Restoration things that as a novice I hadn't given much thought

[Andy J]

Well,it is so cold here in central Mississippi today,(13 degrees as I type this) I'm not going to work on my car today. I began to think of this nearly 3 year project as I'm nearing the finish. There are several things that I hadn't considered or given much thought. I spent a lot of money on having a shop built,2 post lift,a really good air compressor,and an assortment of air and electric power tools that I would need.I had plenty of ratchets,sockets,and wrenches of all types and sizes,as I worked on cars during my teens and early twenties.I got married and it came to an end,but that's another story for later.

 

I was prepared to spend the money to have the flathead straight 8 rebuilt ('51 Pontiac),hydramatic transmission rebuilt,all the chrome replated,and all the body work,which I did myself.I have never built a car from the frame up,but I wanted to do it myself and I can honestly say I had a great time doing it.

 

Now,to what I hadn't considered. The car wasn't missing anything except one piece of stainless molding on a door and another small piece that was unusable. My man Kurt Kelsey was able to supply that and all the engine parts I needed.I can't count the hours I spent on the internet hunting things that I would need. I made countless trips to suppliers to get nuts and bolts,washers,and any other bits and pieces that I needed.As you can see,this included many gallons of gas and many hours of time spent.Several of these trips were out of state and to different cities in my state.

 

My biggest surprises were the painting materials cost, weather stripping and window channel materials and all new window glass.The weather stripping and window channel materials were the biggest surprise.This stuff is stupid expensive.Just some thoughts of a novice,but I'm going to do it again.  YMMV

[JFranklin]

Regulation and inflation I would guess.

[Matt Harwood]

"Because we can" is the pricing strategy of many specialty suppliers, and not just in our hobby. Where else are you gonna go?

[Bhigdog]

"You want it? Yeah i got it. How bad do you want it?".......... Bob

[1912Staver]

I have said it several times on the forums. In most cases the cars are reasonably cheap. It's the property and shop building that costs the serious money.

 Property and building costs vary to a massive degree depending on what part of North America you live in. It can be the make or break factor of the entire old car hobby question.  Depending on where you live the land { and house } can be as cheap as $100,000.00 or as expensive as a million or more. The shop is at least 50 G's these days , and often closer to the 100 G mark. All this so you can have a hobby car that is 95% of the time sub $100,000.00.    { probably at least 75% of the time sub $50,000 }

 Steel is cheap. Dirt , concrete and lumber is anything but.

 

[Larry Schramm]

I am old enough to remember red paint costing about $45.00/gallon.  I would guess that it is now closer to $1,000.00/gallon even though I have not bought any lately meaning in the last 10-15 years.

 

I like many of us remember past prices, but if you are in the hobby and want to fix your vehicle you just do without other things to feed our vehicle habit.  All about priorities.

Edited December 23, 2022 by Larry Schramm (see edit history)

[DonMicheletti]

I am like Larry. I have been messing with old cars since 1960 when the hobby was far less expensive.

I have collected tools (and experience) one piece at a time without ever encountering a bank breaking wall.

 

Today it is far different. Restoring a mid priced pre WWII car, you'd have to give a lot of thought. It could easily take 3 times the finished value of the car. Even if you do much of your own work. Paint and plating being perfect examples

[Andy J]

Larry,I bought a gallon and a quart of color at $1,040 and a gallon of clear,the reducer and hardener was just over $1,000,if i remember correctly. It was two green colors,but I know that red is more expensive.

 

In 1970 I had my first car painted. I did all the prep work,taped it up,and drove it to the paint shop.I bought a gallon of Camaro Rally green enamel for $25 and paid a top-notch painter in our town $20 to spray it. It turned out pretty good I thought,for a 17 year old. The car was a '56 Plymouth Savoy.

 

Edited December 23, 2022 by Andy J (see edit history)

[redbaron1930]

The days of Earl Sheib are long gone! Any car for $89.95, an if you left the windows open he' do the interior for free!

