How much has it cost?

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Scorpma82
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How much has it cost?

Post by Scorpma82 »

Hey there chaps and chicks

I'm curious in asking a question to everyone, but before I do, I just wanna make everyone aware that if it does piss people off or this thread is inappropriate, then please feel free to remove it, i'm not gonna be annoyed about it

My question is this:

How much money have you spend on your project (thus far)?

I'm talking everything, paint, wheels,tyres, engine, transmission, clutch, interior, diff, suspension, parts and labour.

I'm very curious as to what people have gotten out of their budgets.
(what was your initial budget, did you stay within it, was it blown out of proportion)

Did you get the result you were looking for?
(did you get the right look, power figure, sound?)

What was the purpose of your build?
(street cruising, high HP, drag racing, circuit, rally, drift)



Only reason why I'm asking is because i've got a specific budget in my mind, and i'm keen to stretch it out as far as possible (i will be doing as much of the work as i can)

If you're willing to reveal that sort of info...that's fantastic.....if not, then that's fine, that's your private business and ihave no intention in trying to pry for it


Thanks guys
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75glnt
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Re: How much has it cost?

Post by 75glnt »

Well!! I'll try my best :P

The good old gc :)

$320 to buy
$250 to get it home
Major hours (I mean, a shit load!) on tidying it up
$100 or so on cleaning products (vinyl reviver, general car wash and other types to get rid of chalky vinyl)
Around $500 in parts (brakes, suspension, water pump, fan, gaskets, carby,etc)

TOTAL:$1170. Sold for $300 :(

Budget; didn't really have one..

Built for; daily :)

Gb;

$510 to buy.
$150 to get it home
100s and I mean 100s of hours sorting through a bucket of bolts!
Even more hours in prep/tidying up work
$860 of 2 pack paint that I won't use (changed my mind)
About $300 in receipts for general suspension/brake parts (tie rods, ball joints, wheel bearings, rear master cylinders, shoes, pads, link pin bushes, etc etc)
About $100 in receipts for general maintenance (oil, filters, fluids)
$50 for 4 chrysler Australia hubcaps
$50 for wheel trims
$200 for the body work stuff (bog, sand paper, sanding discs and blocks, paint (rattle pack), wax an grease remover, and so on)
Hours of time for assembly and disassembly
There's a few more bits but can't remember the cost

TOTAL:$2k give or take $50-$100

Budget; ha! No budget! This thing is gonna cost me a fortune! Non stop project

Built for; fun (fun, track, drift, cruise)

L200;

$200 to buy
$100 to get it home
$80 in prep tools/products (wire wheels, paint, rust converter)

Budget; hmmm... $3k? Maybe $4k

Built for; daily, cruising

I reckon my budget will get blown out on the ute... By a grand or so.. But I'm trying for $4k at the most :)



YOU HAD TO ASK! :P nah.. I don't mind.. Obviously! ^ :P
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GB_BB4C
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Re: How much has it cost?

Post by GB_BB4C »

my first GB Galant
$200 to buy the car
few hundred spent on it as a family...

then I took it over
I have receipts for around the $10k mark.. (for what I have receipts for) there is probably another $5k unaccounted for

fully rebuilt 2.6
injection and associated parts (fuel system, welding of manifold etc..)
port polish head and cam
4 wheel disc brakes, new brake lines
race seats
custom gauge dash
rims
half roll cage
steering wheel
microtech
suspension
there is a lot more to the list, and a lot more detail into some of the things I have listed. but you get the idea.

as for budget, there wasn't one, but I had a plan on where I wanted it to go. (into two trees and a fire hydrant marker was not on the plan). this plan is still in action as a completely gutted body in the shed.


The GK turbo (only one I have set a power goal for) currently on 170kw at the wheels, want 200kw as I know it is achievable and know what is holding it back
paid enough for the car, but considering what I got, I aint complaining.

probably spent about $4k on it just tidying up bits and pieces to the way I want them and bits that needed doing
biggest outlay has been custom bonnet $1.3k, and the new rims $1.2k

no budget, but probably have about another $6k to be spent on it before its how I want it.


