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'81 K5, "BlaZeus"- How to NOT build the ultimate budget K5; 3 & 4 link build

BlaZeus said:
Hey guys, I apologize for the lack of updates lately. Please forgive me. However, there just hasn't been much to report on. I worked on exhaust piping for installing a muffler a couple weeks back and never got finished and with moving into a new place and my truck and shop equipment still in old garage, haven't gotten any work done. I was supposed to move into the new shop on May 1, but there was a miscommunication with the current tenants and so I gave them an extra 2 weeks which means I should be moving in this weekend! WOOO! FINALLY!!

In other news, a good buddy of mine whose 1956 Jeep Willies I worked on for him a little bit last year, got some new toys to play around with and since he is a major workaholic, never has time to work on Willfred. So after wanting me to buy it off him, and me having no money....lol...he decided to gave it to yours truly:D

And boy is it a sweet rig...
Chevy Vortec 4.3L V6 carbureted, t350 auto trans hooked up to dual t-cases with twin sticks.
Leaf Springs over Toyota axles. Full boxed frame. Crossover steering. Fuel cell.

Since it's already pretty built and I don't have a lot of money, plans for now are just a full cage and the ignition system needs some work. I keep burning out ICM'S :dunno::doah:. But eventually will do 3 link front with Coilovers, front winch and considering retiring the V6, and swapping the sbc from BlaZeus into Willfred and then swap an LS into BlaZeus.

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That's quite a christmas present! :eek1:

Does that mean that BlaZeus is now a parts rig? Or are you gonna try to run 2 build concurrently?
 
campfire said:
That's quite a christmas present! :eek1:

Does that mean that BlaZeus is now a parts rig? Or are you gonna try to run 2 build concurrently?
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I know right?! But seriously, Yes, I have been extremely blessed with incredible friends who I undeservingly have received so much favor with.

I'm not really sure. At this point, I am just trying to get BlaZeus to BB16!!:rotfl::surepal: (If it's not ready will I be disowned if I bring Willfred? :o:ignore:)
But regardless, I would like to get "finish" BlaZeus to the point where If I have to sell it, I could get 10k for it.
I am currently in Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University and I feel like I shouldn't even be renting out a shop space right now, let alone building 1(now 2!) vehicles and having payments on my DD, Tundra Mifflin.
 
BlaZeus said:
will I be disowned if I bring Willfred? :o:ignore:)
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Probably not. IIRC, @ktmoutfront went on a dirt bike last year. I'm sure a good Willys will be fine. Might hafta dress it up like a K5 if you wanna fit in, though. Jeeps and CK5 don't always get along. :wink1: :haha:

BlaZeus said:
I am currently in Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University and I feel like I shouldn't even be renting out a shop space right now, let alone building 1(now 2!) vehicles and having payments on my DD, Tundra Mifflin.
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That is a personal choice, but I wouldn't be renting out a shop or financing a build in that financial situation. Debt is a big deal. Maybe not now, but it will definitely become one if you don't keep short leash on it. It's not like a loyal, serving dog, it's like a pet rattlesnake. You hafta keep close tabs on it or it will bite you when you're not looking.

And that's just the long-term answer, assuming you'd have your bases covered during some sort of short-term emergency. Maybe I shouldn't assume that, lots of people don't have plans in place for either timeframe. :doah:


Good on ya for looking into your finances, though. Lots and lots of people accidentally spend themselves into a stressful poverty. There's a reason that my builds have all been boring so far, and financial priorities are a large part of it. I'll only dump money into them if I feel it's the best use for it, and this year I've had more important priorities. So parts spending has been nearly zero so far. We'll see what the rest of the year brings.
 
BlaZeus said:
I am currently in Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University and I feel like I shouldn't even be renting out a shop space right now, let alone building 1(now 2!) vehicles and having payments on my DD, Tundra Mifflin.
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Yep, been there before. Right when I was starting my apprenticeship my wife and I went through that class. I sold all my "toys", we got a used minivan, and in one year paid off 26k of debt which was about half of our combined income at the time since apprentices make shit pay and my wife was working part time. That was almost six years ago. We now pay cash for everything, haven't had a credit card, car note, or any other debt besides our mortgage which we will pay off in less than 10 years. If you want to win with money it's going to take some big sacrifices up front but when you are on the other side and debt free you have a lot more options and yes also that "financial peace" that most people don't
 
