Full 3 Years in 50 Minutes: How Much Does It Cost to Build a Homemade Car in the Garage?

Here's the full story about our crazy project. One day we decided to cross a brand new Bugatti Chiron with an old retro Volga. That is why the project was named Volgati. Today we will run through all the stages of the construction of the Volga, lay all the cards on the table and calculate how much money was spent on its construction over three long years. I'll share a lot of interesting facts that I haven't talked about and of course the first drive in the city. Enjoy watching. The first episode about building the Volgati was released on June 18th 2021 but work on this episode started about a month earlier in May 2021. It all started when I came across this funny render online. This is a 4x12 Moskvich crossed with an older model of Bugatti, the Bugatti Veyron. So just imagine, we initially planned to build exactly this model, this very symbiosis. At that time we didn't have much experience or understanding of how to do it, but we had the hands, the knowledge and a huge desire. And as it turned out after three years that was more than enough. We didn't really have much money for this adventure either. That's why we initially chose the Ford Proba as the donor car, which we bought in a disassembled state for a modest $100. These were the first expenses for the project. At that time my friend Valera, known to many as Valeri got involved in the project. So it was only after buying the Ford Proba that we started discussing other combination options. In Photoshop, in the most primitive way, we sketched out a couple of options and seriously wanted to create a symbiosis of the 24 Volga and the Bugatti Chiron. And only then did the idea come to use the Gaz 21, Volga for the front part. It seems like an obvious solution but it only seems that way now. We had to come to this... Fortunately we settled on this option. Jumping ahead three years I can say that this was truly the perfect choice and in the end it's a project we are very proud of. By that time we found the cheapest Volga donor and bought this wreck for $400. Even then I understood that 90% of this car would end up as scrap metal but it was still easier and cheaper than searching for all the parts separately. Jumping ahead I can say that from this donor not even a single bolt or even a gram is left. It seemed like everything was clear with the design but in reality even at that time we hadn't made a final decision and we had two options. Here they are. One option had a roof from the Volga somewhat reminiscent of Porsche's design and the second option had a roof from Bugatti which is the one we settled on. By the way I'm really interested in your opinion. What do you think about the other option with the roof from the Volga? Make sure to write in the comments. By that time we had fitted the front end from the Volga onto the Ford body and it seemed like half of the project was ready. If someone had told me then that it would take 3.5 years and how much it would cost I wouldn't have believed it. And if I had believed it I definitely would have shut down the project. But we still don't know about that and boldly continue working on the model of the rear part of the Bugatti. And however absurd it may sound the Bugatti was the cheapest purchase of the entire project. I'm talking about the file that cost us $25. Well after that it was a long long process of milling the foam. At this point we had been working on the project for two months and during this time the expenses for renting the space and labor amounted to $4,600. The calculation here is quite simple and rough. Throughout the three years the project was handled by one and a half specialists meaning one person dedicated all their time to the project while someone else helped as needed. This also includes the amount for renting the workshop. The workshops changed a couple of times during this period and I calculated the average cost over the years. Yes it's a rough estimate but it's very close to the truth. I didn't include the payment for the operator and the editor. So the monthly expenses amounted to $2,300 on the foam body from which we could remove the mold. The cost for this foam and other supplies amounted to $350. The next step was to buy a barrel of resin, a couple of rolls of fiberglass and start making the matrix. We spent $450 on materials for making the mold. Upon completing this work we settled another bill of $4,600 for two months of work. We now have half a Bugatti to take to another workshop and for this we will need about the same amount of resin and fiberglass which adds up to another $450 but in the end we have half a Bugatti which we take to another workshop. By that time we had already begun to suspect that the donor in the form of a front wheel drive Ford was not entirely satisfactory to us. So we firmly decided that this would be a serious project that we would see through to the end with perfect execution. We made the decision to use the old donor just as a stand for our body panels while simultaneously looking for a worthy candidate as a new donor and we wouldn't deal with the Ford at all from a technical standpoint. And that's exactly what was done. Well then came the long months of making, We cut it out of foam in the same way, removed the mold and rolled it out as a solid piece after which we connected it to the main body. Here everything is relatively simple. But the spoiler which needs to lift and change its position took some effort. Initially we made it out of fiberglass and it was a solid piece with the rear bumper. At that point we were determined not to cut corners and to make it as similar to the original Bugatti spoiler as possible. From the video online we studied its working principle and came up with a way to implement it. For