I don't bother setting a budget, in the end it cost what it cost. the main thing in the end is I end up with what I want.
I do what ever I can to the car, (example) ill fabricate up stuff to be welded instead of going somewhere and just telling them what.
2* 73 A53 16L Dodge Colt (Plymouth Cricket), 2* 73 GB Galant Sedan's, 1* 74 GB Galant Sedan, 1* 76 VK Valiant Regal,
1* 79 GE SE Sigma Sedan, 1* 81 GH Sigma PWS, 1* 84 GK Sigma SE, 1* 85 GK Sigma GL - Replacing the 84 GK SE, 1* 91 GTO - FOR SALE

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cheaterparts
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Re: How much has it cost?

Post by cheaterparts »

GE Improved Production race car - it was built and log booked in 1999 so the costs would be higher today

the car I already owned and had bought with a RWC a few years before for $1000 but I dont count this as part of the project as it was just my road car

anyway the car was first built with a 2 lt which I rebuilt myself the motor came for nix as I had a few cars given to me around that time
I did a bit of port work myself and ran twin 45 mm DCOEs one of the carbs was given to me brand new in box by a customer of mine and I bought the other for $110 a brand new redline manifold cost me $ 150 and I got a heap of jets and spares for $ 90

the header I made myself from mandrel bends and straight sections the 4 into one was my own design and the unit was tig welded together on a bit of a home made jig
apart from removing the B/Shafts the engine was fairly std at that stage

I made a set over adjustable top cap and turned up my own coil over sleaves did a guess on spring rates 300 lb I also fitted a set of Ford Falcon adjustable inner pivots
a heaver front bar was fitted out of a later model sigma ( Free )

the rear end had the spring cut and a small rear bar was fitted ( Both bad moves )

before 2000 the steel to built a roll cage was cheaper and I remember that $ 60 covered all the steel
the 13 x 7 mini light pattern wheels and some hard tyres came Free of charge - well I made a set of adjustable top caps for a dato 1600 for them

of cause there were other bits and pieces ,I remember keeping a log of out of pocket expences and the car was log booked and ready to race for $ 4000

my first time was at Morwell Hillclimb and I got a time of just over 39 sec
the second meeting there I got into the 38 sec runs
the best time was after going to the 2.6 and was at an Aust Hillclimb Champs I won my class with a 35.87 sec, 1.1 sec in front of the second place guy a turbo charged Suzuki swift

there had been ongoing expences with different mods along the way but the same basic car did very well
of cause it did end up with a 2.6 an engine I have quite a soft spot for, A build on a 2.6 use to cost me about $ 1500 in parts + my own labour
the best of these Dynoed 119 Kw at the wheels as a NA engine

I had no budget but the GE Sigma made a very cost effective hillclimb car
it's not to shabby around other tracks making 1min 28s at sandown and 1min 40 long track winton
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VGJONO
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Re: How much has it cost?

Post by VGJONO »

GD Sedan

purchase Price: $850 (down from 1500)
getting it home: $200-250
Stereo: $500
Parts car for motor/wheels: $150
General servicing: $250 (spark plugs, leads, points x2, Rotor button x2, Condenser x2, oil filter, air filter, fuel filter)
5 speed gearbox: $200
Tires: $380
Misc: $150 (random bits and peices)

all up around $2700 (give or take a few hundred as these are all estimates on what ive spent)

GD Hardtop

Purchase Price: $500
Towing: $25
Rust repair: ????? (whatever it takes)
Spare panels: ???? (whatever someone will sell them to me for :P )
Paint materials: $500 (painting it myself)
Seat upholstery: ???? (not sure how much it will cost)

All up, no F***ing idea :P but i dont intend to spend any more than what i have already spent on the sedan

Cheers
VGJONO :thumpsup:
A112H
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Re: How much has it cost?

