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Average price to restore a car?

50K views 10 replies 7 participants last post by  NEW INTERIORS 
#1 ·
Hey. I've never restored a car before, but I've always wanted to. I just dont want to buy a 7,000 project car thinking itll take 30,000 to restore and it winds up taking 70,000.

So lets just say I buy this for 8,000 ( http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1968...ars_Trucks&hash=item4ab0b11852#ht_2072wt_1112 )

I buy it for 8,000. It needs media blasting or acid dipping, so lets assume that costs 2,000. It needs paint eventually,so probably 4,000. Now, if it has an engine, id have to rebuild it or buy a new one. Lets assume I spent 15,000 on an NRE engine.

so far I've theoretically spent 29,000 on restoring this car and there's still a ton of things I havnt covered. WhatI'm getting at here, is what would it take to restore something like this? Maybe if you guys could give me a description of a car youve restored, and how much it costed woudl really help.
 
#2 ·
A lot of it depends on the work you can do yourself, as well as the unexpected costs.

If they media blast it, and it comes out of there with panels missing, more rust than you originally saw, etc, it can get expensive very quickly. Plus, you're betting that the work that has already been done was done right. What if it was a hack job?

You'll probably spend another few grand at least on the interior, depending on how original or custom you want to go.

For what it's worth, I just bought a 68 Camaro in pretty decent condition. Home-done paint job is probably the worst thing about it (that I know of ;)). I spent $15,000. $8k seems like a lot for the condition that thing is in, but maybe I just don't know the market well enough.

 
#3 ·
Boy !!!! Your leaving yourself open for some good answers on this one... :D

First ... $4,000. today doesn't get you much of a paint job.... There is paint that cost that much today.... :drunk:

Your price will depend on a lot of things..... Like do you want a $20,000 dollar car or a $30,000 dollar or a $50,000 dollar car in so on....So like I said it's how far you want to go on this.... No one here will be able to give you a price on something like that without seeing the car (in person) and to also know just how far you want to go.... On that car from the picture.... I would say it will be more then your figuring.... It can add up really fast... Now another thing come's in to play here..... Just how much are you going to do yourself and how much or you going to pay someone else to do???? I can go on and on with this and I'm sure your going to get more answers from more here that you may not want to hear.... To restore that car it will take a lot of money and time.... Can it be done for less???? Sure,, Just remember you get what you pay for..... Good luck and I hope some of this made sense to you.... If not you will know once you get about half way into this project.... ;)
 
#5 ·
I spent 15k to buy the car. Not the paint job lol.

The Camaro looks nice. Like was said, a lot will depend on the paint you choose. A lot will also depend on the body work that needs to be done.

New Interiors makes a great point about deciding how expensive of a car you want in the end.

For me, I'm setting my end goals around the 25k mark, with that going towards and LS1 swap, new suspension, brakes, etc.
 
#7 ·
invadermoose said:
Jesus. 15k? How did it amount to that? I recently had my 2010 Camaro entirely disassembled, sanded, and repainted and it came out to 4,000.. Professional job too.


I beleive we are talking about restoration work not putting lipstick on a pig! What you got for 4gs is a sand and spray job on a new car....far cry from a resto! A quality resto will run 25 to 40and up easly dependending on the shape of the car. Now I am talking resto not paint job. With materials running in the stratusphere it is easy to run up a 5 g bill just for materials. And remember most shops will NOT garrantee thier work over your work.
 
#8 ·
$4000 will not get you much of a paint job today. Doing it on a late model like yours, does not relate to the effort it usually takes for '68-'69 model. That is just too many years of shopping carts... kid prints... and fender-benders. It will probably require a great deal more in hours and materials.

Also, ragtops tend to have a lot of rust in the floors and such... so plan on welding, metal work and body work. The hours will add up very fast.

The cost of good materials that will last will be $2000 and up. With professional grade people doing the work, you will be somewhere in the $7500 to $15K range.

Then there is always Earl Schieb. You can always find cheap paint work. What you cannot find is GOOD cheap paint work... unless you have the equipment, and can do the work yourself.
 
#9 ·
In general, in my experience, a convertible costs twice as much to restore as it is worth when it's finished, a 2-door 3-4 times it's worth, and a 4-door 6-8 times. Unless you are willing and able to do most of the work yourself for free.

If a restored car is what you're after, it's almost always cheaper in the long run to buy a finished car and let someone else take the financial hit.
 
#10 ·
The biggest expense in most projects is the labor. If you can do more yourself... it will end up reducing the dollars in the car.

I will have to agree with Joe G. about buying a complete, running car. I bought and sold primarily collector Chevy projects for about 15 years... and have been helping with other enthusiast's projects for 40 years.

The best, in my opinion, is to buy a nearly finished car. He can't get top dollar, but the major money may have already gone into the car.

The next best is to try to get a good deal on a restored car... or an older restoration, if you want different paint, wheels, options, etc.
 
#11 ·
In today's market.... You can buy a finished car WAAAAAYYYY cheaper then you can build it...... I seen Many $40 to $50,000 dollar cars today going for under $20,000 If your looking for a car,,,,, Right now is the time to buy one.... :thumbup:
 
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