Sick of spending, when does it end!!

[philo_beddoe]

Please tell me there are others out there in the squarebody world that have dropped thousands on their truck other than the purchase price. I have recently posted what i have done to my truck, and other than the final body resto, i must have spent thousands so far. I am getting sick of spending money on parts. Anyone else feel overwhelmed like you'll never catch up, that every little thing you want or need to do is going to cost you more and more on the credit card? I know a NEW chevy is like 50k and thats $800 a month for like 5 or more years! Crazy...

[Jason S]

Please tell me there are others out there in the squarebody world that have dropped thousands on their truck other than the purchase price.

You're not the only one.  I've kept expandable file folders with most of the receipts for rebuild and maintenance on my '73 and '74 since I obtained both trucks in the late 1990's.  Looking through nearly 20 years of receipts can be an eye opener.  On the flip side, keeping receipts has come in handy for 'lifetime warranty' replacements.

I know a NEW chevy is like 50k and thats $800 a month for like 5 or more years!

Principle on a $48K vehicle is $800/month, plus the tax and 60 months of interest on top of that (another $7K or more)... 

On the bright side, once you get the issues corrected, it is much better on the financial side of things. It becomes a matter of keeping up on maintenance.

[1967KaiserM715]

2300 initial purchase price, 100 in paint(so far) about 100 for patch panels, 400 for SM465 and clutch stuff, 500 for the 6.5(if I can sell some of the parts from that truck it would be free) and 300 for a 6.2 complete with 6.2 short block

Oh and 50 for new injector lines, 50 for engine gaskets, and coming soon about 700 for a remanned injection pump.

I would say at my rate, this truck is cheaper- my reasoning this: one needs 2500 down on new truck(most of the time) and figured at least 650 a month, I have had truck 5 months and on average spent only about 500 a month, and I'll still own the truck in less then a year(if I keep going this slow)




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[Irish_Alley]

once you the truck in good shape they are reliable. everyone always says "dont get a old truck cause they will nickle and dime you to death" well this may be true but i would much rather spend 100/month on maintenance vs a 600-800 truck payment and still have to do 100 in maintenance. also if you want to customize something in our trucks more than likely that old part youre replacing needed replacing anyway so youre not throwing money at a new part that still has life. so if you lift a old truck and replace bushings and shocks they probably needed to be replaced anyway vs lifting a new truck you have to replace good parts

[philo_beddoe]

Well, i was hoping for this kind of feedback, i feel a little better. But i'm not nearly ready to add up my receipts yet. Yes, a 2016 4x4 chevy will cost you about $800/month for min of 5 yrs., thats scary! Cant believe the cost of a new truck. My 77 Bonanza was 4k new off the showroom floor!!

[LTZ C20]

I bought my truck for 1,000 dollars about 5 1/2 - 6 years ago. In the past 2 - 2 1/2 years I have spent between 12 and 13 thousand dollars on it. I have a horrible horrible addiction to this truck and I honestly don't care. Haha, some say I could have had a great used or new truck for that kind of money. However, it would not be truck that has taught me soooo much and not just about turning wrenches, but life lessons.

It gives me the ability to build and create exactly the truck I want. Eventually I'll buy something else and do a full frame off resto and take my dear sweet time and do exactly all the stuff I want and pull out all the stops for it. Until then, I do what I think is fun and I enjoy experimenting with it and driving a great truck from back when vehicles actually had personality. They are starting to build cars with style again that are actually appealing and have personality, but back in the day, vehicles had soul.

My truck is just that, my truck.

[philo_beddoe]

Very wll stated. And yes, personality. I think todays cars all look the same-part minivan, part suv.

Big difference  between a 69 chevelle, skylark, cutlass, superbee, mustang, cuda, roadrunner, GTO, firebird, nova, camaro, etc etc... And of course, all the trucks.

Todays cars will not exist in 30 years, they are cheap and disposable. The classic era for cars ended about the late 70's and for trucks, even into the mid 90's.

[Gagecampbell82]

I bought my truck for 1,000 dollars about 5 1/2 - 6 years ago. In the past 2 - 2 1/2 years I have spent between 12 and 13 thousand dollars on it. I have a horrible horrible addiction to this truck and I honestly don't care. Haha, some say I could have had a great used or new truck for that kind of money. However, it would not be truck that has taught me soooo much and not just about turning wrenches, but life lessons.