Post by A112H »

A112H GC hardtop
Bought $750
Spent $20,000
Value (insured) $8500
Finished - hell no, spent another $3000 on a 4G63 that will not be used in this car. Buggered if I know what wheels will cost, got a quote for the wheels I like at $1850 plus tyres.
This car could easily owe me $40,000 and still not be on the road, lol

A55C Galant GTO
I am still to scared to contemplate let alone disclose.
WIll let you know :P
Scorpma82
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Re: How much has it cost?

Post by Scorpma82 »

Thanks for your info guys....really appreciate it

Sounds like my budget of 10k (for a road car) is pretty generous...but given that i want a full custom car.....certainly sounds like i need to be mindful on what i buy
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77galantv6
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Re: How much has it cost?

Post by 77galantv6 »

I hate to admit this and it might shock a few people but i'm well over the $40K mark. And that is just in the reciepts i have kept.
It is insured for 16K, but i will never get that sort of money if i sold it (barely got an offer over 10K when i thought of selling at the start of the year).

Never had a budget, just spent money on what i wanted.
Never had a build plan, just built it as i found things, ideas came to me.
Changed the path i was taking multiple times, hence the increased price.
I drive it hard (as plenty will have seen / heard) and when things break i upgrade.

You have to remember that this car has been in this build since roughly 2000 and it is simply my toy that i consistantly work on for the ultimate goal of getting it to be the best GD sedan going around.
The previous 2 builds the car has had were much cheaper...
The 2.0 litre Sigma motor was done on the cheap.
The Fiat Motor that it had before that was cheaper again as it was a motor that we had sitting around.
'77 Galant V6....

1977 Galant with Commodore V6 conversion.

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webby
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Re: How much has it cost?

Post by webby »

GJ Scorp
Purchase price: $510
Trip home: $50 in fuel
General servicing: $100 (oil, filter, plugs, dizzy cap)
Engine rebuilds x2: $900
4G52+5spd: $160 in diesel to pick the motor up
Suspension/brakes etc: $150
4.6:1 diff centre: $90
Tires: $180
Misc bits and bobs: $400ish
Rego: $830

Total so far: $3370 over 4 years, with a bunch more to go
Original budget: $1500 :$

Edited: Life stories and Nissans aren't really relevant, lol
-Josh.
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Daily: 7/96 EF Falcon, 4.0 SOHC, BTR95LE, 3.45:1 LSD/Lukey extractors, full 2.5” exhaust, EL intake, Tickford snorkel, 87DA cam, AU injectors, shiftkits.com.au single stage kit. PB 14.93@91mph.
Project: Red '81 Scorpion-http://www.sigma-galant.com/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=11889
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75wagon
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Re: How much has it cost?

Post by 75wagon »

I don't like to talk about how much, because it sounds like my cars could cost bugger all. The thing that isn't taken into account with receipts is the labour time. Obviously the more labour the owner puts in, the less the receipts amount too.

I spent 30 days in total of labour spraying 77galantv6's car, and even more on my wagon.
My next wagon will have even more.
It's hard to put a cost on that.
The only thing I've paid people for is things I can't do. On my current GC wagon, that would be welding the exhaust together and machining the head (I'm not joking, that's it). Other then that, it's just been buying parts and materials to complete the job.

I have done the sums, and have come to the conclusion, that my next wagon build if labour is factored in, would be way over $30K.
It's a thing of pride for me, I have no interest in if it will be worth a lot of money or have good resale, I do it because that's what I want to drive.

I have made the decision in the last couple of days, that for my next build to continue, I need to move on. That means that I will soon be selling the GC wagon (hard decision to make, but necessary). I have a few things to fix on it (paint work after recent minor damage, but a good chance to fix everything I've been wanting to while I'm at it). I'll have owned it for 10 years this coming January (bought it Jan 2004).

I will inform anyone interested in the purchase of it when it is time.

Dave...
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amgis_obrut
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Re: How much has it cost?

