Talk me out of building a kit car... Daytona Coupe

I'm guessing that check finally cleared.
Nope. Haven't even heard back from the check writer yet. I'm tired of waiting on life to catch up with me.
 
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In order to hot rod a factory production vehicle without regard to emissions equipment in my county requires that it be at least 35 years old. I really don't have the budget for a 60's muscle car in any condition I would want, and I don't want a late 70's, early 80's POS donor to fool with, so I have been toying with the idea of building a kit. I'd probably just order a crate engine to drop in it, after I figure out which bank to rob to pay for it.

I've talked myself out of this maybe three times in the past five years. This is the kit I am currently considering. They have a new Gen 3 that is totally redesigned and reengineered. You know, like a Glock.
http://www.factoryfive.com/kits/type-65-coupe/
I've got to see if I can even get in one. I understand you don't get in it, as much as you put it on.

Thoughts,
suggestions,
gratuitous ridicule?

65-coupe-4jpg-759x426.jpg

In order to hot rod a factory production vehicle without regard to emissions equipment in my county requires that it be at least 35 years old. I really don't have the budget for a 60's muscle car in any condition I would want, and I don't want a late 70's, early 80's POS donor to fool with, so I have been toying with the idea of building a kit. I'd probably just order a crate engine to drop in it, after I figure out which bank to rob to pay for it.

I've talked myself out of this maybe three times in the past five years. This is the kit I am currently considering. They have a new Gen 3 that is totally redesigned and reengineered. You know, like a Glock.
http://www.factoryfive.com/kits/type-65-coupe/
I've got to see if I can even get in one. I understand you don't get in it, as much as you put it on.

Thoughts,
suggestions,
gratuitous ridicule?

65-coupe-4jpg-759x426.jpg
How's about just buyin a boat? Or hey, an experimental aircraft kit...or maybe a necklace with a button ya push when ya fall down n can't get up...the last time ya musta hit yer noggin kinda hard....lol Most people would think that a simple sand rail is no problem, or a fiberglass bodied dune buggy...or a ratrod. Stop by here n I'll chain ya to a post n whip ya with a chain for say a half hour. We'd get that year and a half misery done right quicklike.
:)
 
Stop by here n I'll chain ya to a post n whip ya with a chain for say a half hour. We'd get that year and a half misery done right quicklike.
:)
The idea is not to have a hot rod to drive, but one to build.

The last one I spent three years looking for it, bought it in primo condition, drove the snot out of it for 9 months, and sold it. I need a project that will last a wee bit longer.
 
The idea is not to have a hot rod to drive, but one to build.

The last one I spent three years looking for it, bought it in primo condition, drove the snot out of it for 9 months, and sold it. I need a project that will last a wee bit longer.
See? Ya already need glasses. Wee bits turn out ta be eons...That's what I'm sayin.
 
Rumor has it over at FFCar forums that the brand new Gen 3 redesign of this car from the ground up doesn't even have a completed assembly manual yet. That will drive a stake through the heart of this project.

Will find out later this morning.
 
What is this assembly manual you speak of? Never heard of such a silly thing..
"kit"

kits come with instructions

I'm an anal-retentive, obsessive-compulsive reader of instruction manuals. I have to have someone else to blame when a project doesn't go as planned. Ask my wife.
 
Gosh dood...a man wantin ta build a commercial kit car needs to be examined by a trained mental heath professional. Why not hook up to google and buy one of the many thousand "ALMOST COMPLETE" kits that are looking for homes after their owners committed suicide or are now institutionalized? That's what I been tryna say to ya. I'm tryna save a life here. If yer not gunna listen I swear I'll go to the chapel forum n start a gang prayer session !
 
... I'm tryna save a life here. If yer not gunna listen I swear I'll go to the chapel forum n start a gang prayer session !

LOL I already accused my wife of doing that when I learned there might not be a manual with the new kit this morning. Then when I called them in MA this morning I got the "All circuits are busy" recording. I asked the missus to respectfully end her prayer siege of my car project. I thought she was gonna pee she laughed so hard.
 
I've never seen a kit come with instructions. I *have* seen a few come with some goofy toilet paper with a whole bunch of writing and drawings on it... not sure what that was all about. :confused: :D
The service manual for my '69 Datsun 2000 Roadster was written in very poorly translated Enganese. Hard as heck to make heads or tails of, so I just looked at the pictures.
 
