Thread: Help me start

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Well, I just have to throw in my two-cents worth. Although I agree with MOST of what has been said above, after reading it all, it sounds very discouraging. If it was so much cheaper to always buy finished cars, none of us would ever build anything and the same cars would just keep changing owners over and over. Therefore, I will disagree with SOME of it. First, you CAN build a car relatively cheaply IF you do everything (or almost everything) yourself and if you don't get in too much of a hurry. You also have to keep your wits about you and avoid buying things you really don't need just because it's the latest fad or high-zoot gadget. Don't pay high prices for things you can make yourself.

I built my coupe. I did absolutely everything myself from fabricating the frame to installing the upholstery. There is no chrome on the suspension; the engine (assembled by me) is very mild mannered. There are parts from 32 different cars (mostly from the local salvage yard) put together here. This car is very reliable, I drive it a lot, my wife and I even took it on a trip through the midwest a few years ago (2400 miles round trip). If I were to try to buy one like it I would expect to pay somewhere in the mid to upper 20's; I built this one for just under $7800. I took my time (3 years), shopped for deals and haggled prices on things I needed, and put it together the way I want it.

The advice above is not necessarily wrong, but both sides have to be taken with a "grain of salt". You CAN build a car reasonably IF...