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Originally Posted by Ms Grumpy

Ray,
it is really sad, like you said, that it can be cheaper to buy one done at today's prices. I just think about the stickers I see on car windows "Built not bought". I wouldn't give up all the time with my kids, all the frustration, and all the time and love that was put into building my car. It may not be worth what I put into it financially, but personally I don't care...it is a piece of me and my family...and to me that is priceless.

Well said, I would not trade the experence of building my own car for anything (priceless) I know what I have and some day my son will enjoy the car with his family.

Originally Posted by Derek69SS

If I had a vision for my car to be exactly what I'm making it now when I started on it 14 years ago, I'd be at least $10k richer now... I have learned through building the car to "almost" what I want, that it gets very expensive to re-do things later.

Make a plan, and stick to it. Be honest with yourself on what you can afford and how you will REALLY use it.

I see a lot of guys stick 10k into an engine they never race, 8k into a suspension they never push to the limits, etc... you can quickly get wrapped up in trying to have the best of everything, which is great if you can afford it and have a use for it. If not, it's just a source of frustration and delays when the money could be better spent elsewhere on the car. My desire for an LS1/T56 took my car off the road for 2 years, when I could have just rebuilt the 4L60e and kept on cruising. On the other hand, I have had a lot of people ask me if I wish I hadn't tore my Chevelle apart, and my answer is "no". Now I'm building the car to be what I want, rather than what was cheaper and easier to do at the time. I'll be much happier with it in the long-run.

That's my long-winded advice... wish I could have learned it the easy way.

Great advice also Derek