The cost of a car

cicero819 · 03-11-2010, 04:14 PM

Robert check out Freeman Mcneal V/SA 85 Caprice at Indy this year he won Class with -1.o71 under, he told me he bought the car complete from an another racer who had done all due diligence on the car and was qualifying everywhere with so much regularity that he was enjoying the car more than his S/G. Those are rare but can be had. Nothing beats getting a car running properly when everyone tells you to move on.

NewHemi · 03-11-2010, 04:40 PM

In my experience, time is the biggest factor/cost in building your own car.

If you are married and your spouse is not a dyed in the wool car enthusiast, you are sunk before you start.

Even if not married, and I am not. Having the time to get done what you want to get done takes sacrifice.. Maintenance on my house, is suffering. Cleaning my house is also lagging behind. My girlfriend regularly reminds me that we haven't seen each other for a while...And so on....

Then, there is the money. My first estimate on any project, is my honest best estimate. I then double it. Then, I double it again... I rarely miss by much, either high or low. But the biggest mistake you can make with a project like a race car, is not to set out the time line and costs ahead of time.

I know a lot of guys who just didn't realize it would take years instead of months, and 10's of thousands rather than just a few thousand dollars to finish a car.

If you have to have something you did all on your own, and did entirely your way.... then it will cost you.. in time and money.

Our drag pak car has sucked up more money than I could have ever guessed, and I actually had to sell one of my 1970 RT Challenger convertibles to get over a short cash flow crunch. But it was worth it, because this car has been an incredible adventure.

But if I was going to do something else, I would buy a car already built, and then tweak it to my liking, and save trailer loads of money.

David
The New Hemi Guy
________
Pregnant gangbang

MEXJOE · 03-11-2010, 04:50 PM

Here is a good way to find out IF you are ready for racing stock / super stock.

If you can fill a 5 gallon pail with $100.00 bills Then lite a match and
( WITHOUT FLINCHING !!) throw it in the pail ... YOU ARE READY!!!!

FYI...
To race Pro Stock it will a 55 gallon drum full !!!

Robert Swartz · 03-11-2010, 08:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MEXJOE

Here is a good way to find out IF you are ready for racing stock / super stock.

If you can fill a 5 gallon pail with $100.00 bills Then lite a match and
( WITHOUT FLINCHING !!) throw it in the pail ... YOU ARE READY!!!!

FYI...
To race Pro Stock it will a 55 gallon drum full !!!

Hey Joe, similar to an anology I gave a youngster at a bracket race, 20 some years back. He came up to me, admired my car and asked "what kind of money it take to build something like this"? I pointed over to a big Buick, Caddy, something that was parked close by, told him "go over and fill up the trunk of that car with $100 bills, three-four times, you might be ready to start"!

I appreciate the advise. I knew this would be expensive, it has become more clear to me. I don't have 25-30-40K upfront money I can throw into a car. I'm neither intimidated by the costs or the work. You all may be right, I may never get it together. For me, I desire the accomplishment.

Just for laughs, if I had that pail of $100 bills, wouldn't it be more prudent to put it toward the car? They will get burnt up, eventually!

Chris "drooze" Wertman · 03-11-2010, 11:48 PM

Time == Money I guess.

You can pay and have it fast, or do it yourself and it takes more time.

Im assuming youre a "handy type" who can do machine work, fabrication, welding, painting all yourself ?

My buddy make some of the most insane things Ive ever seen out of junk and sheet metal, all hammer worked....takes him 2 years but .... lol

I have yet with the exception of gears and the like of "hard part" (engine parts heads, etc) like brake calipers ever seen anything on a car I couldnt do given enough time, do I want to spend 100 hrs doing something I can buy for $100 , hell no, but well if I didnt have $100 I would...

What do you have ? Not have ?

I am just curious what the high dollar parts you see as remaining ?

Motor/Trans ?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robert Swartz

Hey Joe, similar to an anology I gave a youngster at a bracket race, 20 some years back. He came up to me, admired my car and asked "what kind of money it take to build something like this"? I pointed over to a big Buick, Caddy, something that was parked close by, told him "go over and fill up the trunk of that car with $100 bills, three-four times, you might be ready to start"!

I appreciate the advise. I knew this would be expensive, it has become more clear to me. I don't have 25-30-40K upfront money I can throw into a car. I'm neither intimidated by the costs or the work. You all may be right, I may never get it together. For me, I desire the accomplishment.

Just for laughs, if I had that pail of $100 bills, wouldn't it be more prudent to put it toward the car? They will get burnt up, eventually!

Rich Biebel · 03-12-2010, 07:14 PM

In 2004....I was racing mostly in S/C with the dragster I had built new in 1998 I was watching all the late model Firebirds and Camaros in Stock and really wanted to have one.
I learned long ago to buy a good quality used roller and thats exactly what I did. I bought a Firebrid that was very well built and had perfect paint. It came with a lot of engine parts and a trans and converter. I built an engine with parts and some good advice from Woodro Josey.....Thankyou Woody....
I had very little machine work needed to build a decent engine to get started. I bought a used laptop from Ebay.....I taught myself how to tune the EFI. I bought an Innovate LM-1 to help me tune that EFI on the LT-1. I had the trans and converter redone. Bought some used ring and pinions and changed them twice myself trying different ratios.....
I ran well under the index the second week out after fixing some minor EFI programming errors I made. I did get some good help and advice from someone I met on the internet who worked at Accel DFI , as I had an Accell Gen VII ECU....I did not spend a ton of money and ran as quick as 10.55 and at the weight I was carrying...that was about -.8 or more under the index. I did not feel I could chase this type racing as it was just not going to fit in for me......I sold it after making about 60 total runs. The new owner has spent a lot of time refining the tune up...has been on the chassis dyno and also had the help of a very good "tuner". The car has only run slightly quicker......He is getting a new engine from one of the best engine builders in stock so it should be a lot faster....

