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Winch

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
I found a local restorer who came and looked at my 68 vert. He's going to bid the following list of repairs. What do you think his bid willcome in at? I'll know in a couple of days.

floor pans both sides (may go with one piece full floor or he may finish what I've started).
full trunk floor
quarter panels repaired. (He didn't think I needed full replacements but 80% might do)
some repair on inner and outer wheel houses
dash metal
one inner fender
disassemble front end, pull subframe out, sand blast and paint it
paint engine compartment body color (firewall, inner fenders, under hood etc)
assemble rear end (which is out now) with new springs
paint car to include bumble bee stripe
separate bid to redo complete interior and new convertible top
 
#4 ·
Winch said:
What part of the country are you in 68 Ragtop? If anybody else responds please indicate where you're from. Thanks
Click to expand...
Look to the right of his post, it says SoCal... Not everyone has that filled in though.

The thing about this is it's $100 per hr or more here in CA for the work you want and depending where folks are located labor could be as low as $40 per hr.

It's also hard to judge hrs, someone will say it take 12hrs to install 2 floor sections and someone else will say if the guy is good it should only take 6 hrs. Reality is until it's started you don't know what you can run into that can make the job take longer...
 
#5 ·
its hard to put a figure on that, we are 50.00/hr down here!!..full floor 1000.00, trunk 300.00, 500.00 per quarter,dash would have to see how bad,50.00 inner fender,1500.00 for front sub frame,500.00 for the rear end,7000.00 to paint the car.1800.00 for the int and the top!! got an opening august 1st!! (parts are seperate,any additional aggrivation fee's are seperate) thats a general ballpark from north carolina!!
 
#6 ·
Winch said:
What part of the country are you in 68 Ragtop? If anybody else responds please indicate where you're from. Thanks
Click to expand...
Sorry, it's a California thing.
SoCal is short for Southern California. I am in the Los Angeles area.
FYI: "NorCal" is Northern California and "In The OC" is Orange County California, but there are a bunch of States with an Orange County.

What you are describing is almost a complete resto. Plus, once you start major work. you will find more work needs to be done.

Is this a real shop, or the guys home garage or backyard?
 
Discussion starter · #7 ·
Is this a real shop, or the guys home garage or backyard?[/QUOTE]


Sorry about missing the location in the signature. I just forgot those were there.

He has a real restoration shop and I've seen his work. Real nice. I think he got a good look at my 68. I've been playing with it for a long time so it's pretty much apart. So far I have put in a new inner rocker and one side of the tunnel from toeboard to under the rear seat. The rocker is half welded in and the pan is being screwed in about ready to weld. I haven't touched the passenger side yet. The inner rocker there is probably OK and the rear is still good but from the seat brace up to the floor board needs replaced or repaired. He said he could either finish where I'm at or go full floor. He's going to figure both ways and let me know.

I'm going to start playing with it again this weekend. At least I'm going to pull the brake stuff out of the 8.2 rear and swap it onto the 8.5. I'm thinking about putting the 8.5 under it so it will roll. That might lead to some issue with the springs I bought. I have a thread over on suspensions that I haven't heard from anyone yet.
 
#9 ·
If one is farming work out, and cost is an issue, you cant afford it
If you ant afford it, you can buy all the tools, welders etc, do it yourself a little cheaper and end up with a well equiped workshop.
Then the arguement is "I dont have the skills"
Well look at it this way,
are u of ave integence, can you follow instruction to the letter?
The guys who rebuild, do they have degrees or PhDs? No
They are the 'dumbies' who attended shop at school, took care of fine details...and now run rather a profitable business
So what is the difference between them and us....simple they have patience, and laugh all the way to the bank.
I have a good friend in a town about 100 miles away...and that is how he describes it
His wife runs the business, the 'boys' do the bread and butter insurance work/ paint He just enjoys building custom rod chassis, hammer and fill, roll up new panels, goes to shows and a couple trips each yr to the states for shows over there and pic up a couple projects to bring back...owns the 15,000 sq ft building....by the time he was 32
"not bad for a guy who dropped out of school at 15" as he puts it lol.
 
