Amount OF TIME TO BUILD YOUR CAR

[Mart]

Originally Posted by uncle max

Ten years on my '39 Standard coupe.
80% finished... 80% left to go.

The '37 Tudor is done and fun.

How can maths be so wrong yet so right at the same time?

Love it.

Mart.

[35ragtop]

Two and a half years to restore it to a 978 point car , 28 years to get around to it!

happy new year guys

[Old Henry]

Wasn't a "frame off" restoration but my 15 year old son and I did ours in 100 days over exactly a 1 year period of time, about 4 hours together each day we worked on it. So, total of 800 man/hours between the two of us. And, of course as has been mentioned, it is now a never ending process of maintenance and repair since I drive it every day and on many long road trips.

[BoxCar Tom]

In the late sixties I started collecting 32 Ford parts with the intention of building a Winterleaf brown 6 wheel deluxe roadster. I never thought it would take 30 years. In 74 I bought a rust free std roadster with near perfect original floor and sub rails. I kept the body and got rid of everything else including the doors and deck lid, it was all abused junk not original to the body! Over the years I bought two complete numbers matching chassis and a Tudor that was in a barn for 39 years. In 1998, after collecting parts FOR-EVER, my brothers who had a shop at the time offered to take my parts collection and build the roadster. They rebuilt and refinished all the mechanicals and restored and refinished the body which only needed replacement panels above and below the deck lid. They refused to convert the std body to a deluxe version so it was built with a trunk and rear mount spare AND they also decided to paint it all black. After 5 1/2 months they had to close their shop, the roadster had no interior or top but was otherwise about 95% finished. During the next six months the interior was finished and the top installed and I had enough parts left over to build another car so I bought a rust free phaeton body. Hope to put the chassis together for that car this summer.

[Tom Morookian]

The real question/answer depends on "what you started with". The one that got towed from a farmers field, a decent barn find, or a 20 year old restoration. Then there's the time and money factor.

When I got my 36 (sight unseen in an enclosed trailer from Mass.) the delivery guy swept about 25 pounds of rust, bolts, nuts, pieces of sheet metal and chunks of frame out of the trailer.

After 6 years as a Florida snow bird which is 3 years of actual working time it looks like my Avitar. 6 years ago it didn't look quite as good. Bottom 6 inches of sheet metal GONE, frame looked like a screen door, even the wide 5 wheels where rusted down FLAT for about 6 inches. Ever heard of a rear end pumpkin rusting thru? now you have.

[Robert Dip]

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This has been a topic of conversation since my mid-teens....fifty years ago, and every time a guy asks me this question, I say 3 years. Now this is a very relative answer, since I myself have projects started 20 years ago and still here and not complete. But, I always say….if you are serious and want to have a good running car, it normally takes 3 years….that being the magic number from my experiences. There are parts to find, sometimes to fit, and to find the ‘time’ to get all this done. So, if someone asks the question…..the answer is above, and you will spend 3 hours explaining this to the un-initiated.

[Chris Nelson]

I spent 8 years on my first project, a 1946 ford Conv. Not much to start with, but persistance pays off and it got completed. After that project, I bought a hulk of a 36 Ford Conv. my wife was aghast when I brought it home. she said, "You paid money for that?" That was only the beginning and 10 years later and much money, she loves that car and loves to drive it.

[Mike51Merc]

Originally Posted by 40grit

Are you guys familiar with the Lynn Yearwood theory of Automobile Restoration? According to Lynn, any Car can be built in 2 years. The theary is you go to the garage one time every day even if you do nothing but take out or put in 2 bolts. 2 bolts a day equals 14 a week, 62 a month or 728 a year. That is 1456 bolts out and back in in 2 years ....hence, The Lynn Yearwood Theory of auto restoration.

Never made it work myself. 6 years for mine.

John L

I'd rather do 1456 bolts than a day's worth of sanding.

[bmwillia]

I got my 33 in March of last year, and Have just finished getting the drive train in running condition, including a tranny rebuild.

Now for the body work. I just don't know where to start with that.

[Gumpy]

Originally Posted by Robert Dip

This has been a topic of conversation since my mid-teens....fifty years ago, and every time a guy asks me this question, I say 3 years. Now this is a very relative answer, since I myself have projects started 20 years ago and still here and not complete. But, I always say….if you are serious and want to have a good running car, it normally takes 3 years….that being the magic number from my experiences. There are parts to find, sometimes to fit, and to find the ‘time’ to get all this done. So, if someone asks the question…..the answer is above, and you will spend 3 hours explaining this to the un-initiated.

I agree with Robert after 3 years i seem to run out of money and patience!!

[39 STD]

I bought my 39 std in 1978 and started the disassembly then. I would work on it as time and money allowed. Several times it would be put in the corner as other projects came along. At one time the body hung from the ceiling rafters in the shop for 10+ years. Finally in the fall of 2011 it was tagged & insured. After 33 years it was On the Road again.
Now it sits in the shop with the engine out for a rebuild. It'll be on the road again again in the spring.

[Ol' Ron]

Been working on mine since 1984, ain't finished yet, but it's close.

[flathead4rd]

Took four years to get it road worthy. Like any build, it's never completely done.

[sawzall]

I "found" the first parts to my next project in 1998? and I still havent "started" it..

http://forums.aaca.org/f231/doing-im...ld-342640.html

perhaps some one will read this and have parts to help me out.. either way.. I'm fixin to get on it in a big way this year.

[34pickup]

I am one of those who never finish one. But it takes me about 10 years to get one 90-95% complete. Whats the hurry if its a hobby? If I finish one I would just get another so it doesn't bother me if it takes a decade, its what I enjoy. I enjoy building one a lot more than driving one. Roads are too crowded to enjoy driving anymore.

[Gary Tosel]

I bought my shell of a car in 1972 and finally found all the parts and finished it in 2002. You can do the math.

[Gumpy]

It is purchasing the rolling body shell projects that have taken up time and years, I had a friend,, (tom j ) say one time your better off buying a restored car!!

[Alaska Jim]

I have had my 29 roadster almost 10 years, still not even close. most of the body work is done,all eng. parts are gathered up, still need some special machine work done. I have got almost all the parts to complete the car, but haven't touched it in almost 5 years. other things keep poping up. retired last year thought I would have more time. wrong! seems I have more to do now than ever. hope to get it done in the next 5 years, as I drug home an incomplete 30-31 coupe body 4 years ago and it is next.----Jim.

[Gumpy]

What I call yard art or rusty gold are what some of my old projects look like, now that I'm older I can't push them around the property like i did 30 yrs ago, they have to be runnin!!

[Lawson Cox]

My first ground up restoration was a 28 Buick Town Brougham. I was practicing law the whole time, and trying to help the wife raise 3 kids. It took me 12 years to finish the restoration. The second was a Canadian built 34 that I restored, but did not remove the body from the frame. l0 years as I was still working full time. Next is the 35 PU in my Avatar. Gathered parts to build it from all steel parts. I believe it stretched out over about 18 years.