Bottom line is you can build a car pretty reasonably and be competetive for a reasonable amount of money.....I did.....and most all of my cars have been done the same way.....No they are not showcars..and they are far from the fastest. If I had kept the Firebird, I would have worked at making it faster...slowly as the budget and time allowed.......It was just not going to work for me but it was a fun car to drive and I enjoyed the build up time and learning curve on the EFI.......

hemidup · 03-12-2010, 11:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by drooze

What do you have ? Not have ?

I am just curious what the high dollar parts you see as remaining ?

Passion.....Can't put a price tag on that.

dartman · 03-11-2010, 07:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pete Muenzer

Thats a good deal! I was guessing I have about 25 grand with the cost of the car and probably would be lucky to get 10 grand. So at this point it would be counterproductive to try and sell.

It was a rust free Duster,a hard find here on the east coast of Canada

03-11-2010, 04:14 PM	#1
cicero819 VIP Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Aylmer Quebec, Canada Posts: 1,087 Likes: 31 Liked 69 Times in 30 Posts	Re: The cost of a car Robert check out Freeman Mcneal V/SA 85 Caprice at Indy this year he won Class with -1.o71 under, he told me he bought the car complete from an another racer who had done all due diligence on the car and was qualifying everywhere with so much regularity that he was enjoying the car more than his S/G. Those are rare but can be had. Nothing beats getting a car running properly when everyone tells you to move on.

03-11-2010, 04:40 PM	#2
NewHemi Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Ohio Posts: 472 Likes: 0 Liked 1 Time in 1 Post	Re: The cost of a car In my experience, time is the biggest factor/cost in building your own car. If you are married and your spouse is not a dyed in the wool car enthusiast, you are sunk before you start. Even if not married, and I am not. Having the time to get done what you want to get done takes sacrifice.. Maintenance on my house, is suffering. Cleaning my house is also lagging behind. My girlfriend regularly reminds me that we haven't seen each other for a while...And so on.... Then, there is the money. My first estimate on any project, is my honest best estimate. I then double it. Then, I double it again... I rarely miss by much, either high or low. But the biggest mistake you can make with a project like a race car, is not to set out the time line and costs ahead of time. I know a lot of guys who just didn't realize it would take years instead of months, and 10's of thousands rather than just a few thousand dollars to finish a car. If you have to have something you did all on your own, and did entirely your way.... then it will cost you.. in time and money. Our drag pak car has sucked up more money than I could have ever guessed, and I actually had to sell one of my 1970 RT Challenger convertibles to get over a short cash flow crunch. But it was worth it, because this car has been an incredible adventure. But if I was going to do something else, I would buy a car already built, and then tweak it to my liking, and save trailer loads of money. David The New Hemi Guy ________ Pregnant gangbang Last edited by NewHemi; 04-05-2011 at 10:12 PM.

03-11-2010, 04:50 PM	#3
MEXJOE Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: nhranumbers.com Posts: 875 Likes: 137 Liked 165 Times in 51 Posts	Re: The cost of a car Here is a good way to find out IF you are ready for racing stock / super stock. If you can fill a 5 gallon pail with $100.00 bills Then lite a match and ( WITHOUT FLINCHING !!) throw it in the pail ... YOU ARE READY!!!! FYI... To race Pro Stock it will a 55 gallon drum full !!! Last edited by MEXJOE; 03-11-2010 at 04:57 PM. Reason: SPELLING

03-12-2010, 07:14 PM	#6
Rich Biebel VIP Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Northern New Jersey suburbs Posts: 2,320 Likes: 25 Liked 557 Times in 217 Posts	Re: The cost of a car In 2004....I was racing mostly in S/C with the dragster I had built new in 1998 I was watching all the late model Firebirds and Camaros in Stock and really wanted to have one. I learned long ago to buy a good quality used roller and thats exactly what I did. I bought a Firebrid that was very well built and had perfect paint. It came with a lot of engine parts and a trans and converter. I built an engine with parts and some good advice from Woodro Josey.....Thankyou Woody.... I had very little machine work needed to build a decent engine to get started. I bought a used laptop from Ebay.....I taught myself how to tune the EFI. I bought an Innovate LM-1 to help me tune that EFI on the LT-1. I had the trans and converter redone. Bought some used ring and pinions and changed them twice myself trying different ratios..... I ran well under the index the second week out after fixing some minor EFI programming errors I made. I did get some good help and advice from someone I met on the internet who worked at Accel DFI , as I had an Accell Gen VII ECU....I did not spend a ton of money and ran as quick as 10.55 and at the weight I was carrying...that was about -.8 or more under the index. I did not feel I could chase this type racing as it was just not going to fit in for me......I sold it after making about 60 total runs. The new owner has spent a lot of time refining the tune up...has been on the chassis dyno and also had the help of a very good "tuner". The car has only run slightly quicker......He is getting a new engine from one of the best engine builders in stock so it should be a lot faster.... Bottom line is you can build a car pretty reasonably and be competetive for a reasonable amount of money.....I did.....and most all of my cars have been done the same way.....No they are not showcars..and they are far from the fastest. If I had kept the Firebird, I would have worked at making it faster...slowly as the budget and time allowed.......It was just not going to work for me but it was a fun car to drive and I enjoyed the build up time and learning curve on the EFI....... __________________ Rich Biebel S/C 1479 Stock 147R Last edited by Rich Biebel; 03-12-2010 at 07:25 PM.