Are you a builder....or a buyer?

[Magnumcharger]

Just as it says...
Are you capable of doing your own work on your Charger, or do you hire it out?
And, do you enjoy gettin' 'er done....or being seen as an owner/collector/enthusiast?

And...why?

[FLG]

Love working on the car...but when it comes down the the more difficult stuff ill let someone else do it. For example, i can spray my car if i really needed to...will it be an amazing paint job? No...so id much rather hire someone to paint it and have it done all nice, but ill get it all ready in prime for them at the least. And if theres something i dont know how to do that a family member or friend does, id much rather have them show me. Getting dirty and working on your car is half the fun...cause when its all done you can say "I did that". But id imagine after doing this for years, if ya had the money you would much rather have someone else do all the arse busting work at the least, and just do the lighter things yourself.

[Death1970Proof]

I build about everything myself with help from a friend. I cant afford to have others do it. Plus I get the satisfaction of knowing whats done to my car. Part of the enjoyment is building it yourself!!! Of course machine work on engines has to be farmed out, I dont have the stuff to do that. 

[hutch]

I do everything except Transmission builds.

If I had the money, I would love to have someone do all of the body work and paint work for me.  I hate body work.  I do it because it saves me thousands I can spend on parts or tools.  Or women.  It's all about how you like to flush the money you save I always say.

[Joshua]

Everything except the engine machine work.....only because I don't have the tools....
Can't afford to buy a finished car or have others work on my stuff, don't trust 'em either....plus I just LIKE working on old cars....

[PocketThunder]

Everything except mud work and paint.  One thing i learned from doing bodywork on and off for the last 10 years is that the best way to do body work is to hire someone else to do it!

[suntech]

Will do all bodywork and modifications myself, with help from a couple of friends. Final prepping and paint will be done by a friend of mine, with me as a helping hand.
Engine build and dynoing will be me and a friend, that has one of the nicest and best equipped engine shop in the country.
The ideas om how to build, and with what parts, is done with help from friends, and this board.
As for buying........................ I am not a fan of comprimizing, so the list of parts that i have been shopping lately, is long and expansive!!!!! And gets longer almost EVERY day!!!!
It is hard to draw a clean line between what is a buyer or a builder!! I mean, many people might say that i am a buyer, since i bought 20 K worth of suspention and brake stuff.
Then again, i will install, including all fabrication and welding myself, an make my own molds to do my own carbon fibre parts, so maybe that slides me back to beeing a builder???
Not saying it was ment so, but i sence a negative aera around the word "buyer" here!!!

[Rolling_Thunder]

i do everything myself...     just don't have enough time to work on my own shit due to too many customers   

[bull]

Just as it says...
Are you capable of doing your own work on your Charger, or do you hire it out?
And, do you enjoy gettin' 'er done....or being seen as an owner/collector/enthusiast?

And...why?

Capable? Yes. Willing? Not very. If I had to do it all over I would have bought a '68 that was ready to roll because I'd rather be driving one than working on one.

[Charger_Fan]

I do 98.7% of my own work...although, I haven't welded any sheetmetal yet, so I may just end up farming that out for my own good.

[hemihead]

I do it all myself . No pride in buying a trailer queen .

[69bronzeT5]

Id rather build a car the way I want it then buy a fully restored one. I'll probally hire out people to do everything except for re-assembly and other stuff like that.

[andy74]

i do everything that i can,and try to do what i cant! paint work is beyond me,due to lack of patience,but anything else im game,even if i end up getting help after im in over my head!  

[dodgecharger-fan]

I had plans to do everything myself, but once I got a good look at the frame rails I knew I was in over my head.
So, I farmed it out and it made sense to get the sheetmetal done at the same time.

Once I got it back and sat on it for a couple of years, I tore into it and found very poor workmanship.
Wondering if any shortcuts were taken where I couldn't see them - the frame rails - I farmed it out again.

I'm glad I did. If had gotten it all together and tried to pull away with any kind of giddy-up, the car would have likely folded in half.

This time, the shop is taking it all the way to paint. Then I'll reassemble, restoring the components as I go.

This was to be a learning project for me. Well, I've learned.....

[RD]

all but body work.  everything mechanical can be done within a weekend and you can get the car running (generally, if you preplanned, have the parts, tools and knowhow), body work on the other hand... well, i dont believe foose works in every body shop and can get everything done in a weekend hehehehehe

just dont have the patience for body work... nope, not at all.

[68chrgrwife]

we do as much as we can by ourselves, but when it comes to body work, paint, and upholstery we ship it out.  Hubby is going to try his hand at some body work with my car.  We need help every once and a while with the other stuff and he calls buddies from work for the help.

[694spdRT]

I did most of the work on my '69 except for final paint. It was a good experience and lots of work. I don't fault anyone that choses to buy a car that is restored though.   

[Death1970Proof]

I did most of the work on my '69 except for final paint. It was a good experience and lots of work. I don't fault anyone that choses to buy a car that is restored though.   

I dont fault that either...resto is big $$$$$$$

[squeakfinder]

Ask the question 2 or 3 years from now and the same people might answer differently.

So far the only thing I don't do is alignments, and I haven't completely rebuilt a third member yet.

[472 R/T SE]

 
     I used to enjoy laying down paint with engine bays the extent of me painting the big stuff and lots of mechanical.  Having friends with lifts helped bunches. 

     First time I let someone do something I used to be capable of was right after I got my purple car and he raked me over the coals.  It's a sore spot having to pay someone.  Now I have two good friends to lean on who charge me $20 @ hour, can't beat that.  Yeah, I'm a buyer for the most part, so what.  I have just as much pride in my ride now versus before when I did a lot of the work. 

     I just inherited a fairly new wire feed and have my bead blaster running.  All I need is room & a project to see what I can do.    Although doing a ground up just to find out the finished product is worth a fraction of the time and materials spent is not for everyone. 

     How's this, we're not all as talented as you Robin.        

[spang]

buyer, wish i was talented enuf to be a builder.

[speedfreak68]

I'm a broke college studend so i try to do everything myself.

[71_Charger_R/T]

I do all my own work except Automatic tranny work... That I farm out, It's Voodoo that goes on inside those things!

[69charger2002]

i'm a buyer. i don't have time to build one myself. it would take years. what's the fun in that? i don't buy trailer queens, i buy nice painted drivers that are ready to go. you only live once... so why spend 10 years staring at a non running disassembled car? i don't need the "self pride when done" feeling THAT much.. i'd rather be DRIVING! 

[mikesbbody]

whatever i cant do my friend will do (and its free too since he's a friend  ) whatever he cant do (very little) i will pay someone to do i.e bodywork etc. it sure helps to have friends in this hobby.