Home grown builds VS Vendor builds.

[87BlazeLS]

I know that many of you guys subscribe to some of the same magazines that I read on a
regular basis. What bothers me is the fact that many of the rides that get the most
attention are the ones that have thousands of dollar and countless hours to be completed
and then driven by somebody that most likely did less than 10% of the cars build.

I mean yes it's nice to drive a really cool expensive ride. But you the owner cannot say ( I built it )
I know from my own experience that even though I am not a pro mechanic by any stretch and do not
own a big garage or shop and work on my car myself. The one and only Item on my car not install by me was the B&M torque converter. EVERY other item and modification including paint, interior, custom work, engine, exhaust, etc I did by myself in my driveway. As I'm sure many of you have experienced similar.

Sure the home grown builds may not be as great as the vendor, shop built rides. but what they offer
is character in spades. And ANY of us can say (yes, I built the car myself) and have good bragging rights.

I guess the magazines that give a little side bar on Readers Rides that show a small picture and maybe
50 words about the car think thats good enough. For me thats the cars I want to see featured.

If you have the money to toss to a shop to do the work for you thats fine. It just limits how much you can
say you built yourself. I would love to see the wrench monkeys doing the shop builds tackle the same job without a lift, no coverage, Limited lighting and electrical, all while working 2 jobs. And one is not working on this car.

I'm sure many of you know exactly what I'm talking about. Homegrown builds are in fact a great way to
make a car your very own. and nobody can take that away from you.
Vendor builds give you the right to drive away with a pocket full of receipts, How long will that smile last?

I smile every time I get to drive my car.... You?

 

[ssn696]

What bothers me is the fact that many of the rides that get the most
attention are the ones that have MANY TENS of thousands of dollar and countless hours to be completed and then driven by somebody that most likely did less than 10% of the cars build.

I guess the magazines that give a little side bar on Readers Rides that show a small picture and maybe 50 words about the car think thats good enough. For me thats the cars I want to see featured.

I smile every time I get to drive my car.... You?

Ditto. Bold for emphasis!

But, Readers' Rides don't sell advertising....

 

[87BlazeLS]

Thanks for your input. I bet out of 100 cars I see in the mags maybe 2 are home built.
I laughed when I saw a recent artical on a budget paint job that was $4500.
Full body off frame, windows out, the whole nine.
Sure Like the average driveway wrencher can even go anywhere near that.....

I feel much better spending less than $500 on mine and doing all the work myself.
And still be able to drive the car while it's happening.....

 

[ssn696]

Bonnewagon got GBOTHM with a brushed paint job...

 

[MrSony]

With Buicks, there are very few people who make crate/ready to run engines. Especially ones that aren't the Turbo V6 or 455. Ad man they are EXPENSIVE. With my Buick 350, it's assembled with vendor parts. Not out or the ordinary, but that is the only option.

 

[SoFloG]

I like when vendors or shops introduce new products or techniques in these outrageous builds. But, coming from someone who has worked at a few custom shops over the years nothing garners the respect or pride of a grassroots built bad *ss car. It's very upsetting when I go to car shows and speak to owners of great cars and ask simple questions like "how much lift you running with that cam " only to get and answer of "im not sure but I think like 20 psi".

 

[84_SS]

I like seeing the vendor builds for motivation and ideas for my own car, but that being said the whole respect thing for the owner goes out the window. The pride in being able to say you built your own car is nice. I may not be able to do all of the work myself, I've had friends help with a lot of things on my car that I was unsure of. But that's all part of the learning process in my eyes, sharing knowledge with each other, helping each other out. It's cool to look at my turbo setup and think that was entirely made by myself, a couple buddies that were hanging out and a bunch of random piping. Not bought from a vendor.

 

[87BlazeLS]

All excellent additions to this thread. And I know that the Buick v8 engines like the 350 are not even
considered by most due to the lack of parts. They are great engines though.

And, Yes I've heard similar responses from owners when asked some simple questions and you
get the dear in the headlights look or "let me ask my wife who did this for us"

I talked with a guy in his 20's that his uncle had given him a 65 mustang for his birthday. Nice car.
I asked him about the car and how he liked it. " he said it took a little getting used to the shift
pattern". I asked if it was a 3 speed, He said no it's a 4 speed. Later I was looking in the car
and saw it has a 3 speed shift knob. I'm nearly 100% sure ford never made a 200 cu in 6 cyl
mustang with a 4 speed. All were 3 speed stick or automatic.

 

[V8 Rumble]

I have always spoken about this with my friends. All the home built cars get an honorable mention in the back of the magazines. I'm proud I did my car myself. I did the frame off. I built my engine last year and this weekend I will start building my 200-4R. It's not a show car by any means but it was torn down and assembled by me and friends and family of course.

The paint job and body work is the one thing I don't have the steady hand for. That I will have to save my pennies for.

Those vendor cars are also inspirational but to be honest I've gotten more motivation by all the builds I've seen on here. There is some real talent on GBF. Plus you get to feel like you know the guys when you post on their build threads.

 

[lilbowtie]

There is many aspects of car builds and just as many aspects of people doing them. If you have the capability of doing the work it's great but there are too many people that think they know what they are doing that don't have a clue. Just like any career you need to taught and that's where the diversity comes in.