Thread: Money to finish my '32 Ford???

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As everyone has said previously "there are too many variables to accuratel predict'". That being said, hopefully your builder won't scare the life out of you with his build cost, especially since you don't even know what his hourly rate is. A builder near me has a very reasonable rate of $48/hour.. His rate is lower than many. A finished car will run $30k to $50k depending on body style, motor, trans, paint, etc. The hotter, fancier, and prettier it is, look to doubling the range.

Actually I think you're a very lucky person to have someone like shawnlee28 to offer to assist with many of the little assemblies. It can save you a bundle. People with offers like that don't come along often.

Kinda outa my place but am doing a Brookville '31. Minor differences in body, fair amount for the frame ALL of the work is by me except for uphostery.

A brief rundown on costs(rounded):

Body incl freight 5800
TCI chassis incl freight 6200
Ford crate motor + my mods 3500
TCI trans & converter 900
Steering col & shafting 500
32 gas tank and mod steel 600
Wilwood rear disks 700
Exhaust - incl headers 700
Lokar shifter &e brakes 350
Walker A/C radiator 550
Electric fan 200
A/C (Yep, I know, a roadster) 1100
Street& Perf brackets 600
'32 Grill shell & shell 600
Rootleb hood 500
Wheels & Tires (Billet/Yokos) 1200
Gauges - VDO's 300
Front fenders Wescott 500
Rear fenders - steel 500
Running boards 300
Misc body brackets 200
Windshield w/SS stanchions 600
Upholstery 4000 and climbing
'57 9" Ford diff (incl mods) 500
Paint and supplies 2000
Stainless fasteners & dressup 2500 and climbing
Wiring kit+everything else reqd 850
LeBaron Bonney top irons 450
Glide seats w/foam 600
Drive shaft 500
All A-N fluid systems 1200
Powdercoat frame&misc pcs 500


All of this totals $39,500 and doesn't include some $$$$mistakes and changes in direction of where I want to be. There is nothing exotic here, just, for the most part, all good name brand equipment. To do a '32 with a TCI frame(+$2000) and Brookville body(+$5700), and using the same parts and pieces, you would need to add 7 to 8000 dollars. Phew !!
There are probably 2 to 3000 dollars of items forgotten. But it's a hobby.

At an economical $50/hour, my guess is that if some rod shop were to put all this together and paint it, you would be nudging $75K total for this car.

Thanks Dave, I found that to be useful. For my car;

Body 3800
Cornhusker chassis, Heidts 4 wheel IS incl freight 10500
(includes brake lines, rack, shocks, Wilwood disks, 9” ford 3.50 posi)
Chevy ZZ502/550 + my mods 10500
Electric fuel pump and filters 350
TCI Manual TH400 trans & converter 1250
Steering col & shafting 500
32 gas tank and mod steel 550
Wilwood master cyl 250
Exhaust - incl headers 950
Lokar e brakes 250
AFCO Radiator 450
Trans cooler 150
Spal Electric fan and relay 200
B&M Pro Gate Shifter 250
'32 Grill shell & shell 600
Wheels & Tires (Centerlines/T/As) 850
Gauges – SW Wings 450
Rear spreader SS 200
80 hours Custom machining and fabricating (myself) 0
Windshield w/SS stanchions 600
Teas Bench Seat, Rumble Seats, Panel fabric 1750
Paint and supplies 2000
Stainless fasteners & dressup 2500
Wiring kit+everything else reqd 850
Drive shaft 500
All A-N fluid systems 1200

Total $41,450

The body needs a lot of work and I will paint and panel it myself. I guess I have 600 hours in her right now. Priced at $50/hr plus $10,000 to complete the body work and paint the total becomes $81,450

I like to remind myself why I can't do this thing I love so much for a living

Originally Posted by kitz

Thanks Dave, I found that to be useful. For my car;


I like to remind myself why I can't do this thing I love so much for a living

I have a most of my receipts and started an Excel spread sheet that someday I'll finish, assuming my tears don't blot all the figures.

