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How much did your restoration cost?

Way too many variables here. Depends on so so so many things...
We talking numbers matching hemi convertible '71 Cuda here or a small block '66 Dart?
Wing car? ANY factory hemi or six barrel car? 2nd gen Charger?

I've seen it written that you could do "two Mustangs for the price of one Mopar".
There's a lot of truth to that, actually.
How much can/will you do yourself? How intact is the project car to begin with?
Are you doing concourse or non-numbers daily driver?
One piece of advice I can give anyone contemplating restoring any old car, though -
buy all the car you can afford, meaning get one as complete (and maybe even partially
done) as you can.
Oh - and figure on it costing twice what your careful budget determines. :)

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I bought "Fred" for $17k 11 years ago, supposedly complete.
I don't do paint/body and he had all that done already.
Non-matching numbers, wrong color, but he is a real '68 GTX.
I have probably spent close to $9k on him in the years since, a little at a time -
and damn frugally. All the mechanicals, electricals, plumbing have been replaced
now on this "complete" car - by me.
The couple times I paid someone else to work on him, I wound up redoing their
work later.
Results are for considerably less than $30k I have a perfectly functional, decent
looking GTX that I drive whenever I like - which is all I wanted. :)

Such amazing deep paint too! love the car! Good job on that whole build! Love it!!!!
 
I'm in at least $40k Australian (probably $28k USD) and that's with me doing everything apart from the engine rebuild, and although the car has had some bodywork, it's still the same paint as when I bought it. It's far from a show car but quite tidy now.
Before
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After
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I love that, Is that the original paint color? It looks amazing and beautiful, Good classic!
 
The RR was painted in a crane paint booth the paint was I think around 800 bucks and 1200.00 to spray it. So around 2k Not the best paint looks better in pictures but not bad for a crane booth job.
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I did my Challenger back in 95-96... Built most of it myself, I did the rough metal work, bodywork was done by a friend in my garage, he charged me $10 an hour back then, rented a booth & he squirted it, I built the engine, transmission, rear end, brakes, suspension.... I bought Legendary seat covers & paid a friend to stretch them...
I horse traded & swapped labor for labor... In the end we finished the car in 15 months & including purchasing the car I spent just shy of 20K... Can't come close to that today but back then I built a total of seven cars & my Challenger was the most I'd ever spent....

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Challenger is gorgeous. Well done
 
Woah! That red is beutiful! interested in seeing more pics!
The red was supposed to be scorch red. But I think it ended up being a corvette red. Don't really remember I was not in on that. I just told him what color was a mopar color.
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I love that, Is that the original paint color? It looks amazing and beautiful, Good classic!
Thank you for your kind words. It is the original color, Citron Gold, and I love the color too although when I bought it everyone in my family hated it and I was going to paint the car black instead. I painted the engine bay black in anticipation but then decided to stuff the family and keep the Citron Gold, so am now left with a Chevy-esque black engine bay....yuck!
I'll be pulling the engine at some point in the next year or two to stroke it, so I'll re-paint the engine bay body color while it's out.
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Mine is NOT even close to a correct restoration.
From a 318-904-8 1/4" axle, 4 wheel drum brake F8 green in and out vinyl top to a....
440 based 493, Tremec 5 speed, 8 3/4" axle 4 wheel disc Red with charcoal and black interior.
I'm under $50,000 over 21 years.

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Here is some good math. 68 Coronet 440 that last drove in 94’. My biggest issue was a late decision to be my youngest’s first car and it put me on a 12 month clock. That clock just made a lot of decisions for you. I am working 50 hours/week that I get paid for and 20+ a week for free on this thing. That leaves little time for swap meets, bargain hunting, parting out etc. Plan was for a full tear down to the frame(Dailey driver level), 318 gone, 727 gone, all suspension new, sway bars, 3.55 sure grip, 440, TKX 5 speed, new interior, Dakota Digital cluster, and paint. Big hits are the motor, I could most likely source a donor and build myself, but that time thing again and for how much savings. The 5 speed conversion. Went with Silver State full package and assume it cost me $1500 for the privilege over sourcing pedals, bellhousings, clutches, templates, crossmembers, and most important directions. So big math for motor and tranny packages $13.5k. Keeping the old power train I could have rebuilt for $6k? I am not doing all this work for a 318. Long winded, but projected $26k(car was free from FIL) and I think I will hit $28k or so. Nickel and dime items hits harder than the big ticket stuff. How many gloves, shop towels, brake cleaner, degreaser, scrapers, brass brushes can you use; A lot! 800-900 man hours all in. A had to do sub quarter panels, lots of hen pecks in the body work, and self painting. May work out, may not but I have lots of sandpaper. It may be the first new patina paint job.

