You can find part II here.
I mentioned at the end of part II that keeping a list of the parts you want, where to find them and their prices is important. And it is, because after you’ve figured out what you want to do with your project car, it’s time to develop and draft some plans.
Failing to plan is planning to fail. (Again.)
I really like this adage, because it’s true, so it bears repeating. While not everything has to be planned out to the letter, you ought to have some idea of the direction you’re going in.
Along the way, it’s inevitable that you’ll come across killer parts deals. As with all killer deals, these won’t last long. A parts site may have a sale on something you need, or you might find it used on eBay for a great price. Or, as is my own case, you may have a friend who knows somebody trying to unload a set of lightly used wheels for a great price.
Luck is when preparation meets opportunity.
Only when you’ve given careful thought and consideration to your build will you be able to differentiate between the good deals that will take you closer to your goal and the good deals that will only further hinder you. We’ve given some thought to the type of wheels we’d like for our 240SX, so when this set came up it wasn’t really a hard decision. It’s not the exact ones we figured we’d get, but they’re much cheaper and will do better than the 17′s she’s got now.
Good deals are only good when it’s on something you would have paid more for. If you wouldn’t have bought it in the first place, you’re not saving anything. Thus the price list. We all have our own price points, and if you do a tiny bit of shopping around you’ll find that prices can range up to $100 or more for any given part. When you find a lower price than a previous price, you’re saving a bit of money. Write down the source and the price, so you can later refer to it and compare it to new prices.
The art of bargain shopping.
It’s inevitable – you’ll get frustrated because car parts are not cheap. Remind yourself of what you want to end with – a well built car. Look at the pictures you have for motivation, and remember that those cars probably weren’t built overnight. You’ll probably have a picture or two of cars with thousands of dollars worth of parts put into them, but the people usually aren’t super rich either. It takes patience to build a well put-together car, but it is wholly worth the effort.
Avoid the temptation to buy parts on eBay, unless it’s lightly used or new in box and a part from a company whose name you recognize. Sure, you can buy a ton of no-name “performance” parts for the same as a single part from a known company, but do NOT do this. You are only thwarting your own efforts to do a car right. Wasting money won’t make you feel better, it’s putting yourself at a disadvantage. You may come across a great deal, but have no money to pounce because you bought a part you’ll probably want to replace later anyhow with something better.
What’s in a name?
While I strongly advocate buying parts from well-known companies, this doesn’t mean you need to spend a fortune on everything. Well-known companies can charge more because they’re proven to be quality parts, but they may be no better than some lesser-known companies still proving themselves.
Most Honda people have heard of Mugen. Well, Mugen does make high-quality performance parts. However, if you shop around, you can usually find the same part made by another company with the same performance gain, if not more. You’re going to pay more simply because you’re patronizing Mugen, and they’ve built quite a name for themselves over the years.
And while I’m all for outfitting Hondas in Mugen and Spoon, don’t be a jerk who name drops. I’m not saying you can’t ever point out your awesome parts, but don’t get them just to go around and name drop. I know a guy who did that with his Civic all of the time, and it was super annoying. He’d spend a ton of money on parts, but all he could talk about was the company and how much it cost…. He couldn’t offer any opinion on the performance of them, or what they did for the car. Don’t be like that and people won’t care if it’s a super well-known company or not, because you know how much it improved your car.
Final Advice
Really, these are all the tips I have. I’ve never finished a project car before, so I can’t offer any insight into what it’s like to look back from the end. To be honest, I don’t think I ever will completely finish… I like tweaking with my cars too much, and there’s always something new to do.
The last piece of advice I can give is to enjoy the journey, stay focused on where you’re going but occasionally look back on how far you’ve already come.
When you can do that, even the tough times will come and go easier. When you’re getting something new, it will be exciting. When you think of each part as getting closer to your goal, it’s exciting. And, even when progress seems to have ground to a halt, you can see how many steps you’ve already taken and feel satisfied that you’re closer to where you want to be than when you started.
Related posts:
Hate to be off topic but I just wanted to get the scoop on if you could write another post to go a bit further into detail on the topic? This one was great but I would love to hear more!