how much for a 1969 camaro build?
 

Well guys here is the question. I have been on this site for awhile now and have been looking at some very nice cars. I can do alot of my own work on cars and have questions about price. I either will buy a new z06 or biuld a 69 camaro.
My goal is to have a 69 camaro pro touring type vehicle. I already have the body I bought for 7k and will buy a big block with a 6spd for 10k. I know this is a broad question but what am I looking at price wise for a completion of the car. I dont want to go extravegant but would dyno mat the whole car, repaint, which my buddy does, definately suspension of some sort and a nice interior, meaning seats and a dash. I hope this is not a dumb question, but I dont really know where to start when it comes to an old school project. If the cost is crazy, I will probly just buy a 2006 z06 for around 60k. Any help would be appreciated and thank you for listening to my thoughts.

60-80k

well if I am looking at 60-80 ill probly just buy the z06, it sucks but well see what others have to say. thanks for the response

cost to build?
 

Hey guy, I have a 69 ive been working on for about 4 years.I bought mine for 6 k off e bay.no motor no trans.I bought a ls1 6 spd out of a trans am for 5 k low milage drop out.I got my wayne due c 4 fronnt end for around 4k from a member on this site as his car took a new direction.mini tub kit with new 9 inch tru trac rear.still interior needs finished but i have seats and steering column.I bought my wheels and tires from boze and tire rack.I did all the metal replacement myself.working at the body shop on my day off.kind of a sweat equity deal.I would guess by the time I get the car on the reoad ill have a little over 30k in mine.can be done for more or lees depending on how tricked out you want the car to be.also stay focused on the original plan.easy to see the latest and greatest part come out and want it.good luck

First, welcome to lateral-g. Like you mentioned, the question is very broad, I will give you my perspective.

Building a pro-touring car is not something you toss around like choosing between hash browns or home fries with your Sunday breakfast. It's a hobby plain and simple. You have to have a stomach for late nights, bloody hands and a very patient spouse willing to put off buying that vacation house.
Most if not all of the guys here are gear heads plain and simple. They live eat and breath building the ultimate car.

You said that you didn't want to get extravagant with your build yet you want to buy the baddest production vehicle GM ever made? That doesn't make sense. Also, If you think your buying a new Z06 for $60k your dreaming. My brother just bought one for a little under $90k out the door. $60k will get you a low miles rental or used lease car.

Since you already have the body I suggest you sit down and seriously think about the amount time to build the car or the amount of money it will cost you for someone else to build it for you.
It sounds like you have the itch for a trick muscle car, find a builder on this site and give them a call. They will help put this into some perspective.



Good luck with your decision.

Rich

could be done for 40-50 but you will have to do it all yourself and not get to crazy on parts or interior

Check out Jake's work here:

https://lateral-g.net/forums/show...&referrerid=74

Top notch builder. :hail:

Ditto, $60 - $80 for a nice one if you do most of the work yourself. Keep in mind what both cars will be worth in a few years. We all know the new car will depreciate (although i love the new vettes!!). Good luck either way.

there ya go.

If Jake could build you a car for $80k I would give him a call.
Atleast you wouldn't pull up to light and see an exact copy of your $80k corvette.

I dont think 80k inc labor........it could be done for that with labor but you would have to be careful with part selection.

yeah, 60-80 would be tight, but as long as it wasn't ground shaking build might be able to be done, I am spec building a 68 camaro convertible this fall/winter, it will be 500hp, 4l60 or t-56, subtle body mods, real nice interior, a great reliable pro touring car with everything done right, gonna sell it for 50-70k
jake

You are ahead of the game if you found a real nice car for $7K. But $7K cars usually need a lot of metal work. Much of the damage might be hidden. If you can perform the metal work yourself, then you are ahead of the game once again. If you cannot weld and fabricate, the repair costs will add up quickly. After you have a sound foundation, parts cost adds up quick--especially when temptation kicks in. Once that happens (tempation), it's very easy to talk yourself out of $50K.

And we, as a group, are a VERY bad influence. :evil:

I am going through the process right now.Had a great idea yesterday to sit down and figure off the top of my head how much i have spent on my car.I started out building a big hp,mini tubbed,but it started to snowball over the past two years to a lot more.I thank all of that to Marquez design, Frank at Prodigy and DSE.I could have built my car in the 35-45 range and not done as much,but that seemed too easy.Instead i drained my savings.Right now with paint i am at 71500 and still need a few grand more for chrome and odd and end stuff. hopefully i will get it back from paint in the near future and try to get it finished up this winter.

