At 11:13 PM 5/10/98 EDT, Godly Krew wrote:
>VIN 1758 has rust galore on the chassis and in the plenum. It needs new
>carpet and seats too. I do not think I can afford frame off restoration.
Riley, are you going to do the work or pay to have it done? The more
work you do the less it will cost! Rust is not uncommon in the areas
you mention. However, the question should really be, how badly is it
rusted. You can up the car up on jack stands and start cleaning down
a lot of the chassis with a wire wheel to see just how bad it really
is. Then paint it with some POR-15 or anything else.
>Will keeping the car for a few more years do any harm?
That depends on how and where you are keeping the car. If it is in a
field with a cover on it, yes. That will help the rust grow. If it is
in a garage, then the rust will not continue to grow as fast.
>I'm afraid that the only way to stop the rust is to do a frame off resto.
>I want to keep the car, but based on the ad I saw for a '75 that had just
>been restored, it cost $20,000. what should I do?
You can pull the body off the chassis, and have the chassis reworked by
someone else. But you are right, the body will have to come off the
chasssis. I don't see the $20,000 in a restored 75. So far I have
$9,000 in parts, around 1,000 hours of labor (you set the vaule - $10/hr
is $10,000), and another $2,000 in misc. expenses.
There is an old adage that comes to mind, "if you have to ask how much,
you can't afford it".
When most restored cars are sold, they will NOT bring in enough to cover
the restoration - especially if the restoration was farmed out.
The rich pay to have their car restored.
The hobbiest restores his car becaues he likes the car.
Everyone else sell the car.
>should I keep the car? should I sell it to someone who can restore it to
>keep the rust from doing more damage?
That is up to you. The down side to the last item above, is that a car
in need of a restoration usually doesn't bring much money.
>How much is a '75 worth with an unconfirmed milage of 33,000 and a
>recored radiator w/ new hoses?
There are a few other items to look at. Does it have air doors? How
badly is the body cracked. Is the rest of the car (interior) intact
and all there? If so, I'd say the car is worth between $750 and $1,500
if your assessment of the chassis rust is correct.
John
John T. Blair WA4OHZ email: jblair@exis.net
Va. Beach, Va Phone: (757) 495-8229
48 TR1800 65 Morgan 4/4 Series V
71 Saab Sonett III 75 Bricklin SV1 77 Spitfire
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