Budget/Junkyard build section?

[mitch_04]

As much as I love drooling over the $XXX,XXX cars that are built on here, I enjoy seeing innovative builds from junkyard parts or people making the less expensive "universal" parts fit. The $5K Mustang is a great low budget build, as is the AWD Charger and many others. The turbo forums has a section dedicated to budget builds and junkyard builds, and I believe it's a good addition. The word junkyard definitely makes some people shudder, but sourcing C4/5/6 components from wrecked vehicles or LS engines both could fall under that category. It would be a nice section for the average Joe to browse and perhaps get some ideas, like using an LS computer to update an old school SBC which is much less expensive than your average fuel injection kit.

Just an idea I thought would be neat.

[no go nova]

I to would like a forum dedicated to parts that bolts in without to much mods that updates a old car on the cheap.

[pro67coupe]

i like this idea

[srh3trinity]

Sign me up. I like budget builds and new ideas.

[csouth]

I think the idea is great, as long as there is a max cost placed as criteria for posting.

[mitch_04]

I think it spurs creativity out of necessity. I'm currently trying to switch an old inline 6 to port fuel injection, switch a '50 Chevy to IFS and IRS, and put a 3.5 inline 5 into an '85 C10, all with as many junkyard/oem parts as possible. My ideas tend to be more towards the "why not" catagory. Sure I could get great handling with a solid axle, or just put a 350 in something, or leave the inline 6 carbed, but it's just to simple and common. I do the work for enjoyment, not profit, so spending lots of time to have something different is important to me.

I don't know how well setting a dolllar amount would work, but I think it would be fairly obvious what belongs and what doesn't. Dropping in an LS, sure, but dropping in an LS that has been rebuilt with over 10K in parts....probably not. Keep the bolt ons simple and such, no 10K "bolt on" suspensions.

[Motorcitydak]

YEA! thanks for the shout out! Hope you like the progress, more to come soon

I am not too 'budget' tho. I just know what I want and if something costs a lot, I just wait and save up $ till I can get it then move on. I have easily spent more than $5k this year alone. I do still hope that I could fit into a category like this tho

[mitch_04]

Although you may spend quite a bit of money (I think we all would be surprised if we calculated it up at the "end"), it definitely falls under the junkyard category. Your use of parts from all sorts of vehicles is crazy, I wouldn't have even known where to begin when trying to mate together so many different companies products. I could see a budget vehicle ranging anywhere from 3-4K, for a unpopular vehicle assembled with used parts bought whenever it was a good deal, to 30-40K for a higher end junkyard build that just uses less common parts and a more popular vehicle. Putting in a 8.2 10 bolt is going to be cheap as dirt, but that doesn't do you any good if you plan to put down 400-500 hp since you'd be rebuilding it every other week. However, sourcing a used Dana 60 and cutting it down to the length needed with maybe some aftermarket axles and a used posi, is still budget compared to purchasing a complete 9" with all the options.

It's all relative.... that Einstein fella might have known what he was talking about.

[Motorcitydak]

Yeah I completely agree. I think that you have to spend your money in the right areas. Having a hook up is great if you can get something for a deal but that is not always possible. I have 2 3rd members just sitting around for a Ford 9 rear but they are open diff and 3.50 gear.....just not what I want. I know that my 3rd will cost around $1200-1500 having an aluminum thru bolted 3rd member, truetrac diff and 4.56 gear but of me it's that or nothing. I will say that when all is said and done I will probably have $30k into the car but I stopped keeping track of money spent on it 4 years ago because after a while I just did not want to know

[csouth]

It is all relative as said. The balance comes when a build has some new parts and other JY parts. Like you said its not worth having an 8.2 if you're rebuilding it every other week. I have seen some builds here that people call budget where most if not all the work is farmed out. Hard to consider those budget....

[mitch_04]

Admin, any comments (good or bad)?

[Mustard_N_Catchup]

I really like this idea! I'm all about doing things on a budget. I'm wanting to do my next car on a 10k budget, that includes the car, an LSX,a 6spd, and other cool stuff. I hope it get approved.

[g-machine]

I like the idea a lot! I know I am reluctant to start a build thread as I am on a budget and go many months without any major purchases.

