Any Ideas(looking to buy a car and need some $$)?

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So....I'm not going to bore you with this whole long story but I was wanting to make $20,000 for a 67 Pontiac firebird 428 convertible...over the summer.  I thought of different things to do and I finally settled on doing welding projects and selling them.  Right now my two ideas are rolling frames for a buggy, and I'd include all the info needed to finish them, and Trailers, mainly Utility.  Any other Ideas and Do you think 20 grand could be made(i am nuts, and I even doubt this, but I want some more opinions), or even 10 grand?
Reply:428 in a '67 firebird?Tim Beeker.
Reply:To answer your initial question, no.  and as far as welding projects go.  I don;t know your experience level but I am assuming it isn't very high considering what you are asking.  Unless you are willing to shell out several thousand on Liability insurance I would stay away from projects like trailers and buggy frames that could potentially injure someone and end up costing you far more than the $20K you are wanting to make.I'm a Lover, Fighter, Wild horse Rider, and a pretty good welding man......
Reply:As for a 428 in a 67 fbird, It came from the dealer or something, not standard equipment but it's still like a numbers matching car since it's from the dealer.  As for experience, I would trust my life with my welds...but i am not certified at all.  I would have a liability policy in place, but If you think about it people sell things like that that they did for a first welding project and I don't see big law suits over that type of thing.
Reply:the firebird sounds fun.I don't have any suggestions for projects for making that kind of money, heck, I would do it too.Tim Beeker.
Reply:Trailers are hard to make any money on building them from scratch, you wind up with as much money invested in one as anyone is willing to give you for it!Fixing, making changes or additions to a trailer for someone is more money made, less investment.Not sure what you mean by buggy, is it like a sand rail or dune buggy?#1. If you don't like what I wrote, or if it offends you, then don't read it!#2. I am living life the way I see fit, if you don't like the way I'M living, tough sh**!
Reply:Yea, a dune buggy powered by a rice burner.
Reply:try to just start a welding service or something.  don't know where ya live.  but when i'm able to weld aluminum, i was gonna sell dog boxes.  try something more like that, if ya live close to me let me know.
Reply:As stated even with all of the equipment it's tough to build trailers and make a profit to cover what's involved.  I don;t even build trailers for customers anymore unless it is a custom of some sort as most run of the mill trailers can be bought from the mass producers cheaper than most can even buy the materials to build a GOOD trailer.  as far as the buggy frames, I can't comment, but I can;t see you being able to build and sell enough to make $20K profit in a summer.  I know guys that are professionals and been in business for years than can't make $20K profit in the period of one summer.  Especially given the economy as it is.  Lets say that over the summer you are reffering to 3 months.  If you were to charge $40/hr for your serivce, and was able to actually find enough work to keep you busy a 40hr week then you just grossed $1600.  By the time you pay for supplies, equipment, power, taxes etc.....  without putting a pencil to it lets just say for argument sakes  that you will actually profit half of it.  so $800 a week is gonna put you at a grand total of  $9600 at the end of the summer providing you don;t spend any of it during the summer which is highly doubtful.  Here is the other problem.  For you to do what you are wanting to do you are gonna have to have a good bit of operating money.  With the current economy you are gonna have an extremely hard time finding someone to invest that kind of money for you to build a product that isn't even sold yet especially with no more business plan than you have.  Even if you do, you will see no income until they are sold, and you will still be looking at making loan payments for your operating money and holding product that you may or may not can sell fast enough to make the payments. I'm speaking as a business owner there is NO WAY I would stake money on building a product in HOPES that it will sell in today's economy.  I'm not trying to rain on your parade just trying to inform you of what you are in for.  Your best option is for you to hire on with a welding shop somewhere and make the best you can.  That is if you do have the experience and skill set.  However given the amount of layoffs lately that will be a hard one to accomplish as well. Best of luck, and let us know what you decide.I'm a Lover, Fighter, Wild horse Rider, and a pretty good welding man......
Reply:I you want to make some good money, i know it sounds stupid, but women love **** built out of iron. Last summer, i hired a full time guy and all he did was weld up stupid little garden stuff all day long. Sold the stuff at the mall and women went nuts over it. Just my 2 cents worthAaron
Reply:Fishon91, I have to ask, what is your avitar a picture of? (I'm old and my eyes don't work well) Is it a cow?
Reply:it's a hog flipped over and my buddies hands on it after hobbles were put on.ya i see you're only 14 i'm 17 and if i could make 10,000 a year i'd be pretty dam happy.  get yourself a good steady job under the table w/ someone.  i started work at 15, and i'm very glad i did.  you will realize the value of good work, and hard earned money, and soon learn that you want to make SURE you have a good job after school, also how hard it may be to find one.  there's a guy on here that does artwork like belt buckles, trucks , etc...  he may not like me giving him competition, but you might make good money with that.  i also know a guy who builds dog boxes as a second job.  he makes pretty good at that, look into it.
Reply:Ethayer,I don't want to discourage you from your goal but I think your method to get there is not reasonable at this time.You say you would stake your life on your welds, good for you but do you think the rest of the population is willing to stake their life on the welds made by a 14 year old? There are people here a lot older than you (like me) that have been welding three or four times as long as you have been alive that are not willing to weld on things that go down the road. It is like that for a reason, people can die if you make a mistake. In your case it is just flat out impossible for you to have the experience needed to put that type of responsibility on your welds.You say you would have an insurance policy in place. I seriously doubt if you could even get a policy at your age. If you could it would cost as much as you are looking to make.Your statement about not seeing a lot of law suits over first welding projects shows that you are just not experienced enough to understand the responsibility you would be taking on. You can never make decisions based on the "It probably won't happen to me" line of thinking. If you think like that, it probably WILL happen to you.For a 14 year old to make $20,000 in an entire year would be quite impressive. I think you would have better luck making ornamental items or look for a way completely out of welding to get the cash you want. I would be a lot more inclined to buy yard art made by a 14 year old than to buy a buggy or trailer.Dream big and go for it but make damn sure you do it in a way that is reasonable for your experience level and ALWAYS make sure you have a system in place to protect you and your customers; "Just in case IT happens to you."
Reply:Invest in yourself first...Stay in school, study hard and don't do drugs....
Reply:About the money - It's been summed up well, but I was thinking... You're young enough, if you could somehow start a government, that would make a lot of things possible. FWIW - Offhand, I recall at least two guys who worked hard and saved enough cash to buy brand new cars when in high school. About the car - It's probably a very nice car, but once the engine was changed, "numbers matching" values are out the window. But if the 428 is indeed a documented high-performance install, done when new, by a well known Pontiac dealership, the mod could actually add to the car's value.You're 14 right? You have time, how about building your own Firebird?Good Luck