It gives me the ability to build and create exactly the truck I want. Eventually I'll buy something else and do a full frame off resto and take my dear sweet time and do exactly all the stuff I want and pull out all the stops for it. Until then, I do what I think is fun and I enjoy experimenting with it and driving a great truck from back when vehicles actually had personality. They are starting to build cars with style again that are actually appealing and have personality, but back in the day, vehicles had soul.

My truck is just that, my truck.

This is exactly how I feel. My dad bought my truck for $900 about 5 years ago.

  It Sat until I was almost 17, we pulled the engine and many other parts from his own truck to start piecing it together, then I worked doing anything I could from fixing computers to construction to finish it, I have spent At least over 2k on it in the last 2 years. Which isn't a lot but for an 18 y/o it is.

 My first trip to the parts store to buy parts I spent over $600. Including a radiator several engine related parts all new gauges and ect. I saved every dollar I could get for this truck. And I honestly paid for everything I needed (besides a few fasteners, some rattle can paint and other small things) out of my pocket.

I spent over an entire summer every single day working on it. It was almost a year when I found a transmission and bought it, a couple months later we drove it off of my road to a thanksgiving meal at my uncles. Then that April the night of my senior prom I drove it to a friends house to hang out, and that's the best feeling I've ever had, no whinshield wipers, no heat or anything but it didn't matter at all. I just stopped and whiped the dew and mist off of my winshield every couple miles.

It tought me many life lessons also, and showed me I didn't want to be a computer  tech anymore I wanted to be a mechanic. and because of that I continue to fight what often feels like a losing battle because it's so much more than a truck to me.

[LTZ C20]

Absolutely. Every paycheck I've got since I was 16 has had at least a few dollars spent on that truck even if it was just to buy an air freshener lol. I've had it since I was 16 and I hear ya on the price thing for an 18 yr old. Soon as tax return rolls around I plan to spend more on rebuilding the front suspension/steering and possibly a dakota digital system.

[Gagecampbell82]

That's how I am, I plan to redo some of my suspension/brakes when I get my tax return, my truck was lowered horribly wrong, then I'll work on the rear end and engine, I have parts from 5 trucks ranging from 1973-1997 and a tranny and stall from an elderly man's vette that "shifted to hard" got it for $150 and the shift is just fine for me. Haha. I recently did balljoints, tie rods, and front brake hoses and that was easily $250 alone.
 I spend at least $50 every time I walk in a parts store,  and that's on a good day, yet they refuse to look at my application every time they're "hiring" Idk Maybe they think I don't have a clue because I'm young, but I have to teach several employees about what I'm working on to get the right parts every time, haha.

[LTZ C20]

We have a whole separate thread just for discussing our experiences with parts store employees. As for my plans for the front suspension, I'm looking at a minimum of 800 for just parts. I'm getting all Delco replacement parts.

[enaberif]

You can spend $500 on a 40 year old truck and drop 20k into it or you can buy a 50k truck and drop nothing into it.

You can have one or the other not both.

[LTZ C20]

You can spend $500 on a 40 year old truck and drop 20k into it or you can buy a 50k truck and drop nothing into it.

You can have one or the other not both.

You can have both if your pockets are deep enough lol

[VileZambonie]

Who's counting? I spent $1200 today alone. $500 last weekend, $500 the weekend before, Oh $100 bucks yesterday...If you enjoy it, spend your money on it.

Some guys spend all of their money sitting on a bar stool yelling at a TV. Some guys spend all of their money watching girls dance around a pole. Some guys give all of their money to their wife and watch her spend it all. It all comes down to what makes you feel good about how you spend. At the end of the day, we are only here for a short period of time. I forfeit extravagant vacations and brand new cars so I can support my habit/addiction and I love every minute of it.

[Don5]

Well said Vile. I agree with everything you said. IMHO as long as I have something to show for what I spend or it makes me happy then I am OK with it. Now having said that, I bought my truck used in 1984. I loved the color and wanted it really bad so I bought it. I kept every receipt for it in a manila envelope. I drove it every day before I parked it in 1992. I just got it started again in the summer of 2014.

It is now in the garage being completely redone. I am keeping the new receipts in another manila envelope too. The point is that I have over $26000 tied up in it the first time. I didn't care as I had a lot of fun in it. I don't care how much it costs this time because this truck is my baby. I have been with her for over 30 years which is longer than I have had my wife. F The cost! I will get through it no matter how many years it takes to bring it back out on the street.