When I was starting getting into Model Ts I didn't have much more than $1000 I could scrape up. A more experienced person shared the Coffee Can Principle . Namely, set aside money until you have enough to buy a well cared for Model T, rather than get something "cheap" and spend 4x as much. I agree with the idea that buying a nice well cared for Model T is a great way to start, but I think there are advantages to building your first Model T with parts. First and foremost when I did build my own car I understood how it operated and was not afraid to work on my car. (My first Model T was a 1926 Touring. I purchased the rolling chassis and engine for $600 and got the rusted out body from a farmer donated... Other parts set me back a few hundred. This challenge is inspired by that.)
Personal Contest Rules
- Cost- Spend as little as possible. Ideally start with less than $1000 for all major parts of car including: engine, frame, body. Other parts can be added over time as desired/needed. ("Consumables" not included in the cost can include tires, coils, upholstery, elbow grease, etc.)
- Added Restrictions- Buy at market value. I want to limit most of my purchases to online to keep things at "market value." Because this is a personal challenge and the fact that I have friends with piles of parts that may just give me deals because i'm a nice guy (or not) and or trades. Also I want people new to the hobby to see that getting started in the hobby is really accessible.
- Start with a engine. A qualifying car needs a running engine. So this is a great place to start. Time can be spent here working on the engine until it is ready to be used. Of course this requires getting a good set of coils...
- Model year correct? As much as possible keep it period correct- ideally with parts from the same year especially body and engine. But it is okay to have variations with the thought you could always swap out the front/rear axle in the future.
- Horse trading? Some parts may be purchased in a lot and parts out of the lot may be sold to keep the overall price down. But for this challenge it should be keep to a minimum.
- Additional Challenges? Perhaps that the car is a brass era car?
- Elbow grease is free.
Matt
Update:
$100 Engine purchased (8/31/20)
$500 (plus $100 for delivery) Express body purchased (12/5/20)
$300 left to spend
(I have always thought removing all the pistons allows the engine to turn nicely 
)
So I started buying all the piles of T parts I could find. or anything old car related, I thought I could make a little profit on. I would take the best parts to use on my car and then trade or sell the rest at the swap meets (usually at a pretty good profit). Over a period of about three years I had built a very nice 1922 T that would take 1st or second in almost all the shows I took it to. I figured that I had built that first car for free and made about 1500.00 profit on the parts that I sold. I now have about 40 years of collecting and buying thru the years. I have also never used a penny of "family" money for my old car hobby. It is a "self funding" operation. I have 4 cars and a tractor conversion, and a huge collection of parts and memorabilia that has been paid for by buying and selling. Everything "old car related" I own is "free and clear" paid for by the hobby itself. Now I am not counting anything for time and labor, because it is what I like to do. Now that I'm old and slow, I do not buy much anymore, but I also have tons of parts left over from all the years of buying big hoards. Those parts should be able to keep funding my remaining years of "hobby work" till Im too old to keep at it. Then we will have a "hell of a sale" This is not really what you were asking about, but it is an alternate way to be able to fund an old car addiction ...
Note "special commercial fenders" were only $3.75 (including war tax).
How will they know? Banks need to report deposits over a certain amount, when the buyer goes to re-title it (but he'd want a document with a lower value to avoid reduce licenses fees)