How much to build a PT Camaro

[skeeters65]

I know it is all relative and alot probably dont want to talk about it but..
How much money do you guys have invested into your PT Camaros??

Or how much do you think it would take to build one??

[harshman]

To build from scratch is crazy money. I would recommend buying a ’68 Camaro that is already PT’d and then change a few things to make it your own.



Did I mention that I happen to have a ’68 Camaro that I am going to sell? :naughty:

[dstryr]

To build one right for track use probally like 40-50k

now to build one that is functional and that will win shows for appearance and paint...upward of 70.

[XLexusTech]

guess it depands on what your starting point is how rad you want to go and how nuch you do yourself

[MCC]

Skeeters65,

You are looking around $ 50,000 to $ 75,000 to have a so so car . It will take $ 100,000 to $ 200,000 to do it right.

-Mike Riggs
Mike's Custom Cars

www.mikescustomcars.com

[EFI69Cam]

It depends on how much of the work you need to farm out. If you want minitubs for example , installation at 40-50 hours at $60-$80/hr needs to be factored in. If you can do the work yourself, its the cost of parts and materials only.

Start with a plan of exactly what you want, then price from there based on how much you can do yourself.

[Jim Nilsen]

Doing everything myself so far, I am up to at least 30k. When I got to 25k I stopped really counting since the last of the remaining items I want can vary in price by 500%. Tire and wheel packages can go as much as you want and if I really wanted 600+ hp another 15k to 20k could be in order. Just adding turbos or a supercharger will add another 5k by the time I would be done. At 30k I have done really well but it has taken me forever to have found the money to do it.

I can see a really nice p/t car for 50k to 60k and then the more you spend the less you get for gains per $ spent but it is what sets the high dollar cars apart.

[XLexusTech]

here are a few 20 K options.
Buy C5 corvette .... 12-15K
5 k in bolt ons... Rock it.

run of the mill 67 camaro.. 9k minus sale of take off stuff...
4k.
Gbar minitubs Fab 9 G bar ready.. Do it in your garage. 5k.

Stock Sub ATS tall spindles stock lowers with delums, sc&C uppers, IROC or SC&C box, Take off C5 Brakes front carma rear disc. Landrum adjusters good springs... 3K

Subframe connecters and cage... 800 installed @ home.

that leaves you some coin for a powertrain

Wheel tires and paint... spend what you can afford...

[rocketrod]

...Or how much do you think it would take to build one??
This is a loaded question because there isn't a common definition for PT. Personally I think you can build a pretty nice car for about $50K-$60K. Obviously not a SEMA level car, but one that definitely stands out in a crowd.

[minendrews68]

Really it's on the same principal as a sign I once read in a boat shop:
"speed cost, how fast do you want to go?" This guy worked on a lot of jet boats with big motors etc. So I guess, "nice cars cost, how nice do you want it?"

[Todds69]

Start with a plan of exactly what you want, then price from there based on how much you can do yourself.[/quote]

You hit the nail on the head.

[mpozzi]

I've got about $30K in mine and it's pretty much turn-key and go have fun. While not SEMA quality, it still gets looks and a thumbs-up or ten.

Cheers,
Mary Pozzi

[sik68]

I'm at 16k right now, and I still need to paint it, buy a 5 speed, and build a worthy engine. I'm guessing I'll hit 35k pretty easy.

[skeeters65]

That is what I was expecting most of you guys to say.. I just neeeded a little re-assurance..

Thanks

[JEFFTATE]

I have about $15,000 in my car and its pretty rough.( Body needs lotsa' sheetmetal repair )

I spent all my money on freshening- up the engine , a TKO transmission , springs , wheels , tires , suspension bushings , steering components , and a set of seats.
But I still need to do a LOT of body restoration. ( Like all of it )
And I figure that will cost at least another $20,000 to do the sheetmetal .
$10,000 minimum for paint.
Plus $5000 for other incidentals.
I'll probably spend a total of $45 - 50k before its all said and done.
And my car is just a "Driver ".
It's no show car.

( I may never make that much money or get that far , but that's the plan )

[ill steez]

Skeeters65,

You are looking around $ 50,000 to $ 75,000 to have a so so car . It will take $ 100,000 to $ 200,000 to do it right.

-Mike Riggs
Mike's Custom Cars

www.mikescustomcars.com (http://www.mikescustomcars.com)

I dunno if i agree with that... I guess it depends on what you mean by "do it right".

If you want a car like Prodigy Custom's Empty Nest, or the Mule, with all the top of the line goodies and most expensive possible paint and body, then yes. 100k to 300k is easily possible.

If you get a little creative with things, and shop the used marketplace a bit, you can build one for the 50k to 75k mark depending on what you want to spend. All depends on how much time you want to put into planning the build!