Post by amgis_obrut »

V8 sig has chewed up around 25-30 k
GH Sigma, 16" Mesh wheels, sports steering wheel and a V8 exhaust
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75wagon
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Re: How much has it cost?

Post by 75wagon »

vr4retrofit wrote:the VR4 GH but it needs about 6-8K more to be thrown at it.
Just curious, what sort of things does the money need to be spent on?

In my next build, I actually am going to pay to get the whole interior re-trimmed professionally, and I just know that's going to chew up large wads of cash.
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cheaterparts
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Re: How much has it cost?

Post by cheaterparts »

75wagon wrote: Obviously the more labour the owner puts in, the less the receipts amount too.

Dave...
this is something that of cause aways works true - I'd hate to think what my car would have cost me if I didn't do my own engineering work
the same goes for the body work , a full respray inside and out cost me paint only . A mate owns a panel shop and did the work for nix
I have however made quite a bit of stuff for his race cars including a roll cage in his last car for the std cost of materials and a few cans as we worked
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75wagon
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Re: How much has it cost?

Post by 75wagon »

cheaterparts wrote:A mate owns a panel shop and did the work for nix
I have however made quite a bit of stuff for his race cars including a roll cage in his last car for the std cost of materials and a few cans as we worked
What goes around comes around doesn't it..?

That's always the best deals to do, swap labour for labour, and then only materials have to be bought.

The problem I have found with the Galants (wagons in particular), thy are getting really hard to get good parts for. Any parts that I've need are either non existent or I've had to buy whole cars just to get them. In the past it has been cheaper to do that then buy bits from a wrecking yard. But saying that, there are no wrecking yards around Newcastle that keep cars or parts for Galants, and they haven't done for years. This forum has been my best source for parts over the years, and also Ebay.

My budgets have always been determined by the thickness of my wallet (or lack there of), I've never had a lot of money to spend on cars (still don't, but I do have more then a couple of years ago).
The way I keep the costs down is by getting what I can get my hands on, and then basing what I build around that. Necessity is the mother of invention.
My GC wagon build started with me needing a wagon of van (my 120Y sedan wasn't big enough for my tools of trade), I had the mag wheels already (left over from a Galant I owned years before), so I looked for something they would fit.
The wagon was found in the local paper for $480, compete with a motor that needed rebuilding, no rego and paint in really bad condition. The plus's were only one small patch of rust, and very tidy interior and chrome work.
I ended up buying a complete GC wagon with a rebuilt motor and 5 speed conversion to sort out the motor problem.

I don't have anything in the drivetrain that isn't a straight bolt in or that needs engineering on my GC wagon (but speed is not something I have pursued in the past).
I do all my own panel and paint work, on that note, I've always found I'm better off spending more to get the better car to start with, because it generally costs less then what body/rust repairs do. I wont even bother with a rusty car, I just keep looking for a better shell to start with.
As far as paint goes, It costs me about $600ish for materials to paint a car. I appreciate that not everyone can paint their own car or even want to. And not everyone has the gear to do it either, buying a compressor and gun of reasonable quality adds quite a bit to the price of a home paint job.

I've kept a rough guide on what I have spent on building and modifying the car, to date I think I'm roughly around the $6000 mark. I don't want to even think about how many hours I have put into it.
I suppose my biggest question now, is after all that, what is it worth now?

Dave...
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geezer101
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Re: How much has it cost?

Post by geezer101 »

75wagon wrote: I suppose my biggest question now, is after all that, what is it worth now?

Dave...
There is no dollar value on the enjoyment you get out of doing something like this. If its all about egos and competitiveness - the bragging rights on how much I spent/how fast I can go/how much more horsepower I've got, the whole experience sours. But when you can get behind the wheel, turn the key and it puts a big one on your face...well, all that other stuff becomes irrelevant. :thumpsup:
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amgis_obrut
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Re: How much has it cost?

Post by amgis_obrut »

vr4retrofit wrote:
amgis_obrut wrote:V8 sig has chewed up around 25-30 k
Really? I thought about 1/3 of that due largely to the fact you do most of it yourself?

