How do YOU build on a budget?

[Mathius]

I just recently got a new job through the Sheet Metal Workers union. Right now I'm just an apprentice, but after I get a few years under my belt, I'll be making pretty good money for a single guy.

I've had a '76 Malibu since somewhere around 2002'ish that I rescued from a field via Ebay for $850 with 39k on the odometer. A few thousand dollars later, I managed to get her on the road, but she's rough. Her underbody is in bad shape, needs tires, and now after a few years in OH, the outside of the body is starting to get a few rust spots here and there. The carb has been ready for a replacement since day one. I've rebuilt it, overhauled it, and worked on it year after year and it's just not going to work. The previous owner must have bent up the rods, or something because we've never been able to make it work right.



Over the last 5 years, I've replaced the floorpan, installed headers and a dual exhaust, removed the emissions equipment, and put in a new camshaft. 2 years ago I bought a truck, and so I was able to finally park the Malibu which had been my daily driver for a few years. I've been struggling to get by and have only put money into it when I had to, or when I had a little extra cash. I've never been able to do things the way I've wanted to for monetary reasons, and some of the things I have done (like the floor pan and headers) turned out to not be the way I wanted them done anyways.

I just moved last week for about the 6th time in the last 5 years. I had to move the Malibu to my mother's house, and I'm constantly re-assessing it as a project. What direction do I go? Build it a little at a time to be what I really want, or just do what I can afford to upgrade it the way it is? With no real garage to tear it down and work on it properly, it's very hard to get anything done.

I have to ask myself, should I do things like upgrade the 30+ year old suspension, or just wait until I have a place to work on it? Should I sell it?

And if I do put parts in it, is there any point in buying performance parts when it's really not going to be the way I want it anyways? Is buying stock parts just putting a band aid on it, and is that worth it?

All in all it is a fantastic project. It still has only around 49k on the odometer. The outside body is still pretty solid all the way around. And I did just finish the floor pan, even if it didn't turn out precisely how I wanted it. I could probably build a pretty good budget musclecar, or I could wait and buy a few parts at a time, store them and do things the way I want. Or I could do both, upgrading the car now with stock parts from local parts stores, and down the line, overhaul it again.

How do you guys on very tight budgets like me get by with your project? How do you handle it?

I've had guys at Chevytalk say that if you don't even have an extra $100 here and there to throw out for a part, you shouldn't be in the hobby. Stuff like that makes me shake my head.

There is a whole rat rod crowd out there doing really amazing custom things with their cars, and all with hard work and some junk they scrounge up. I don't want my car to look like that, but I can admire their hard work and creativity just the same.

Thoughts?

Mathius