What you show falls right into the same ballpark within +/-10%. A little more here, and a little less there. Looks like you found an inexpensive body and lost your mind on the chassis. About everthing else falls in line.

This is not a hobby for the faint of heart and penniless (or are trying to raise a family).

When I retired last year, I said to my wife, " Now that I have all kinds of free time,I can finish the car". WRONG, she was hiding a list of honeydoos. It will be done for next summer tho - only needs paint and final assembly.

It'll be interesting to see if any "green eyed monsters of envy" raise their heads and start criticizing you guys for what you've spent. Both lists are pretty realistic, and compliments to you Dave for including, for example, oft ignored cost items such as fasteners, along with a few others. For years I've run into folks who have a novice's distorted view of what it takes to build a car (happened more in the Cobra replica arena than rods however). The more "focused" of these folks most likely had a legal sized tablet where they listed their expected costs for the "major" items derived most likely from catalogs and websites (more recently). When you try to tell them that they've missed a lot of "little" items, and that their swag of "miscellaneous = $500" wasn't even close there was obvious expression of disbelief. Most often underestimated are paint (yeah, Dave's $2000 if you count every piece of sand paper, every drop of gun wash solvent and so on is very realistic), upholstery, and drive train components (even a fairly complete crate motor is going to easily take another $1000-2000 depending on what complete means). When you tell them to double the dollars and triple the time they've estimated they look at you like you're on a bad trip. On rare occasions a few have come back and with hat in hand say, "man, turns out you were right...............I just couldn't believe it."

Sure, projects like Don's $3k show a car can be done for less, with his considerable experience, skill, and willingness to "scrounge". The bottom measure is they're cars of different market segments, not measured in monetary terms alone, albeit they both fall within "hot rod".

Originally Posted by Bob Parmenter

It'll be interesting to see if any "green eyed monsters of envy" raise their heads and start criticizing you guys for what you've spent. Both lists are pretty realistic, and compliments to you Dave for including, for example, oft ignored cost items such as fasteners, along with a few others. For years I've run into folks who have a novice's distorted view of what it takes to build a car (happened more in the Cobra replica arena than rods however). The more "focused" of these folks most likely had a legal sized tablet where they listed their expected costs for the "major" items derived most likely from catalogs and websites (more recently). When you try to tell them that they've missed a lot of "little" items, and that their swag of "miscellaneous = $500" wasn't even close there was obvious expression of disbelief. Most often underestimated are paint (yeah, Dave's $2000 if you count every piece of sand paper, every drop of gun wash solvent and so on is very realistic), upholstery, and drive train components (even a fairly complete crate motor is going to easily take another $1000-2000 depending on what complete means). When you tell them to double the dollars and triple the time they've estimated they look at you like you're on a bad trip. On rare occasions a few have come back and with hat in hand say, "man, turns out you were right...............I just couldn't believe it."

Sure, projects like Don's $3k show a car can be done for less, with his considerable experience, skill, and willingness to "scrounge". The bottom measure is they're cars of different market segments, not measured in monetary terms alone, albeit they both fall within "hot rod".

Bob, et. al.
This is a one time experience at this point in my life. This particular car has most of the bells and whistles that anyone could ever want on a roadster.

I worked for General Electric for 41 years, starting in a factory job, finishing college to become, ultimately, a Project Manager for new power plant installations, retiring in 2005.

While I have built other cars, they were made up of hand me downs and junkyard finds. They were done that way because my job required that I traveled internationally, sometimes for weeks and even months at a time. I raised a family, have 10 grandchildren most of whom think I'm more than a bit screwy for "making a car". I also have a wife that doesn't begrudge me the money spent.

I am well aware of the fact that this project has taken on a life of its own, and have no illusions that it will end at $40K (more like $50K) when it is as done as it will ever be (are they ever completed?). Can you build a car for $3K, yes, just not this one. Maybe the next, but...

So, let the green eyed monsters of envy rear their ugly heads - it's my car, my hobby, my sanity. And these forums help keep it fun.