How much money do you have in your truck?

[deltaguitar]

I got my F100 because I wanted a cheap project and something fun to drive around. I have been trying to get a project car for a while but living in rural arkansas the gas prices would have killed me. I have been driving a honda civic and a corolla for the last 10 years.

Well, finally I don't have a commute and live in Town and I can at least afford to drive the truck around some.

I know you guys love your trucks but over the long-term even if we spend a lot of money on the truck it has to be more cost effective than buying a new vehicle, right? Or am I just kidding myself with this.

So far I have a running and fun truck to drive and probably have a total of $1200 in the truck and that includes the tag and registration. Even if I spend 4,000 to get it running decent and looking ok I still have a really cool old truck that is probably not going to go down in value much. Plus, I get so much satisfaction driving the truck. The sound, the windows rolled down with my arm hanging out all play a part of me loving this old truck.

So, a young guy comes in my office and he has a 1950s Ford truck and it doesn't look painted or anything. I said something about how cheap old cars were and he looked at me kind of crazy. He said he had 25k in his old truck and I was a little surprised.

Anyway, how much do you guys have in your trucks.

[sargentrs]

Not trying step on anybody's toes but i feel that the only way to have that much money in it is if you pay somebody to do everything for you and do it quickly. I've got about $2500 in my truck so far (check the build thread) and expect to spend about another $4000. But that money is just in parts and supplies with a little thrown in for tools and equipment. The most I've spent at one time is $500 for my Powertrax NoSlip differential and $300 for a donor truck that supplied my P/S column/gearbox, C4 trans, 351w engine core, Edel 4bbl intake and Carb, and some patch panels. I've got 3 years planning and parts gathering and 2 years love labor in it. I don't count my time because it's an enjoyable kind if therapy for me. When I'm done I'd be lucky to get $7000 for it but I don't intend to sell it. Compare that to wife's 2012 SUV that I paid $27000 for and 40000 miles later it's worth $17000 trade in? No contest!

[ultraranger]

I didn't buy my '69 F-100 Ranger with the intent to sell. So, (resale) 'value' has no meaning to me. Including purchase price ($2,500.00 --it's in very good shape) and going through the entire brake system, I probably have around $3,000.00 total in it, currently. It wouldn't bother me if I ended up putting $20-grand into the truck by the time all is said and done. Money I enjoy 'wasting' on the F-100 isn't wasted money to me.

In reference to a Honda Civic or Corolla or a new SUV; when was the last time someone gave you a thumbs-up when they saw you driving by in them? Has anyone ever come up to you, when you were out and about in them, asking about them or asking you if you'd like to sell them? I would wager that's probably never happened. No one gives any of those vehicles a second look because they are nothing special. They are just transportation without any real style.

I would also venture to say, unlike my 44-year old '69 Ranger, those vehicles will more than likely not be operating on the roads 44-years after their build date. They will have died and gone to the bone yard long before that span of time has passed.

[68 Ford Stepside]

I've probably got about $4,000 invested so far. Rebuilt engine, new radiator, new alternator & voltage regulator, new fuel pump, rebuilt carb, new motor mounts, new clutch & four new 10 ply tires. Still have a way to go yet before I give it to my oldest son. I don't think about money invested too much, it is a labor of love.

[Kurt Combs]

I stopped counting the $$$ long ago, but I have to have over $4,000 into it. However, I too have put a lot of miles on it and it has gone up in value while my wife's cars have cost me a fortune while just sitting in the driveway (depreciation). The only thing I wish I could change is that it get 10 MPG.

[Whateverman]

i figured it out a couple of years ago and it was around 30 grand..which was both surprising and kinda disheartening because it still looks like crap and needs stuff done to it ,but thats been over a 21 year span so whatever

[Cipher43]

It doesn't always take a bunch of money to get one lookin good. Like I have said on other sites, my international only cost $1500 total (no motor work needed and most replacement parts were fabbed at home because they were not available). Granted it does vary on the condition you started with but you can reduce the price of a full rebuild buy doing as much as you can at home.