The service manual for my '69 Datsun 2000 Roadster was written in very poorly translated Enganese. Hard as heck to make heads or tails of, so I just looked at the pictures.

In all seriousness, poorly-written manuals drive me up the wall. Right now the most recent trend bugging me is small gas powered equipment only discussing the final assembly. It seems like a minor point, but when I need to (for example) figure out what the fuel-oil ratio is for the equipment a company sold and getting told to take it up with the engine manufacturer... :mad: Spent about an hour a few weeks ago trying to find out the oil capacity of my lawn mower (had to be drained for transport). Eventually had to go based on trial and error with the dipstick and keep adding until it showed correctly... after having to open half a dozen manuals trying to find something that should be easily defined and user-level maintenance.
 
"kit"

kits come with instructions

I'm an anal-retentive, obsessive-compulsive reader of instruction manuals. I have to have someone else to blame when a project doesn't go as planned. Ask my wife.


its because of people like you, when the designers of IKEA furniture or model rockets decide on contents of kits they always add an extra bolt or nut or lock washer just to fk with you and make you tear the whole thing down to check you didnt forget something

its what i would do if i were them
 
Scrolled through the 400 page pdf of the assembly manual this afternoon. Sobering. It didn't include drivetrain installation either.

The question now becomes, are the three more years I plan to stay in this house enough time to build the danged thing.
 
Hopefully.
But if you move in three years - move it with you brother!
 
Hopefully.
But if you move in three years - move it with you brother!
I'm going to have to put the composite body outside under the second story deck on a body buck, while the chassis and drivetrain build goes on on my side of the garage. My next destination may not have the room I need. It is unknown at this point and much easier said than done.
 
Now or never bro
Youve got three years -there is your goal.
 
If we can all hang out in your garage, drink beer, talk junk and scratch ourselves while bustin' on you for buying a kit to begin with, I'm all for it. Keep us posted - I'll bring beer.

You forgot "and get to test drive it when you are done" to that statement.

I'll be happy to make an offer on it when you give up in frustration and/or offer your widow a more than reasonable cash offer to "get it the hell out of her garage" after you stroke out trying to insure the finished project.

I like to keep things positive and encourage others to take on new projects! ;-0
 
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Ash, what did you ever decide to do? That Daytona Coupe looks like one cool build!
 
Ash, what did you ever decide to do? That Daytona Coupe looks like one cool build!
About two months after I put this post up I decided to sell the crotchety house I was in rather than sink a bunch of money into it I’d never get back out. Rented for a while and built another (smaller) one a year later which kept me distracted till recently.

I went up to Whitby Motorcars in Greensboro a couple of months ago to get an estimate on paint since not many people know how to paint a gel coated body correctly. They have a great reputation for painting these cars. Plus they make a business of also assembling these FFR kits for as much or as little as anyone wants done.

So.... its fifteen large just for prep and paint. What I was hoping could be a $35-40K project is looking more like a $60-65K project now. Not to mention my F150 SCrew actually fits in my new garage, and I am loathe to give up that spot for the several years that it would probably take to built that Coupe.

So it’s Ixnay on the Oupe-kay.
 
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If people were honest with themselves about the true cost, there would be a lot fewer kit cars undertaken. And you may have been optimistic with $60-65K coz I know you would do it right. Would be fun to do one on someone else’s dime though
 
If people were honest with themselves about the true cost, there would be a lot fewer kit cars undertaken. And you may have been optimistic with $60-65K coz I know you would do it right. Would be fun to do one on someone else’s dime though
Whitby said that the least they had rolled out a completed Coupe kit was around $65K. I don’t know how much labor they build into that price, and it is wildly variable if you use a donor car versus a complete new build, IRS versus SRA rear suspension, crate motor versus donor, and a whole wide range of options available, etc, etc,
 
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15 grand for paint?! holy cow, that's a lot of money!
 
So it's 22K plus drive train, rear end, wheels, tires and paint. Probably plus a bunch of other little odds and ends. You actually probably could afford a 60s muscle car for that.
 
So it's 22K plus drive train, rear end, wheels, tires and paint. Probably plus a bunch of other little odds and ends. You actually probably could afford a 60s muscle car for that.
You can.
 
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