It took me 600 hours to build my Roadster

[richtersand]

If anyone is curious how long it takes to build one of these things, I have been tracking my hours pretty closely. Link to my time tracker (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15pkcHDoGAEShmHfq4P1-C-4RTAZqZX4Q4H2gAscofLE/edit#gid=0)

It took me ~600 hours to get it on the road. It's not fully graduated yet as I haven't done final paint, but I have my temporary plates and I am tearing up the town! Paint will be outsourced to Miller anyway, so it won't add a lot of hours.

As for my experience before this, I had spent a decent amount of time tinkering with my '68 Corvette. I knew my way around a car and could handle most of the maintenance/upgrade work. But I had never run fuel lines, upgraded suspension, or done any electrical work before.

My biggest surprise? The amount of time spent researching and learning, not working on the car. Any time I started into a new subsystem that I didn't have previous experience with (such as electrical or fuel), I would spend a lot of time on the forum learning from other builders, researching via Google, or talking to vendors. That was a major part of the process. Not my favorite part of the build, but I obviously learned a ton in the process.

If I were to do it again, I bet I could get it done in 450 hours. I would guess that the difference between FFR's estimate of 300 hours and my 450 hours are the deviations from the manual. I upgraded the fuel lines, powder coated all of my panels, added a glovebox, etc.

[CP82AERO]

Thanks for posting this. I'm about half-way(?) through my build and have a log as well. I try to log only touch labor and not my searching the forum, websites of builders or calling on a specific builder that I've gotten to know. I don't know how I could have done this prior to the internet; the assembly manual is indispensable, however, it could benefit from a complete edit from a technical writer, and with more explicit detail to some of the steps. Anyway, thanks for the post!

[Al_C]

This will sound flippant, but my immediate reaction when I saw the subject line was "That's all?"

I'm impressed that you tracked the total hours and interested that you spent a lot of that in research and learning. I agree. I thought I knew what I was doing, when in reality I didn't have a clue. Research and learning were a big part of it for me, too. I have no idea how many hours I spent, but they were hours well spent. So, my final comment is "congratulations on 600 well-spent hours!"

[Traveller]

Wow! That amount and allocation of time looks very similar to mine.

And by "similar" I mean take your 600 hours and add maybe 10 or 15 more.

Then double that...

[NiceGuyEddie]

I spent way over 1,000 with problems and upgrades over the years. This was an early MK3 with a donor.

I bet I could build a MK4 version with the same options in 300 hours or less - granted a turn-key crate motor, pre-bent brake lines, and all new parts.

[BEAR-AvHistory]

Never worked up the hours but my plan was to stay at it till it was done, not getting any younger. Delivered 2/7/14 - Plate "COYOTE NC1965" 3/25/15. Work plan was 2 hours a day & as much as I wanted to do or not do on Saturdays. Some days were missed for life, vacations etc & weather. Liked to work in the Goldilocks zone, so in an unheated/cooled garage some days got canceled.

Found the pace suited me & never got to feel its was an onerous job. Was happy the way it turned out as it was a great experience. Was also happy with the help I got & still get here. Found the project never really ends.

[delta42]

Your time tracker is impressive, thanks for sharing.

[skidd]

Wow!
600 does indeed sound impressively low. But, then I read your time tracker and noticed you let DaBat do your body work. Smart move!! Now, 600 sounds about right to me. I spent 865 man-hours on mine, but that includes me doing the body and paint.
My time tracker. ;)
https://youtu.be/W0cgHytJD38

[richtersand]

I guess it all comes down to expectations! I had 300 hours in my mind from FFR’s marketing materials so I thought 600 was on the slow side…

[BadAsp427]

I built mine to the point of needing paint in about 350 hours. In right at 3 months. I did not do anything overboard with the build. But I can say in the couple of years since I started driving it, I've put more seat time into it than build time. At 14,000 miles it has been a blast for at least 13,000 miles of them. Now that you've got it to a point that you can, enjoy the hell out of it.
168551

[Otee453]

2 years. Lots of custom work. Includes building rear end, full engine build and body/paint.

2 weeks alone just learning the Holley Sniper/Hyperspark system & software. Body/paint was nearly a year but after a gazillion perceived hours of sanding and the psychological terror of spraying, I took a bit of a break… 4 or 5 months doing cut & buff.

Well worth the 2 years but my neglect on some of the household projects will probably keep me busy for twice that long!

168583168584

[GoDadGo]

I quit counting at 1,000 hours, but a lot of things got changed on my Dark Side Build.

https://www.factoryfive.com/whats-new/customer-steve-l-graduates-his-mk4-roadster/

If you go off the Factory Five Reservation, expect a few extra hours sorting things out.

[richtersand]

2 years. Lots of custom work. Includes building rear end, full engine build and body/paint.

168583168584

Wow that is one BAD A$$ Cobra!!!