I completely agree. I do have a wonderful, understanding and very selfless wife, two great, healthy kids, etc. and I am VERY grateful for that! Like most on this site (I assume) the car hobby is and always has been a passion for me...it's all I've ever wanted...a dream to have that car like the ones I see and it seems so many others have. I can be honest and admit it's a lot of envy and jealousy.


Steve - Thank you for the honesty and openness. I guess this is the kind of information I was looking for. How does the "average" guy do it?

Bryan,
No offense taken, I basically just meant that I have an excellent credit score, always made payments on time, never written anything off, not paid someone I owe, etc, etc. My only current debt is my house, my truck and my wives car, all of which are what I would call reasonable amounts for those things. We don't live above our means. I fund my project now as I can with side job money but it's a very slow process. I have always put my family, kids and so on first and always will, but there comes a time when you start to think if you will ever have "your time" and be able to do something you've always dreamed of.

Yep, when the kids are grown and gone and you're either retired or very close to it. I, personally, am not at that stage. Looking forward to the retirement aspect of it though.

Not sure if the credit score is even relevant. I owned my 67 Camaro at age 18, but it was in 1983. I was able to do upgrades to my car, but it was based on my budget. Minimum wage at that time.

One of my friend's dad has several cars, but his family is like the brady bunch. (6 Kids). He worked at Delco Products as a janitor, but he has been painting cars since 1955. His wife never worked, but he made money on the side painting cars. He always owned around 5 to 6 old cars. He do the swap meets and always been looking around for parts. There is some old junk yards that have parts, but it is rare now. I have another friend that filed bankruptcy, but he still kept his 1969 Camaro. He has a daughter as well. His job was moving furniture at the time. He put his daughter through private school, and paid for her college as well. He is still in the furniture moving business, but he is a dispatcher now. He drove semi's for years, but just changed to the dispatcher job. His 1969 Camaro runs in the Xtreme Outlaw Series. Actually, it is former SS 396 car. He pays for his parts in cash same as me.

I worked on my 67 Camaro for 6 years on the restoration. The only problem is that I change my mind on my car, so I do upgrades along the way. Pro-touring has different levels, so you can cut corners in order to save money. I had to buy a new truck this year, but drove my old one for 14 years. I do use a CC, but I always pay it off each month. I have been doing since I was 21. I had friends that would just use the CC for their builds, but all seemed to go bankrupt. Short term loans is high interest, so it is better to pay cash. If you can't afford it, then just save up for it. Simple!

Jeff

I could never pay someone to build a pro touring car for me, so I made a decision and I set my budget at the cost of a new SS Camaro. I made the decision from the get go, either I buy a new car and enjoy it, and it is just another new Camaro... Or if it is going to be a pro-touring car, then I'd do it myself for that budget, and stick to it, and be proud of it when I'm done.

I restored a First Gen Camaro back in the late 1980's mostly by myself, so I knew doing a pro-touring car myself was within my ability. So many of the pro-touring parts are bolt in, or if not there are good instructions for a proficient jack-of-all-trades hot rodder to do it successfully. So far, I've been right, and when I can't figure it out, I look here at other similar builds and figure it out.

I have the ability to do some mechanical, metal and fab work in a pretty well stocked machine shop at work. Can't do engine work, not that kind of machine shop, but I can do a bunch of other stuff for the cost of material and my labor. Yes, I have access to lot of tools, and some skills to use most of them, and that was a BIG factor in my decision to do a pro-touring car myself. All I'm going to say here is if you get into the hot rodding or racing scene, there are actually a lot of guys out there that have access to machines and tools if you just ask around it isn't uncommon that you can have access too. Might not be free, but it can be really reasonable if you help and do the work along side in the shop.

Regarding the car, I looked for a project car for a long time, and when I found a really good deal, jumped on it. Buying the car was not simple, or fast, but I knew patience would pay off, and it did. Car came with a lot of new sheet metal and a fresh paint job. There have been a few surprises as I tore into the car, but not anything that I couldn't handle myself. Did the mini-tubs myself, and have been able to buy a bunch of other things second hand, like an unused full roll cage kit for $200. Found a barely used for 9 inch with the gears and locker I wanted for $800, had to upgrade the axles and brakes, but I easily saved 35% if I bought a new Strange, Fab-9 or Moser third member complete. Be patient and look for deals, they are are out there.

I also knew that I could buy a donor car that would make the engine, transmission and other swap costs really reasonable, especially when I sold the parts I didn't need from the donor car. And some of the specialty welding has been done by a professional.

Rebuilding the drive train is being done by somebody else, rear end, transmission and engine. I'm still within budget, as that was part of the cost calculation.

Unfortunately it has not been fast, as life, family, work and other pursuits get in the way. Thought I would be done last year, but I've been working on the kids cars instead.

If I paid somebody to do the build, it would be a whole bunch more.

If I blow the budget, it will be because I decided to go supercharged, instead of naturally aspirated.

I would think your credit score is relevant for the few good loans a person would probably have. Like your house loan or school loans. If you have good credit you will pay less interest on these, leaving more money in your pocket to pay that debt off sooner or to buy parts with cash.

To the OP, I just do a little at a time and pay with cash, most of my projects are a multiple year build. My advice is buy something running and do small projects one at a time. The second the car comes off the road its easy to go down the path of a full resto and scope creep sets in, then unfortunatly things start getting costly.

Sorry it is not relevant to him building a car. There is people that don't spend their job income on their cars. Some are doing bodywork, building engines, etc on the side. That money goes into their cars. Their regular income from a their job pays for their mortgage and other loans. One friend goes to state auctions, and he buy a a few skids of engine parts. One time he got several 427 engine parts, then he turns around and sells them on ebay. He made about $4500 on the deal, so he spent it in his cars project. While his business was paying for his loans. This is most common practice....

It took me many years to get to the point im at with my car, bought it in '86, probably over $50$k spent .i did it all myself at my own pace when money was available and there is nothing better than knowing you own it 100% .

He already explained it pretty clearly. It is an indicator of overall financial responsibility. For him and everyone else who has a FICO score. He is not saying he is going to go out and get a big loan to fund a car project.

Are all of these friends you talk about generally financially responsible and do they take good care of their finances? If so, then they likely have GOOD CREDIT.

That's the point.

The right answer could be ANY OF THE ABOVE.

FACT. You can bet each of those categories has more than 1 member. :)