Listers,
I'm in a dilemma and I'm seeking some advice. I bought my '76 Spit about 4
mos. ago at the "bargain" price of $1100.00. It seemed like a good idea at
the time. The car had been sitting for about 3 years but started and ran
although it wasn't driveable. Since that time I've rebuilt both master
cylinders, installed a new water pump, replaced the brakes, rebuilt the
carb, replaced both speedo cables and put a new coil, crane ignition system
and four new tires on the car. My investment to this point is right at
$2000. Now the dilemma, whilst doing this work I discovered that the
frame was severely rusted, I didn't know enough at the time when I bought
it to check this, as my previous cars have been MGs or American cars and
this is the first car I have ever seen with a rusted out frame. Undeterred
I bought a parts car to get a decent frame and managed to break even by
selling almost every part that was on the parts car. I just got the frame
back from being sandblasted and painted and it looks great. I ordered
about $400 worth of bushings, shocks and a new rear spring and was planning
on building up the suspension and then transferring over the drivetrain and
body. Since I was going to have the body off the frame I thought that this
would be a good time to get some body work and painting done. The tub (to
me at least) is in good shape, it's been painted several times and the
paint is chipping. Also the drivers side floor is gone and the outer
rockers have pin holes in them. The rear wheel arches are also showing
some bubbles and there is some other minor rust. I went to a paint shop
that specializes in restorations, their estimate for the job....$4000!!
Thinking that these people were truly insane I went to Maaco..their
estimate: $3000!!
So what should I do? I truly can not afford 3-4k worth of paint and
bodywork and my talent is mechanical not bodywork and paint. I also do not
know how to weld. My concern is that I'm going to end up with car that I
can neither afford to fix nor be able to sale. Should I try to part the car
out and recoup my investment that way? Does anyone have a rustfree tub they
want to sell? Does anyone want to buy a great little project car with a
new frame?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Glenn
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