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I buy the project car for what it is worth to me. I am conservative.
I do my own work as I can not justify paying it done. OK so I have to pay the seats to be done.
My costs add up too cost of project car, and all parts and materials. WE know it all adds up but.....
I want a rust free driver quality car I will drive.
The engine is not rebuilt. It has decent compression, does not knock or sm0ke. Last time I built a fresh engine was in 1999.
Not talking about one car, but a few dozen over the last decade or so and many before that.
Cars come and go, I will not waste money and call it a hobby. Never could afford that. I might work for free on my hobby, but if I sell I want my $$ back I put in it.
I did a couple of F bodies because I never had before.. I lost $50 on one. No :)more of them!
 
This one I bought in '95, a CA car in pretty nice shape for $5,500...after the restore around $45k including what I bought it for.
After having done a very rusted car my first go around, I wanted my next one to be a car from a dry-warm climate. Still wasn't a cheap venture.

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^ That sounds realistic. Beautiful car!

Many people in my experience are very unrealistic about this. Don't know if it's poor bookkeeping, denial or trying to hide from their wife? Will talk to someone who did a complete resto, new drivetrain, suspension, wheels, tires, paint over the course of a few years. "I did the entire thing for 10k!".

Yeah, not possible.

If you actually keep track of everything, it adds up fast :D
I set a strict budget of 10k for my Charger build starting from a rusted out barn find.
Included in that budget is the $2800 I bought the car for. I am doing EVERYTHING myself except for the machine shop doing the machine work on the engine block. I am only using used parts from swap meets and eBay with the exception of bearings and gaskets in the engine. Every other part on the car is used stuff bought for pennies so far. Speed parts are cheaper! So I only have about $3k into my 383 build including machining and it'll have around 600hp N/A with 12-1 compression, ported 915 heads, a tunnel ram, solid roller cam, roller rockers, electric water pump, MSD programmable ignition, milodon gear drive, and milodon pan.
I rebuilt my whole 8-3/4 rear end and brakes with 4:11 gears for $500 total which I am not counting into the equation because I won it in a class action lawsuit over a defective cellphone (Nexus 6p)
Front suspension parts were included with the car.
Bought Direct Connection 3800# super stock springs for $200 from a FABO member.

Bought wheels and good tires for $1 on a eBay auction (15x12 and 15x7 Cragar Starwires and BFG T/A tires) from a guy who was cleaning out his garage. No shipping cost because I drove there.

Only have paint and body, transmission, and plumbing left.

I am a good body guy and will paint it myself in single stage white paint with a harbor freight air compressor and paint gun.
Know a pipeline welder who will give me a near nothing price to patch up my front frame rails and transmission crossmember.
My dad is a plumber and will help me out with running hardline.

I'll be done next year and you'll never know looking at it that it was built out of trash and will look like I dropped 50k into it.

I'll have a period (day 2) street racer/show car for less than a used Kia! :D
 
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I was looking to restore my wife's 69 Coronet 440 that's been sitting for 19 years and it needs everything redone.
I mean inside and out. Started adding up just parts and I would be well north of 20 grand and then on top of that the time to do all the work myself except paint and body. I could see it being an easy 40 grand in the end.
Her car has a 318 auto with a/c but nothing special.
So I bought this 69 Coronet 440 in February this year for 24 grand and will use hers as a parts car.
This car came with a 383 and no rust underneath and a decent paint job and nice interior.
Bottom line is I looked at the bottom line and decided it best to just spend the $'s and buy something we can enjoy right away.
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The last cars I restored were Challengers, I did them 5 and 6 years ago. I keep track of every penny and what stuck out for me that the incidentals for both cars (not bodywork and paint, not engines and not the initial cost of the cars) was $20k. This was getting the original rads recored, coating of nuts bolts etc, interior materials, exhaust, brakes, tires etc. It adds up in a hurry if you do things right.

