I am making a binder for all of the things I do with my bird. When i bought the car I got an envelope full of reciepts but no real info on why or what the parts are for. The reciepts from the 80's were hand written and used only part numbers. Kinda hard to look at and understand.

Since I have gotten the car I am working on a binder that has sections. So far I have a PHS docs tab, old receipts tab (one day I will catalog them all), new receipts tab, tech notes tab for rear end numbers, cam #, part numbers on consumables (filters, belts, oil changes, gaskets) and thinking of making a journal area from things noted about the car, be it issues that arise, or things done to it that may not have reciepts (like added ground lead, or prepped and painted trunk area.)

I did this with my 99 F-150 when I got it new and it was nice to be able to look back and see exactly when I did brakes or something. But it was a notebook with just date, mileage, work done, parts used ect...but it was all hand written.

Has anyone made a template for excel to be able to log info about work done. I thought it might be neat to have pages for work done, replaced parts log, receipt logs, work logs, reason why work was done, end result, ect

How have you all documented what you have done. I am trying to stay electronic (excel) so the binder can be updated as the years go buy, with hard copies of all for longevity

I have a large box of receipts. I don't want to go through them though, cuz I might find out how much I have spent.

What you describe sounds like a great idea though. Just keep your wife out of your excel files...

That was the first thought I had...password protect the "Costs" page!

I found some software that tracks all this, but hoping to find an avid FGF owner with OCD that may have created there own spreadsheet

I created a budget template in excel and then actual costs. I tracked it until I went over the budget amount.... now I have a stack of receipts that I dont want to tally up. Maybe in a few years I'll want to know what I spent... but not now.
Craig is right... dont let the wife see it. Making an excel file just makes it easier for someone to find.

I've never tried it but this looks good:

http://www.lonewolf-software.com/automotivewolf.htm

On more features, it says it can convert to Excel and other programs.

I keep my cost info in Excel and a running journal of my work progress (and other things that impact progress) in a Word document.

If you really want to get involved, I suppose you could use Microsoft Projects. We use it for construction.

I created a simple excel sheet back when we first bought the car. What I did was created a column for vendor name, part #, price, date of purchase. Then I used the same spreadsheet as a way to break up parts that I needed and put them into groups by project type. Once the parts were purchased I would "cut" those rows and "paste" them up top with the other already completed/purchased projects/parts.

I had the spreadhseet set up to automatically calculate the totals so I would know what the next project was going to cost etc.

I can remember my wife and I going through the Ames catalog and we would color code projects with different color highlighters. Then we would enter in all the projects into the spreadsheet.

Then, we would calculate and project when we would be able to make our next purchase based on pay dates etc. And I know I have told this story before about my wife working FIVE part time jobs simutaneously so we could move forward with our "projects".

Looking back I wouldn't do another project without having the funds/budget to complete the car from begining to end. We went through too many tough times during our nine years of owning our car and seeing our car sit at times only made things tougher.

I feel fortunate to have a spouse so dedicated to making my hobby/dream hers as well. I feel as though we are closer now than ever to actually completing our car and hopefully I'll have enough time with whats left of my vision to see it through (pun intended)!

MS Projects is more a scheduling program, altho you can add budgets and tracking to a task, it's a bit finicky to play with and laborious to set up.

I did a simple ledger in excel, with different tabs for CI, Ames, the local auto parts place etc...not very pretty at present, but at least I was able to tally my receipts.

I guess I am thinking of a ledger and a diary....

Ledger to be able to track suppliers, part numbers, descripton, price and what I spent, and a diary/journal to explain why the service was done and if anything was noteworthy about the procedure.

I say note worthy because once I was changing brakes on a 92 Cadillac STS, it took me an hour to figure out the caliper bolts were reverse threaded....DOH. Man I cussed and cussed trying to take them off, then my mom walks out and in a MOM voice says "Are ya sure your going the right direction?", "Duh mom, of course I am (flip the socket wrench lever the other way)see, righty tighty lefty loosey, I am going to the right right now"...bam...it loosens up.!!! Dumb GM designers, make me look 'tupid in front of ma.

Whats nice about tracking the parts and where you bought them is so later on down the road you can look up and see when it was you replaced a part etc.

I don't know how many times I've looked at a part and thought that it was recently replaced etc. then I look it up and realize it had been much longer than I had thought.

What's really crazy is the fact that I am now begining to replace parts that I have already replaced! Pefect example is my door handles. Thought I bought them a year or two ago, look it up and turns out I bought them 7 years ago. Now they have tiny pitts in them and need to be replaced. I sent an E-m to Ames and explained, they told me to put them in a box send them back and they will replace them. Have yet to do so because I realized after I complained that it was 7 years ago not two! Rut row!

time flys!!!

thats why I am wanting to create something permanent

I had a cost and task tracking sheet in Excel. My hard drive crashed and it took the files with it. But the set up was similar to what you’re looking for. I had a tab for each system listed in the service manual such as Engine, heating, cooling, brakes, etc. On each page there were column headings for repairs, maintenance, and upgrades. Under those columns were sub columns such as issue symptoms, issue cause, issue repair notes, part numbers, and repair costs. On the last tab all the costs were auto filled from the previous tabs so that I could see total costs by repairs, maintenance, and upgrades.

I even inserted pictures of the steps I took to do repairs or maintenance so I would remember how things looked when I was performing the repair or maintenance.

The sheets are not hard to build, should take about 30 minutes to create if your familiar with excel.

I am not real good with excel, I think that is my problem!

I may have some time next weekend to put a basic version together. I'll send it to you to when I complete it.

Thanks...I have been toying with it but am not getting it formatted on screen like in my head!

Okay. Send me a PM with what you think it should include, and I'll see what I can do.