Quote:
Originally Posted by rcorrigan5
Here's the rundown on a '68 Olds 4-4-2 convertible I completed in June 2007. It was not a frame-off but very close to it - we had to lift the back part of the body off of the frame 3-4 inches to install new fuel lines - did this by loosening the frame-to-body bolts and then snugging them down again after the fuel lines were in place. I'm not a paint or body person, nor am I a mechanic. But I did get to work side-by-side with a mechanic that I would consider to be one of the best, and in his fully equipped shop. I learned a lot from him and it allowed me to do a lot of the work (especially the dirty work) myself. This car is not a trailer queen (i.e., perfect concourse), but it is in the upper tier of restorations.
Body work and paint: $15K. This included completely replacing the driver side quarter, removing rust at the bottom edge of the trunk and fabricating new metal to replicate original, and replacing some rust in the passenger side wheel opening, along with prep and paint. Paint was PPG with a clear-coat finish.
Mechanical: $17K. This included rebuilding the original engine, transmission, rear end, and front suspension, and replacing the gas tank, as well as installation of all the parts.
Parts: $10K. This included procuring original parts with date codes that complemented the build date of the car, that were not with the project, such as the starter, carburetor, alternator, distributor, coil, voltage regulator, radiator shroud, radiator, new door and rear side panels, repair of factory gauges and tach, new tires, and so forth.
Unassigned value: Tons of my time cleaning and painting parts and brackets, painting the underneath of the car, making my own gas tank pad. I also had access to tools such as a buffer, bead blaster, solvent tank, someone who could weld, and was extremely thankful for all of that - it saved a lot of money.
End Result: The car recently (July 2011) won "Best of Class" at the 2001 Olds Nationals in Reno, in its first national meet, which I understand is pretty rare. We can talk about judging all day long and how they do it. From my perspective, they knocked off some points for frivolous items but then missed things that I thought I would get gigged for. In the end, it was a wash. And, in any case, the end result told me that this car did indeed have an authentic, top notch restoration. This show was 4 years and about 1600 miles after we completed the car's restoration.
Total Sum: $42K plus lots of my time. Hope this gives you an idea of the cost of what I consider a first class restoration. I've heard stories of this type of restoration costing as much as $20K more than what I spent.
Accordingly, $20K seems definitely on the low side to me for what I interpret what you say is going to be done. If you go with that restorer, I'd surely keep a very close eye on what is being done to your car to ensure you are getting what you want.
Hope this helps.
Randy C.
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Something to think about, not trying to be a butt or anything like that.
You have 15K in the body and 17K in mechanicals plus another 10K in misc parts for your car.
Like Baron mentioned, he could have done the paint and body work for close to half or a heavy third less of what you spent with a one man shop that has lower overhead or minimal overhead than maybe your guy. Thats not saying your guy is better than Baron so it justifies the extra $$$ spent. There are many qualified people who could do that work for alot less and maybe even better, and remember the original question clearly stated ALL MATERIALS AND PARTS WOULD BE COVERED by the the owner not the shop. So depending on what paint and supplies were used, you could clearly knock another $1000-$1500 out of your 15k for paint materials. What about sheet metal? Whatever you spent in that can come out of your 15K also. Now that 15K could be down in the 12K or less range.
Same thing applies for the 17K in mechanicals. How much was spent in machine work, engine, trans, differential parts, gas lines, tank, etc etc.
When its all said and done, I bet you come in around or even under that 20K mark on true labor without any parts in that calculation.