Building a car from scratch

[Wraith]

Has anyone ever considered doing this? I think it's more common in drag racing, but the idea to build a car chassis and body from scratch (not your own powertrain...) is an interesting one to me. Probably not something I can afford either financially or time wise for a few years, but I figured I'd see if anyone else thought about it or even attempted or accomplished it.

[kevmeister]

www.factoryfive.com- they've got a couple nice kits...

[[WC]streetrod]

Building a car from scrach? Yup, been there, done that and still doing it. Believe it or not but its my second job and have been doing it for over 10 years.

Have fun and keep racin,
streetrod

[DreadZer0]

if i had about £15,000-£20,000, i'd have one of those Factory 5 Ford Coupes shipped over to england tommorow.

[kevmeister]

hey Dread, I'm just curious; did you get a price on shipping to UK? if so, I'm just wonderin' how much.

[DreadZer0]

didn't look that far. I'm just thinking about it.

Still, could you imagine showing up to high school in it, next to all the idiots with their jap rot-boxes with dustbin exhausts and hip-hop. And then you get this '33 Ford with Iron maiden playing... that's a win if i ever thought about it.

Edit: I just looked how much it would take to ship it over to the UK. Says for anything outside the US, you'd need a crate ($700) and i'm not sure how much getting it on the ship would cost. I'd say about $2000-$3000. Add the engine in and you could easily hit £15k.

[kevmeister]

I just read somewhere the other day that Ford is Replacing the 4.6 litre SOHC with a retooled 5 litre DOHC. theyre expecting to start the transition sometime in 2010 (if I remember correctly; however I am old (at least that's what my wife says) and am prone to rambling...what was the question again?) LOL

[KEN]

Gawd I would love to build one of those 33 ford kits.... daaaaaaaang

[Wraith]

Thanks for the link kev. Very interesting...
But I was sort of referring to getting all the metal tubing/carbon fibre and fabricating the chassis entirely, then going to a body shop for creating the panels. I guess the price is reasonable for a kit, but it takes a bit away from the fun of building it from scratch.

Still, great link. I guess someone could just get one of those and drop an LS2 or LS7/LSX in it (and the rest of the drive train).

[Wraith]

Not so sure now... does it already come with everything? That's no fun...

[DreadZer0]

Not so sure now... does it already come with everything? That's no fun...

We are talking about the '33 Ford here? In that case:

You will have to provide the engine (with factory headers), transmission, and rear end.

[KEN]

Wonder how hard/expensive it would be to get an inspection and title for a custom built car like that.

[DreadZer0]

well to use in for road use in the uk, you'd need to ship it over here (about £3000), add the hardtop (english weather = not reliable), and the mudguards (english law, also known as another £600 down the drain)

[ROKKET]

90% OF THE STATES IN THE US ALLOW CUSTOM ONE OFF BUILDS ,,,,,,, they are not really that hard to get pinkslipped , a few years ago while building a retro 55 210 sedan (STRAIGHT AXLE 60's style drag car)i had to go through it ,since 1 none chevy frame (was all tubular) 2 55 chevy never came with a 502 and because i started out with a shell that had no visable vin # i had to have one put on by local hwy patrol and a full light, brake and safe inspection wich was funny watching the cop try to figure out how to buckle the simpson 5 points after climbing over the cage me 6'4" 200 lbs him 6'7" and over 320 ,,,,,even funneir watching him look for the steering wheel wich was in my right hand ( quik release) my own version of anti theft :fight::fight:

[Wraith]

wich was funny watching the cop try to figure out how to buckle the simpson 5 points after climbing over the cage me 6'4" 200 lbs him 6'7" and over 320 ,,,,,even funneir watching him look for the steering wheel wich was in my right hand ( quik release) my own version of anti theft :fight::fight:

rofl, great story.

Dread: Yeah, after I made that post I looked into it a bit more and realized you some parts, get their kit, and build it yourself.

Ken: Prior to starting this thread, I actually came across that exact issue. It's very dependent on your area. Some places (california) would be a pain to get it registered. As for the '33, you might not have a problem taking the piece of metalwork off a 30s-40s car and just putting it in your new one (if your area doesn't mind -- they tend to mind less if you don't tell them it's not the original ;)).

Sad that I wouldn't have the money for this kind of endeavor, but the GTM and Cobra would be more to my liking. You've introduced me to another wonderful car, which, IMO, would be a great deal better than getting an ACR Viper or C6Z.

[ROKKET]

yeah but wraith this was in cali,,,,,,CHP station in sante fe springs actually right on boarder next to downey ,,,,,,,but yeah that was in 97 too so laws are always changing