Price really doesn't matter that much though. I look at it as if I decided to buy a brand new truck with minimum options and you will be over $50000 plus so you have the ability to drop lots of money in one of these old beauties and still be a long ways ahead especially when most have 5k - 15k in theirs

[jimmy828]

even though i have saved every receipt from spray bomb paints to major parts and even the tools it takes to do the job, i have not calculated the funds i have spent on my project. I knew when i started this resto, it was going to be a costly effort and not counting the patience it takes. I make sure that it does not break the bank account. I look at my project as a hobbie and hobbies are not cheap. Being a buget resto with frame off, i'm hoping i can do it with 10,000 invested when completed. I am doing all the labor myself. I must say, damm, what a job it is!!

[Forsche]

Paid $6,000 for mine which was a fortune but it is all original and 45,000 miles. Shipping from Montana was another $900. Because it was in such good shape I have put very little in it over the past three years. Spent another $800 on service and the truck is worth every penny spent.

[72BahamaBlue]

I've owned my F250 since 1986. I've replaced so many things, some more than once.
I decided to toss all but the most important receipts, I'm not sure I really want to know the total I've spent over the years!
Both of my trucks have earned their keep very well, paid for themselves many times over. I can think of only 2 times I've beed stranded, both times because of blown up starters.
Not too bad overall!

[averagef250]

It's been awhile since I penciled it out, but I was in the $20-$25K range in my 70 F-250 4x4 including the $400 purchase price.

It really isn't that hard to do over a span of a few years. I see the money I spent on it as both worlds cheaper than a new truck and some key experiences I had through owning it shaped the coarse of my life. I feel I've got a heck of a value for my $$$.

It's in pieces, lots of pieces, and seems to get perpetually pushed out in priority, but it's on my bucket list to get back into DD status as my perpetual primary project. $25K might sound like a lot, but it's not. I could easily sell off the parts I've hen picked over the past decade to make it just the way I want for more than $15K. Probably doesn't hurt it's one of three Willock swivel frame Ford 4x4 trucks ever made.

[HIO Silver]

On the 70, $3,434 thus far (I keep a spreadsheet). My rig was $650 but I just got this after five months being on backorder.

The budget is $5000 excluding the EFI and a TKO trans/clutch.

I'm at $5,235 on my 73.

[F100builder]

Well, it all depends on what you want or need your truck to be. I have roughly $3500 into my '69. It's nothing fancy and it's not 100% rust-free but it's reasonably straight and it's some of the most fun I've ever had making it into more of a low-budget, traditional hot rod truck! On the other hand, I've got around $25,000 into my '56 and I've not paid one person to do anything except the machinist. Also, it's NOT FINISHED YET!!! It's a long-term, high dollar, and heavily modified build that's going to be one serious street machine. Now, for my most recent build, the '70...it will be low budget and mostly stock as well but it's going to receive much of the cool stuff donated by the '69 and the '70 is already laser straight and rust-free so next to zero body work will be needed. When finished, it will have new paint, rebuilt 390/C6, entirely new front suspension (DJM beams, new coils, bushings, kingpins, etc.), new disc brakes, bearings, and seals. I'd like to keep its budget to around $4500-$5000 which includes the purchase price, primer/paint/materials, machine work, the C6 and engine kits. I'm not including the cost of the '69's donated parts.

In other words, you can spend 5k or 50k but it's up to you and the plan that you have.

[Craigerf100]

too much thats how much

[Calfdemon]

Well, when it is all said and done, I should have between $12000 - $14000 into my 69 Crew. But $5000 of that is body and paint which I am paying to have done properly as I do not have the skills or patience for bodywork. But the rest I am doing myself and that includes the cost of the truck, the motor, trans, exhaust, suspension, brakes, new interior, and all of the other new parts and goodies that are going in it. It is pretty much a frame off restoration and will be like a new truck with crappy gas mileage . But I am not looking to sell it, so I really don't care what I have in to it. It will be built the way I want and look cooler than any new truck and it is under half the cost of a new truck.