having done four complete restorations, i can tell you with authrity
that the average time spent doing a job correctly will take 700 hours.
Our shop rate is $50/hour US. As you can see, you can't charge for all
the hours.
here is a rough breakdown of what is involved with truly restoring a
car:
complete strip down of car ~60 hours
partial acid dip body, all panels, frame $2000
rust repair MB 40 hrs DO 75 TC 90 LL 120
final dip and phosphate dip $2000
powder coating prep and finish $1500
theres $7500 just to eliminate the rust completetly. TC's car is
California 1500 that had very little visible rust until it came back
from the dip.
Once a body and its panels are dipped, the rust in between the seams is
now gone(or the seams are gone), all these parts need to be re sealed
and caulked. the average roadster takes 8 tubes of caulking. Once
phospahetd, the body and panels must be epoxy primered, sealed, body
worked, primered, fit, sanded, and finally painted. Average body work
time on a project has come in at 200 hours.
engine rebuild 25 hours
trans rebuild 5 hours
frame reassembly 25 hours
engine compartment 10 hours
A total restoration can take a year. there are many factors involved.
Mike Baker's car was shipped from Michigan to California to British
Columbia to Michigan for the tune of $2500.
some items on Mikes car: new solex set up $1100 (ah! the old price!!)
new panasports
new wiring
new top
Just dashes dash
new 2 1/4" exhaust
new shocks
rechromed everything
new cylinder head
new volvo brakes
new rotors
new interior
new glass
new timing chain set up
new pistons
The list goes on and on. You can put as little or as much as you want
into a project. I personally have totally restored 6 roadsters and know
what costs are involved. I manage and oversee the jobs and have
qualified personnel responsible for each aspect. At this time, we have
not hired any Playboy bunnies but if thats what it takes to enthrall
some of you owners into bringing your cars up here, I'll look into it.
--
Ross Mullen
SPORTS IMPORTS - your Datsun Roadster Parts House
Phone: (604) 538-5615
FAX: 535-3538
Web site: http://home.istar.ca/~datsun
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