Donor kit Vs Complete Kit

[Jstanding]

I know this may be opening pandoras box but............ What is everyones opinion on the donor car VS the complete kit. After years of saving it is coming close to time to pull the trigger.

[6t8dart]

It depends how much pre-build work you want to do. You can build a donor kit for less, but you will spend a lot of time hunting parts and looking for deals. The complete kit gives you all the stuff, but it's chosen for you. I like the donor route, I can pick and chose the parts I wanted. Some say it's good, some say it's bad. It's really up to you. If you want to build a rolling go cart in two months, get the complete kit. I waited 6 weeks for one part I really needed, but I'm not in a hurry.

[Kerns BBO]

Take this with a grain of salt; mine will not be delivered until April.

I am doing a non-donor build with the new IRS and a Coyote. I created a spreadsheet to calculate the costs of the base vs. complete kit including the changes and custom options I am planning on using. While the 50/50 sale is going on I found I could save approx $2000 in the long run by going with the base kit and outsourcing items such as the fuel tank, spindles, parking brake, etc. Items such as the Wilwood pedal box, lower a arms, wiring harness, gauges, etc were half off and saved on the total cost. If the sale was not going on the complete kit would have been a better option. All that being said, I may find other parts which do not come with the base kit and spend more money with my route; time will tell.

[edwardb]

This is discussed a lot. Check both forums and you will find multiple threads on the topic. If you can find a decent donor (not that easy any more) and are willing to live with the parts you can harvest from it and willing to spend the rehab time, a donor build is probably the lowest price build. Many have done it successfully. Others have ended up using far fewer parts than expected. But one point of clarification. A base kit doesn't necessarily mean a donor build. I've done two new builds from base kits.

[6t8dart]

It depends how much pre-build work you want to do. You can build a donor kit for less, but you will spend a lot of time hunting parts and looking for deals. The complete kit gives you all the stuff, but it's chosen for you. I like the donor route, I can pick and chose the parts I wanted. Some say it's good, some say it's bad. It's really up to you. If you want to build a rolling go cart in two months, get the complete kit. I waited 6 weeks for one part I really needed, but I'm not in a hurry.

I forgot to mention, I got one of the $9900 deals during the 20th aniversary sale last year, getting a sale price on the car or options makes a big difference.

[alaaelsheikh]

I went with the base kit - non donor, before I built the car my early calculations were gonna put me at 28k without paint or body work.
Well I don't mind the base kit at all and I have gotten really good deals on a lot of parts from the other forum and I also get dealership prices for parts from Napa yet I'm at 27k right now �� And I still need gauges, transmission, driveline, flywheel, bell housing, distributor, ignition box, carburetor, waterpump, alternator, harmonic balancer and pulleys for that stuff. Obviously I'm way above my budget and that's only the things I think I'm missing, maybe more. I think a complete kit will save you money on the long run but in my case I didn't have the extra money to get the complete kit I don't regret it, it was a lot of fun researching and checking the forums every time I use my phone to look for deals in the classified section. Anyways good luck on your decision and welcome to the team!

[CraigS]

I went with the base kit - non donor, before I built the car my early calculations were gonna put me at 28k without paint or body work.
Well I don't mind the base kit at all and I have gotten really good deals on a lot of parts from the other forum and I also get dealership prices for parts from Napa yet I'm at 27k right now �� And I still need gauges, transmission, driveline, flywheel, bell housing, distributor, ignition box, carburetor, waterpump, alternator, harmonic balancer and pulleys for that stuff. Obviously I'm way above my budget and that's only the things I think I'm missing, maybe more. I think a complete kit will save you money on the long run but in my case I didn't have the extra money to get the complete kit I don't regret it, it was a lot of fun researching and checking the forums every time I use my phone to look for deals in the classified section. Anyways good luck on your decision and welcome to the team!

This is an excellent answer.

[chopthebass]

Depends on your skill level too. I have asked so many questions because a lot of the build tasks I have never tackled before. So for me, a complete kit made my build easier.

[cgundermann]

I went with the base kit and a non-donor build. Almost everything is new and only the rear axle, front discs and pedal box are refurbished. Initially I was going the donor route, but changed as I got into it. Personally, I feel I would have saved money if I would have gone the complete kit, but - would not have had the flexibility in choosing or upgrading the various components included in the complete kit. Less hunting and searching with the complete kit; it truly depends upon the scope, predicted budget and specificity of your unique build. Base kit with a sound donor is the most affordable...complete kit and changing some of the kit's components adds up and you have to sell off what you choose to change...

[Jstanding]

what exactly would i need from a donor mustang to maximize the value of going that way?

[alaaelsheikh]

You can probably use the engine, transmission, harness, front lower control arms (they're pretty strong), rear end, rear upper and lower control arms. I would go with a new fuel tank depending on the condition, maybe a new radiator to play it safe. All the rest is small things and that will save you a lot of money

[John Dol]

My $0.02
If you want to build in a hurry and the money does not matter, get the complete kit.
If you have time, like to browse for parts etc get the base kit.
As mentioned before donor or not is a separate discussion.
I went the donor way and looked for a well optioned fox body.
Key things outside of good running gear:
Upgraded parts
5 lug front and rear
I sold my un needed donor parts for more money then I paid for the complete car. So drive train, rear axle, breaks etc where free!
Of course I made the mistake of hanging around here too much and upgraded a bunch of stuff. I still believe you can build a car for less then $30 that way.
Good luck

John

[skullandbones]

I went with a donor pallet and basic kit but that would be very unlikely now. I still might go with the basic kit but it would be new and/or very good conditioned components. I like to call it "cherry picking for parts". New parts does not mean well built or bullet proof. Use what best suits the use of the car. If you plan on tracking or aggressive straight line launches you better plan on using parts that will fit the need. For example, if you have over 400 hp at the flywheel, a T5 is probably a bad choice. If I was doing it again, I would have built with a 9 inch diff. BTW: I have almost no original donor parts left in my roadster. Now I have to think hard what still is from that donor pallet. You might actually save some money in the long run by not doing a single donor. Single donor could be the cheapest if strictly followed but that's the problem. If you don't change your mind in mid stream after seeing the parts compared to something else, you might see a great variation on the forum that catches your eye (usually more expensive) e.g. 4x4 headers when you originally were going with J pipes.

Good luck on your decision,

WEK.

[Jeff Kleiner]

I've built both. It really comes down to how closely you plan to stick to the "recipe" and whether your priority is weighted more to time and convenience or dollars and cents. If you don't stray too far into upgrade land leaving many of it's standard parts unused the complete kit makes a lot of sense. With the complete all of the parts WILL work together right out of the box. What I mean by that is over the years we've seen lots of guys waste time &/or money on what they thought was great deal only to discover that the parts they found do not work together or with the chassis. When FFR says "complete" they really mean it; all the way down to some of the small and simple stuff such as horns, starter solenoid, hoses & clamps. As has been mentioned sometimes the hunt is part of the fun if you have the time and knowledge about what you're shopping for but just to keep apples to apples remember, when you're looking at sourcing parts and components elsewhere be sure to factor in shipping charges &/or the cost of your fuel to chase around town getting them. The time involved to do so is a non-issue when building for yourself but is something I have had to consider when I'm building for a customer and in that situation the scales definitely tip in favor of the complete kit. When you take it all in the overall end cost differential is pretty minimal. Now, if you want to talk base kit + donor we're into an entirely different conversation...

Cheers.
Jeff