60FlatTop

There are 10 major panels on a car plus the floor pan and the trunk pan. Figure 4 days per panel @ 8 hour days with a rate of $100 per hour. Then double it for a 50/50 labor to materials cost; $76,800. With a car a 20% contingency fund is advisable; $92,160 if you are farming the whole job out and expect perfection in a timely manner. Create a gantt chart for a 120 schedule. Agree on payment based on percentage completed through a written contract with inspections by a qualified project manager or yourself with all rights to reclaim the vehicle for failure of performance. Stop in for coffee sometime and I will tell you the story of the 28 year Bentley restoration. Option 2; how long will it take you to develop those skills, even if you have to redo some of your work a few times? Bernie Here is an interesting perspective. Most of us old guys are baby boomers at or approaching retirement age. Our average life's earnings for social security can be right around $2,000,000. 40% went to taxes. Did you spend 10% of the net on your hobby and end up with one nice car? Bernie

I still have this image of a sheriff in waders having an argument with a guy in the water with his car. I guess its all in the name of public safety. I did get a smile out of exploring the thought deeper: http://vimeo.com/47089948.

Larry, When do we leave? The asylum cruise was canceled due to thunderstorms or I would have some pictures. The owner seemed quite car friendly. Bernie

Rocky, Dusty, and who could ever forget Happy: Bernie

I have decided to return my 1994 Chevy Impala to the factory aluminum wheels. The Cragars are 1/2 inch different and the tires bump the rear wheelwell lip when I have riders in the back seat. The 5 0n 5 bolt pattern is no longer available and a direct fit is nice to have. The wheels have about 200 miles on them, maybe a little less, chrome covered stems, and Cragar SS logo caps. It was all new and they will be shipped in the original boxes. The price of the wheels (no tires) shipped in the continental US is $950. I can ship outside the US for the extra cost. Here is how they look on the Chevy, imagine them on a boat tail, an E-body, or a first series Riviera: Bernie

I try to get in a three mile walk every day. Traffic and noise in my large village of 10,000 has driven me off to the Erie Canal Trail. This is just begining to change to fall colors: There is a sign that reads "No Motor Vehicles" but the gate is always open. What a nice place to get some pictures this weekend! I searched online to find out what the fine might be. Has anyone every got a ticket for violating that rule? I'd ask the local judge, but it might look premeditated if I end up in front of him. Bernie

I can't imagine not having a spare bilge pump in some cars. Imagine being in the middle of a lake and having the bilge pump fail! Bernie

Us flatlanders on the Great Lakes don't have much for hills to climb. There is one about 30 miles to the south and you can see the whole 30 miles back when you get to the top! A little lake effect snow, maybe next week, always brings to mind the cheerful Yoopers: Bernie

620 is a southern Kansas area code. B

Here is a link to some of the saw tooth headliner information I found on the Packard Information site: http://packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=14373&viewmode=flat&order=ASC&type=&mode=0&start=0 Good pictures and description. I am planning a headliner replacement in both, the '64 Riviera and the Packard. They are quite different. The Riviera has pressed board tack strips over the windshield and at the rear with U-shaped clip retainers on the roof siderail pinchweld. I did the Riviera once before, just a color change this time. If the sawtooth arrangement proves to be a PIA on the Packard I will probably just install tack strips. That might be the way to go on your hardtops. Be careful on this old upholstery work. Breathing the dust and particles can actually cause death. The stuff gets in your warm wet lungs and grows in colonies. Skinned Knuckles Magazine ran an article on pulmonary diseases related to old upholstery once. At least wear a dust mask. There is a two foot diameter sag in the Packard headliner right over the driver's seat. You can feel it has weight. It should be pretty exciting to see what is in there. It will probably look like owl pellets: If that makes doesn't make you want to buy a pack of dust masks nuthin will. Bernie

I know a guy who says "Do as I say, not as I do." The last time I bought a project car the woman at the collector car insurance company said "and you get the mulit-car benefit." There is just no incentive NOT to buy them. I buy them, enjoy learning about the marque, daydream about them, get distracted and sell them. Every decade one sticks. Bernie

I guess it's back its the drawing board with my winter project plans for the Riviera. Bernie

Well, I started in 1959 and seen lots of people come to the junkyard looking for used Ford oil pans to replace their rusted ones. That's the story; Ford's are dry and rust, GM cars leak oil from day one and don't rust so bad. Yesterday I was puttering around with my brand X Packard. I sprayed WD-40 on a paper towel and put a light coat on the metal inside the engine compartment. I do the same thing on my Buicks. Being a GM guy all my life I just figure everything should have a light coat of oil to stop rusting. It is GM's natural protection. Bernie

Here is a link to the product. I am not associated with them in any way: http://www.amazon.com/Automotive-Spray-On-Rubberized-Undercoating-RUS-1020F6/dp/B00B3I2LKA. This is another instance where "professional" application should be avoided. Do it yourself and get a high quality job for less money and no whining and excuses at the end. Bernie

