Nuts and bolts are expensive, especially if you stay true to Toyota.
[Note: a 13mm bolt head is evidence of yer cheatin' ways]
Restoration Budget
- Thread starter Tunnelratt
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Nuts and bolts are expensive, especially if you stay true to Toyota.
[Note: a 13mm bolt head is evidence of yer cheatin' ways]
- Thread starter
- #22
OK Fawkers! this just proves it, I am as hopelessly addicted as the rest of you
, I was hoping for some magic formula knowing full well it didnt exist!!
I probably do about 85-90% of my own work so the labor isnt really an issue it's mostly just a parts and material budget.
I think I like the idea of just allocating say 10K and spend till its gone ,is probably the simplest( cant let the wife see this thread) no matter, she has killed me many times before.
Probably the best advise is for me to figgure exactly what I want this rig to be, because 10K could go real fast if its just spent on lockers, axles, 4 wheel disc, SOA etc.
Oh, and if that aint enough, got a call at work today from a neighbor, accident in front of my house, full size, crew cab, 1 ton pick up driven by a 16yo took out the street light, palm tree and totalled my daughters civic......so that budget for the 40!
Anybody got a nice Tacoma?
Steve
, I was hoping for some magic formula knowing full well it didnt exist!! I probably do about 85-90% of my own work so the labor isnt really an issue it's mostly just a parts and material budget.
I think I like the idea of just allocating say 10K and spend till its gone ,is probably the simplest( cant let the wife see this thread) no matter, she has killed me many times before.
Probably the best advise is for me to figgure exactly what I want this rig to be, because 10K could go real fast if its just spent on lockers, axles, 4 wheel disc, SOA etc.
Oh, and if that aint enough, got a call at work today from a neighbor, accident in front of my house, full size, crew cab, 1 ton pick up driven by a 16yo took out the street light, palm tree and totalled my daughters civic......so that budget for the 40!
Anybody got a nice Tacoma?
Steve
My advice is that if you create a budget, it will be difficult to live by. It's the little stuff that begins to add up. I've put gobs into my cruiser and I'm still not 100% done.
I stopped keeping track of costs because I only get mad at myself for spending so much money...I could have fed a small 3rd world country for a year....
I stopped keeping track of costs because I only get mad at myself for spending so much money...I could have fed a small 3rd world country for a year....
thats also why i mentioned the option of plating the old bolts.
and i would rather have stainless than a stock bolt
just putting the fastenal option out there as an alternative to the hardwear store. where i live you go to the hardwear store and buy 2 bolts that u need in a bag for 2 bucks where as if you need alot of them you can go to fastenal and get the same bolts pack of 100 for 7 bucks more.
keep in mind toyota's new bolts are not the same as the old ones visually. honestly unless your doing a museum quality resto it wont make a difference in resale. i say shoot for things that were better than stock.
just being helpful
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I put stainless steal hex key bolts in all the exterior areas, i.e. hinges (window and door) and flares. Hex key are the way to go. No more stripped phillips or hex bolts.
Not very "Toyota-ey" though...
The use of the words "budgeting" and "restoration" in the same sentence constitute an oxymoron, i.e., a contradiction in terms. Hope this helps you "budget" your "restoration".
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Some of the pitfalls with setting a budget for restoration, in my experience at least, are:
-until you have the part in question ripped out and stripped down, it can be difficult to assess its condition. Some things look fine upon casual inspection, and later turn out to be toast, which means more money need be spent. Items like the radiator and the drive train internals come to mind.
-as you restore a large portion of your rig, the parts that aren't restored start to look like crap, and you will likely be tempted/driven to bring them up to the same standard, which means more $$$
-the nickel-and-diming, like so many above have mentioned. I would have bought a pallet load of crushed glass to media blast with at the start, and saved some money, not to mention 20-30 trips, had I known that I would need so much.
-some things cost way more than you might expect. For me it was the cos of quality paint and body materials.
-you may need to buy tools you didn't expect to fix the things you didn't expect you needed to fix.
-if you're going to buy a bunch of stuff from SOR, join their buyer's club right away, as this will save you a bundle in the long term. Wish I'd done this...
-you will waste money, in all likelihood, buying things that don't live up to expectation when you receive them. Ebay might result in a rip-off, or a vendor might send you a wrong part that still fits and cause another problem down the line, etc, or doesn't fit and needs to be sent back..
-living in Canada, the taxes and duties slapped on parts I imported from the US, Brazil, Australia and Japan really adds up after a while.
-then there's the social costs -
leaves you, friends find your lack of availability and endless mutterings about your 'cruiser unappealing after while, you turn to drink after the 9th attempt at setting up the diff., etc..(not speaking for myself here, but it has been known to happen)
You may get a good chunk of the way through, and realize you're not into it any more, you might feel like giving up, and yet ya gotta keep going, and spending money, to finish it up, or you'll end up with a pile of parts filling up the garage, or worse, rotting out in the rain, a large portion of your investment wasted possibly. It can be hard to keep going at times during a long rebuild, and ya gotta be ready for the inevitable setbacks. Determination is everything, or really deep pockets and someone knowledgeable to whom the project can be farmed out
Go for it, I say! You'll learn heaps, and the price of the education is part or the deal.