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My first 69 Charger was completed for $500:

$150 for the car,
$25 tow it home,
$200 timing chain and gaskets, boil out the intake, intake gaskets, engine paint, front seat slip covers, junk yard left fender, 1 gallon of bondo, tube of body putty, 10 cans of spray can primer, sandpaper, fluid change, and two recap H-78 bias ply tires.
$125 "premier" paint job at Miracle Auto body.
____
$500
 
Way too many variables here. Depends on so so so many things...
We talking numbers matching hemi convertible '71 Cuda here or a small block '66 Dart?
Wing car? ANY factory hemi or six barrel car? 2nd gen Charger?

I've seen it written that you could do "two Mustangs for the price of one Mopar".
There's a lot of truth to that, actually.
How much can/will you do yourself? How intact is the project car to begin with?
Are you doing concourse or non-numbers daily driver?
One piece of advice I can give anyone contemplating restoring any old car, though -
buy all the car you can afford, meaning get one as complete (and maybe even partially
done) as you can.
Oh - and figure on it costing twice what your careful budget determines. :)

View attachment 1133753
I bought "Fred" for $17k 11 years ago, supposedly complete.
I don't do paint/body and he had all that done already.
Non-matching numbers, wrong color, but he is a real '68 GTX.
I have probably spent close to $9k on him in the years since, a little at a time -
and damn frugally. All the mechanicals, electricals, plumbing have been replaced
now on this "complete" car - by me.
The couple times I paid someone else to work on him, I wound up redoing their
work later.
Results are for considerably less than $30k I have a perfectly functional, decent
looking GTX that I drive whenever I like - which is all I wanted. :)
What are you talking about ? That cars bad to the bone !!!
 
Mine is NOT even close to a correct restoration.
From a 318-904-8 1/4" axle, 4 wheel drum brake F8 green in and out vinyl top to a....
440 based 493, Tremec 5 speed, 8 3/4" axle 4 wheel disc Red with charcoal and black interior.
I'm under $50,000 over 21 years.

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(While shaking my fist) Damn you and your king charger kern dog!! One day I’ll have oneeeeeeeeeeeee.....!

im always content and happy with my satellite until I see a 68/69 charger :cursin:
 
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I’m in the car about 22 but I wouldn’t say it’s restored. More of a spare driver
Car was painted before I got it, looks ok. I put a carpet in that the previous owner gave me, spent about 1800 on wheels, tires, some suspension parts, fuel pump and small stuff like bulbs. I wanted a decent spare driver.

Sometimes buying something with some work and running makes more sense.
The car runs great and love to drive it more than any other classic car I’ve owned.

The pic with stock wheels is when I got it

the pic with tts is last week.

some people love the wheels some don’t but at least now I don’t look like I’m driving my dads car.
 
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Restoration means different things to different people. See your a diesel mechanic so the drive train is a parts cost and some machining. If you have a special emotional attachment to the car and want a perfect car pro's will need to do a part of the work. If your car isn't a high end car you won't get your money back, so that's a consideration. I recommend you think before ripping your car apart. When I bought my car I wanted a driver with thoughts of restoration. As time went by the restoration idea was out. Age and physical problems stopped that. Over the years I've accumulated many NOS parts which will be offered to the next buyer. I've only have $15k to 18k into my car and NOS parts.

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I am not good enough to do these 3 tasks to make myself happy, so I have to pay for them. I’m into it for 35 large for metal, body, and paint. I can do most assembly work myself other than the engine, so hopefully most of the big expenses are behind me. LOL.

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