10,000 and still counting

[Zeke]

Nope, not RPM. I wish.

Tax time makes you do weird things, so I decided to count up the receipts for the car so far. Yep, $10,000 spent on a $500 car. Amazing that I could do that. If I had known, I might have pulled the plug a while back. Oh well, it's done and it's time to go racing with just a few more bugs to work out. It runs, drove it down the street.

Here's what I gots:
'73 tub, stock but somewhat flared fenders
Cage and Momo seat, Crow belts, Momo wheel
Aluminum dash with VDO guages, alum door panels
15 x 7 BBS rims, tires not chosen yet
911 front end with S brakes, 22mm hollow bars and Konis, Pagid orange pads
911 vented rears with a T in the line
European Motorworks 4 into 1 open header
9.5:1 Keith Black 96mm, 44 x 38 SS valves, 40mm IDFs
Close ratio tranny w/ open diff
916 front and rear FG bumpers and FG rear trunk w/ spoiler, GT engine grille
Artic silver paint on top side, red Hammerite underneath, meter grey interior
Everything is new or rebuilt

Where'd the money go?

[Joe Bob]

That's nothing....do a six conversion and watch you money FLY out the window,,,,,

[Zeke]

I hear ya. That's why I sold the 2.7 last month. Couldn't see donig that with what had been spent so far. I'll buy a 911 if I want a six. I think it would be cheaper than a conversion.

[chrisreale]

Milt, do you have any pictures of your project?

[scg]

We're rootin' fer ya, Milt! Even without a six it'll be some of the best money you've ever spent

...oh yeah: Pictures Pleeeeze!

[campbellcj]

Originally posted by mikez
That's nothing....do a six conversion and watch you money FLY out the window,,,,,

LOL, not sure if I should smile, laugh, or cry at that comment...

I am deliberately not keeping very close track of costs on this car. The "economics" of the last two projects scared me enough where I gave up on that.

But I think I've had reasonable success at swooping some good deals on parts and selling/trading my extra stuff. If I had the time and know-how to do more of the work myself, I would be in better shape...but I might be out of a job and/or marriage

[azkiwi]

My wife watches the budget and tracks every dollar I spend on the 914 and I think this has been more of a blessing than a curse. She looks at how much we've invested in the teener and figures that we have to keep it now. The real coincidence is $10,000 figure. That was the amount when she started being vocal about not selling the car.

[Zeke]

I'd sure sell mine if anyone laid ten large on the hood. Even at that, I would have spent roughly 1000 hours over 15 months working for zip. I forgot to mention that the car has never left the space I first parked it on when I brought it home except for last weekend when I drove it around the block. I have done all the work myself. All of it, including welding in the roll cage, chasis stiffening kit, rust repair, body work, painting, engine and trans building, brakes and lines, the whole thing. That $10,000 is for the parts and outside machine work alone. If someone had built this for me it would have cost me double or more.

[Biggy72]

I'm probably gonna have $1800-2000 into mine when I get done. I feel so left out not being able to spend more money...hahaha Mine's in primer right now and should be in final coat by thursday or friday. Its spring break so I've been workin my butt off tryin to get it done. So far since saturday I've had 2 15 hour days and 1 13 hour day working on it. That seems like alot of time, but its gonna be black so the body's gotta be straight and its looking like its getting darn close. When I got mine it was pretty rusty but it was complete and I made all of my patch panels and have been trying to only spend money on things I can't make or can't do without for now.

[Wayne 962]

Still a lot less than a new Honda Civic, and probably a lot more fun...

-Wayne

[bludden]

I paid 5k$ for my car last August. Since then I've put about 1k$ in it.

But it has been one of the most fun and educational experiences I've ever had.

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

I really, really do not want to know how much $$ I've dumped into the 914... Before the heads started falling apart on me, I did some guesstimations and came up with something near $10K. Now that I've replaced the cylinder heads, I sincerely don't want to know the total.

Of course, that does include a whole bunch of extra parts... Some of which will "someday" go on the car, some of which were leftovers when doing stuff to the car, and some of which I have for no apparent reason at all.

--DD

[morgan_harwell]

Wanna a BIG SCARE? Keep track of the maintenance costs.

My 914/6 conversion costs weren't too bad. $6,687 in 1987, not counting brake & suspension upgrades. I got back $1,250 selling off the 2.0L & SS exhaust.

But, my 914/6 spreadsheet shows I have spent $19,029 on maintenance stuff since 1985. Things like tires(6 sets), tune-ups(18), alignments(7), batteries(6), trans rebuild(1), windsheilds(3) etc..

Thats roughly $1057/year over 18 years & 190,350 miles. Can't complain, I have really enjoyed designing, building, modifying & mostly driving the moneypit!

--Moe--

[Joe Bob]

With my 3.0 914/6, I stopped counting at 30K....not deducting the parts I sold off....but like Wayne said, far cheaper than a Honda and the dude across the street will never come home with one.

It's was unique and I learned a lot by playing with it over a five year period.

I have to echo what Chris and Dave said. I keep all my receipts but I don't add them up because I could never justify the total investment. I just keep telling myself that this project is something I've wanted to do for years and is returning more than monetary value. Like they say, ignorance is bliss.

[norustscott]

I prefer to just lie to myself...as in...gee, your car is in really good shape. then scott replies " thanks, I put a lot of time into it ...no it was not expensive, I only paid $2500 for it."

I have strategically blocked out the mental, physical and financial trauma over the last two years...