Anyone know much about complete car restorations?

[Kor]

Well I don't want to talk about any specific cars but I have been seriously considering the idea of a complete ground-up to show-car restoration rather than sinking money into another sports car.

I mean the kind of restoration that is absolutely insane - taking an old car and stripping it to the bare body and frame, totally perfecting the body, paint from scratch, swap in a moden engine and transmission, totally custom upholstered interior, etc etc.

I'm not 100% serious yet but I'd like to find out more from people who have experience in this area. In particular I don't really want to do much of it myself so it would be through shops.

Thoughts?

[BaggedGLI]

Re: Anyone know much about complete car restorations?

Big money. Big big money.

If you plan on keeping it as an investment and waiting for it to go up in value, might not hurt. But keep in mind some older cars have lots of parts that are unobtainium.

[snipa_mini85]

Re: Anyone know much about complete car restorations?

Whenever I drive from Cgy to Van I see a ton of places in Abbotsford that do auto restorations. First hit on Google I got was Studz Custom Designs HERE

They currently have varying projects going on from a 1929 Model A to a 2012 Porsche.

There was another place in BC that I was going to take my '69 Bug to get all the body work done, but I sold it before taking it out there. I'll try to dig up the place.

[Kor]

Re: Anyone know much about complete car restorations?

Yeah I think it would be an investment, something to drive on Sundays and never sell. So not super worried about the money but also wouldn't mind hearing some ballpark figures if people have done it, or their dad/grampa/uncle etc has done it. I know mostly people do this with classic cars, early muscle cars etc.

My nightmare with trusting a shop would be getting half way through the project and having it stall or get stuck somehow if someone doesn't know what they are doing :/ After all that kind of project is a lot different from maintenance.

I think I'd do a 70's car so I think parts aren't too bad, its not like a car from 1940. Hopefully would swap in a drivetrain from the 90's or later as well so again getting the parts wouldn't be impossible.

[toplessvw]

Re: Anyone know much about complete car restorations?

I would head down to barret jackson and get something there it will end up way cheaper in the end. lots of high doller builds going for a fraction of the build cost due to a crappy US economy

[P Arkus]

Re: Anyone know much about complete car restorations?

Being we are a car club based mostly on newer vehicles, I dont think you'll get too many answers here. I was say to go to a hot rod show and talk to some of the guys there. Whether its JDM, Euro, HotRod or Muscle cars, I find owners at car shows LOVE to talk about their cars and the progress, so you should be able to get some good details on stuff. Earlier in May (or late april I cant remember) I was at the Spring Thaw show at Deerfoot mall, and I can tell you there was quite a few old cars that were "fully restored" based on your classification. If you wanna do the trek down to streetmachine weekend in Lethbridge in July, i'm sure you will find a bunch of people willing to help you out as that is a huge show with cars that have BIG MONEY put into them (along with time, blood, sweat and tears!)

Good luck with your research!

[BaggedGLI]

Re: Anyone know much about complete car restorations?

Even go to the Grey Eagle meets on wednesdays, not sure if they are up and running yet.

[stuvy]

Re: Anyone know much about complete car restorations?

On top of the cost of parts the quality of the restoration plays into the cost. I have a painter who routinely finishes just the paint and body work with price tags over $100k.
Also consider if you want a custom or stock. On my Frontenac I am doing a custom job. Chassis, brakes, drivetrain all add up.
You can easily buy a nice driver muscle car for $20000 then spend $1m on a similar car. This is often seen when dealing with cars like a hemi cuda. A driver restored small block car can be had for pretty cheap yet a factory hemi car is often millions of dollars.

Really you need a better plan of what you want before an accurate cost can be considered.

[MechEngg]

Re: Anyone know much about complete car restorations?

My grandpa actually does this as a hobby for himself, all old stuff, from model T's, stanley steamers, old ford 1904 wood box "trucks", tiller steer wagons etc. Takes a ton of time but he enjoys it immensely. I don't know how much a shop would charge for stuff, but it might be incredibly hard to find old pieces depending on what exactly you are looking to build up.

[stuvy]

Re: Anyone know much about complete car restorations?

Jealous of the Stanley.

[martin13]

Re: Anyone know much about complete car restorations?

You say that you would do it to a 70s car so parts would be easy to find... I have a car from the 70s and parts are impossible to find for it.

[Smarty39]

Re: Anyone know much about complete car restorations?

I know some very good people if you're talking about a muscle car build, but you'd better be serious when you say "not super worried about the money". I have personally seen people drop $100-200k into complete restorations for a car that is, in the end, worth half of that. Unless you're Chip Foose you will NEVER build something like this yourself as an 'investment'....you will always end up deeper in it than it's worth, PERIOD. It has to be about the 'love of the game'...

I have also been to various big name auctions in the states (including Barrett-Jackson and RM) and agree with the post above. If you want something that's been built right, but for a fraction of what it would cost to reproduce, go to the US...End of story.

My father has been in this business for 25+ years and knows everyone there is to know in our region when it comes to muscle car builds. Unfortunately I can't help you if it's something 'foreign' you're after as I can't even convince him to change the oil in my Audi's lol. He's one of those 'American muscle or nothing' type of guys

If its a muscle car build you're after, PM me and I'll put you in touch with the right people.

[Kor]

Re: Anyone know much about complete car restorations?

I like the idea of Barret Jackson but I think they mostly have domestic muscle etc? If I am looking for something restored or custom but euro or japanese its going to be rough I'm guessing.

Totally agree that I am sure people who have to sell their resto'd cars probably get only half what they put in.

Then again if I buy one second hand I may have to spend just as much to fix any issues since its an unknown quantity.

[100%VAGitarian]

Re: Anyone know much about complete car restorations?

it's not cheap. it sucks. rewarding yes, but does suck. many days will pass where you just stand there and look at it and think about jumping ship. other days you will just go hard on it. i don't have any respect for a guy who pays a shop to restore an old car for him. i mean having shop work done along the way for things like paint, powder coating, plating, etc... is obviously acceptable but if you just write a shop a blank check and pop in every once in a while to check progress so you have a neat car to post on eurodrivers when it's done, is lame. car guys restore old cars otherwise you might as well just cut a check down at barrat jackson.

[Kona Bear]

Re: Anyone know much about complete car restorations?

If your ever in Vegas check this guy out

http://www.countskustoms.com/

If you watch history channel you know, he knows his stuff. I think he specializes in earlier domestics but he has had the odd VW go through his shop.