Mandeville, LA-which is 30 miles north of the Chocolate City, New Orleans.

Weaver

http://www.pro-touring.com/forum/showthread.php?t=21939

see what's out there....

Yep. I have been looking, but after looking I have decided to try and build my own. If that means doing a little here and there, then so be it. I am looking for cars that may be projects and for whatever reason the owner is selling.

Weaver

find a nice driver
 

in the mid 20's range and start from there. Camaros.net collectorcartrader , etc are good places to look.

looking at a number of cars to get a feel for the market is great advice.

How much of the work do you think you can, or could, do yourself?

Some of the mechanical work I think you could be able to do yourself and save a bunch of money. The body work is the biggest money, but its also something almost everyone has to pay out to a shop for, but you might be suprised what mechanical stuff you can do yourself to save a good amount of money.

Tim

I am game for anything, but just have not done so before.

If I knew what I was doing, I would do it myself and save the bucks.

I just wanted to know if I had a pipe dream or if it was doable.

Thanks,

Weaver

Just remember that people who tell you 60-80K have a differnet standard of what they want in a car. IMO it could be done for less, maybe not the super extravagant(sp?) suspension and motor, but you could do %70 of what you wanted with that much money, but it all depends on who you can find to do the work. I know of a few guys who could put a car together for a little over that, but don't expect to have a Sema car. AND no matter what you do, just remember that on any level of car build that its going to go over budget no matter who you are or what you think

The biggest chunk of cash will come from him paying someone to do the work. That adds up in a hurry. Plus it appears he's budgeted $10K for the car, and if you can find one for that price it will likely need everything.

And like you said everyones view of a nice car is different.

Jody

My plan is to find a nice driver, i.e. not a lot of rust repair. The condition of the interior or exterior is not an issue. Also, it needs to run solid and don't want any issues with the engine or transmission. I am not looking to build a show car as I know that would cost at least $50k if not a lot more. I could always upgrade later to a better engine/tranny. I would just like to get the suspension, brakes and wheels done. If I could get that done for $30k with the purchase of the car as well, then that is what I am looking for. I figure I could get a car for $15K, so an additional $15k for parts and labor for the suspension, wheels and brakes. I want to run 18's in the front and 20's in the rear, so it would have to be tubbed. I figure wheels and tires will set me back a few thousand and the brakes a few thousand, so that would leave about 8k for the suspension. Of course, this isn't counting any rust repair. This won't be my daily driver, so I could work on it as need be.

Maybe i just have a pipe dream after all.

Weaver

Your actual cost will ALWAYS be more than your anticipated budget. I just don't see how you could do it even if you did most of the work. As suggested, find one that already has that which you most want and then tweak it to your liking. You will save a bunch of money that way.