Sounds like you really need to speak with some builders, otherwise you won't really be happy with the car you end up with.
It would cost more to build here in Australia, but if you get it built overseas you're paying much higher duties and taxes on the higher value car as it comes into the country.
The overseas builders wouldn't be as knowledgeable about local registration requirements either so may run into unexpected issues when it comes to the inspection in Australia. The car would be built with the engineer being involved from the planning phase down here.
Yeah this is exactly the quandry that I'm in. Aus build should enable better chance of compliance, lower charges when being imported, but on the flipside labour by the hour is so damned expensive and whilst the talent and experience in the cars is high, could it be as high (plus easy access to many more vendors of parts) as some of the builders in the US? Alternatively what does a US builder need to know about compliance? Install three point seat belts, ensure the steering wheel is on the correct side, have provision for a catalytic conerter (even if one isn't actually installed), ensure the indicators have an amber section (not red or clear), ensure chassis and suspension members are either stock or if retro fitted engineered to massive extremes to ensure no certifier would have a leg to stand on to say the structure is too weak?
All the while, the Australia dollar is currently sitting at the low 70's, making every dollar I would spend in the US about 1.30 AUD.
When I sit down and think about the budget more, I think it can't possibly be any more than something like the following:
USD Costs:
10K: Coyote 5.0 engine, ECU, Harness, Heeaders.
5K: Independent Front suspension cross member, 13 inch brakes.
8K: Independent rear suspension setup like Roadster Shop or Heidts Pro G, or even something second hand from an 03/04 cobra which gets retro fitted, including 3.70 9 inch diff and 13 inch brakes.
5K: Additional strengthening and bracing, perhaps some new panels or chassis members.
5K: Any new additional guards or fenders or other body panels needed.
10K: Dress up, upholstery, glass, dash, etc etc.
10K: Subsidiary items like electrical system, exhaust, lighting etc.
5K: Wheels and tires, custom hood or any other body kit items.
Let's say a total of 60K USD all up for all the necessary parts.
Then 10K USD for junker donor car, so that's 70K USD for all the bits and pieces thrown in the one container and shipped to Aus.
Converted to AUD that's 100K, plus perhaps duty at 5% and GST at 10%, plus other handling and delivery charges so once all the stuff is on the doorstep of the Aus builder it would be about 120K AUD.
Then from there I would say the builder is only going to need some ancillary items, consumables, paint etc. Perhaps anything missing that needs to be done for compliance etc adds another 5K AUD in bits and pieces.
So we would be looking at about 125K AUD in total for all parts. From there it is just a labour cost. How many hours and what's the chargable rate that it would take to get it done? I am really at a loss to understand what it would be. 1000 man hours maybe? Assuming you had a team of four guys going hell for leather on the build, and this was the only thing those four guys worked on during that time, that would be 250 hours each or roughly six weeks. I don't need any custom sheet metal work. I'm not dropping the roofline or retrofitting a GT tail onto a convertible body. I'm not pumping the gaurds. It really would only be a strip down of the donor, cleaning, and rebuilding if not all of the car. Would it take a team of four guys six weeks to do, full time? I guess so?
And what would the chargeable labour rate be in Australia? 70 bucks an hour? This would mean about 70K AUD in labour.
Therefore after some rough numbers I could foresee this costing a good 200K AUD if done in Australia. I am not saying that is bad or wrong, or that the alternative cost say getting it done in US or Philippines would be any cheaper, but at these kinds of numbers I think I would be starting to reconsider my motives. At 200K AUD, like 67FBGT suggested, I could just as easily get the latest mustang very well optioned costing 100k AUD driveaway, let it depreciate and in five years when I'm sick of it and the new model is out just sell it, accept the depreciation and buy the latest model at that time. Then 5 or so years after that still do the same thing over again and I would still have probably spent less than 200K AUD on cars through the next 20 years, and owned probably 2 or three generations of latest mustang in that time.
How does the "build it in US" scenario look? All the parts cost would be the same at 70K USD. Then some cheap southern labour in Texas or the like might be say, 40 USD an hour, so that's 40,000 USD. The finished car then gets containered and sent to Aus for 5K. When it hits Australian shores at say 50K AUD declared value, I'll get slugged with probably 10K of taxes and charges. Landed cost is then 165K AUD, and then there will surely be compliance problems and issues to contend with which could perhaps be another 10K from a local provider. And keep in mind this is all the while assuming I can get US labour at 40 USD an hour and its only going to take 4 blokes six weeks to build. That said, it is still going to be a 175K AUD proposition, and with the amount of unknown, where is the value in the stress as compared to just getting it done in Aus for 200K AUD? Sure 25K is 25K but I am sure I would probably go to US a few times in that period and chew up that sort of coin.
On the Philippines angle, I have been working through some costs and I think its going to be a good 140K USD once it is all said and done, and there are also concerns on a modern coyote powertrain getting compliance, so it would revert to a bog standard iron windsor with points/distributor so I lose my dream of the modern coyote powerplant. At 140K USD thats 190K AUD and with delivery, LCT etc thats again going to be a 20 to 30K AUD problem so this is busting the 200K AUD mark already.
So as you can see I am trying my best to work through the scenarios and understand which way to go. What I really need to understand is how many man hours and the chargeable rate these sorts of projects would take. It would be great if some good builders in Aus would be able to help discuss and work through the project on paper, because only then will I understand what I am facing.
I reckon if I can keep the project to 150K AUD or less I think I will still go ahead with it. If it is going to start touching 170, 180, 190, 200K AUD, I think that is when I am going to start losing interest and just tell myself this game is not for me and I should just stick to modern off the shelf cars.
Thank you for your comment Dwayne. It helped spark my thought process!
