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How much did your build cost??

rexwagon1909

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 22, 2012
Messages
165
Location
Hurricane, WV
Kinda doing a reality check for myself since I am adding up the receipts on parts and what not and I'm kinda like "wow Wtf am I doing I have spent my non existent kids college fund"..Anyways all of our goals are somewhat different, but just wanting to see if anyone wants to post how much their build cost, not including car itself..How much Hp did you get, best ET, Autocross times, whatever the build was for..
 

I spent around 7500 on my car total

cost of car, plus all mods except built shortblock, and complete repaint.

use the search there is a huge thread on this /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif
 

rexwagon1909

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 22, 2012
Messages
165
Location
Hurricane, WV
Yeah I was kinda looking for something right up to date especially for any new builds, didn't really want to go by old threads...plus I needed to vent lol /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif
 

transparentdsm

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 27, 2011
Messages
3,690
Location
Cherry Hill, NJ
i have a 92 laser rs awd and im about 13,000 or so(just in parts, not labor) into it right now and i still have the suspension, a paint job and DSMlink to add.... so tack on another 3000-4000 and my build will be done around 17,000 or so. then 1200 for the shell and like 500 of my own hours working on the car.
 

4orced4door

Moderator
Joined
Jul 19, 2002
Messages
9,846
Location
Raleigh, NC
And at the end of the day you've got 17k in a Laser that'll be worth $800 if it's ever in an accident. These kind of threads are depressing. This is the sort of thing that we think about briefly and push out of our minds. Who wants to write it all out??
 

rexwagon1909

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 22, 2012
Messages
165
Location
Hurricane, WV
^^ I'm right with you transparentdsm.... I dont think it's nessarily depressing, I know I can look at anything after I do it, and criticize myself for doing it. But hey we are not gambling or doing drugs with the money...My goals are quite outlandish but at the end of the day my car will make about 600whp, will be a complete sleeper, and no one around here will have what I have /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/jawdrop.gif
 

jmorri15

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 11, 2009
Messages
171
Location
Kemp, TX
heres a quick rundown of what ive spent
4300 car
2200 built trans
2800 2.3l shortblock
800 head and cams
400 turbo
150 4 bolt rear
300 link v3lite
400 intercooler and piping
2000 various small parts (thats most likely on the low end)
total 13350
but on a good note its still cheaper then a new evo
 

turbowop

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 29, 2001
Messages
11,971
Location
Yakima, WA
I think resale value of my used wheels is higher than the value KBB puts on my car. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rofl.gif

It's a hobby, not an investment. I've never kept a running tally of the money spent on 1051 over the last 14 years, but add up the price of everything on it and it adds up quick. And that doesnt even include all the changes made throughout the years. Lots of memories, friends, and fun with these cars. Money well spent, IMO.
 

mitsuturbo

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 2, 2008
Messages
3,544
Location
Near Seattle, Washington
I just put all my parts and such into a spreadsheet, and i came up with a grand total of $18,210. Including the $2000 i paid for the car, and the cost of some parts which carried over from another car. I may have forgotten to put some parts on my list, and i also rounded up from the best i could remember, considering any "deals" i got, and shipping costs as well.

I'm probably into 555/1000, in reality, about 19,000 to 20,000. I've had it since August of 2010. I've done nothing to the exterior yet. It's been on 4 jackstands for just over one full year, but should not be for much longer, as it's 98% ready to put down on the ground and drive it. It's actually been started once, briefly (accidentally) while testing the remote start. I wasn't quite ready for initial start up, so it was promptly shut down. I plan to fire it up for real and take it out late this month, or early next month. Then maybe i'll worry about the external/cosmetic aspect, get the paint and body done. Also, still need new wheels and tires. After i do that, i may want a full BC coilover setup, so i figure another 5k might go into the car.
 

Gabor

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 29, 2002
Messages
4,428
Location
St. Louis
Coworker just got rear ended a couple of weeks ago in his 1969 Jaguar XKE.
The insurance company of the person who hit him offered him $17k for the car (Car is totaled)
So he called his own insurance company (Hagerty) and reported the accident with them.
This company also totaled it but offered $57k for the car.

Moral of the story is, if you have a lot of time and parts invested in your car, buy insurance on the value of the car as it is rather than have the insurance company pay you KBB value.
You might pay a few bucks more per month but you're not going to get screwed on the end if something bad happens.
 

mikus

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 11, 2007
Messages
2,763
Location
Aurora IL
Between 3 vr4s, counting resale value against total spend, I'm probably $3000-3500 out of pocket for ~25-30,000 very fun miles driven.