#10 ·
If one is farming work out, and cost is an issue, you cant afford it
If you ant afford it, you can buy all the tools, welders etc, do it yourself a little cheaper and end up with a well equiped workshop.
Then the arguement is "I dont have the skills"
Well look at it this way,
are u of ave integence, can you follow instruction to the letter?
The guys who rebuild, do they have degrees or PhDs? No
They are the 'dumbies' who attended shop at school, took care of fine details...and now run rather a profitable business
So what is the difference between them and us....simple they have patience, and laugh all the way to the bank.
I have a good friend in a town about 100 miles away...and that is how he describes it
His wife runs the business, the 'boys' do the bread and butter insurance work/ paint He just enjoys building custom rod chassis, hammer and fill, roll up new panels, goes to shows and a couple trips each yr to the states for shows over there and pic up a couple projects to bring back...owns the 15,000 sq ft building....by the time he was 32
"not bad for a guy who dropped out of school at 15" as he puts it lol.
Click to expand...
Man Steptoe, I could not have put it better myself.

Heck, I am just a dumb old Fireman.....and I am doing ALL of my own work........


FOR ME it kind of takes away from the pride of the work when you say you paid SOMEONE ELSE to do it......

My shop gets better all the time........

Now I just need more room for more tolls......and cars!

Good luck on the resto !!!!!!!!
 
#13 ·
3 ways to do it ....

1) Buy the car finished already, then you'll know how much it costs ...

2) Do all of your own work, but you'll need a time, a place, tools, money, and patience ..

3) The third way is : Everything in between ... Trade your time or your money, beg your friends, borrow every scrap of information you can (no don't steal), but you'll still need that money part too ...
 
#15 ·
Buy a pot of blackboard paint...a packet of school chalk....
When one gets a bit bogged , just seeing things crossed of the list is a big incentive.
 
#17 ·
I started with that chart Silvio... with good intentions.
I threw it out a couple years later when I realized there weren't enough columns to keep changing things. :)
Now I do what Steps suggested, except not on a chalkboard. I keep a list and "plans" on the shop wall and check them off or add as I go.
 
Discussion starter · #18 ·
Well a second restorer came out yesterday and spent a long time looking it over. He's going to research parts etc and get back to me with a bid. He pointed out there is a slight difference in the rear door gap. Wider at the bottom. It's from the body sagging in the middle. He said it's a usual problem with convertibles. He suggested using a body jig to make sure it sets correctly and putting it on a rotiserie.

Whether I can afford to farm it out or not at least this has stirred me back into action. I cleaned up the 8.5 Nova rear end yesterday and will get it ready soon. This morning I finally cleaned out the trunk and packed all the parts I've taken off into marked boxes. Now I have a nice clean uncluttered work area. If I have to wait very long for a restorer to get to it I may tackle the trunk floor and dash metal. The guy yesterday said he couldn't get to it until next year and he it would take a year to complete. Sounds long to me. I know a lot of you guys have had your cars in a shop longer even but to start out saying it will take a year??

I also want to ask about this. The first guy said he can get not only a full one piece floor pan but that it comes in a full piece with inner rocker attached or inner and outer and even one with seat braces already attached. Anybody heard of that? I'm not seeing it in any of the parts houses online.
 
#19 ·
New:
Fenders,full doors,full quarters,roof,outter wheelwells,inner fenders,core support,repair deck lid,patch rockers,prime,block,prime block,prime,block,paint,and clear.... 5 months in the shop.... so, yes a year sounds long (they didn't work on it 8hr.s a day or everyday either :noway:)
 
#20 ·
after you get a realistic estimate and get comfortable with it you'd better consider doubling it.

by the time the key is in the ignition and you're ready to start & drive it for the first time you'll realize what all the incidentals have done to your budget.

"Body & Paint" are just that, nothing else. what about interior, trim, instrumentation, chrome, suspension, drivetrain... the list, thank goodness isn't endless but after the initial budget's gone and you're still on the other side of the mountain NOT even in that proverbial tunnel you'll have a very rude awakening on the real costs to build a car.

once the process has been started, unless finished with all the same quality stuff you'll lose. Oh i'll just use this cheapy part for now and do it over later doesn't work. it only costs more to do anything twice.

be prepared to do some time too. think of it as being in jail. Car Jail ;) everything will take longer than you think and if you ARE thinking of a budget... well, get a big box of erasers with the pencils because it's going to change everyday.

other than paint & body i did everything on my car and it took 7 years. tons of parts that i hoarded ended up not fitting, not being correct for the "scheme" of my build and in the end i think i lost close to 3K in parts i couldn't use. another thing, it's great to save all your receipts for documentation but keep the receipts and the adding machine away from each other. sometimes it's not good to know what you have invested until the job is 100% done ;)

sorry to be so longwinded ;)


JR
 
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Winch
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