restoration help

[oldschool]

I bought a 71 satellite a few years ago from Wis.,I live in Pa.My question is what is the cost of a average restoration .Oh the car needs front frame rails and floor pans (rusted). And who does resto work in Pa. Need Help, Mike

 

[CTMopar]

It all depends on what level of restoration you want to do and how much you can or will do yourself.

 

[oxytousc]

It all depends on your definition of "average restoration." It's pretty hard to say. I mean, are you going for concourse or restomod...how complete is the car...there are a lot of variables.

 

[fla 66 cuda]

I have a 66 barracuda that i have invested close to 3000$ [not including purchase price] in since i bought it in 2006 i have not started a restoration on it but my budget is around 10,000 or less i do my own work [except machine work] i also have a 73 charger we are doing now so far we have less than 500$ invested [not including purchase price] our budget is around 8-10 grand for this car hopefully less but things change during the course of rebuilding, we are building presentable driver quality cars that we can show and drive without worring about scratching a 6000$ paint job. The secret is do as much of it as you can [the labor is what is expensive] the parts are slightly expensive to buy repoped, best to shop around go to swap meets nothin wrong with buying used parts and cleaning them up if it saves money [concourse restos require all new/nos parts] I have always built all my cars to drive and enjoy not to flip or to collect dust. I have never did metal work or welding but i'm doing ok i have learned a bit and showing signs of improvement on every patch i make hope fully when it's done it will look ok. One thing if it is a special vehicle [low production/rare vehicle] i recomend let a professional restore it if you are not experanced don't want to ruin a valuble piece of history. My cars are not special [except to us] so i'm not gonna worry about them not being super perfect. Good luck with you resto. have fun this hobby is a great way to learn just what you can do. The best trophy there is is someone saying very nice car when you did it yourself it gives that sence of pride and accomplishment.

 

[oxytousc]

I am with fla_66_cuda. If you do the work yourself, you save a bunch of money. My 73 is my first full restoration and I have WAY more invested than I had intended, but I ended up going with mostly new parts. At the end of the day, I'll have a nice, local show winner with a 450 hp small block and I'll have learned a ton!!! Had I started with a car in better shape, it would've been a much cheaper build, but you live and learn. Sounds like your car is pretty rough, if you're replacing rails and pans. I was fortunate that my car was fairly straight. Plus, you're bound to find some more cancer as you get into it. I'd imagine you'll find some in the quarters and near the windows, might not be as bad, but you're in for some serious welding.

 

[fla 66 cuda]

This is what we started with we almost scrapped it but we stepped back and rethought the project and decided lets go ahead and do as much as we can with as little investing as possible on the shell if that turns out ok then we will spend money on replacement metal parts i can't make. And some of finished patches.

 

[oneway71]

Rates around here (MI) for paint & body range from $46 -$115+ an hour, plus parts & supplies! It take a lot of time to do it correctly.

 

[Propwash]

Average restoration if you do it yourself...easily 20-30K.

Average restoration if you pay someone to do it....easily 40-50K

good luck

 

[oxytousc]

I am with Propwash. I think that's about the range I am coming in at doing everything, except paint and body myself, and bargain hunting parts. Of course, I am sure I could've cut corners, but I learned a lot and made a lot mistakes.

 

[shag766]

hey buddie; i learned how to do my first $30,000.00 restoration. I bugeted for 14,000.00 thousand. you will feel it. if you figure you will get your money out , you will spend it. if not move it.

 

[runner4b5]

Take my advice, if you intend on keeping the car take your time do it right the first time I have made the mistake and ended up doing it three times now, I'm so much into a 30k dollar car I will never get rid of it (not that I want to it is my dream car) I've got about 65k into it. Although I have done 2 others since and have learned albeit the hard way to do it right the first time or don't do it at all. It's a different story if you are going to flip the car. Just don't sell it to one of us on B Bodies onley if you do it halfa$% to flip LOL. Dennis

 

[Mr4Speed]

totally true; i am in the middle of restoring my 63 Savoy; still needs bodywork and paint and i am already in the 20s with it.

 

[Donny]

First off, I would not do much else on your car, like replacing and repairing the panels as indicated in your photographs. Get the car media blasted first, then you will find LOTS more areas needing fixing, frankly, you're just wasting your time, money, resources doing what you're doing right now -- trust me, I've been there, done that. Just read my Satellite thread! I'm finally doing my own stuff right! Good luck!

 

[QTR MILE]

I had my Car Media Blasted to find all the sin's than planned out all the work and material's needed. Take your time, get the car Blasted, then you will be saving time and money. Hope this help's. Good Luck, Joe

 

[flypaper]

before you start
think very hard of the commitment it will take in your wallet
and make sure it is exactly what you want.
because you will be selling it partially done for pennies on the dollar
if you won't see it thru...
ps
i have a front pass rail for sale .. lol

 

[charger360]

i agree with all the above. you kind of need to decide if it is a driver or a show piece you will drive, or a true showcar. how much you can do yourself changes things quite a bit as well but the biggest thing is body and paint work, at least for me, i do all my own mechanical work or have some friends help out where the old bones don't want to go anymore. but paint you can burn through money on that it all depends on how nice you want it!

 

[dave5237]

Hello. All these guys know what they are talking about. 35k into my 68 GTX. If you really want a nice job. Time and money is what it takes. Wait till you try fitting everything. It is a nightmare with this aftermarket stuff. From the door panels to the bumpers ( I bought top quality stuff ) to getting things chromed ( I spent $1100 just to chrome my vent wings ). You will find out what I mean when you get there. Even a cheap build will cost you in the 20,s because of parts costing so much..

 

[Donny]

Its also labor that's costly. Finding a good restoration shop is hard; lots of them started up thinking it was easy and fast money, they leveraged lots of loans, and, went belly-up. Time, Money, and more time, and more money is what it's going to take. Good luck!

 

[Bruzilla]

I think the hardest thing anyone entering this hobby has to learn is to identify what is a bargain and what isn't.

The first thing to consider is not how much a restoration will cost, but how much of your money it will cost. It is always better to buy a project car that someone else has dumped thousands into, then lost the will, spouse approval, or finances to complete; than to be that guy yourself. Next to the sound of a 440, there's no sweeter sound to hear than "my wife says it's got to go!"

When it comes to these types of cars, their price progress on a non-linear scale based on how much work has been done to them. For example, start with a POS project car that someone bought for $3,000, and dropped $5,000 into. Most of these guys know they won't see $8,000 for the car, and will end up selling it for about $5,000 or less just to get out from under it. So you pay $2,000 or less more for the upfront price, but you're getting $3,000+ in restoration that you don't have to pay for. That's a real bargain.

If you've got money to put into restoring a car, you've got money to put in a stash account to buy a project car that's further along the restoration process. I would take that 71 Roadrunner with major rust issues, sell it, put that money into an account and add the money you would have dumped into it to the account. It won't be long before you've got enough to afford a car that needs a lot less work.

 

[oldschool]

:sSig_thankyou:

I bought a 71 satellite a few years ago from Wis.,I live in Pa.My question is what is the cost of a average restoration .Oh the car needs front frame rails and floor pans (rusted). And who does resto work in Pa. Need Help, Mike