Love that color.
 
Outsder said:
Seen a lot of "ok" cars that ran, and then got taken apart to make "perfect," and never made it back together in owner's lifetime.
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I have one of those. Lol

Actually I had planned on the "fix a little as I drive it" approach, but it wasn't even driveable in my opinion. It acted like someone put a big lopey cam in it with a tight torque convertor. I tried dancing on the pedals trying to keep it running and moving. It was zero fun like that.
And the paint could be pulled off with a piece of tape. In my opinion, that and all the rust meant a complete teardown.
 
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