-until you have the part in question ripped out and stripped down, it can be difficult to assess its condition. Some things look fine upon casual inspection, and later turn out to be toast, which means more money need be spent. Items like the radiator and the drive train internals come to mind.
-as you restore a large portion of your rig, the parts that aren't restored start to look like crap, and you will likely be tempted/driven to bring them up to the same standard, which means more $$$
-the nickel-and-diming, like so many above have mentioned. I would have bought a pallet load of crushed glass to media blast with at the start, and saved some money, not to mention 20-30 trips, had I known that I would need so much.
-some things cost way more than you might expect. For me it was the cos of quality paint and body materials.
-you may need to buy tools you didn't expect to fix the things you didn't expect you needed to fix.
-if you're going to buy a bunch of stuff from SOR, join their buyer's club right away, as this will save you a bundle in the long term. Wish I'd done this...
-you will waste money, in all likelihood, buying things that don't live up to expectation when you receive them. Ebay might result in a rip-off, or a vendor might send you a wrong part that still fits and cause another problem down the line, etc, or doesn't fit and needs to be sent back..
-living in Canada, the taxes and duties slapped on parts I imported from the US, Brazil, Australia and Japan really adds up after a while.
-then there's the social costs -
leaves you, friends find your lack of availability and endless mutterings about your 'cruiser unappealing after while, you turn to drink after the 9th attempt at setting up the diff., etc..(not speaking for myself here, but it has been known to happen)You may get a good chunk of the way through, and realize you're not into it any more, you might feel like giving up, and yet ya gotta keep going, and spending money, to finish it up, or you'll end up with a pile of parts filling up the garage, or worse, rotting out in the rain, a large portion of your investment wasted possibly. It can be hard to keep going at times during a long rebuild, and ya gotta be ready for the inevitable setbacks. Determination is everything, or really deep pockets and someone knowledgeable to whom the project can be farmed out
Go for it, I say! You'll learn heaps, and the price of the education is part or the deal.
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Great quote.
I started out saying that I would and for that matter could not spend more than 4k.
It really is the little things that get you. Granted I have run into an un normal amount of setbacks which have certaintly racked up the bill. 20k later.
Sitting down with an SOR catalouge will do nothing to help your cause. Just be ready to jump in headfirst and expect the worst. Lots of fun and headaches combined.
If you do decide to make a list. Take whatever amount you come up with and double it. Seriously. Or maybe I just suck at budgeting/my first resto.
lol
Budgets? Plans? WTF? These are Cruisers, not 1963, split window Corvettes! Do like the rest of us poor slobs,
Spend until you bleed or the
Just for reference I'm into mine for about 3 years and $3200 and have not bought ANY bolts and nuts yet....
LOL! I have found that I never had to buy bolts because each time I work on the truck there are enough left over that they seem to building up faster than I am reusing them.
i just got mine running nice for about 500. it all depends on wat u want to do with it and how mechanicaly / metaly u are. my dad got the mech and i got the welding abiltiy/ design
3 and a half years of gathering parts and trying hard to find the best deals on them. Machine shop bill, two thousand trips to the hardware stores for more bolts (washers, nuts, wires, butt end connectors, hose, sandpaper, tools... you get the idea) and 1 gallon of base paint, 1 quart of white paint for bezel and top, fillers, welding wire, metal and everything else... I would guess my budget is about $1,000 or so... (that is what I keep telling my wife anyway. Just another thousand and I can have it all finished. I think if I really added it up.... I'd be about 10K right now, that is doing all the work myself except for the machining. The good news, I only have about another thousand to go and I'm all done. 
I should have made a budget for my "budget". Several thousand dollars later, I still don't have my tub ready to put on. And as I look at the rolling chassis in my shop, I keep pulling crap off to take to the powder coater.
Case in point. Today I brought a bracket from the carb, the air cleaner, rear access for the amby door, and housing for the rear heater. I have made several trips like this, and that does not include the parts I always
"need" to order.
New fenders, running boards, hood, hell thats over a grand right there....
. Several thousand dollars later, I still don't have my tub ready to put on. And as I look at the rolling chassis in my shop, I keep pulling crap off to take to the powder coater.Case in point. Today I brought a bracket from the carb, the air cleaner, rear access for the amby door, and housing for the rear heater. I have made several trips like this, and that does not include the parts I always
"need" to order. New fenders, running boards, hood, hell thats over a grand right there....
I don't have nearly the experience/expertise as many of the people do here, but if I might offer some personal suggestions. Read, read, read, and then read some more. Decide your end result to the best of your present knowledge, then if budget isn't within reach, pick out priorities/neccessities accordingly (i.e. safety with reliable brakes, I consider mechanics as priorities). Even if you have to do a little bit at a time, do it ONCE and do it RIGHT. You'll be working/tinkering with it for maaaaaaany years no matter what.
best of luck and hope this helps.
best of luck and hope this helps.
Steve, Just found this,haven't had time lately. Make a list of priorities you want to do and research all you can before starting. I had mine down for 4 long years due to work responsibilities (hell that hurt to say) but changed jobs and 6 months later had it running. If I had found this site and all the info here it would have been alot easier to do.
I really should have done somethings different but o well! Make the brakes and electrical problems 1st priority. You know that you can call me for my $.02. Jerry
I really should have done somethings different but o well! Make the brakes and electrical problems 1st priority. You know that you can call me for my $.02. Jerry
