How do you fund your projects?
Thread Starter
Launching!
Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 299
Likes: 21
From: Phoenix, AZ
How do you fund your projects? Ive always wondered how a lot of people on this forum fund their projects. I know some of us make more money than others, some of us are thrifty, some people dont mind racking up a credit card, while others only spend the money they have.
I follow Tony Angelo on Instagram, hes one of the hosts of Hot Rod Garage if any of you watch that. Apparently he just bought a house after paying off years of racing debt which I thought was pretty crazy and kind of got me wondering how many other people rack up the credit?
I racked up a credit card only once and that was because it was no interest financing for 3 years and I planned to pay it off before the interest kicked in, which I did. This was the only way I was able to finish my LS swap. The rest came from 2 combat tours in Iraq, tax free income with nothing else to spend it on except for my Chevelle and a small inheritance from my grandmother.
Of course these projects never end and theres more upgrades I want for my Chevelle. I have money in the bank, but now Im wondering should I blow some cash on the car, or should I save for retirement? Im 30 by the way and have a decent 401k account for my age, but Im sure it would be wise to invest a little more.
So how do you guys do it?
I follow Tony Angelo on Instagram, hes one of the hosts of Hot Rod Garage if any of you watch that. Apparently he just bought a house after paying off years of racing debt which I thought was pretty crazy and kind of got me wondering how many other people rack up the credit?
I racked up a credit card only once and that was because it was no interest financing for 3 years and I planned to pay it off before the interest kicked in, which I did. This was the only way I was able to finish my LS swap. The rest came from 2 combat tours in Iraq, tax free income with nothing else to spend it on except for my Chevelle and a small inheritance from my grandmother.
Of course these projects never end and theres more upgrades I want for my Chevelle. I have money in the bank, but now Im wondering should I blow some cash on the car, or should I save for retirement? Im 30 by the way and have a decent 401k account for my age, but Im sure it would be wise to invest a little more.
So how do you guys do it?
TECH Regular
Joined: Dec 2014
Posts: 484
Likes: 18
From: Emory Texas currently
I rob pharmacies sell the pills to junkies then rat out the junkies to the cops then I get to know the cops real well and find out who is taking side money to look the other way and blackmail them into cutting me in on half. It's a viscous circle but I love to RACE
Teching In
Joined: Oct 2018
Posts: 3
Likes: 0
I do side jobs.. usually 1 or 2 cars at a time. Just finished 2 ls swaps and now working on a 55 Chevy (just sheetmetal and bodywork)... it doesnt make me millions, but it's enough to keep me going on my project car. I dont touch a penny from my actual job paycheck. I do everything in my garage so whatever I can fit in there, is what I work on.
best advice I could give is ... find a friend who's rich and has plenty of cars, that way u have steady work coming in.
I hate to not work on my project for a few months, but working on other people's cars helps me miss it and keep that desire to finish it, instead of getting tired of working on it and wanting to burn it to the ground lol.
really all depends on how you are...I personally enjoy the actual build, so if it takes me 5 years to finish it, then so be it. But I'll know not 1" of the car has not been touched.
best advice I could give is ... find a friend who's rich and has plenty of cars, that way u have steady work coming in.
I hate to not work on my project for a few months, but working on other people's cars helps me miss it and keep that desire to finish it, instead of getting tired of working on it and wanting to burn it to the ground lol.
really all depends on how you are...I personally enjoy the actual build, so if it takes me 5 years to finish it, then so be it. But I'll know not 1" of the car has not been touched.
Trending Topics
I'm always swapping, trading, selling, building **** for people. I can weld, paint, powdercoat, machine parts, bag and make things with carbon fiber, build engines, port heads, build transmissions, repair 4 wheeler and lawn equipment install car audio, alarms, auto glass........just to name a few things. So needless to say, I always have something lined up to do. I have people ship me stuff all the time to do stuff for them. Wish I could get caught up one day! Oddly, I'm still broke!
LS1 Tech Stories
The Best V8 Stories One Small Block at Time
6 Common C5 Corvette Failures and What's Involved In Repairing Them
Pouria Savadkouei
Retro Modern Bandit Pontiac Trans AM Comes With Burt Reynolds' Autograph
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Greatest Cadillac V Series Performance Models Ever, Ranked
Pouria Savadkouei
Top 10 Most Powerful Chevy Trucks Ever Made!
Hennessey's New Supercharged Silverado ZR2 Has 700 HP
Verdad Gallardo
Coachbuilt N2A Anteros Is an LS2-Powered C6 Corvette In Italian Clothes
Verdad Gallardo
Awesome K5 Blazer Restomod Comes With C7 Corvette Power
Verdad Gallardo
10 Camaros You Should Never Buy
10 LS Engine Myths That Refuse to Die
Verdad Gallardo TECH Regular
Joined: Dec 2014
Posts: 484
Likes: 18
From: Emory Texas currently
On a serious note I do custom fab for a living so anytime I can build something or make something for someone who does have money I jump on it because it help get me more side work and also I get to take a little from all.the other cars and use some ideas on my truck. Another thing is ppl always bring me pipe and metal aluminum steel etc. For there project and having scrap left over has helped me keep costs down on my project. Lift kits lowering kits air bags custom bumpers all these things I enjoy the process they love having a 1500$ bumper for 500$ so they send me more ppl. If I only had more time I would have more money
TECH Fanatic
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 1,643
Likes: 526
When I did service work for the company I worked for I saved as much of the per diem we got and that went towards car project stuff. Don't rack up the credit card debt. It will come back to haunt you. I put in lots overtime at work when I was home and even more overtime when I was out traveling doing machine installs and general service work. We used the overtime money to pay off our house way early. That allows more money towards 401K plans.
