The Budget

So the plan when I decided to go ahead with this project included a budget. Basically, I wanted to try to get this built and legally on the street for about $30,000. My basic budget was as follows:

Kit.........................................................17,900
Driveline (engine, tranny, driveshaft)......2,100
Tires..........................................................500
Paint.......................................................3,000
Extra options..............................................425
Taxes and Licensing................................2,000
Shipping.....................................................500
Tools..........................................................600
Supplies.....................................................550
Contingencies..........................................2,425

So far, I am okay with this plan. I went a little over on the kit when I decided to add the passenger side rollbar. The driveline estimates are for a moderately used setup. The paint budget is a compromise. The local guy who does these cars is probably more like 5K. My plan was to find somebody else who could do a decent job cheaper, but since that can wait til closer to the end, I am in no hurry to change my thinking on this. Hell, I may even try to do it myself.

This past week, I made a decision to change my philosophy a little bit with regard to the tools. I have decided to buy an air compressor and pneumatic tools to make the build easier and more fun. Initially, I was going to try to build it by hand, and on the cheap. That is all well and good, and I am sure it would have been completely possible. However, I likened it to playing golf with a beginner set of clubs from K-Mart. Sure it is possible, but the project is supposed to be FUN. And having really cool tools will make it that much more fun. It will hurt the tool budget, but that is okay. The air tools will either be used over the long term as I continue to tweak the car, or I will be able to sell them off and recoup a lot of what I am paying up front.

In actual build news, Nathan, Phil, Elaine and I managed to get the body off the chassis last week and I should be able to finish the disassembly of what I picked up from Hurricane pretty soon.




Next up will be rustproofing the frame. For now, I have some serious garage/storage re-organization to do. My side pipes and headers came in after being back-ordered.

Tools, Tools, Tools

One of the most frequent questions I get asked is about the tools required for this project. The kit makers say that most of the build can be done by what one would normally have in your garage. Well, maybe, but having the exactly right, high quality tools seems pretty critical already.

So I decided to go through the manual and identify all of the tools that would be required for the build, according to their minimalist approach. Here is a listing of part of that spreadsheet:

Body Support Brace
Magnetic Base Rotary Angle Guage
Drill
Clamps
POR 15 or similar frame treatment
Socket
Open end wrench
Jack stands
RTV - black
Grease
Torque wrench
Rubber mallet
Floor jack
Vise
Anti-sieze lubricant
9/16 x 18 tap
propane torch
1 7/8" Chrysler ball joint socket
loc-tite
small pipe cutter
small hammer
5/16 nut driver
thread locker
duct tape
fuel safe gasket sealant
36" of 3/8" fuel line
5/8 clamp for 3/8" fuel line
wire stripper/utility knife
solder or crimp tool
masking tape
file
riveting tool
glass cleaner
silver silicone
allen wrenches
3/8" brake tool
45 degree flaring tool
wire cutters, wire crimpers
X-acto knife
hack saw
1 3/4" hole saw

I am finding that while I did have some of these things already, they may not be adequate. For instance, my portable drill is a 15.6 volt Craftsman and the bits I had were primarily meant for drilling into wood, not steel, and tend to be on the small side. Drilling the 3/8" holes for the windshield was a MAJOR PITA. Nathan and I both took turns starting with a small pilot hole and pressing as hard as we could, go very slowly. Eventually we went to Sears and bought their top of the line drill bit, made of cobalt, and designed for cutting into steel. It still was very exhausting and slow, but we did manage to get them drilled. Still, I was not expecting to spend $11 for a drill bit that I thought I had, and am wondering now if I will have to buy all new ones for the rest of the holes, about 10 different sizes. We are going to try a different drill next time too, Nathan's 18V DeWalt, to see if it will work any easier.

The bottom line is that I am pretty quickly thinking that my $600 tool budget may be too low. There are some things that most people have that I do not--a protractor, a wet/dry shop vac, a big rubber mallet, etc. And the sizes and materials I am using on this project are a little different, too. Larger wrenches and sockets are needed, for instance, that were not in my normal household tool kit. Harbor Freight is having a big sale this weekend, and I will probably try to load up on some things.

Two things I won't be buying are the biggest dollar items--the 3/8" and 1/2" torque wrenches. That is because I received them as a gift from my dear Sue. They are two gorgeous Craftsman's that are suppose to be the easiest ones to use out there. Special thanks to her and to Kim for getting them for me. I can't wait to use them in chapter 4.

For now, I have removed the trunk lid, the hood, the doors, the dash, front and rear quick jacks, and the side bolts in the cockpit holding the body on. I still need to get the rollbars off so we can remove the body to storage and expose the frame. I have Nathan and Phil coming over on Thursday and hope we can get that done then. First, I need a BFH (big freakin hammer) for the rollbars, and for the snow to melt. Oh, I also had to shore up the shelf on the body buck as it was sagging.

Wow! Already into Chapter 3

Five days in and I am already into chapter 3. Of course chapter 1 is just a thank you and chapter 2 is their legal disclaimer disavowing any responsibility for the terrible things that may happen in the construction and operation of this car. There are still 35 chapters to go and that doesn't include some things like engine buildup, body work and painting which aren't covered in the manual. Should I be worried?