[69LT1Nova]

Get a Nova and build it for cheap. :naughty:

I'll have just under $10k into my Nova, including purchase price. I'll be able to hang with the PT Camaros no problem. :box2:

The more work you do yourself, the more coin you're going to save.

[protour73]

it's so cliche'....but, it all depends what you want......mild or wild, $25,000 for mild - $90,000 for slightly wild.......and you better be starting with a perfect body and neither end of that spectum always for ANY one-off fabrication/customization, and with maybe the exception of pain/body work on the high end, you'd have to do ALL of the assembly. whew :squint:

[Restomod]

Not a Camaro but my 69 FB is all built by me, 552ci , Viper 6 spd.,4 link rear, Heidts IFS,ect ect..........All told I am up to $22k

[ironworks]

How much is a bag of groceries?

Rodger

[rockdogz]

I've built it for you. And I will only charge you $68K.
:cool:

[JEFFTATE]

How much is a bag of groceries?

Rodger

$19.82 at Publix.

[Nine Ball]

If you can do all the assembly labor and minor fab work yourself, a very nice car would easily be in the $45-50K range. That is with a decent list of brand name parts. Paying a builder to do one however, a nice one would be in the $80-100K+ range in no time.

Unless you can do body/paint, try and find the cleanest body you can afford to start with. Body/paint will suck your budget dry in a hurry if the car is a rust bucket.

[Vegas69]

You can spend as much money as you want on these things.....especially a camaro. You need a solid gameplan so your build meshes.

[scotzilla]

i agree with the bag of groceries comment- You have to decide what you want and then start pricing from there- Ive seen way too many projects start on a cetain budget and then when they change directions mid way they never get finished.

[Twentyover]

Goes back to the fundamental definition of what is PT? Modern motor, or something that just makes enuf power? Leaf spring OK, or do you need a 4 link? Big brakes?

We currently only have a soft definition (and that's OK) saying we're improving the performance, comfort, and handling to match current cars. but don't set objective criteria

[DriverzInc]

I agree with Roger on that bag of groceries comment too... And the fact that Pro-touring is now a relative term. You could build a 69 camaro for 25K, or 125K and depending who you talk to, it may be referred to as "pro-touring".

[XLexusTech]

I agree with Roger on that bag of groceries comment too... And the fact that Pro-touring is now a relative term. You could build a 69 camaro for 25K, or 125K and depending who you talk to, it may be referred to as "pro-touring".

IMHO discount any responces by those who build these for a living or have one they might want to sell someday (discount not disregard) :-)


:cheers:

[Fesler built]

The Guys here are all right on, you asked a very vague question and it’s hard to give you an answer. We try to tell most of our clients to find something that is stock and beat so they know what they are getting. You have to understand if you are trying to build the car on a budget no matter what you do it will be hard. I don’t care if you want to spend $40K or $200K it gets very expensive fast.

Think of it this way, if you have seen the Goodguys/Air Ride Technologies cars and I am sure you have as they are everywhere here is the breakdown.

Goodguys Give-a-way Blue Chevelle by Air Ride
Over $250K with labor

Goodguys Give-a-way Tan Nova by Air Ride
Over $200K with labor

I have had people tell me that they can do the car for $50K well I don’t see it if you figure in just the hours for paint you are looking at $12-$16K to make it perfect and that is just paint. Add in wheels, tires, suspension, drive train, interior and so on and you see it gets up fast. The better the products the better the build. Here is a great way for you to figure out what a car will run you. Figure out your parts list and everything you want to do to the car and X3 for labor. If you build a simple car that will cost $20K after labor and all parts you are going to be close to $60K. It is not always this way but it’s a good rule of thumb for you to follow.

If you go to a shop in some ones back yard the labor will cost you half and the work might be as good or not even close. This is a large gamble for many people. If you go to a shop you like and have seen the work from you at least know what you are paying for. Most of the larger shops are all by the books and legit and that cost more to operate that way. People think it’s crazy to spend big money on a car but if you want a name and someone who stands behind what they do sometimes it’s worth every penny.

[Mr.VENGEANCE]

IM NOT SURE I CAN READ WHAT YOU WROTE FESLER...

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

[SatisTraction]

hmm it depends on how you shop :)

I bought a nicely restored 69 camaro for 25k. i then sold the sluminum headed 383 stroker and other restored parts for about 10k. then i bought a wrecked 99 camaro. i kept the brakes, and drive train. i now have a very nice pt camaro for about 25K.

it has many DSE, ATS, Ricks hot rod parts, and a modded LS1.

[WILWAXU]

I think some would argue that there are now at least 2 categories of "Pro-Touring". Drivers and show cars.