The only part I could complain about is labor hours, but whatever I've spent more time on video games
 

rexwagon1909

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 22, 2012
Messages
165
Location
Hurricane, WV
My only regret so far is that I over paid for my car by at least $1500..I traveled 300 miles to pick it up all the pics looked good...Drove all day in snow and unfortunately didn't see alot of things cause I really wante the car..Was told no rust, found 3 good spots which I fixed, more oil leaks than told, new alternator but it had managed to fail when I took it of the trailer..Interior was way dirter (cloth) in the light...Pulled the interior dirt everywhere under the pieces had been driven hard on dirt roads..Then I felt uneasy about it and looked it up and it was originally sold on here couple years back, looked like a pos, and probably treated that way...Ball joints, tie rods, bushing everything needed replaced, fuel tank leaks etc /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif..Oh well can't cry about but def needed to vent lol..Lomg story short this car will be making 600 hp Built block, pte 6266, 2g auto swap, Bc coliovers, fuel cell, dsm link v3, bc 280, Magnus intake, custom fabbed exhaust manifold, fully replaced leather interior, full led lighting, new bushings, new exhaust, custom fabbed intercooler setup, new pioneer sound system, prosport gauges, custom valve cover, racing radiator, all stainless steel lines and hoses, Aeromotive 700efi fuel pump. Eventually probably roll bar for safety..So long story short making it perfect for me, no cutting corners...
 
Last edited:

nsin

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 10, 2012
Messages
47
Location
monterey bay, ca.
^ (edit) Oh i just saw your main title again.. build. i got side tracked reading posts /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif good luck on your build. im already collecting parts for mine.

I purchased my gvr4 early last month.. 2500
bc coilovers, ingals camber kit, f/r swaybars.. 1500
end links, energy subframe bushings, valve cover 200
megan dp ets intake, 3gmaf, 1050 injectors, chip 550
dash carpet, flip key, cleaner, degreaser ;p 100
Transfer fee, motor oil, 91 gas, carwash lol 150
soon.. smog fee, hot or not 40-250
hopefully not soon.. tranny/engine $$$$

Thats all i can think of right now haha
 
Last edited:

Galantvr41062

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 20, 2007
Messages
410
Location
plymouth, MN
I had to stop thinking about all the $ invested into 1062.

I know my back up motor has $6000+ in parts and machine work.

I have not run a parts list on the new race motor, but I know its over $10,000 in parts and machine work.

The tranny is on the cheaper side at $2000.

Then I could get into the fuel system, turbo setup, tires, clutch, electronics, interior stuff.

And then there is 1 or 2 man hours into the car. A current estimate on labor with 2 guys working on it was 2000 man hours.

So some day I will write up a est value.... but now it hurts a little to think about.

I have less into 597. I picked up the car for 900, its using the back up motor, and I picked up a spec stage 3 clutch, and it will get some other parts I have lying around over this year.

I will find a good stock motor or build a eagle/wiseco motor for it and my total should be around $2500.

~John
 

raptorWagon

Well-known member
Joined
May 17, 2007
Messages
2,827
Location
Oak Harbor, WA
Hmm...well the Galant Coupe is upwards of 7k currently and that's still ongoing, but I don't really care about how much it takes to get the car where I want it. IMO, if you start questioning how much money you dump into your hobby, maybe you should find a new hobby. Cars are an expensive hobby from the moment you even think about modifying and changing the original setup.
 

rexwagon1909

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 22, 2012
Messages
165
Location
Hurricane, WV
^Thats actually good advice. I think because this is most expensive project to date, and I have soo much to finish I kinda got overwelmed mentally and started questioning myself. My buddy who is fabbing alot of one off stuff and building the motor helps keeps me in check lol..
 

IncorpoRatedX

Well-known member
Joined
May 28, 2003
Messages
5,593
Location
Arizona
The last one I spent a lot of time on:

2500 for the car that needed a lot of things but I expected that going into (it's a mitsubishi of course)
$300 for a supposed good trans to replaced the welded center diff trans, since im not into that, which wound up having a notchy second gear so another $20 or $40 for a new shift rail that only made it better but not fix it
$1000 in parts, labor and supplies for a new hood and trunk to go wingless and replace the messed up stock hood
$150 in brand new axles
$200 in brake caliper upgrade to 2 piston calipers
$200 or so in tie rods and ball joints
$250 for a set of evo wheels
$350 for a set of brand new tires
$100 for 93 head lights
$60 in HID's
$50 for a muffler since the car didnt have one (3 inch straight pipe, no thanks)
$100 for a bass link
$710 in bushings, u joints, clutch, newer 4 bolt diff, newer rear axles and a newer drive shaft trying to chase a driveshaft vibration (which wound up being the drive shaft out of phase (d'oh)

In the end it was about 50 thousand times better than when I got it.
All these prices are off the top of my head and im sure there's more sh*t, like the new injector o rings, alternator, fuel sending unit, fuel pump, cam angle sensor and misc parts i let go with the car, in the end from what I can recall I had over 6.5k into the car (totalled it up before I sold it) and wound up selling it at a loss (you never make your money back selling a modified car)
 
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