whats the cost of your build ????

[maxspeed]

Thanks for the answers
Another thing i was wondering, i dont see many finished pt cars for sale people dont sell them or i am searching in the wrong places ???

[Jim Nilsen]

Originally Posted by maxspeed

Thanks for the answers
Another thing i was wondering, i dont see many finished pt cars for sale people dont sell them or i am searching in the wrong places ???

Finished PT cars is an oxymoron thought, they are never finished. Look at Bad Penny and you will understand.

When you build a car you spec out for your own needs you rarely want to sell it.

When you do all the work on your car it makes it even harder to sell.

Thinking of buying your way into the PT car of your dreams will make you broke and has done exactly that to those who have unfinished ones just sitting waiting for $$$$$.

It is the age old saying if you have to ask how much, you probably can't afford it. If you can afford it, $150,000 won't scare you but $500,000 might.

If you want to get the best deal you can buy one at auction and redo it a bit to personalize it and you can then have one for the least amount for what you like.

If you want all the fun of renderings, picking out the newest latest greatest parts and want it done in time to still be new when it is done. $250,000 seems to be about right.

Now if your head is spinning with numbers over this and you have entered the room and closed the door behind you, welcome to a brave new world!!!

I'm still a member of the under $30,000 club and I have done everything and it has taken years to do at a $2,000 a year budget. You can figure out how long it's been by that!!

I forgot to add that it has been appraised at $65,000 for resale/insurance and $150,000 to build.

[57hemicuda]

I do think with a well thought out game plan and some fruggle shopping,you can build a respectable car on a reasonable budget. I do think you have to have patience though, as soon as you start seeing the light at the end of the tunnel on your build,it seems you just start ordering stuff.

My original budget was 5k, the build came in at about 9k. Broke the trans., lost my brakes on the road course, then granaded the motor. Upgrade,upgrade,upgrade, now floating around 21k, Over quadrupled the original budget. But, it is a totally different car then I started with,handling ,stopping and power are greatly improved. When you stop upgrading the car its time to put a for sale sign in the window. Ron
http://www.pro-touring.com/forum/showthread.php?t=38420

[DOOM]

I think if your going all out $150.000+ is the magic number. If you going budget wise $55.000 to $75.000. will get you a nice car.. I have close to $40.000 in parts waiting to install on my car and I think this just brings me to the half way mark. When I started I THOUGHT I could put one together for around $40,000 thats until I found this site!! You have some pretty smart people on this site that will steer you in the right direction. I would call Frank at PRODIGY tell him what you want and he'll set you wright up.

[GregWeld]

Originally Posted by maxspeed

Thanks for the answers
Another thing i was wondering, i dont see many finished pt cars for sale people dont sell them or i am searching in the wrong places ???

Go to the "for sale" section here in the forums --- you just missed 3 or 4 cars that were REAL REAL nice cars - DONE - for way under 100 grand... and had all the right stuff.

With the economy the way it has been - there have been some fire sales... so if you are looking for a done project - check the for sale sections here and over at Pro-touring.com.

As you can see - there's just no way to tell you what something like this will cost - without a full description of exactly what parts you're wanting to use.. what your base car is - and it's condition. (I just checked in... to see what condition my condition is in.... ).

I worked for a year and a half with a buddy that had NO LIMIT... he just knew exactly what the end result was to be. He did NOT want a car that had to have any bodywork or paint... but EVERYTHING ELSE was to be replaced. So a new Art Morrison frame w/Ford 9" - LS2 motor - Tremec 6 speed - Wilwood brakes - Budnik wheels - full new interior (stock appearing) - all new wiring - power windows - power door locks - new steering column and wheel - new stereo and speakers - Vintage Air - Billet specialties Tru Trac serpentine belt - new SS fuel tank w/internal pump - SS brake and fuel lines - new crossflow radiator and core support - new HID headlights - new driveline - new fiberglass inner wheel wells - SS exhaust "kit" - STOCK headers slicked and porcelianized - new windshield wiper system - every square inch of interior covered with Dynamat - including trunk - new factory appearing gauges . Cost of base 55 chevy 2 door post car - $25K - fuel to fetch it - 1 grand - total parts INCLUDING the cost of the base car and fuel - $99,700