The inventory process went much slower than I expected. The main problem seemed to be that I did not have the foggiest idea of what I was looking at much of the time. Ten minutes or so of fingering through the manual, I could usually figure it out. But not always. Some stuff did not seem to be on the list, some stuff seemed to be missing from the list, and some parts had changed from the list and the illustrations and instructions in build manual. In a lot of ways, this is art, not science.

Somewhere I read that there are 3000 separate parts in the car. For the most part, I seem to have what I am supposed to have. A few big items are still backordered, like the radiator, the side pipes, and the headers from the engine. None of these are needed very soon. So I am going to just press forward and not worry about every single item being exactly as expected. Hurricane has an outstanding reputation of customer service on such matters.

Here are a few pics to illustrate what was in the 25 boxes in the last post:

Here is one of the wheels and spinners.

Here is the box with all of the carpeting for the interior and the vinyl for the dashboard.

Here is the contents of one box spread out on my pooltable. Much of it is suspension parts, like the shock absorbers, and some of the steering system.

Finally, there is a picture of the windshield. That is the next thing for me to work on, temporarily assembling the windshield in order to locate some holes that need to be drilled into the frame while the body is on. It won't actually get installed for quite some time, but the location of these holes won't be accessible later.

Nathan and I will probably be doing that on Thursday. That is a 2 person job--one of the few. After that, I will be able to remove the body and start working on the frame. Until then, I am continuously reorganizing my work areas.

What the Hell have I gotten myself into?

That is my overriding feeling today as I have picked up my kit from Hurricane Motorsports and drove it home. I have to be the most unqualified, inexperienced person to attempt to build one of these cars. In fact, I am sure many people think I should be the last person to build one. Well, in fact, I may be. Jason at Hurricane told me when I was picking up the kit that it is the last full kit to go out the door. Future Hurricanes will be "rollers" or "turnkeys". Essentially, that means that Hurricane builds most of the car and the buyer just does the engine, primarily.

Here is Bill Smith loaning me his trailer.

Here is the main pile of parts I picked up at Hurricane (with a couple of other customers' cars in the background).


And what we looked like 2 hours later, pulling away. We had a lot of trouble getting the frame/body onto the trailer. It was just me, Jim Jones, and Jason from Hurricane. Damn, that sucker was heavy.


Four and a half hours later we got to my house. I had subsequently called my nephews, Nathan and Phil Halley, along with Bill Smith and Paul Proefrock to come over and help unload. This was no easy task, especially trying to get the frame/body back off of the trailer. Brute force manhandling was just not going to work. Eventually Paul had the great idea to back the trailer all the way into the garage and slide the car part way off the trailer, then drive the car away, very slowly, while others managed the cars descent. That worked like a charm and we were done in about an hour, but too dark for many good pictures. Boy it is nice to have really smart friends.

Finally, I am including a couple of shots of the parts with me and Phil, and the obligatory shot of a dude (Nathan) sitting in the empty car, pretending to be driving.


The next steps will be to inventory everything I've got, and to try to better organize things in my garage (and living room where the parts are currently stored). Once I actually start into building, the first step is to drill some preparatory holes for the windshield to be fitted prior to removing all of the body and panels to access the frame.

Almost...

Hurricane says my kit is ready for pickup. So this coming Tuesday is the day that Jim Jones and I are driving to KC to pick it up. The only thing we know won't be there is the radiator which is backordered and will be sent to me directly from the maker. I expect lots of pictures from the transport adventure.

Delivery Delayed; Body Buck Built

I was unable to pick up my kit last week because Hurricane has not fully received all of the parts that they need. Some things can be backordered, but some cannot, and the late arriving part was coming from the fiberglass supplier and too important to just backorder. So now, we are hoping that Hurricane will have everything by this Wednesday, Feb 13. I am not going to hold my breath, and actually, it would not be all that bad if it slipped a little more as I am going to be very busy this week and weekend doing the TYCOON simulation at Wash U.

I have however completed the construction of my body buck.

Here is Jim Jones (who really does have a forehead) helping me get the OSB home from Home Depot in Sue's Denali. It did not quite fit so we had to rig up some bungee cords to keep them in place to get them home.

From there, I worked on meticulously measuring and cutting them to the specs that Paul Proefrock had on his website.


After doing as much as I could by myself, I had to call on my nephew, Nathan Halley, to help construct the rest of the buck. It took us about 2 and a half hours one evening to glue and screw everything together. I think it turned out great.




The final product was finished the next day when I added the vertical brace, evened up the shelf, and finally added the foam insulation pieces to protect the fiberglass body where it will be resting on the buck.

Lots of things were learned along the way. Like make sure that your battery is fully charged when drilling/screwing into such dense wood. And that the foam pipe insulation is already scored so you don't have to cut it with a utility knife. Ask me when I found that out.

My wood posted on the internet and it is not a porn site!

Today I went out and purchased most of what I will need to make the body buck. Happily, all the lumber fit beautifully in the trunk of my Passat. I really love that car. I did not think twice about the fold down seats when I bought it, but I love that feature and have used it many times. Here you can see how easily it swallowed up all of the wood.

Here is a picture of all the materials unloaded in my garage. I still need to get two 4x8 sheets of OSB, but that would not fit in the Passat. I will impose on a friend later in the week or wait til next week and use Sue's Denali.


When I am done, it should look something like this...


For more information on the plans I am borrowing, go to Paul Proefrock's site.