Everybody has talked about money but don't forget all the problems you can have with all the different shops and vendors that you have to buy parts and do custom work. I had to change builders after one year and my engine guy still owes me money. If you are going to do it be careful who you get loose with your pocket book with. For reference I have been very happy with Prodigy Customs, Detroit Speed, and Boze Alloys.
As far as money goes it depends on how bad you want your car to be. I was actually in the same delima when I started. New Z06 or kick ass resto mod. No comparison for me because I am a gear head like mentioned. I want something special that I built. You will have more money in your Resto Mod. If you build a 60-100k car it has to be top quality which means a full restoration and it's not cheap. I would set down and build a spreadsheet with all the parts you plan to buy,labor, cost of the car, shipping, etc and see if you are in for the long haul because it's not as easy as it looks!:D

i would think that if you are capable of doing most of the grunt work yourself and youre willing to search for the bang for the buck deals you could make it a 35k project.. ive sat down many times and just built a list of everything i wanted in my car an never went over 35k.. granted almost all the labor and fabrication was my work and my time i think that if you really want it youll get it.. i think it also depends on whether or not your buillding an all out show car that is going to be knit picked to no end or whether your like me and just want a nice solid car that you can go out and rag on and drive the hell out of and still take to a few car shows and grab a trophy.. trust me id love to own some of the cars on here but i also know my 35k car will be just as much fun without breaking the bank.. i dont plan on sellin my car and im building it for me.. if you have the money to go out and buy a z06 then you have the money to build a badass 69.. just depends on how much time and effort your willing to dish out..

I think you can spend boat loads of money on a car and still not have a nice car. IMO build the car with a straight body, nice paint, reliable motor, OD tranny, solid rear, updated stance and handling components, air conditioning, comfortable seats, reliable gauges, wheels of personal taste, stereo of choice and call it a day. You can never go wrong IMO by staying with the basics and make them quality and nice. It's when you try and make a camaro out of a mustang you get in trouble. Whatever those components and labor cost (if any) in the end is more accurate than just throwing out #'s.

Obviously mods from the basics will increase cost.

Like a new business, have a reserve set aside for the little things and de- bugging issues that always arise.

10k suspension and that would be with a mini tub kit.

4k brakes 13"

10k paint body

10k powertrain (engine and tranny)

5k interior using year one and some after market seats.

4k in wheels and tires

total around 45k but give your self another 5k for a buffer and you would have to do most of it yourself. I will say that I have seen a few protouring cars even with a DSE quad link and dub kit and the car was real nice for about 35K. but you have todo alot of shopping. He did the whole interior for about 2 grand and put in 2006 GTO seats and they looked and felt great in there.

About the only labor you have in those numbers is paint and interior. Add another 20k-30k for someone to build the car at a shop.

Mike

Wow just wanted to say thank you to everyone for the replies, didnt think I was going to get to many. I would rather have the 69 and will kick around the idea but you know how it goes, I always want bigger and better but will do my research to get the best deal, I just want to thank everyone again who replied, Youll be seeing me post and ask alot of questions hopefully you guys wont get annoyed

I understand what you guys are saying that 45 would be enough for a nice car.What about the small stuff you dont figure on,(fuel system,brake lines,etc.).I know its hard to figure everything,but you figure on the big stuff and forget about the small stuff.You never really know how much till its over and you keep up with reciepts.Theres no telling how much money i spent at the local parts store that im not counting.I gave 9 grand for my car 3 years agoand to make a nice car couldnt use a lot of stuff on it,wiring dash,things of that nature.I know i didnt have to buy Marquez door panels,taillights,emblems,or Forgeline wheels(that are awesome by the way Frank).I just wanted something different.I dont think there is anyway i could have sat down before i started and said i am going to spend x amount of dollars on this car.To be different at this website and stand out you have to be prepared to spend some $.I have changed things 2-3times because there are a lot of new stuff coming out everyday.

I caught myself telling a lie.I did intend to stay around 45,that got blown to pieces.Maybe there should be anew thread on how do you tell your wife how much you spent on your car,or how to lie to her and say a lot less.