NOW FOR LABOR (in this case FREE)

Body was removed from stock frame and mounted on my rotisserie - gutted - floor and trunk pan mods - new tunnel for tranny - firewall slicked and painted - Chassis lines and electrical run and SS exhaust with trick hangers built - blown apart and powder coated then reassembled. Modify rear floors (raised) - modify trunk pan - built mount for E brake handle - Body undercarriage scraped and cleaned - painted with POR 15 - and undercoated - Body required ZERO repair or paint except the firewall and inner fender wells - cover in Dyanmat - install motor and trans in chassis - drop body - install core support - mount reservoirs - scribe and cut inner fender wells - remove for paint - re-install - complete new wiring - dye headliner - rebuild door hinges - drill for door looms - rebuild windows (rear) - install new power windows - rebuild wing window regulators - install power door locks - install all dash items and trim - install custom hoses for A/C and heat - build custom closeout for trans shifter - build custom mount for DBW throttle - rebuild clutch and brake pedals - custom fabricate hydraulic clutch reservoir mount - modify steering column mount in firewall.... and a whole host of little things which I can't even remember now... my point -- MOST of these mods done with the body in white (ie not finished) required many assemble/disassemble/reassemble check for fit/modify/reassemble with proper hardware (polished SS)..... So the amount of LABOR in a build like this is double or triple the amount of time that would be used to just "R&R" a stock part. AND THIS IS NOT A FANCY BUILD!! It's a very nice modified STREET hot rod. I have EASILY 1000 hours in this build with all the cleaning - and assembly / reassembly. Wiring alone took two people two full days (long days) to finish. Here's the deal on that - It's a 1955 --- with everything new - we get to the bulbs in the turn signal/parking lamps... and I end up rebuilding them with new receptacles.... no way you're going to do all this and leave stupid little stuff like that go "untouched"... but it takes LABOR.... and more little "un budgeted" parts and time to find and fetch said parts....

So - If I was keeping track of all our labor - and charging for it @ $45 an hour - you'd add $45 GRAND to the parts bill - and we'd be at $145,000 "so far" ---- and that is with NO PAINT OR BODYWORK....

Thus my "$150,000" real money - real life - guesstimate. You'd have a real nice - nothing fancy - very squared away car - that wouldn't win ANY trophies... but you could drive without fear and enjoy the heck out of it.

FIRST PIC -- AS bought -- second pic -- "near" being done...

[Steve1968LS2]

I keep thoughts of how much I've spend out of my cranium.. no good can come of it.

[HRBS]

Greg... you got some set of balls hangin wheel dollies up like that. I hope your wife or kids dont come home and hit the garage door opener on their way in....

In regards to the thread... I always tell people for a "decent build", "you're $50k in parts alone before a wrench is even touched". From there, we can build a "bolt together car" or fabricate our own design (which is simply time x hourly rate).

[BonzoHansen]

Did they repeal don't ask don't tell yet? That is how it works here, my wife does not ask and I do not tell.

[GregWeld]

Originally Posted by HRBS

Greg... you got some set of balls hangin wheel dollies up like that. I hope your wife or kids dont come home and hit the garage door opener on their way in....

In regards to the thread... I always tell people for a "decent build", "you're $50k in parts alone before a wrench is even touched". From there, we can build a "bolt together car" or fabricate our own design (which is simply time x hourly rate).

My wife is the one that put them there!

She had them over my office chair before I asked her to move them.

Seriously --- they're on SS CABLE... over 8' high - and nowhere near the door or anything that can hit them or that they interfere with. Pictures never show the "actual" depth etc. I wasn't born yesterday - or the day before either.

[GregWeld]

Count the panels on the door - that first door is a 10' er -- the second is a 12'...