Why do people Nickle and dime this hobbie

[cruisinthe34]

Interesting reading.....

I've been at this hobby for 25 or 30 years. I build to keep and drive my vehicles, my '34 and '41 I'll never sell, this recent venture '71 C10 looks to be an exciting build I don't intend to sell either. I bought a '58 Chevrolet Brookwood Station wagon because it had a 348 in it (first year of the Chevy Big block) but that one I did sell before I completed it.

Like many of you, when folks ask me how/where I learned to do all this work, I usually just say.....'When I wanted to learn how to weld.... I bought a welder and practiced.' Thats way too simple, but no one is born with the skill sets we develop doing this and years of Patience.

Someone earlier mentioned it taking years for some of these builds, and that is exactly how mine typically go. Around 8 or 9 years first time on on my '34 and 5 to 7 years on my '41 over all. Hopefully this new '71 project will move along a little more quickly, but when I finish, the quality will be there.

[Grumpy old man]

Not to get to far off topic but does anyone know if they still offer auto shop/wood shop/metal shop classes in high school anymore ?

[toolboxchev]

Where & When I went to High School they did. Better half of my day. Some kids today do not even possess the necessary skills to clean up after themselves.

[cruisinthe34]

I'll be 65 this month, and I remember they had shop classes when I was in Junior High, mid '60's

[Grumpy old man]

I used to do a lot of dealer warranty work and young drivers would come in with a loose sunvisor and I would walk out with a phillips screwdriver and tighten the screw and send them on their way free ...after a steady stream of these I decided to bring them in and sit them in the waiting room and pull the car in the building 1/2 an hour later ...Cost $35.00 I bought a 23' center consol boat with the extra cash .

[raggedjim]

Because I am cheap.

Rg

[GASoline71]

Originally Posted by Grumpy old man

Not to get to far off topic but does anyone know if they still offer auto shop/wood shop/metal shop classes in high school anymore ?

The local HS here (Oak Harbor High School) renovated the school about 5 years ago. The upgraded the "vocational/technical" portion of the school to include an auto shop with full diagnostic work and auto body and sheet metal work. If you provide the parts and for a small fee they will do a lot of work on vehicles to allow students to learn. The wait time to get your rig back can take a few weeks as the students learn as they go. So if you have a rig that you don't rely on for transportation all the time, it is a great way to get some things fixed.

When I was in HS back in the 80's we had auto shop and welding. All we did for a couple hours each day was chew snooze and work on our own rigs and rebuild engines. Plus the occasional patch panel or 2. Our shop teacher was a wealth of knowledge and helped us on anything we got stuck on.

Gary

[slowcpe]

I just had this conversation yesterday with one of my best friends. He's looking at getting another hot rod. He's actually looking at an 03-04 cobra. He said he'd love to do what I'm doing but don't have the skills, tools or garage space. The sad thing is he'll be driving his years before me.

There are times I think I should've just spent the money on a "finished" project mainly for the instant gratification as I went the route of buying a cheap basket case. My original intentions far outweighed my dream budget and time constraints.

However with that said I'm glad I'm going this route. I've decided I have no budget or timeline for this truck. I'm going to build it exactly the way I want. My job consists of sales and sitting behind a computer. The Sunday's I get to spend out in the garage learning new skills is priceless to me and a good release from normal life. Also building something from the ground up has always been a dream of mine. It's taking me a while but I'm currently at a point in life to attempt to achieve this goal.

My only scare about buying a restored vehicle is seeing all the horror stories where people paid top dollar on a covered up basket case.

[BCOWANWHEELS]

because our corrupt government has us all broke by design

[special-K]

To me, to nickle dime means piecemeal, bit by bit, baby steps, piddley diddley, and that is me all over these days. Why? Because I don't have the means to go big time wholesale full-tilt boogie assesnelbows into it. To be honest, with all my other financial and time priorities, I shouldn't mess with my trucks. But, I don't know life without old GM Trucks and refuse to quit. So, I find ways to make it happen.

I took a 1/2 gallon cider jug and religiously put all my pocket change in there. Never seemed to miss the change, bills, the house, etc (and a part now and then) always take my pay, but in a year that jar is full. Started 4 years ago and now I have 4 1/2 jugs. Probably enough money for a get away I can't afford. You do what you can when you can with what you have. If you want it bad enough, you'll find a way.

[Coley]

Very interesting thread....lots of good takes on the hobby.
Personally, I'm not sure where people think that this hobby takes thousands upon thousands of endless dollars and UPS trucks and years upon years of immense knuckle busting skill to get into and enjoy tho'.
What anyone interested in the hobby has to do is have some good advice (ie: 'positive and helpful') to help him make a good starter choice more than anything.
Personally, I would never buy a rusty truck or a project truck....I'll always spend the difference getting a good driver to start with.
I want payback on the hobby soon after I spend my money and am not the type to 'hope' that 5 years later I'm enjoying it...otherwise its like getting married under tough relationship conditions and hoping/betting it improves in 5 years.
That said...I'm not about to spend $20k+ on any classic truck and I, like a great many of you, find these trucks in nice starter/driver condition in the $5k-$10k bracket all day long, every day....some are very nice trucks needing very little. so I personally feel there is very little shortage of material to work with out there.
When you have a great driver, you can restore it one or two parts at a time as funds and time permits...nothing wrong with that, at least for me.
I think the singular one skill that anyone or everyone who is entertaining this hobby has to have...is do a very intelligent and realistic 'self-audit' before you start...then you will be able to figure the rest of it out as you go...under positive circumstances, personally, financially, relationship-wise, skillset, etc.
My two bits.
Coley
(....good to be back)

[Grumpy old man]

I think everyone should only buy finished trucks with shiny paint and let us old guys continue to build them for you to buy , Your messing with my retirement income by trying to build your own ! and you want instant gratification on your money right ? no busted knuckles no untold hours looking for over priced original parts ,just buy them when we're done and help out my personal financial welfare ! Thank you ,thank you very much , I'll be here all week !

[special-K]

That's right! I'm tired of being too broke to build them like I did all my life. I spend a lot of time now helping those who can, both here with verbal help as well as lending my actual hands locally. I say those with the money to go full force into a truck till the end should let me do it for you at cost. All I ask is for every tenth truck completed I'd like a free one. I'm easy to get along with