A repair garage for only antique cars, any thoughts, comments?

[C4GY]

Just a thought for a business in my retirement. I would only take on cars from say 71 and older. I have the place and tools and of course the ability having worked as a mechanic in the 60's and 20 odd years as a aircraft mechanic in the Navy. My '31 Model A is done and the '64 Comet cyclone is on the rotator waiting it's turn. I just wonder if there is a market for an antique garage in Maine. Comments and thoughts please.

[Guest windjamer]

c4gy,believe it or not I was jokenly talking about this with one of the techs. at our shop today. I think there is an exc. market for an old car repair shop. After working on cars of all types for thirty years, I cant fix todays cars. I dont have the computer skills needed and Ive been out of it to many years,BUT just last week I had a phone call from a young tech. that ask me if I could stop by and swap a dist. out of a 283 Chev. for him. So there is a place for us old guys after all. BTW, if your shop is big enough, pick a brand GM or Ford and stock some after market parts for resale. North Carolina looks awfull god at this time of year.

[MarkV]

Change it to pre-1980 youll get more. But, remember, you may have to have insurance, etc?

[C4GY]

The early 70s was the last of the non emissions cars. my technology ends around there But I have owned or/and worked on cars from the 30s, to the 70s, and I mean every phase of auto work. My "A" is my resume. I even have an Allen test center that was lightly used at High School auto shop before it went out of style.

I think to start small and see if it grows, who knows, those suction cup headlight aligners might see use again

[oldohioan]

Good morning, Dont know if this will help or not but last week I saw this item on the Performance years Pontiac forum. An older Sun test machine for 50's/60/early 70's cars.

Maybe useful for that older garage you are talking about.

http://forums.performanceyears.com/forums/showthread.php?t=586268

I wish there were such a garage in my area!!

[ted sweet]

my the time you get licensed etc you wont want to do it.

[F&J]

There is a huge market for old car work. Problem is finding those who are looking for a shop like yours. If you go as a licensed auto repair shop with all the regulations, then you'd need to charge much higher prices. Some states allow a resto place to do "restoration" without a real auto repair license. That's the way to go.

In Maine, if you allow "up to 1980" in your shop, you will be swamped with hopeless rustbuckets needing serious structural repairs besides cosmetic rot...and the owners did not pay much for the car and likely don't want huge bills. DON'T work on junk...

Do good work on worthy cars, and word should spread fast.

[ted sweet]

NY doesn't legally allow you to do repairs on any car you dont own.without being licensed by ny state.

[Earl B.]

So, does this mean there are no mechanics or repair shops in NY?..B

[Guest VeloMan]

We have 2 "antique" car repair shops near me in Chester County, PA, and they're always booked. I don't think you need a state permit here unless you're doing inspections (which are not necessary for antique cars). Just ask your local state representative. I think you can do a business in Maine.

Phil Jamison

[Bill Stoneberg]

I am assuming you are only going to do mechanical work as opposed to Body & Fender work. In this case what does it matter if you deal with rust bukets or not.

I would go for it, I have often thought the same thing for my retirement or layoff, whichever comes first.

[Bhigdog]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">In this case what does it matter if you deal with rust bukets or not.

</div></div>

I think what he means by rust buckets are cars that are just plain junk. They are usually miserable pigs to work on with everything covered in layers of dirt and grease or rusted together.

A shop that catered only to well maintained hobby type cars would probably do well in an area with enough population to provide a market base.

Start up would probably be slow but if the work was done well at a fair price word would quickly spread.

I would avoid the large jobs like engine rebuilds and concentrate on the quick turn jobs like brakes, exhaust, tune ups, electical fixes, etc.

If the overhead was kept low I could see it being a viable living..........Bob

[joe_padavano]

I certainly don't want to discourage you, but be sure to consider all possible costs. First, dealing with the general public is a P.I.T.A. You'll have someone come in for a brake repair and six months later the muffler will fall off and they'll sue you for it. On the other hand, if a car is brought in for exhaust work and six months later the brakes fail, you'll be taken to court because you should have warned them of that - heck, you're supposed to be the "expert", right? Be sure you research the real costs of liability insurance, not to mention EPA and OSHA compliance costs. Licensing is a state-by-state thing, so you need to research that as well. Finally, keep in mind that the old car hobby is paid for with discretionary income. When economic times get bad, hobbies don't get a lot of money. Will the market really be there in the next two or three years? If not, the cashflow problems will kill you.

If you're really just looking for a way to get the IRS to help pay for your retirement hobby, go for it. Just keep the most detailed records you can, because they will audit you.

[DennyZ]

I think you've got a great idea and there IS a need. If I were you, I'd talk it over with a good liability attorney. He could give you the possible direction to go in your state in regards to state and local regs and also write a good disclaimer for clients to sign to get you off the hook on potential liability stuff.

I've got a local guy that will work on my cars free of charge in his garage or mine. . . I just leave a cash donation to his retirement fund (in a coffee can on the bench). He's probably not legal but doesn't have to advertise and gets more business he wants! Everybody is happy, even a local State Trooper who takes his Model A over occasionally.

[Jim Rohn]

go for it!

[LINC400]

I enjoy my '76 Lincoln, but do not care for working on it, nor do I have the time to do it. I can do some repairs myself. My friend helps when it's more than I want to deal with. But anytime I take it in for something, I have found that no one knows how to work on it. I figured it should be straightforward, V-8, RWD, no complicated computers, the same as I learned on in auto shop in high school. However, that seems to be the problem. If they can't plug it in to a computer that tells them what is wrong with it, no one is able to actually diagnose anything. They just guess and keep replacing parts hoping that something will eventually fix it. There seem to be two types of repair places here in Chicago. Regular repair shops that can't fix my car, or restoration shops that expect you to leave the car with a blank check and pick it up in 6 months. If there was a place that specialized in old cars without ridiculous prices, I would be happy to take it there.