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We did the financial peace study right after my wife and I bought $85k worth of pickups at dave smith... It's a good study because it opens your eyes to how simple it really is to get out of debt, and no matter how little or how much of it you follow through with you still see results. The debt snowball was the thing that amazed me. Not complicated at all but it works! We did that in 11 and in 2013 I sold my truck and walked away with 6k in my pocket, didn't have any credit cards, and were kickin butt on my wife's truck. I was able to quit a VERY good paying job in August 2014 without many worries about finances. And the best part is that on top of all of that we were able to fatten my lawyers bank account by about 55k to keep my sons crazy mom away from him. But anyway... I'm not broke now and I make about a third of what I was making before. Not rich by any means either but if everything fell apart we wouldn't have a lot to lose. Gotta give credit to the man upstairs though because I couldn't have done it by myself! :waytogo:

Ok I'm done now... Lol
 
F.S.F.W said:
We did the financial peace study right after my wife and I bought $85k worth of pickups at dave smith... It's a good study because it opens your eyes to how simple it really is to get out of debt, and no matter how little or how much of it you follow through with you still see results. The debt snowball was the thing that amazed me. Not complicated at all but it works! We did that in 11 and in 2013 I sold my truck and walked away with 6k in my pocket, didn't have any credit cards, and were kickin butt on my wife's truck. I was able to quit a VERY good paying job in August 2014 without many worries about finances. And the best part is that on top of all of that we were able to fatten my lawyers bank account by about 55k to keep my sons crazy mom away from him. But anyway... I'm not broke now and I make about a third of what I was making before. Not rich by any means either but if everything fell apart we wouldn't have a lot to lose. Gotta give credit to the man upstairs though because I couldn't have done it by myself! :waytogo:

Ok I'm done now... Lol
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I love hearing stories like this. :bow: :bow:
 
campfire said:
Probably not. IIRC, @ktmoutfront went on a dirt bike last year. I'm sure a good Willys will be fine. Might hafta dress it up like a K5 if you wanna fit in, though. Jeeps and CK5 don't always get along. :wink1: :haha:



That is a personal choice, but I wouldn't be renting out a shop or financing a build in that financial situation. Debt is a big deal. Maybe not now, but it will definitely become one if you don't keep short leash on it. It's not like a loyal, serving dog, it's like a pet rattlesnake. You hafta keep close tabs on it or it will bite you when you're not looking.

And that's just the long-term answer, assuming you'd have your bases covered during some sort of short-term emergency. Maybe I shouldn't assume that, lots of people don't have plans in place for either timeframe. :doah:


Good on ya for looking into your finances, though. Lots and lots of people accidentally spend themselves into a stressful poverty. There's a reason that my builds have all been boring so far, and financial priorities are a large part of it. I'll only dump money into them if I feel it's the best use for it, and this year I've had more important priorities. So parts spending has been nearly zero so far. We'll see what the rest of the year brings.
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Thanks for the heads up! I still have my front clip from BlaZeus so maybe Willfred will get a makeover for BB. LOL
Thanks for the heads up and wisdom. This class has definitely opened my eyes to the debt I do have(biggest are school loans and truck loan) and it's impact on my current financial situation and potential future impact as well.
truck-oholic said:
Yep, been there before. Right when I was starting my apprenticeship my wife and I went through that class. I sold all my "toys", we got a used minivan, and in one year paid off 26k of debt which was about half of our combined income at the time since apprentices make shit pay and my wife was working part time. That was almost six years ago. We now pay cash for everything, haven't had a credit card, car note, or any other debt besides our mortgage which we will pay off in less than 10 years. If you want to win with money it's going to take some big sacrifices up front but when you are on the other side and debt free you have a lot more options and yes also that "financial peace" that most people don't
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That's so encouraging! Thanks for sharing and congratulations on the progress!

F.S.F.W said:
Man I'm going to have to look for friends with projects!
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campfire said:
FFY.
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Haha He's not exactly rich, just lives with his parents in Nevada, no college bills and works 2 full time jobs, one doing controls for the Starbucks plant and other a machine shop rep.
So has money to blow, but no time to enjoy it.
F.S.F.W said:
We did the financial peace study right after my wife and I bought $85k worth of pickups at dave smith... It's a good study because it opens your eyes to how simple it really is to get out of debt, and no matter how little or how much of it you follow through with you still see results. The debt snowball was the thing that amazed me. Not complicated at all but it works! We did that in 11 and in 2013 I sold my truck and walked away with 6k in my pocket, didn't have any credit cards, and were kickin butt on my wife's truck. I was able to quit a VERY good paying job in August 2014 without many worries about finances. And the best part is that on top of all of that we were able to fatten my lawyers bank account by about 55k to keep my sons crazy mom away from him. But anyway... I'm not broke now and I make about a third of what I was making before. Not rich by any means either but if everything fell apart we wouldn't have a lot to lose. Gotta give credit to the man upstairs though because I couldn't have done it by myself! :waytogo:

Ok I'm done now... Lol
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That's insane! Such an encouragement thanks for sharing! Really cool to hear about real results coming from real sacrifice and hard work!
 
