Hot Rods are better...

[schizer]

 

[koda76]

61 pro-street falcon sittin in the garage...traded a 74 chevy shortbed pro-street pick up for it and a cherry 87 f-150....not bad 2 fords for 1 chevy....

[Skuzzy]

Precisely laz.  A good body and a straight frame goes a long ways to reducing the frustration with a frame-up build.

hblair, for me, it's not about what the car is worth when I am done, as I intend to keep it.  The worth for me is the effort to bring a classic shape to life.  Your cannot put a tag on that.

Mini, I agree about the 427SC.  I would rather build that then anything else, but good body/frames are just not there yet.  They are getting close though.

[Mini D]

Damn... just stoppedy by http://www.carrollshelby.com and don't see any mention of them making the alluminum cobras anymore.  Nothing about that other alluminum sports car they used to make.  I'll have to search a bit more.

Ah... found it: http://www.shelbyamerican.com/

Unfortunately, they only seem to be turnkey these days.  I'll have to look around a bit more.

[slimm50]

Finally, some pics:D   Thanks Schizer!

[Stringer]

Skuzzy,
I will.  My Mustang is an automatic.

[lazs2]

skuzzy... I agree, it is not what the car is worth because I will keep it till it's not worth anything anyway...  I built it for me not for the equity.

As for the 427 cobra... yep.. allways wanted one but I built a chevy powered Healey decades ago as the next best thing and really enjoy it.

lazs

[Skuzzy]

Healeys are fun.  I figure if I cannot come up with a good SC body/frame, I might try a Sunbeam out.  Drop a small block in it and have some fun.

The Duece is sure a sweet looking ride though.  Expensive to do right, for sure, but imagine the grins from the driver.  

I have some friends that do restoration work.  This one guys has just about finished a Woody.  He hand cut and shaped all the wood and it is simply incredible.  He says it is not going to be worth much (that being a relative term) as it is going to look too good.
The cars he has sitting around to restore are amazing.

[hblair]

There's no car i ever owned or worked on that I didn't get tired of eventually. I never have fallen head over heals in love with any particular make. Even 32 34 and 35 ford street rods etc. that I've sanded til my fingers bled. Even my redneck racer will be eventually sold. And I intend to make some money on it too.

which reminds me, anybody want an '03 dodge truck? I'll sell it to you right. freakin gas hog

[hblair]

missed your question mini-d. No, those aren't our edges, but we'll have to fix 'em

[Morpheus]

Originally posted by Cougar68
If you buy a shell that needs $7k worth of body work you should have your head examined.  Basic body work and paint should be around $2k unless you're willing to do a bunch of the work yourself.  

As for paying to put it all together, forget about it.  Half the fun of firing up your car for the first time is knowing all the work YOU had to put in it to get there.  Shop built rods are nothing but overpriced status symbols.

Cougar

When you dealing with cars that cost in the 100 thousand dollar+ range, 7 grand is nothing.

Those cars you see them "slap" together on TV, Boyd's for one, cost more than most make in a year. And they are absolutly one of a kind cars. So again, seven thousand for the body is next to penuts when compared to the bigger picture of what those cars cost and what goes into creating them.

[Cougar68]

Ummm, not talking about custom built designer street rods here.  Just a backyard built muscle car.

[hblair]

2k will almost cover painting a car withvery little body work to be done. The last "frame-off" type deal we did was on a 70 cougar convertible for a local ford dealer. We took the front end apart, doors off and apart, roof out of the way, interior out, bumpers off etc. We butt welded the patch panels in the doors and quarters. Got the metal real close, used very little filler in the whole car. Sprayed about 3 coats of clear on it, then BLOCK sanded the clear out in the open flat areas, then re-cleared it. Then color sanded it again. This car was ripple free. None of the coarse"urethane" ripples you see in most re-paints . I mean a fly would bust his arse if he tried landing on this thing. It was about 12-15 grand for the body and paint work. It could be done for less money, but 2 grand is on the low end.

[Stringer]

HBlair,
Have you finished Classy Man's Beeeeemer yet?

[lazs2]

hblair... I have sold about everything too... I have kept the Healey for 30 years cause it didn't take up much space I guess and... nothing else like it.   Got rid of a 59 vette I wish I woulda kept.  got rid of dozens of tri five chevy's and chevelles and el caminos...  

Allways lose money on cars.  or, allmost allways.   I beat the crap outta em.

lazs