[SatisTraction]

pro-go and pro-show touring :)

[brownz]

have about 30k in my 79z with about another 10-15k till its about done cuz they are never done:hammer: but the only thing that iam using from the car is the body and stock front sub as for everthing else will be replaced. and all i have to say is i though i was going to be driving this thing for about 15K so the X3 is about right LOL but its true

[protouring70]

It is really simple....Not really!
I thought I could build my last Chevelle for $20 after purchasing the car. I ended up with around 33 to 35 in the car. There was still about $8 left to spend on it to be completely right. (stereo, trunk comp., air ......)

Just my 2 cents

[killer69]

Goodguys Give-a-way Blue Chevelle by Air Ride
Over $250K with labor

Goodguys Give-a-way Tan Nova by Air Ride
Over $200K with labor

I have had people tell me that they can do the car for $50K well I don’t see it if you figure in just the hours for paint you are looking at $12-$16K to make it perfect and that is just paint.

So your saying that on a 250 and 200 k car the paint is ONLY 12-16K ?????????????to make it perfect???? if you painted the blazer and camaro for 12-16, i will pay the freight to bring all our cars to you to paint
i certainly don't want to cause a s*%t storm but when this stuff gets posted it messes with peoples minds.... then they want there car painted "PERFECT" for 15 k and you know it can't be done.

I don't know how many guys i tell " take what you think you want to spend and double it.... then if you have any left over at the end your not totally pissed that you spent so much and maybe you can drive the car to Red Lobster and have the cash to pay for it" and don't think it will be any different. look at the examples in this post alone???

why do people think it will be less... when was the last time you bought a "BAG of Groceries" and it cost less than you wanted to spend???
and this is in no way refering to anything but the previous posts in this thread!!!

[Mr.VENGEANCE]

calm down blake... calm down.. breathe

[XLexusTech]

Its a pretty silly discussion without a clear understanding of what the goal is. Those high dollar cars with 20K in paint are in a whole seperate catagory from cars like to possi's and Carl C's camaro.
Their much like the high dollar Prostreet cars of the 90's
You can clearly spend 50 60 100 200 K (it adds up fast @ 65 -300 per hr) Right Pro's ? If you pay 15 K for a paint job it better be perfect. That's flat out crazy to expect any less. (unless Blake is refering to someone showing up with a bucket of rust and the shop turns that into a show ready car then 20k or more can be burned up fast) But 15k for just paint.... it better be show ready.
Bling costs the more Buck the more bling. Without the bling you can clearly build a car that would perform as well as these high dollar tax write offs for 30 K No problem.

Just refer to Mary P a few post ago.

[killer69]

I am Calm.... :smashcomp
hahaha
but come on 15 k to do a show paint job like on Chris's camaro. NOWAY ( By the way chris the paint is really good) just incase you all missed that part. hense the referance to taking our cars to have him paint them.

[silver69camaro]

$15K wont buy you a perfect paint job w/ body work. I know of a couple that are over $100k in paint and body...and most being in the $50-80K range. To me, paying $15k for paint is "average".

Welcome to the show car world.

[68fusion]

$15K wont buy you a perfect paint job w/ body work. I know of a couple that are over $100k in paint and body...and most being in the $50-80K range. To me, paying $15k for paint is "average".

Welcome to the show car world.

on average ours with no metal work runs 20 plus...you get into qtrs and floors ect and it will be double quick.

15k is probably average but to who's scale?great to some average to others... when you can count on materials-good ones- to run 2500 to 5k depending on color ect. you can burn up your budget fast, but at that point it's not time to cut corners!

[XLexusTech]

To get back on track we need a clear defention of what thie origianl poster wants to build. Somthing tells me a car with a 20k paint job is not waht he is asking about.

people with 20k paint jobs dont ask how much. and a Paint job does not make a car pro-touring.

[bret]

For those who enjoy the build process as much or more than the finished product...the money spent is likely no more than would be spent on any other hobby such as bass fishing, hunting trips, RV'ing,etc.
For those who want to jump to the finished product...it is ALWAYS less expensive to buy rathar than build, at any level.
If I had to build the Velocity Camaro for a customer it would be at least $200k. We have over 2000 hours in the car. I could, however, 90% reproduce that car [leaving out such time suckers as the bare metal stripes, the splitter, the flush glass, the rear valance, all the coolest stuff] for considerably less. The market for a car like Velocity is $100-150k if it has exposure and a pedigree, a bit less if not.
As mentioned here before, the cheapest way to build a car is to start with a perfect body. Fixing rust and damage is exponentially more expensive than buying an undamaged car to begin with. Trust me, I know this.

[protouring70]

If you haven't got a car, it is best to find one with a good paint job. Then you can spend money on everything else. Wheels, suspension, brakes and it goes on and on ........
This game isn't easy. If you are like me, you get started and see what someone else has done and think that it is better. So you start stepping up a little here and a little there. Before you know it you are way over the budget!!!!