Buy one already done that is close to what you want and then detail to your liking. you will be money ahead. Lately there has been a few nice higher end cars on ebay with good prices like the silver second gen camaro and dhardison's nova. Both right at $30K and neither could be built for close to that kind of money.

Mike

Just use the formula on the board of:

What you think it will cost x 2 and twice as long to build and you'll be right there.

i think another reason alot of these cars go out of buget is the bigger is better thought process.. i doubt i will actually ever need a schwartz chassis under my car or need a 1000hp motor.. i know protouring is all about handling and a very wide range of useage but lets face it.. there are lot of impressive, fun cars out there that dont have the biggest and best everything on them.. as fun as all those bigger and badder things mabye i know ppl have built cars with out them that would make me put a hickey on the seat..with that being said, set some realistic goals and realize you dont always have to be alpha male..haha..:thumbsup:

This is exactly what I was going to say. Hit the nail on the head. Buy one that is perfect, or close to perfect to what you are looking for, and finish it off. You will be money ahead. You can get to and beyond your 80k very quickly if you build your own car from scratch. Also a 69 camaro will always retain some good value a new z06 will not. Well not as much.

Labor?

who said anything about out sourcing labor.

sometimes we are the labor. But I did forget to put 3K for tools and a compressor.

Yep , What he said.

and buy your wife/girlfriend lots of stuff to defray the questions like:

1. When can I drive it/when can it be driven.

2. Will it be a "shifter" car?

3. How much money have you spent on that "Thing"?

4. Do I look fat in this?

(Actually, question #4 should be practiced between dude friends first and often because all questions from "Them" revolve,even in some small way, around this basic relationship question. Get this one down pat and the rest get easier.

Examples:
Q: "Jim, when can I/we drive that car."
A: Soon, Sweetie, I want to show all my buddies how georgeous you are"

Q: "Do you have to shift gears in that car?"
A: "Dang, I love it when you talk technical talk, lets go out to dinner tonight"

Q: "How much money have you spent on this thing?"
A: "Not nearly as much as I am going to spend on you this weekend"

Q: "Do I look fat in this?"
A: "Darling, I'd look fat in that, you look terrific"
OR
A: "You look unlike any thing I have ever seen in my life"
OR
A: "I wish I looked that good in that"

Say "Yes" and you are screwed(not in a good way mind you). Say "No" and she'll be more pissed at you than if you say "Yes".

Use basic fabricating skills in this area and you'll be fine.

A fuel filter, proform hose and black ano fittings through out will set you back $700 bucks. Add a Ricks stainless tank, aeromotive fuel pump and regulator, suddenly you have a $3k dollar drinking straw for your $15k motor. :rofl:

Unless you plan on spending the next three years on ebay hunting for deals forget about $35 or 45k.

Jim.... that whole post was GREAT, had me rollin..... but if you dont mind, I think I am going to write this one down and use it for future use.

I think the best plan is to figure out what you want set up a "buy" list with the venders you want to work with and then stay the heck off the PT boards untill you are done :D I can't tell you how much extra money I have spent because i got cool ideas or a "deal" on some neat parts that I really did not need to reach my original goals. My car is a not the car that I originaly intended to build. Blast you PT guys and your super cool stuff ;)

x3 works just as well LOL

Would be like building any custom car, sky is the limit. I would say around 100k for a good looking camaro, but no show stopper.

I've been pondering bailing out of my Camaro project and buying a Z06. The trouble is, in CO at least, I'd pay $1500/yr taxes +1200/yr ins. That does not factor in depriciation on the new car.

:lol: I haven't even added mine up yet. I'm afraid. I'll be on the north side of 100k when all is said and done.:willy:

Claim it as your own, dude. I'm a giver.:D

This thread is make me dizzy. Just buy the Corvette, or better yet wait for the new Camaro when it comes out. :lol:

HaHa I will probly build a camaro and buy the vette to have for now, I thank everyone for there responses.

Looking back to the past 10 years... so what numbers you guys have over there lately?
All I know is building a badass pro tourer here in europe costs crazy numbers.:hairpullout:

100k?
I wish...

If you are looking at spending 60k... you can end up with a ZR1, not just a z06.

Unless you are looking for a 2013 z06 with mega low miles or a very rare color.

I picked up my Atomic Orange z06 (2008) from a collector in Dallas for 48k back in 2012.