My build is relatively cheap then. Have spent about 8K on the VR4 GH but it needs about 6-8K more to be thrown at it.
The original build was cheap but its blown out since then lol

New engine and EFI is more than half of that alone!
Theres about $2500 in braided hose and fittings
New Trans and TCE 9.5" prorace torque converter was $2800

Theres about $20000 straight up !

Theres about $800 in powder coated parts
GH Sigma, 16" Mesh wheels, sports steering wheel and a V8 exhaust
ozdusterdave
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Re: How much has it cost?

Post by ozdusterdave »

Lets just say that lot$ of water in the way of money has passed under the bridge over the years.I spent all my income through my 20s on my car( put off buying a house)...I used to think building my dream car was kinda my goal in life.. I am quite happy driving an average quality car with a few blemishes these days.i figure i go out,drive around and go home ,,,wether thats in a mini or a ferrari...
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75wagon
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Re: How much has it cost?

Post by 75wagon »

ozdusterdave wrote:I used to think building my dream car was kinda my goal in life
Your starting to sound older then me ozdusterdave

I don't have a dream car as such, I just want to push myself to see what I can really do.
I was talking with my wife just today about my plans, she seemed genuinely keen about them.
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Re: How much has it cost?

Post by ozdusterdave »

75wagon wrote:
ozdusterdave wrote:I used to think building my dream car was kinda my goal in life
Your starting to sound older then me ozdusterdave

I don't have a dream car as such, I just want to push myself to see what I can really do.
I was talking with my wife just today about my plans, she seemed genuinely keen about them.
Sorry ,I musta been having a moment.I like to see what people do with the cars they have chosen to restify.
BIG26L
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Re: How much has it cost?

Post by BIG26L »

LC Lancer Tarmac rally car/IPRA racer

Car owes about $15k so far...........
CAMS spec Cage, RX4 diff, RX7 Lsd, custom Panhard rod, Coilovers, GTR brakes front and rear, 2 sets of 15x7 Supalite GTR (lightweight) wheels and AO50RS Yokohamas

I already own the engine, so and about $9k to that if I had too build that to, should make about 200rwhp. Twin 55 dcoe webers arrived yesterday (Yes 55's) as I can't run the injection on tarmac rallys. Add another $1k!

List stuff ready to be fitted......

Alloy raditor
Terratrip
intercom
braided brakelines
Bia adjustable pedalbox & cable
oil cooler & remote filter
fuel lines & pumps
2x Cobra FIA spec wing seats & mounts
2x 3" FIA spec harnesses
Fire Bomb extinguisher system
about $8k of stuff here...........

List of stuff still to do & buy..........

Full custom re-wire
Flares, wings, spoiler, paint & body work
Digital dash board (Haltec IQ3 or Motec SDL)
interior trims
mount seats
run fuel & brake lines, mount pumps and filters
Custom 60lt fuel tank
Customer headers and 3" exhaust
MCA 2 way adjustable shocks front & rear.
Hollinger or Albins dogbox
Plus lots more stuff.......

There is some other stuff I have forgotten and I haven't included the cost of spares and extra's either.

At the end of the day speed and saftey cost money and I don't expect to get much change out of $40k once the car is finished, but the enjoyment of running rings around a lot more expensive cars and budget is priceless. I also know that if for some reason we end up in the trees, off the road or in a wall, I know I've spent good money on the right gear, we have less chance of getting hurt.

From experience..........
Do your research before you pull the car apart.
Do things once and do them properly. It will cost less in the long run.
Have a plan, do all your fit ups and mods before you paint the car. Bumps, scratches, ding, etc.... are easier to get out of a unpainted shell than a nice shiny painted one! And you save some of your swaearing allowance along the way to.
If you haven't got the money to do everything, don't start and keep saving.
Get a few mates involved to keep you motivated.
Double or even triple the amount of time you think its going to take to get it finished.

Hope these tips help. I will one day get around to doing a build thread for the car, but all the usual stuff keeps getting in the way.
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