this we used linear actuators and it took just a month to implement this unit. But in the end we ended up with a truly functional version that can easily cut corners and to make it as factory-like as possible with sealing rubbers, drainage channels, clever hinges and of course locks. At this point we hadn't seen any significant expenses on spare parts. A total of 350 dollars for the actuators and hinges. But for six months of work and rent we had to pay $13,800 plus $350 for materials for painting, primers, preparation and so on. By that time we already had almost all the body panels that needed to be fitted to the final donor which still did not exist. As a result an advert for the sale of a wrecked BMW 6 Series E63 popped up at just the right time which suited us perfectly since the price was significantly lower and we didn't need an ideal body since there would be little left of it. But the car wouldn't start and it was a bit of a gamble. In the end we paid $3,500 for the car but we had to pay extra for the gamble. The engine needed to be replaced plus the bodywork plus a month of our guy's labor added up to another $3,800. In the end we got a decent donor but we didn't really save much. After we restored and assembled the car the next step is to start taking it apart. Without holding back we saw cut and remove excess material, welding some parts and panels it became clear what the power frame should look like. Sanya took on its production. the elements that had been adjusted once again. Next we primed the safety frame and do something like a trial assembly in order to try on and adjust the chrome parts that were found on sale for a modest $400. Yes that's really a modest price since similar parts in perfect condition cost 10 times more but restoring them will cost us about the same. At that time I had no idea about that. By that point another three months had passed and we received another bill for $6,900. I also suggest we remember the main elements that took a lot of effort time and money to make. One of them is the rear lights. First we cut out a master model from wood. Since we need to have hollow lights inside we make two master models for each light. In the end we made four parts which Andrey has been refining and fitting for many many days. In the end we got perfect blanks from which we need to make silicone molds. here either. In the end we had to create a whole system of molds in order to make other molds but this time out of silicone. And only then put together the right combination and cast a shape like this. But that's not all. These two lanterns are originally connected by a central element that functions as a marker light. And since there's such a thing in the original we need to have it too. The procedure here is approximately the same. First a master model made of wood then a mold a handful of carbon a week of Andrey's time and we have this result. The total cost for all the materials to make the lanterns was $340. This is silicone, casting material, molds and carbon. Here's another interesting fact. There's this channel JD Project. The author creates cool projects from car models. And he didn't overlook our Volgati. Apparently it's located somewhere in the states. And there's a shortage of models for the 21st Volga. And instead he took an old Chevrolet that looks very much like a Volga. And he made this beauty. He mentioned us and delighted the viewers. And we in turn are talking about him and leaving a link to the channel in this video. Make sure to stop by. The next challenging element is the aluminum decorative exhaust piece which is originally attached to the bumper. Oleg, our subscriber, really helped us a lot with this task. His workshop is called Oleg's Customs and he is truly an amazing craftsman. Of course I'll leave a link to him in the description. And he left us this thing which looks very much like the original. And by the way he didn't charge us for it. So the budget remains unchanged for the first time. Next came months of work that wasn't particularly noticeable but was still necessary. This involves fitting the gaps, merging BMW panels with Volga overlays, inventing transition plates, hood hinges, adapting Volga handles to BMW locks, priming, puttying, narrowing the door opening, shortening the doors and a thousand and one tasks that went unrecorded. In the end all of this dragged on for about a year which amounts to $27,600 for labor and rent plus $3,250 for various consumables and materials over the year for racing. These are not made up numbers but only what was recorded and for ourselves again and create a simple mechanism. It's similar to the Rolls-Royce mechanism but in our case it will be a deer that hides and comes out which originally stands on the Volga. Sasha Makarski really helped us with this idea and he didn't charge us for it. We only had to spend on consumables which came to $120. And in the end we have this beauty. We also installed a touch sensor so our deer reacts to touches while in park mode. And then it hides right away. Something like a vandal proof system. And here it is. Seemingly a nearly finished car. We just need to finish up the little details and paint it. That's basically it. But to do this properly we'll need to spend another year. You might ask what could take a year here? Have a seat I'll explain now. The thing is most of the parts were shaped and refined on site and over time for example the wings accumulated dozens of kilograms of filler essentially turning them into sculptures rather than body elements. Of course we are not satisfied with that and now that the mold is ready we're taking a cast from it to make new lightweight properly shaped wings. It's the same scheme here. We applied the primer then the separator fiberglass mat and in a couple of days we'll remove the finished new