Good luck and enjoy you car!

[Fesler built]

Goodguys Give-a-way Blue Chevelle by Air Ride
Over $250K with labor

Goodguys Give-a-way Tan Nova by Air Ride
Over $200K with labor

I have had people tell me that they can do the car for $50K well I don’t see it if you figure in just the hours for paint you are looking at $12-$16K to make it perfect and that is just paint.

So your saying that on a 250 and 200 k car the paint is ONLY 12-16K ?????????????to make it perfect???? if you painted the blazer and camaro for 12-16, i will pay the freight to bring all our cars to you to paint
i certainly don't want to cause a s*%t storm but when this stuff gets posted it messes with peoples minds.... then they want there car painted "PERFECT" for 15 k and you know it can't be done.

I don't know how many guys i tell " take what you think you want to spend and double it.... then if you have any left over at the end your not totally pissed that you spent so much and maybe you can drive the car to Red Lobster and have the cash to pay for it" and don't think it will be any different. look at the examples in this post alone???

why do people think it will be less... when was the last time you bought a "BAG of Groceries" and it cost less than you wanted to spend???
and this is in no way refering to anything but the previous posts in this thread!!!

Just for reference the Black 69 that everyone says is such a nice paint job was $15,000 so we do awesome work for a fair price if you want us to paint your cars ship them out we have room. Our paint jobs go from $8000 to $18000 depending on how much work you need.

Now this does not include doing all the metal fab work and that was not what was asked. So can it be done yes but like I said there are so many people out there telling everyone what stuff should cost they just dont think about what it really does cost. At the end of the day its by the hour so do the math and figure it out.

[Damn True]

$15K wont buy you a perfect paint job w/ body work. I know of a couple that are over $100k in paint and body...and most being in the $50-80K range. To me, paying $15k for paint is "average".

Welcome to the show car world.

...and that last point represents a HUGE line of demarcation for most folks and a source of confusion as well.

If someone wants a driver/track car there is no reason for show car paint. You'll just make yourself sick the first time it gets whacked with a hunk of tire or a rock. The problem for builders, as I see it at least, is that people see show quality paint jobs and have an expectation that theirs should look that good too. Not realistic, not practical for most cars that get driven much.

For my purposes I don't need or want a paint job of a quality higher than one would find on a new car today. A little bit of orange peel is no big deal. And the fact that it isn't a show quality paint job will make it a whole lot easier/cheaper to repair if the car is ever damaged.

[Brian46]

Just for reference the Black 69 that everyone says is such a nice paint job was $15,000 so we do awesome work for a fair price if you want us to paint your cars ship them out we have room. Our paint jobs go from $8000 to $18000 depending on how much work you need.

Now this does not include doing all the metal fab work and that was not what was asked. So can it be done yes but like I said there are so many people out there telling everyone what stuff should cost they just dont think about what it really does cost. At the end of the day its by the hour so do the math and figure it out.I find it hard to believe that you are painting your cars for that price (I have seen them in person and they are very nice), I guess I really got taken to the cleaners on my project.

[Bow Tie 67]

When he says 15k I'm thinking just for paint and cut / buff. Or in other words a car that only needs light primer and block work.

[monza]

How much is a bag of groceries?

Rodger


$100 000.00 and a bag of groceries!!!!

[monza]

double

[Brian46]

When he says 15k I'm thinking just for paint and cut / buff. Or in other words a car that only needs light primer and block work.even still, I got hosed

[Flash68]

even still, I got hosed

Based on the pics you posted here and on Lateral G, yes you absolutely got screwed by that shop. And they charged you I'm guessing much more than $15k for subpar quality??? I don't get it...


I'm with Damn True - I don't mind a little orange peel and don't want your Fesler perfect $15k paint job.

[Brian46]

Based on the pics you posted here and on Lateral G, yes you absolutely got screwed by that shop. And they charged you I'm guessing much more than $15k for subpar quality??? I don't get it...I guess once you start down the bondo road, you have to make sure the metalwork you did prior to starting the paint process is good. It also helps if all the fab work is done so you have places to mount fuel lines, exhaust, brake lines, wiring, etc, etc. You have to basically put the whole car together and make sure everything works, then take it all apart again for paint (at least that is how I thought you had to do it to get a killer paint job)?

[NewMuscle]

I've done all of the hard stuff for you.

https://www.pro-touring.com/forum/showthread.php?t=49326

Just jump right to Pro-touring and not have to mess with paint, rust, interior, etc.

[Dayton]

I agree with a previous post. Buy one already done. You will pay 35 cents on the dollar.
I've got $50k in parts, $20K in body/paint. Oh ya, don't forget LABOR!!