how much is in you toy
Im over 4,000$ still no engine,tranny,wheels,tires,floors, any electrical,paint,roll bar,seat belts,cv axles,sand blasting. Ill be looking at 10-13000$ by the time Im finished. Not to mention months of work and hundreds of trips to my "shop" (tent in a friends farm) 30 miles away with gas prices so high. Add on to that about 500 in stuff, s/s bolts, drill bits, cutting discs, degreaser, sand paper, oxy/acetelene, weld wire spools, and tools Ill buy to remove only one bolt or part in these damn VW's. Add: Oh and the light bill at the shop with a 220v air compressor running all day and me welding for 6 hours straight on my days off (welding is almost finished), then the air tools will have the compressor screaming, $$$$. And cause I live so damn far (4,000 to 10,000mi) from all the suppliers everything has to be shipped by container from the mainland. ****ttt!
Lets see....about $1500.00 into my first: This one I had about $3500 into: http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b52/jspbtown/Completedrightfront.jpg And this one I expect to have about $6000 into: http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b52/jspbtown/Frontleft.jpg This first two were nothing more than drivers. This last one will have some nice features, but not a crazy motor. This is a hobby for me...I never get to keep any of them.
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- Posts: 841
- Joined: Sat Jul 23, 2005 8:00 pm
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- Posts: 998
- Joined: Fri Mar 26, 2010 5:00 am
- Location: Bull Bay, Anglesey, North Wales, UK. Manxclub #678
[QUOTE="mel hubbard"]Remember that ol Johnny Cash song???? It goes,,, I built it one piece at a time and it didnt cost me a dime,,, well thats my buggy,,, :driving:[/QUOTE] Pretty much my story Mel. It helped having a friend working for the UK's best known engine builder; most of my engine came out of his trash can. It also helps being from a generation where if you didn't know how to do something you asked someone older and (hopefully) wiser or read about it in a book or magazine. I learned to weld, wire cars, skin my knuckles and open beer bottles with my teeth this way. A lot of people now when stuck on something will ask a question on a message board (this one excepted) sometimes even spelling a word or two correctly (but never using the words please or thank you) and get really anoyed if you don't post big color photos and at least a couple of website links when you answer them. Sorry, this has turned into a rant...I've had a long hard day!!! Did you ever get the show 'Grumpy Old Men' in the US?
"Wise men talk because they have something to say, fools because they have to say something." (Plato)
I have around $6,000.00 in my Manx build. and no telling how many hours... I am building a clone and using all used parts. this one should cost about $1,500.00. I bought 2 '67 bugs, took the parts I wanted and sold the rest. I made $1,750.00 selling '67 parts on thesamba. if you subtract that from the build, my clone will be free!!!
Spending $$$ on the buggy is my favorite pass time. To be honest, I have lost track of what I have spent to date - but if I had to put a number on it, it would be about $3,500 - I still have a long way to go. I was saving saving saving for the big paint job, but it looks like I wont have to go that radical - I think that I will end up around 5K... (fingers crossed)
Not driving it yet but close. Let's see..... Basket case- $800 new pan and title $200 supplies $100 more supplies $100 rims sandblasted and painted $100 tank fill moved $100 front beam cut and turned $100 metal for body lift $60 beer for mechanic $40 towbar $60 wiring supplies $75 2 new tires $130 lights $100 more lights $80 ++??? We're over $2000, with another $1000 to go.
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[QUOTE="mightymanx"]I guess I have close to $8,000.00 in my manx but that doesn't count the things such as the leather sofa, chair, and attoman along with the other trinkets that I had to purchase when ever my wife saw a new box show up. So if you add that stuff in then it becomes an astonomical figure that I do not need to know. I just think of all the relief from stress that I get out of just driving around.[/QUOTE] Mine called me from Lowe's while I was camping at Carlisle for the Chrysler Classic with my Mopar buddies, " Honey you won't believe it I found the stove and refridgerator we want for $1800 so I bought it." They know how to pay us back. John
Its Worth Every Penny
So far value and cost equal, not including labor. Right at $4500, thanks to guys like Greg Reed at Sport Buggies for the great deals and advise. Also a few friends in racing, with those obsolete performance parts. They are great for a non-competitive buggy. Now I just have to get a windshield to fit in roll cage, be fore the Inagural run
67 bug, crunched body, no engine, later found out bad trans - 125.00 clone body - 125.00 came with gages basket case engine donated by friend, parts and machine work to make 1914 - 900.00 prostreet trans - 650.00 misc. parts - 1000.00 (I hope this is a fair estimate) tires and wheels - 450.00 rollbar - 400.00 paint - 400.00 thats 4050.00, but of course it doesnt include the new mig welder, engine stand, grinder, welding supplies, specialty tools, tow bar, flatbed trailer, desert trak rear tires and rims for the sand, ongoing improvements, beer, beer, and more beer. I know one thing, the next one will be better planned, and will probably cost more!