I spend a lot of time on eBay, CL, and these forums hunting for deals. I hope I would still qualify, as I have spent around $3500 this year on my DSE front and rear suspension - only purchased one item new: mini-tubs - the rest of it is unused or used for mock up pieces. I saved well over $1500 by doing that and have exactly what I wanted........but it took a lot of searching! This has been a big year for me, spending around $6k on the car.

I am also going LS and 6 speed, been hunting for the deals for all items needed there as well.

Will I have $30k invested by the time it's done? Probably......but it will have been spread over 10 years!!!

[csouth]

I like the idea a lot! I know I am reluctant to start a build thread as I am on a budget and go many months without any major purchases.

I spend a lot of time on eBay, CL, and these forums hunting for deals. I hope I would still qualify, as I have spent around $3500 this year on my DSE front and rear suspension - only purchased one item new: mini-tubs - the rest of it is unused or used for mock up pieces. I saved well over $1500 by doing that and have exactly what I wanted........but it took a lot of searching! This has been a big year for me, spending around $6k on the car.

I am also going LS and 6 speed, been hunting for the deals for all items needed there as well.

Will I have $30k invested by the time it's done? Probably......but it will have been spread over 10 years!!!

I wouldn't let that stop you from doing a build thread. People are still interested to see what others are doing no matter how often the updates come.

[1966longroof]

Neat idea.

[mitch_04]

I'm glad you all like the idea. Hopefully it can be a future section of this site, I know my pickup would be in there!

[andrewb70]

While this seems like a great idea on the face of it, how do you all propose we define "budget" builds? One man's definition will differ from the rest, and then we as moderators, are left to make the decision based on our own arbitrary rules, which ultimately someone will get mad about.



We already have a great Project Updates section. It is filled with all manner of builds. There are builds done by shops, garage mechanics, and everyone in between. My suggestion is to not be afraid to start a build thread, because I think it clear that the members of this forum are awesome, and they will appreciate all manner of builds.

Andrew

[g-machine]

I understand your view Andrew. I feel my car is an extreme budget build, as I have to watch every penny I spend. In the end I will have anywhere from $30-40k invested in the car.........hardly a budget build! Granted, I have no idea when I'll be done, as purchases are as the budget permits.

It's a vicious circle!

[BonzoHansen]

While this seems like a great idea on the face of it, how do you all propose we define "budget" builds? One man's definition will differ from the rest, and then we as moderators, are left to make the decision based on our own arbitrary rules, which ultimately someone will get mad about.

We already have a great Project Updates section. It is filled with all manner of builds. There are builds done by shops, garage mechanics, and everyone in between. My suggestion is to not be afraid to start a build thread, because I think it clear that the members of this forum are awesome, and they will appreciate all manner of builds.

Andrew

+1 it seems redundant

[mitch_04]

To me it wouldn't be a section where you would be booted for spending too much. People have a pretty good idea of whether or not their build falls under the "budget" category. I don't believe it's any different than having a truck vs car section. Both are pro-touring builds on a pro-touring site, but there is a separate section so truck enthusiasts can skip the car builds. The budget build section would be similar, a section where someone can go and see builds that are more realistic to the average guy/gal. Nothing against the high dollar builds, but it's just in the cards for many of us. It would be a place for people to get ideas on how to stretch their dollar.

I, personally, don't have any problem with starting a build thread of my own. Right now I am doing much more work on customer cars and I know that my pickup is going to get unattended for a long time while parts stack up. However, when I catch up on the 2 restos for others I will start a more formal build thread instead of updating my suspension thread.

If you think this idea is redundant, you'd hate my other one. I found it on the old fiberglass forum, now defunct. They had 2 build thread sections, one which comments were disabled and another which comments were allowed. This allowed you to watch the entire build from start to finish without having to read "filler" comments. If you wanted to know specifics or just wanted to let the guy know how much you liked his build, you posted in the other section. I like watching the builds but hate feeding through 3 pages of convo without an update. It's not so bad here, but Lat-G is filled with "nonsense". I like Lat-G as well, but I've went through over 5 pages without a single pic of a car in a build thread.