[nickelroadster]

Just imagine what things would cost if you took the whole job to a shop.

[zepher]

A friend is restoring a 1965 Chevy pickup.

Body work is all done but he hasn't painted it yet because the paint he wants is $1,600 a gallon.

Tack on the other materials and a DIY paint job can easily be over $3,000.

He has the paint tools and experience but being as he's retired he's putting money into other stuff at the moment since he just moved into another place not long ago. 

Paint and body work expense is why so many just shoot clear over a weathered paint job and call it a day.

[edinmass]

In 1991 I spent 7900 on paint and primer for a Pierce sedan. If you buy the best, it’s gonna cost you. The car still scored 99 points 25 years and 20k miles later. You actually get what you pay for.

[60FlatTop]

21 hours ago, Andy J said:

I worked on cars during my teens and early twenties.I got married and it came to an end,but that's another story for later.

I read the posts and see a lot of that. Most of the time it is hidden in the questions or the uncertainty of what the famous "my mechanic" has done.

 

Without life long continuity in the hobby things can be a struggle and what might have been bite sized knowledge becomes expensive choking.

 

Let the project take a back seat and buying the best car you can. Learn to maintain it; the mechanicals and cosmetics. While gaining or regaining your Kodachrome skills you can do "component restoration on the project. Do small one and two day jobs that won't cause you to have a fully disassembled car sitting there with Three hundred $100 jobs to do to complete it.

 

The great thing about cars that I always remember: if you get in too deep bail out. You didn't "marry" it!

[Walt G]

Red paint has always been more expensive than any other color. Not just in automotive paint. This goes for art supplies as well. I had to take that into consideration when ordering paint for the art classes I taught for 35+ years, the red pigment is the most costly no matter what type of paint, oil, acrylic etc. It was in 1970 and it is now.

[TTR]

On 12/23/2022 at 8:43 AM, Andy J said:

My biggest surprises were the painting materials cost, weather stripping and window channel materials and all new window glass.The weather stripping and window channel materials were the biggest surprise.This stuff is stupid expensive.

After 45 years in this hobby and as someone who was born into, grew up with nothing and still most of it left, I still don’t agree or understand the highlighted sentiment, especially when it comes to anything unnecessary in life, like having any hobby requiring money to be spent on it.

 

IMO, only time things are “expensive” if/when you have to make a real choice, like having to choose between buying restoration supplies or fuel for your “antique” car vs. buying food for your family/ -self or paying the utilities bill for your home.

 

Again, while publicly acknowledging the reality of time & money involved with this hobby can be shared as a positive forewarning, but constantly/often gripping about it negatively is likely to turn many future readers, i.e. potential newcomers looking into it, away.

 

 

 

 

Edited December 24, 2022 by TTR (see edit history)

[TAKerry]

In todays climate one thing to keep in mind is the availability of products, and the time it may take someone to do work for you. My motor has been at the builder for almost 2 years to date. It is all but done now and should be back in my possession very soon. Last one he did for me took about 3 months!! I have a dash part that has been at the restorers for a year and half now!! Next battle I suppose. I ordered exhaust manifolds in Aug, was told they would be available in Oct, latest word is March '23. That was the biggest surprise to me this go round. Last car I did about 6 years ago parts were readily available and the only thing holding back was my time and money.  I am not surprised at cost of items, if that is a worry then one should not be restoring an old car. Find another hobby. One thing I do is to take care of the little stuff if I get burned out on a larger project. Example: When I was scraping the bottom of the car which seemed to go on forever, I took a break to do some minor stuff that still needed to be done, like restoring the wiper motor, simple things like that. When it was too cold to go in the big shop I set up in my smaller shop and did small stuff. That way things kept moving along.

[John_Mereness]

Nice to have really well working guages and everything on a dash be "just so" 

[Akstraw]

Thanks, Andy J, for your perspective.  Nice to hear from somebody fresh to the hobby.