BlaZeus said:
So has money to blow, but no time to enjoy it.
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This would be unfun, no? :dunno:

BlaZeus said:
That's insane! Such an encouragement thanks for sharing! Really cool to hear about real results coming from real sacrifice and hard work!
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Yeah, there are lots of people who have done cool things. Maybe you should start a thread for cool stories (kinda like this one).
 
BlaZeus said:
But regardless, I would like to get "finish" BlaZeus to the point where If I have to sell it, I could get 10k for it.
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No offense, but I think you are too personally involved with this project to be objective about its value.

We all love our trucks and think they are awesome, but how many of them EVER sell for a number like $10,000?? Almost none of them....even the ones that are fully-sorted with loads of desirable componentry.

This project has been a great education for you, and you've made a lot of mistakes and hopefully learned some valuable lessons about thinking-ahead and planning things out more deliberately. But the end result is a kind of hodge-podge of tubing, patches, and fixes with some pretty serious compromises as a result.

Enjoy it for what it is, but it would be a mistake to think of it as a $10,000 "insurance policy" against future financial problems.

I don't follow Dave Ramsey, but I'm pretty sure he would advise anyone in the 4x4 hobby to stop building trucks completely.... :)


-G
 
I don't know, there were a few K5s on Craigslist that we're going for $10k+ that were no where near as built up as BlaZeus!
 
I agree with Greg.

Do not treat it as an investment. Even if you get it to be worth 10k, you will probably have 20k+ into it, and that doesn't seem very logical.
 
Greg72 said:
I don't follow Dave Ramsey, but I'm pretty sure he would advise anyone in the 4x4 hobby to stop building trucks completely.... :)


-G
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Dave Ramsey isn't against hobbies or fun, he just doesn't want you to do those things with debt. If you have no debt (except house) and can afford it (pay cash) while still meeting all your financial goals, then you are well within your means.

Personally, I would keep the Jeep since it was a gift and pretty much ready to go, and part out the blazer for what ever you can get. Sell or pay off your DD in a hurry so you don't have a car note and then get on that student loan debt with intensity.
 
K5's that aren't as chopped up are worth 10k. You have a lot of good parts, but you need a special buyer. Hell most built pre runners with way better parts are going for 10k.
 
truck-oholic said:
Dave Ramsey isn't against hobbies or fun, he just doesn't want you to do those things with debt. If you have no debt (except house) and can afford it (pay cash) while still meeting all your financial goals, then you are well within your means.

Personally, I would keep the Jeep since it was a gift and pretty much ready to go, and part out the blazer for what ever you can get. Sell or pay off your DD in a hurry so you don't have a car note and then get on that student loan debt with intensity.
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This is a good plan. Getting rid of the debt will pay dividends for the rest of your life. Even if you don't part with the truck, you don't hafta sink money into it any more if the jeep is ready to go. You can come back to the blazer in a couple years (or sell it and buy another one if you ever want it again). Might just find that you like the jeep enough you never bother with another K5. Or life might change and you might decide that you want something else (like how having a carseat means that I am now a huge fan of 4 door vehicles, K5s just aren't great in that department). So I would only keep the K5 if you are continuing to want the fab experience (this is a good investment, IMO). But I wouldn't sink many dollars into it, you already have a good rig. And when you get tired of fab work, sell the pieces and move on to something else, smarter and wiser for the experience.

One thing I wanna repeat, built vehicles are never an investment (unless you're custom building it for someone else). Nobody else will have your exact priorities, so they won't be willing to pay as much as you did. And people generally don't trust amateur craftsmanship (for good reason), so the further you get from stock, the more hesitant the average buyer will be when it comes time to hand over money. Expect to lose value on every vehicle you touch, new or old (unless you are like me and buy $350 vehicles, but that's more of a sweat-equity gig).

As for an insurance policy, vehicles are terrible, even when their value is accurately assessed. It's really hard to liquidate those funds, you hafta find the perfect buyer, and that takes time. It's not like pulling money out of the bank, or even the stock market.

Focus on getting good at life, you can build the perfect truck later, when you have more financial peace. I cannot overstate how great it is to have zero payments, positive net worth, and growing equity at a young age. It makes future decisions soooooo much easier to have finances straight.
 
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