You are probably better off buying a plum bob and making a toe-in gauge. It is an easy front end to set up and you should be able to dial it in yourself. Read the forum for a while and you will see that most of the horror stories start with "My mechanic" or "my garage". I'm pretty sure you will find lots of excuses and $99.95 invoices. And not be happy in the end. Bernie

A couple of white boats: Bernie

[quote name=Marty Roth; Of course my price will likely be unrealistically high due to the quality of the car' date=' but IT NEEDS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING in order to be enjoyed. ...and will likely be lower than these auction specials which frequently have hidden surprises. Same here! I can think of no better reason to put what some might call an unrealistic price on a car. Each of mine has an unpublished price and it would make many stutter. On the daily drive ability of older cars, in general, is a part of the original basis of design. Steering, stopping, reliability, and durability in our cars was the highest of the time. Most accidents I see involve two cars of fairly new vintage. From observation driving a newer car would put one at a greater risk. One-Two shifting lag? Take off in second. Today we will take the '60 Electra over a couple of towns for lunch. Even though it is about twenty years newer than the two auction cars There are people horrified by the drum brakes, single piston master cylinder, and a no list of other things that need to be modified. Of course, I always pay attention to what their car is, if they have one. Bernie

[quote=A couple days later I had the same tube split wide open while in Wolfsboro NH. How old is the tube from the spare? B

Sometimes the stuff is called sound deadener. The first time I did the underside of my Riviera I removed all of it with a dull putty knife and a heat gun. Then I painted the underside with urethane satin black. Once it was back together I realized the value of the sound deadener. But I hated the thought of spraying my nice bottom with it. Cars without it are noticeably noisier. The '60 Buick had a heavy, but dirty coat of factory sound deadener/undercoat on it when we did the rear end job. Experience taught me not to remove what had held on tight for 50 years. In that instance we thoroughly cleaned the existing stuff and scrapped off what little loose edges we could find. The we sprayed over with some new product my nephew buys near Buffalo. I will get the manufacturer info and update. I think it comes from a well on the old Love Canal site. It does quiet the car. I wouldn't leave it off another car. Bernie

Somehow, while I was on that job, the Weatherbug app on my phone started thinking I lived in Malone. It has been notifying me of the weather ever since. Frost tonight! Bernie

Maybe I can help. Please PM me the contact information for the seller. Bernie

So it rolls nice and easy in neutral? B

The price is not too significant over the long run. If you keep it for 30 years that's only five hundred bucks a year......... plus the expensive stuff. More significant is that you took the time to sign up on the forum and ask. It must be that your heart is not pounding and you must not be full of angst worying that someone is going to slip in and grab that car while you are on the computer. My guess is that you aren't that hot on the car. I'd say to keep looking until you find the one that makes all your common sense vaporize and drives you to own it. If you feel like you are on the edge of an orgasm you found the right car. Bernie

Years ago I belonged to the Oldsmobile Club of America and I remember a very cheerful article written by the owner of three nice well maintained original cars. I think he was from Pennsylvania. He had gone to his local banker when he found the first one and easily got a loan. After paying it off, he happily bough a second, and then a third. His ultimate goal was to have nice collector cars to drive. He was pretty smart. At the time he probably got a 4 or 5 year loan with a modest monthly payment. The cars he bought were right there in front of him. There was no mystery of the out come, if the paint was flawed, delays for services outsourced, or any of the potential restoration horrors. His spare time was not consumed and he enjoyed the cars. I ain't rite. I have 5 old cars. I bought three over the last six years. One was the "rust free body/broken motor" type. I have both time and money in that one and the little monkey still isn't making me happy. I just came in from working on it a few minutes ago. That's the Electra convertible. The 1994 Impala is pretty much perfect. I put tires on it. That car was at a local dealership with a bloated price. One Sunday I saw it sitting by the building with an $8500 price tag. Monday it was dealership, bank, and take delivery Tuesday. It came to $9,000 and was in my hands for a modest commitment. I got aggressive about selling some stuff had lying around and a little over a year later the three year loans was paid. I like that car, just had to have it. In June I bought a solid running 1948 Packard. It was a modest cash deal and paid for from one of the tin cans in the garage that only my son and I know about. The Packard is a project, but licensed and capable of driving. I WANT to work on that car. I have had a desire for a flathead straight eight and an old car that wasn't finished just to drive around. Money is not that hard to get. Free time and skills are much more rare. Sometimes having a part time job to pay for an old car seems a whole lot better than giving up part of your life to restore one. If you are into math functions I can tell you one. For every one thousand dollars more, that you are willing to pay, you can get four thousand dollars worth of someone else's work. And that is a bargain. Bernie

I am planning on this one Saturday: http://rollinghillsasylum.vpweb.com/Cruise-In---Super-Cruise.html Hope they let me come home. Bernie