Where is the bet place in the us for a car Guy like me to rase his kids?

Since you mentioned it; in the little town I'm moving to there is a guy who opened a resto shop a couple years ago. I was hoping to have him finish up my Reaper project since my brother flaked and the guy does great work. Just found out he quit custom work because he's making too much with the tow truck he bought and now focusses mainly on collision work. I guess that's wher the money is.
I always wanted to do custom builds and considered opening a legit shop but I'll probably just keep doing stuff on the side. If that's something you really want to commit to I'd recommend looking to settle in an area with a high concentration of retired baby boomers. They have money and fond nostalgic memories of when they were young and kool. Just something to consider.

ssn696 said:

I looked for 15 years to find one of these. I have 261, 4.10 pumpkin, and a WC T5waiting for it. My wife does not understand my mental illness.
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I too would love to have an old school panel truck....they are just cool in my opinion!

Finish carpentry and automotive restoration have one thing in common - you have get past 'perfection' because 'good enough' on a regular basis is what feeds the family.

What I need is that Keanu Reeves moment from the Matrix: 'Load program - See My Reflection in Gloss Black...'

Clutch said:

Well guy's I've had enough so you tell me we're should I start looking? The people's republic of New Jersey is on my last nerve! 6000 in taxes 6000 in car insurance all the laws protect the criminals and I would need about $1000,000 to start an automotive business were I am. So I'm slowly fixing the house I owe $250,000 if I remodel both bathrooms and the kitchen it will be worth 250,000 so I think I'm close enough to start looking any input would be great thanks guys
Oh my little helper wants to go to Northeast pa were my family lives but there's no dragstrips there lol

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I'm from NY, so it's NOT here. I hear South Carolina is great. No annual inspections, I believe they insure the driver not each car you own. There is a low set sales tax to purchase a car meaning you pay same amount for a clunker or a ferarri.

I also hear Texas (places with 80mph speed limits) and Florida with no DMV''S are good too.

buzz77 said:

I'm from NY, so it's NOT here. I hear South Carolina is great. No annual inspections, I believe they insure the driver not each car you own. There is a low set sales tax to purchase a car meaning you pay same amount for a clunker or a ferarri.

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When I moved to SC in 1995, it was kind of a backwards backwater just coming out of 100 years of "one party rule". When you tried to explain to the locals all the ways how the SC government was "ripping them off" their first response was "why don't you go the hell back to Texas!".

The state inspection, for example. It was $3. Great, its only $3, but I drove to 6 garages trying to get an inspection and they all said "no, they couldn't do one right now". Silly me, I didn't know I was supposed to slide them a $20 to change their mind. Even governemnet realized the Inspections were stupid and They got rid of them a couple years later.

As for the car sales tax capped at $5K, that was a regressive tax on the poor I will never understand, but I "went the hell back to Texas" so I don't have to worry about it, anymore. If you like to buy cheap cars like me, it would better if the rate was MUCH lower and the tax WASN'T capped.

For a car guy, best to rule out all the northern states that spray car dissolving salt all over the roads on the slightest chance of some snow. Road salt is just awful stuff and many places are dumping way too much. Also makes the poison ivy grow in the summer.

I have mixed feelings about eliminating all car inspections as my state did a few years ago and there is now a big increase in cars running around ragged. Such as a huge increase in cars with burned out tail and brake lights, even ran into a couple where all their rear lights are out, they just stop dead with no warning from the lights. Makes you wonder what else in the car the owner is not maintaining.

Surprisingly I'm not seeing that here. When moving here I expected to see blue smokers, cracked windshields, etc . You still get 'pulled over' and ticketed for a bulb out and that kind of stuff.
Guess the 'cash for clunkers' cleaned some of it up. lol. There were just as many bald tires, tail lights out and smoke screens back in NJ.
Probably a lot less 'cats' here though.

I can't speak for other places, but if you want to open a shop, and not spend half your profits paying for heating, I'd say move to Florida. Just like anyplace you might decide to move, don't move too close to any decent size city. In florida, real estate is reasonable, taxes are cheap to reasonable. There's no income tax. There's no auto state inspection or emissions inspections. Just investigate the area you choose and for easy affordability, think about a double-wide instead of a house. As far as the heat, it doesn't bother me. I find most people exaggerate it. That's what AC is for, besides this past winter it was sunshine everyday from September through May and great temps to cruise in. I'm always amazed anyone would live in NJ or up in the cold anywhere. MASOCHISTS.