On the subject of buying a junker and restoring it.
A little personal anecdote.
I made a great deal (or so I thought) earlier this year on
a MB 220SE convertible. Only $3000, but it needed _everything_
done to it. The car barely ran, so into the engine first.
The last 220SE engine I did ran about $1000 Total in parts.
(I did all the work). When I pulled the head, I found massive
water-passage cancer, roasted valves and seats, eroded cam, etc.
Start to make decisions and price repairs.
Used head with rebuild $750
F.I. pump rebuild $250
Leather Interior $4500
Top and Liner $800
Carpet Set $400
Bumpers $2500
Short Block Kit $1700
Lower Rear Clip-used $450
Clip Installation $900
Bodywork -dents $1200
Bodywork -rust $250
Chrome Bits $750
Paint $2500
This is doing most of the work myself, and
only farming out major body work.
On the expensive cars, parts and service tend
to be expensive, and I just don't happen to have
$17,000 kicking around to turn this into a decent
(i.e. not concours) runner.
So, when my Mercedes contact mentioned in passing
that he would give me $5700 for the car as is, I
went for it. It gets towed away this morning.
Moral? I have more fun and personal satisfaction
wrenching on my Spitfire. My reliable wet-weather
MB coupe gets the grunt work done, and my old 250GTE
(Near Concours) ages gracefully in the garage.
In today's era of hyper-inflated enthusiast-cars,
to me it seems best to find a car in the condition you
would like to drive now and buy it.(Ouch)
It is unlikely that any more bargains exist that won't
end up costing far more and taking far longer to fix up,
than buying such a car already done. This does not apply
if you are in the business, are very good friends with
someone in the business, or plan to do ALL the work
yourself.
It also doesn't apply to these cheap little Brit-cars
we all know and love, because losing $1000 on the package
further on down the line when selling is NOTHING like
losing $10,000.
But you needn't take my advice, I very rarely do.
Aran (What, you're down to only six cars?) Guy
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