ways you have saved money on your build

[xshadow]

what are some things you guys have done to save money? Have you done anything kind of silly to save a buck on repairing or building your truck? Something that you knew you shouldn't be doing but did it anyway..... Have you cut any corners or fabed something somewere that you really shouldn't have in order to save a few dollars?

[mplex2000]

Autozone has a different, not as good promo now, but they had a thing going for quite some time that I used to my full advantage. The deal was something like every $25 you spend you get a punch on your card. Every 8 or 10 or something punches got you a free gift card, either 20 or 25 bucks. I'd go buy just enough every trip to get a punch. So I bought my WHOLE suspension - a piece at a time. One ball joint here, a set of poly trailing arm bushings there, etc. Maybe throw in a packet of anti sieze or a can of carb cleaner, to get up to $25 per visit. I also bought a lot of my Holley parts there, many of which were special order, but you can punch part numbers in on their site, get their item number and have the store order it so you don't pay shipping from the website. I got poly floats, rebuild kit, etc for the double pumper. Bought my brake cylinders, brake hardware kit, brake pads and drums, all that stuff. I made out like a bandit. Among other things, my rebuilt power steering box was almost free I had so many $25 gift cards

[xshadow]

I've taken used bent breaklines off of one truck and rebent and rerouted it on another....was the most work i've ever done in order not to spend the 5 bucks on a bend it yourself line.

[wibilly]

don't tell nobody but i used some bondo

[67sleeper]

I don't know if you can tell in the picture or not but there are parts of my bed that I had to resand due to surface rust and I repainted it with dupont spray paint. Hey it works no more rust.

[corn]

Do as much as you can your self & take your time, wait for good deals. I have gotten pretty good about waiting for the right deal to come along on certain things. Ive also learned if you cut corners, what you save now will just cost you the rest if not more later...

[Bishops Trucks]

Let my wife pay for some parts!

[special-K]

Do as much as you can yourself.Buy in lots and ask for package prices,new or used.Repair/not replace.Work with what you have or can get cheap.Buy a parts truck that has what you need.Let things little things wait that can easily be replaced later until it`s together.To name a few.

[Longhorn Man]

skip real paint
used tires
mount tires onto rims by hand
syphon 15 gallons of gas out of cop car
Ignore brake wear indicators, they still work...today




I don't really recomend doing ALL of those... but I have done all 5 at one poiont or another.

[OlChev67]

fenders, hood, sway bars, power steering, bucket seats, and so many other odds and ends from junkyard. Just take time to check alot of vehicles, because some parts are less worn out.

spray paint and bondo, until I get everything else working great, then will do better body work and paint it my self

[indyracer]

Saved money??? What's that??

Hum, maybe that's why my build is taking so long

[Piece of Work]

The door handles, grill, and tail light trim were pitted, so I sprayed them with epoxy and high build primer. Then I finished them with satin black. I also did the same to the rally wheels.


-Mark

[wibilly]

andy next time you siphone gas from a cop car grab me the lisence plates while your waiting for your can to fill

[HeavyD]

IMO best way to save money on a build is to start with a good body and leave the rusty junk alone. Body shop costs can be insane. Of course I never seem to follow this philosophy, but it makes sense.

[Dano69c10]

I wait for free deals on the parts board! Got a 67-68 hood, a door handle, hood hinge, 307 v-8, th-350 tranny, 2 67-68 grilles (needed body work, but they were free.), glove box door, brake pedal assembly, clutch rod hole cover, side window glass, mirrors, ......., only problem is at this rate my truck won't be finished for another 35 years.
Dano

[weasel29gm]

Swap meet shoppin' and takin' anything free that I could use.

[Brock]

dang Dano...I thought I did good getting a 307 for $20...Free is at least 20 times better. Probably the stupidest thing (so far) is being too cheap to buy rockers and using a whole can of Bondo to "fill them up". On the bright side, I now have SOLID rocker panels and they are guarenteed not to rust...they might break in half but they won't rust.

[Longhorn Man]

remember, a part that is cheap/free, but one you don't need, is still worth your time.
tradeing material.
Anything you take off your truck that is still serviceable... say a pitted door handle, can be used on someone's beater/work truck. Sure, you won't get more than 5 bucks for it, but that's still $5.

[SacramentoJoe]

My truck still has the Sanyo radio that my high school buddy gave me 25 years ago. I sounds like crap, and I rarely turn it on, but I haven't parted ways with the $200 for it's replacement. Do with(out) whenever you can.

[glock35ipsc]

Saved money on my build?????

Well, OK, I guess I have in a way. Other than the body work, I have done everything to my truck by myself. When it comes to paint time, I will paint the inside of the cab and doors, and the inside of the fenders, grill, and bottom of the hood. Other than that, the guy that did the body work will spray the exterior.

I have done some mods that would have cost a lot to buy through a catalog, or even more to have some hand-fab for me. I have done all the metal fab work myself.

So basically, other than body work and exterior paint, I have done all the work myself. I'm sure there is some savings there -vs- having some one else do a lot of it.

[Ackattack]

I replaced the cross pieces of the bed. Rather than paying the $40 or so per piece that the resto places wanted, I used some 2x3 (or something like that) rectangular tubing. It cost just a few dollars. I then cut the ends into the same shape as the stockers so they fit great.

I also had 4 u-bolts made for $20 rather than paying $20 per u-bolt through the resto places.

Then do most everything else myself. The only things I didn't do myself on the 72 gmc is paint/bodywork, exhaust, and tranny rebuild. On the 68 that I'm now working on I'll probably do everything except the tranny.

[LUV2XCLR8]

Originally Posted by Bishops Trucks

Let my wife pay for some parts!

That's exactly what I do

[bad6772]

the cheapeast thing i have done to save money...........clean my frame on my 72 .by hand .wire wheels ,laquer thinner and zip biscuits....instead of having it blasted...the really bad thing is me neighbor owns, ABRASHIEVE MEDIA .LOL . and he could have done it in less than 45 mins..oh and his shop .... well i could kick a kick ball from my back yard to his shop door.........doh.........i think im gonna let him do the cab, although i did get my frame clean and looking like new.....it wasnt worth the headache of the 60.00 bucks he would have charge me.....but once i got in it i couldnt let him know it was kicking my a$$ ..i told him ,ahhh its not that bad..... wont be doing it by hand on any other projects.....

[Sinister]

I just bolted some glasspacks to my headers instead of putting a real exhaust system in. My neighbors must hate me, it's so FFFFFFFing loud. I'm probaly gonna have to bite the bullet and replace them anyway...

[corn]

If I dont do it the cheapest way I can, I cant do it at all...