Later when I moved from service work to sales my car builds were a stress reliever.
Oh I married a really great gal and she had a great paying job!
Later when I moved from service work to sales my car builds were a stress reliever.
Oh I married a really great gal and she had a great paying job!
Smitty,
Most of my life has been about working and raising our three children on a single family income. Through those years I made an average of 35,000-45,000 a year. I worked in the field mostly working on land surveying crews and our money was always tight. At first I didn't see land surveying as nothing more than a paycheck but over time I really took an interest and pursued it as a career in which I became a licensed professional. I really didn't start seeing my vision of the car becoming a reality until I became self employed 09 but I basically just built the car from the ground up in my mind and purchased all the parts one by one. I started with the rims, tires, engine block, rotating assembly, cylinder heads and so on. I would pick one and save for it until I could buy it. It took so long because the whole time your thinking about your build your adding in other things you end up needing to upgrade like the transmission, rear end, suspension and fuel system, and of course all of the tools needed to do the work. It took many years of patience and saving money to purchase each of the items but over a course of about seven years I was finally able to put it all together and personally build my car. I forgot to mention that I did use one of our credit cards for about 2G ugh. I just had to have those Bogart D10's and some racing slicks! If I'd have just built the motor and nothing else then I'd would've been done with this project along time ago right! Well it just doesn't work that way does it folks!
Take care and thank you for your service to this country!
God Bless
Most of my life has been about working and raising our three children on a single family income. Through those years I made an average of 35,000-45,000 a year. I worked in the field mostly working on land surveying crews and our money was always tight. At first I didn't see land surveying as nothing more than a paycheck but over time I really took an interest and pursued it as a career in which I became a licensed professional. I really didn't start seeing my vision of the car becoming a reality until I became self employed 09 but I basically just built the car from the ground up in my mind and purchased all the parts one by one. I started with the rims, tires, engine block, rotating assembly, cylinder heads and so on. I would pick one and save for it until I could buy it. It took so long because the whole time your thinking about your build your adding in other things you end up needing to upgrade like the transmission, rear end, suspension and fuel system, and of course all of the tools needed to do the work. It took many years of patience and saving money to purchase each of the items but over a course of about seven years I was finally able to put it all together and personally build my car. I forgot to mention that I did use one of our credit cards for about 2G ugh. I just had to have those Bogart D10's and some racing slicks! If I'd have just built the motor and nothing else then I'd would've been done with this project along time ago right! Well it just doesn't work that way does it folks!
Take care and thank you for your service to this country!
God Bless
TECH Apprentice
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 302
Likes: 12
i pay for all my toy stuff out of pocket. i will put the initial purchase on a CC and pay it off in full after the purchase has posted so i get my cashback but i never carry a balance on my cards for upgrades or toy stuff. if i had a major repair on one of my daily cars that required me to float the interest on the repair so i can get to work, im ok with that but i try to keep a pretty solid buffer.
A friend built 2 cars on credit, 75k dollars all said and done once the interest was accrued. took him 12 years to pay it off. STUPID.
A friend built 2 cars on credit, 75k dollars all said and done once the interest was accrued. took him 12 years to pay it off. STUPID.
i use my credit card for purchases, but I pay it off each month. i get these cards that are like 24 month no apr no fees and 4% cash back. you'd be crazy to not use them.
as to how i fund it...well I work, have a budget, pay important **** first and occasionally make a slick buck hustling car ****.
picked this up the other day for less than scrap value. '55-'66 short step wth no spare tire dent made into a utility trailer. probably flip it for half a week's wages.
as to how i fund it...well I work, have a budget, pay important **** first and occasionally make a slick buck hustling car ****.
picked this up the other day for less than scrap value. '55-'66 short step wth no spare tire dent made into a utility trailer. probably flip it for half a week's wages.
i pay for all my toy stuff out of pocket. i will put the initial purchase on a CC and pay it off in full after the purchase has posted so i get my cashback but i never carry a balance on my cards for upgrades or toy stuff. if i had a major repair on one of my daily cars that required me to float the interest on the repair so i can get to work, im ok with that but i try to keep a pretty solid buffer.
A friend built 2 cars on credit, 75k dollars all said and done once the interest was accrued. took him 12 years to pay it off. STUPID.
A friend built 2 cars on credit, 75k dollars all said and done once the interest was accrued. took him 12 years to pay it off. STUPID.