molds. And a couple of days later we take out brand new properly shaped wings from these molds and write up an estimate of $120 for the materials. And we have one more preliminary assembly and fitting. All of this was for a new windshield that was custom made a thousand kilometers away from us. In the end we had to replace all the windows around and considering all the modifications trials and errors this pleasure cost us $1500. Next we got to work on the technical stuff. We're modifying the fuel filler neck and relocating the line since we've significantly changed its position. This also involved some serious modifications and this work dragged on for a week. For the next week Sanja worked on the cooling system as it was decided to move the radiator from under the hood where it was originally placed by BMW to the back where the radiators are located in a Bugatti. It's not the easiest task. A lot of custom solutions, aluminum welding, a new line, homemade housings, additional fans and in the end it took another two weeks of work totaling $600 for materials and parts including the filler neck. We're cutting the grills ourselves from plastic and we have this intermediate result. After all the lines are designed and laid out we're finishing up the missing body panels, mounts, platforms and bases. We cut the grills ourselves from plastic and have this intermediate result. After all the lines are designed and laid out we're finishing up the missing body panels, mounts, platforms and bases. And after another two weeks we work on the suspension. Here too not everything is so simple and we had to order a custom air suspension since all the existing options did not suit us. The installation itself did not take much time as the guys from the pneumatic workshop did everything clearly. Definitely a thumbs up for their work, I highly recommend them. In the finale we're labeling the tank on our new toy. This is a marker from Watson, a really cool thing. I'll leave a link to its review in the description. In the end this whole system works like this, it's just a dream. But for this pleasure we had to pay about $3,000 just for the suspension. Next we had to fork out some cash for wheels. The thing is, no standard wheels fit us because the offset of the rear wheels is very large so we had to order them in custom sizes. In the end, for $4,000 we got these gorgeous wide wheels from Power Wheels and then we spent another $1,000 on tires so now we have this beauty. The next stage is one of the most anticipated moments. Pasting the rear of the Bugatti. This is a very symbolic stage because up until this point it didn't feel like a single cohesive car, it was perceived as two separate halves. After the gluing there's another week of fitting, fine tuning and aligning. Of course materials, consumables and tools were purchased for all this work. It's really hard to read and keep track of that the figures I am voicing were recorded in the expense accounting and it's hard to even imagine how much was not taken into account over the course of three and a half years. Next we started fitting the chrome parts which didn't fit perfectly due to years of use. It took weeks to adjust and refine them before sending them for re-chroming. The bill for this operation was $3,500. In the end it took a couple of weeks to fit, redo and refine them after which we packed them up and sent them for re-chroming, a real galvanic chrome plating. In the end we received a bill for this operation amounting to $3,500. Yes, it's just for the re-chroming of the parts, not including their cost but to be honest it was worth it. The quality turned out to be impeccable. I already found out that I could have bought ready restored parts and their cost would have been cheaper than the restoration and re-chroming have a preliminary assembly. We're throwing on the expensive chrome and getting ready to assess the result but as you remember most valuable and expensive thing is the time of the specialists, the really skilled pros and if we put that into numbers that's an additional $2,700 for nine months including rent, for nine months including rent, for nine months including rent and we have this beauty which we thought just needed to be painted. It was at this moment in August that we discussed the further plan with Andrei and figured that we needed another month to prepare for painting but in reality it took another four months. The thing is every millimeter of the car needed fine tuning as many additional elements and fasteners were invented and created along the way. All the gaps were adjusted to one size, seals were selected and the air intake grilles were redone dozens of times until they fit perfectly and many more items that I can't even remember rough estimate of the expenses but it's very close to reality. Considering the hundreds of small purchases, consumables and unexpected expenses the actual figure will definitely be higher than what you see on the screen. You can also verify the accuracy of my calculations based on all the published episodes. The first one was released 3.5 years ago and all this time work has really been done on the car and we finally reached the final painting so let's enjoy this sketch. We were really lucky with the painting and it didn't cost us much at all. The paints and varnishes were provided by the guys from Arsabai, our friends who sell great materials. Of course we'll leave the link. And the paint booth was kindly provided by Dennis Avtobogov. By the way he also polished the car completely for free. We'll also leave his Instagram but over the past four months there have been many additional expenses which are noted in the And the payment for specialists and rent amounted to $9,200 over the last four months. And this long story about the expenses has come to an end. I thought so.