Xander Wildeisen

Picture or not, I think they might be able to read.

How about a picture of the car when you bought it? When you dropped it off? One in bare metal? One in primer? One for insurance? If all of us had a picture to look at, we could see what you are dealing with. It is also a good idea to take pictures of work being done if a problem ever comes up down the road with the finished product. And it also helps in the value/sale, if you have pictures to show a new buyer that it was a very clean car before re-paint.

It was a good thing that you could buy that stuff in stores. It shows how people used to have respect for one another. The reason you can not buy that stuff any more is a reflection of how we view and treat each other,

To my knowledge there is a difference on the crank on the 55. I remember people saying it was about 3/8 shorter, on the back of the block.

Hey Pomeroy41144, when are you putting a 350/350 in your 37 Ford

If old cars are a addiction, I would not be surprised that you could not apply for a grant to study ways to fight it.

Paint is the toughest one. When it is done, if you see a flaw you say what is up with that? You do get what you pay fore with body and paint work. But yes, shops should say we do top notch stuff, and you could pay XXX. So then the customer has to make a choice. What level do I want to take the paint work to?

You are right when you say restoration costs can out weigh cost on the custom side. And when building/restoring cars for your high end shows, costs will add up very fast taking projects to the highest level. But some things are the same, a bumper on a 35 Cadillac will cost the same to re-chrome if the car is restored or a street rod. A new windshield will be the same. Weatherstripping, glass, chrome,fuel lines,brake lines, tires, and wiring for the most part, should be all about the same. If you have a door from a 36 ford, and a door from a 34 Packard. And they both just need to be repainted. Is one going to be more then the other? (not talking about wood structure) Does a 31 Auburn front bumper cost more to re-chrome, then a 36 ford bumper, just because it is for a Auburn? I am not knocking the skill level of shops, or in any way questioning the work that goes into these cars. And love seeing the talent on both sides, when you look at these cars done to a high level. You can buy new gauges for a street rod for $500, But you can spend $3000+ restoring your original gauges. You can mill out a dash bezel for a street rod in 30 minutes. You can spend days restoring a original one. I have great respect for the restoration side, the skills required go far beyond some of the custom stuff. That is why in other posts I have stated that this side of the car world should get some of these restored classics in front of the custom side. All I am saying, as are other people in this topic. If shops have a blank check to work with, and you get wrapped up in a shop that does not look out for the customers best interest. It really hurts all of us. If a shop around here over charges a customer, does poor work. And does not finish the project, or finishes it with poor quality. All of us suffer, because now you have a owner who has a bitter feeling about the "hobby/industry", or one less car driving around and going to shows. I think we all can agree that on both sides we see shops that send out the door work that is not to the level it should be for what the customer paid. I have seen a ton of great projects moth balled because owners got hook up with bad shops. This is a very hard job to do, it is not up to me how nice a customers car turns out. It is up to them on what level they want to take the car to. Honesty is very important in what we do, and just like in most things honesty seems to be fading. Sorry for the confusion on Sprite restoration costs.

Am I understanding this correct? That people are charging 200K to restore a Sprite? And that people are paying 200K for the restoration on a Sprite? And that there are no wealthy car shop owners?

What part of the country do you live in 69 GTO?

Here is a picture taken straight into a door on a street rod that I built. I did not do the paint work, The guy that did is one of the best in this area. This is a black car, and is a show quality job. This is what you had better get for the numbers you are throwing around. And those numbers are high for this part of the country.

A guy flew in to town to look at this Packard we had for sale. Decided to buy it. (not a cheap car) He flew back to CA and was going to send payment the next day. And the next day, THE VERY NEXT DAY, the stock market dropped 700+ points. And the next day dropped 900+ points, and the housing market crashed. The sale did not go through, took about a year after that to find a buyer. Buyers are not the only thing that sinks a sale.

The only ride that you should go on, is the one when you are driving your car. It would be foolish and unwise of me to comment on the post not knowing all of the facts. But the numbers you have given do not really jive with the stated work. Shop rates, cost of products, level of quality and productivity all play a part in your total cost. I am surprised to here the cost difference in paint materials. Around here you can get a quality line of fillers, primers, paints and clears for around $1,600-2,200. Unless you are stepping up in to high end paint,pearls,metallic and so on. New colors can be costly, the cost of restoration has gotten very expensive. And most cars end finish value do not reflect the invested cost. Here is a link to a page on my web site. (still working on the web site) I am trying to do a page on a few topics to help people understand the cost involved in building/restoring cars. http://www.wildironccc.com/expected-costs--planning-a-budget.html

Spend each day walking, to start your training for the swap meet.

When the dust settles, the Lawyer will have his $5,000, and the Lawyer will be driving your Studebaker.

Here are some shots of the dash in the Hudson truck. Just finished the wood grain. The dash is out of a 53 Desoto, and reshaped to fit. Has mahogany grain on top, running down on the gauge cluster. And burl wood on the face of the dash. Side garnish rails will be split as well, center console will pick up the top mahogany grain. Wet sanding/buffing on the cab and dash will be done today. And then hang the doors.

