Hey grunthunter even with your pesos that is still 19K US dollars.....ouch. Of course the maintainence costs on a Datto are waaaay less then an open wheeler.
Noe if you throw in my labor at say a paltry $10 an hour well ok then I have 10K in car.

Tom

well I have owned my car since 1978 and I lost count in 79. who knows how much I spent on the car ,with numerus engine rebuilds trannys rear ends 3 sets tires per year suspension brakes and on and on. I have no budget and do not plan to make one it's a race car which in terms mean cubic dollars to keep up with current technology.

My CA18DET conversion it about at the 7k mark and I only just got git going last week. That 7k includes new wheels, t28 turbo and boost controller. It still needs a bit more work (I/C pipes, throttle cable etc) before its driverable and another 5k or so before its road worthy

As a Mr Jeff Shoesmith said many years ago. ~"for the same money I could have had a Hyundai with a set of wheels"

I know what I would rather drive. . .

I keep a folder on each car I own that every receipt goes into. I have never been brave enough to add them up though. . .

Look at it this way, you can sleep in your car, but you can't drive a house. . .

Thanks for the reasuring feedback guys. I am looking at it in a positive aspect, and i wll OWN the car when im finished which is a bonus. And everbody reasures me i will be excited to drive it. Just a long 18 -20months i guess. Better than spending it at the pub every weekend chasing women. Thanks again, and besides, i now have a range of friends that money cant buy,hehe. and i know if i see a datsun enthusiast its an immediate acceptance through common intrests.

i'm just arriving at $2000 USD on suspension and brakes.

The good thing about spending money on a old car is it's worth more.

So opposed to making payments on a new car, which is always worth less.

I'd rather have a 30 year old car that's got 15K in new parts in it.

Hey Cable_Tie, did you know Jeff is my older brother?

He has become quite famous around the global Datsun Community for that quote.

I was wondering if this Subject would ever come up.. I have kept all my receipts that i have spent on my 1200 over the years.. At the moment, im sitting at around 14k.. And, yes, its still not finished.. And yes, the paint job is still a rough matt black job.. I know i keep saying this, but, i will finish it soon.. All i need is some front bumper brackets, the wireing is a mess and needs cleaning up and a custom handbrake cable needs to be fabricated..

If Anyone knows a good place to get custom handbrake setups done, i'd definatly like to know!! This is the only major mechanical fault the car has... Apart from that.. The car is allmost finished...

well so far in a few months i have spent a bit!

i bort the ute in oct 2004r for AUD 2500. and now i just shelled out another 2500 for an engine (altho it was a bargain). so 5K and i have hardly scratched the surface.
my estimations are about $14500 (inc car)
paint: $3000
panel work: $1000
brake and suspension: $2500 (new stuff, no swapping parts around here)
engine and driveline: another $3000 should have it all in and moving plus ive spent 2500 already.
orig price for ute: $2500