The Price of Restoration

[ct71rr]

Interesting video, I can’t say that I disagree with much of what he says. This is becoming a very expensive hobby- maybe it has always been

 

[chargervert]

In the eighties I could "restore" a Mopar for between 10k and 20k,and that included buying the car. There wasn't all the shiny aftermarket trinkets,or sheetmetal to do them correctly. You used patch panels,and sometimes you had to hand make them. You reconditioned your parts to the best of your ability. Catalog restorations were something only Mustang and Camaro owners had the luxury of doing. There was resentment amongst us Mopar guys that they could buy lots of nice new pieces while we straightened and polished pitted up parts. Now a days it has gotten so expensive to restore these cars,that it is hard to justify restoring anything with less pedigree than an original Hemi car!

 

[1 Wild R/T]

Back in 95 I spent nearly twenty grand buying & restoring this derelict... These days I'd be lucky to get it done for 100K....

 

[Runcharger]

Yes: I had $20k into this one of 99 in the late 80's. Back then you could scavenge parts off of a Satellite to make it whole. Today if you restore a car you expect to make it better than new. It was fun going to the dealer and ordering new gas tank, exhaust tips and door handles.

 

[chargervert]

I talked my friend into selling off his project cars and buying done cars. It is way more cost effective to buy them done when you have to pay people to restore them. I recently started taking my own advice,and selling off some of my project cars,and buying running driving cars I can drive now. I have also lowered the bar on the level of restoration I want to build my cars to. Roadkill has inspired me to want to just make them run and drive!

 

[68BabyBlue]

My current GTX was taken off the road in 1973, and restored with NOS parts in 1981. Twenty years later it was freshened further. If I had the original boxes and labels for the parts, they would probably be worth more than I paid for the car two years ago. When I bought Baby Blue the first time, in 1983, the value of the installed NOS parts already exceeded what I paid for the car. Still had the boxes in the trunk. Finished car was cheaper, even back then.

 

[WileE]

Makes some valid points for the most part. His Charger is a really awesome car. Simplified, the idea is, to buy the best ( condition ) car you're able; even if it means one already done, as that may often be the least costly option. It seems unless it's a Hemi/6-bbl/Rare model car, the resto costs grossly outweigh the final value.

 

[chargervert]

Yes: I had $20k into this one of 99 in the late 80's. Back then you could scavenge parts off of a Satellite to make it whole. Today if you restore a car you expect to make it better than new. It was fun going to the dealer and ordering new gas tank, exhaust tips and door handles.

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Imagine a real Hemi GTX could be built for 20k!

 

[chargervert]

Makes some valid points for the most part. His Charger is a really awesome car. Simplified, the idea is, to buy the best ( condition ) car you're able; even if it means one already done, as that may often be the least costly option. It seems unless it's a Hemi/6-bbl/Rare model car, the resto costs grossly outweigh the final value.

Even V code Sixpack/SixBarrel cars are getting hard to justify restoring these days. You might be okay with a matching numbers pedigree E body car. My friend has three L code 440 67 Chargers,and a 66 Hemi Charger,that he cannot justify doing restorations on.

 

[68BabyBlue]

My Ford buddy is still doing builds for fun. It's an artistic itch for him, and he can't help himself. He loses at least 60% whenever he sells one, and that's not counting his personal labor. These are solid drivers. I dread to see how much he'd lose if he tried to make them look good.

 

[chargervert]

My friend picked up a 67 Mustang to flip because it was cheap. He filled his pickup truck with parts for the car at the local swap meet for $150.00. I bought one Mopar trinket for twice that at the same swap meet. My other friend said we are doing this all wrong!

 

[zyzzyx]

It's at the point that you can shop around and buy a car that's restored close enough to perfect and not have to do too
much to get it perfect. Parts are way overly priced! If you add all of your labor hours to the parts total you'll be over
100k. Barn finds are still being uncovered.

 

[Runcharger]

I sprayed my cars myself and a gallon of Centari was around $100 and the colours were dead on. A bit of orange peel matched the factory paint too if you weren't an expert painter.
Nowadays people expect their cars to be of the same quality as assembly line cars from 2025 and that isn't correct. I would never consider trailering a car to a show either even if it was 500 miles from home.
Not sure which is better, things are just different now, no worse, no better. And yes, I have never borrowed money on a hobby car but today if I wanted another HemiCuda I would probably just get a loan for a finished car and pay on it a few years, then sell it when I tired of it.
That's the common sense aproach but there is nothing like the satisfaction of bringing something back from the dead with your own hands. Either way I would never pay a shop to do the work for me, other than engine machining and balancing that is.

 

[SlingLow]

I'm in the 'buy a driver' camp. Total purchase price for these 5 cars was $59,500 in the last 3 years. I drive them all (except the white 63 Fairlane which I sold to buy a 64 Polara vert).

 

[68BabyBlue]

I'm in the 'buy a driver' camp. Total purchase price for these 5 cars was $59,500 in the last 3 years. I drive them all (except the white 63 Fairlane which I sold to buy a 64 Polara vert).
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I was in that camp with my first three GTXs, all well maintained one and two owner daily driven cars. Now cars like that seem impossible to find, they're either full restorations, or needing a lot of expensive work and parts.

 

[Billccm]

I was discussing some resto work that I considered light with a local shop. Basically I wanted a new windshield, vynil top, and maybe a new headliner. He gave me a verbal quote and after I came to he said "every 40 hours is about $7,000". I definitely say buy only finished cars needing nothing.

 

[SlingLow]

I was in that camp with my first three GTXs, all well maintained one and two owner daily driven cars. Now cars like that seem impossible to find, they're either full restorations, or needing a lot of expensive work and parts.

I'm not seeing them at the prices I paid anymore. Everything that runs seems to be $20k and up. The lowest price I paid in that lineup was $9k for the yellow 63 Meteor. I did have the tranny rebuilt and added a 4 barrel intake and carb, and the wheels and tires.

 

[SlingLow]

I was discussing some resto work that I considered light with a local shop. Basically I wanted a new windshield, vynil top, and maybe a new headliner. He gave me a verbal quote and after I came to he said "every 40 hours is about $7,000". I definitely say buy only finished cars needing nothing.

Congrats on your sale on BAT the other day @Billccm !

 

[68BabyBlue]

I'm not seeing them at the prices I paid anymore. Everything that runs seems to be $20k and up. The lowest price I paid in that lineup was $9k for the yellow 63 Meteor. I did have the tranny rebuilt and added a 4 barrel intake and carb, and the wheels and tires.

What a difference a decade makes. I bought Baby Blue for the second time in 2013 for $20K. Daily driven car for 15 years, never restored, new paint and quarter panel rust repair in 1985, new interior by subsequent owner in 1992. Current owner decided to do new paint, he's bumping $50k in the car at this point, but still cheaper than restoring a project.

 

[eldubb440]

he allowed 30 hours to replace what ever sheet metal was on his list............

closer to 200 +/- depending on the car