Great ad, 500k you clean. https://losangeles.craigslist.org/lac/cto/5720742068.html

There are reasons to build a car, and there are reasons to buy a car. If you are looking to build/restore a car, you have to understand the amount of work and money that goes into the project. Talking to any good restoration/custom shop would be a good place to start. Knowing the cost involved, knowing what to expect for the money spent, knowing the time frame needed to complete the project. Are all things you want to think about if you are looking at building/restoring a car. For a first time classic car owner, stepping in to a full blown restoration/build project is taking on a lot. If you have the space, tools, money, skill and knowledge. It can be a lot of fun to take a car and bring it back to life. But if you jump in thinking it is like what you see on TV, meaning when we come back from commercial we will have this car painted. You are in for a shocker. Looking to the open market, for a running and driving car that needs some improvements. Or one that you can ad your own personal touches on. Would be the best direction to go if you do not have the skills and things listed above. There are a lot of good dealers, that spend a lot of time finding good cars and bring them to the market place. The cars that you have listed that you are interested in should be easy to find on the open market from dealers and private sellers. the 69 Charger prices will be all over the board. Depending on options,factory tags, condition, numbers matching and so on. If just looking for a driver non numbers cars, you should be able to find a good car in a good price range. The 70 Torino would be a harder car to find then the Chargers, but should have a better buy in price. But would also have less reproduced parts then the Chargers. And on the flip side, if you go to sell the car down the road. The Charger will have a better resale price and a bigger market of interested buyers. Give it a lot of thought. You are always better off spending a little more money for one in nicer shape.

Here is a link to a car show/rally we just went to. It is put on by the Sun Valley Auto Club. While I have nothing to do with it, this would be a cool spot to see some early millers,or cars like the Stutz Jones Special. I can not imagine that they would turn away early performance cars to be in the show, or to make the speed runs. And this is a good example where I have not seen them market this event to other sides of the car world. And it would be a good event to show case early performance cars, from this side of the car world. It is really cool that the town of Sun Valley lets them close down a road and see how fast you can go.

If I could make a suggestion. Just as a test balloon. Who ever runs this web site, put up a section/page/link like you have on other topics. Have one for traditional hot rods/ customs. And market that page on the site in the hot rod world. That would get some of the young car builders on the other side, coming to you guys with questions on what will work, where to find it. And open up a door for restoration shops on this side to pick up some work because they are set up to repair/service/rebuild some of the vintage stuff that other shops have moved out of. Because they are dealing with the modern side of things. And then all of you older guys/gals can jump in and help out with your answers and advice. And help out the young people building their cars. All of you have time to post your comments, and still have time to sit in the grass and have a drink. So post advise and information that helps out young car guys/gals on the other side. No matter what kind of car they are building.

Interesting to read some of the thoughts of people. I am just coming from the angle that if a car is parked inside a building, the only people who will see it. Are the people going in the building. If a car is out on the road being driven, it is being see by hundreds of people. And it does not make any difference if it is a street rod, custom or a restored original. It will stand out and be talked about by other people in the cars on the road. You will expose more people to your old cars by just driving them like they were built to do anyway. If you want to capture the imagination of a young person. The best time to do that is when they are riding in a car, staring out the window. Deep in their own thoughts. If you were to take all of the street rods and customs. And put them back in the fields and barns. Do you really think that all of them would have been restored by now? How many of you ACD Cords guys/gals, have up graded your drive shaft parts? When rebuilding your vintage engine, can you over bore it, and use pistons from some thing else? Are there books, or interchange manuals telling you what parts from different cars will fit and work on yours? Sounds like custom stuff to me. When you look at all of the car stuff as a whole. It is amazing how this side of the cars, could impact the other side.(street rods,customs) Traditional hot rods and customs are very popular. Guys/gals wanting the hot rod look, but with the vintage parts. And you guys/gals over here, have incredible knowledge on what parts will work together and how to get the most out of them. You are also sitting on a huge mountain of parts that could be used to create really cool traditional hot rods and customs. The youth has the desire and the ambition, you guys/gals have the knowledge and expertise. It is sad that this side of the car world is not more involved in the traditional hot rod/custom scene. Because so many of your great pieces of your history are customs them selves. I think you would see a huge rise in people interested in this side of cars. If the AACA reached out to the youth on the other side. Offering up your knowledge, and access to parts. The Hershey swap meet is a hot rod/custom car gold mine. If marketed as that, you would see more people there, sell more parts, get more vendors, and expose more people to the great show field you have. There is a big gap that should not be there. Nobody is saying change who you are, just open it up and share your knowledge.

These planes sure look pretty cool when they are out, where they can be seen.

Doctor, Doctor hurry! What is it, what is going on? Well doctor, it looks like the car show is dying! What should we do? The doctor thought about it for a minute and said. Well we can ether take the greatest classic cars ever built. The ones that are the best examples of custom design, innovation and engineering. And get those cars in front of the youth, that are the driving force on the custom car scene. Or, we can take those same cars. And put them in a museum, with the rest of your grandma's stuff.

Good point.

I had a 28 Hudson 3 window coupe, with that engine. Great motor, car came with a oil can from the factory mounted on the engine. Had to lit the caps on top of the valves and oil daily.