Restoring Cars

Depends what you want at the end. If you spend a lot of time and money restoring a mass produced cheap family car then that is what you still have at the end of the project. Typically, spend $25,000 restoring something worth $7,000 - $10,000 when finished. Think of your expenditure as the cost of your hobby, not as value adding. Too many motor hobbyists confuse the two issues. I have heard many say that their pride and joy has cost $xx,xxx to restore "and I want to get my money back". Sorry, Mr. Advertiser. your 1950's pusbox is worth a fraction of what you spent on it.

Really, many mass produced cheap cars are not worth restoring. They have no great technical merit, no interesting competition history, never owned by the rich and powerful, etc.

The classifications are veteran (pre 1919), vintage (pre 1931), Post-vintage Thoroughbred which is a term used by the snobbier vintage sports car clubs and not recognised elsewhere, Classic Car which is make and model on the Classic Register commenced by the Classic Car Club of America and now accepted by the world wide federation of Classic Car Clubs. All others are just old cars.

This is my long term project. A Suzuki LJ-81. I'm a student so don't have all that much time which is why it a long term project. There really isn't much car to be restored so I'm lucky there.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/

This is our original one. Spent too many lonely years in the rain at our block of land.

The one below is the "donor" vehical. In reality it will have to be a frankenJ-81 because both are pretty bad. Original is straight but more rusted, red one is pretty bashed but less rusted.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/

Had to convince mum to let me leave the original and the new chassis in the back yard back home while I bring the body (below) to my apartment in Brisbane to de-rust and cut up.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/

It really is small. The body fit on half a trailer and can be lifted easily by two people.

Motor of the original is fine if just a bit leaky. Will be restored to original condition and now have lots of spares to keep it going forever.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by VladTepes

Andy I love that model jag and Daimler. Love it. But 12k just on trim? Wow. Is it a resto or a new car in old clothes thing? Some clown on ebay had one he'd put air con in and wantee $45k for it...

Chops go for something you don't see any, or many, of. People more likely to notice then! So not an aussie car or a mustan or 50s chev.

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It's a full resto from the ground up. Bare metal respray, lead wiped body, all original driveline and components rebuilt.

I have even left it as Positive Earth for originality. The only non original items are seatbelts and a electronic SU pump in the boot.

My parents have had this for almost 30 years so it's a bit of a family heirloom. Looks great parked in the shed next to my 1974 Datsun Z and hopefully my '48 Landy next. Good luck with your search!

G'day Chops,

If you like trucks there is a smaller alternative - commercial vehicles; ones that earned their keep. There are such things as this one currently on Facebook's Rusty Wrecks - it is smaller than a 3 ton truck, English and no doubt once supported someone's business. https://m.facebook.com/groups/245704...90207797776582

I have no association with the seller. However I particularly like ex-commercial vehicles. I think each state has their own Historic Commercial Vehicle association so there is a lot of camaraderie and sharing of information. Hmmm a lot like AULRO :)

Kind Regards
Lionel

Hi all, my 1961 Sunbeam Alpine has been my project having been played with over the past 6 years. Basically a Hillman Minx in drag but now rarely seen on the road. It even has the original aluminium hardtop. In the meantime I have had Lotus 7, TVR 3000M, Austin Healy 100, a couple of Sprites including a Bugeye, Triumph TR3a and 1976 Porsche 911. Not all required full restoration but all good fun and keeps me out of the pub. I have in the past month sold a 1947 MG Tc because I could no longer get into it.
Its a great hobby and something the wife can get involved with.
Jim

I love reading Practical Classics and get a lot of good ideas from there. Plenty of different approaches taken and none of them done with an open cheque book.

We have a Volvo Amazon wagon that will be fully restored in stages. At the moment it is doing service as a daily driver. We bought it from a guy who intended to restore it and never got around to it. The guy he bought it from had done exactly the same thing. He in turn had bought it from the first owner.

For us it was important to find a car that was complete, but as there's less than 20 wagons still on the road in Aus it eventually came down to buying the first one we could find that didn't have a ridiculous price tag. It took us three years to find it. We only had to put tyres, a tie rod end and some brake and clutch hydraulics on it to get it roadworthy and reliable.

The car is a bit hard to tune, so next up we'll be sending the dizzy off for a rebuild and will fit electronic ignition as part of that. I also have a spare set of twin SUs as fitted to "S" model Amazons. They'll be rebuilt and fitted at the same time.

The idea is to keep improving the car mechanically and get it in top condition before we dive into the body and trim. We'll redo the suspension, change the diff ratio and make a couple of subtle changes but it will all be reversible and mostly original.

In the meantime we are collecting parts when they come up and looking at options for bodywork and trim. Repro trim is available and we'll probably just go with that. The body is in fair shape but the paint needs redoing, there is some bog and there is a little rust. I can't weld or paint, but as a friend was recently quoted about 20 grand to respray his wagon, I'm thinking I might have to learn.

I agree that it's important to really like the car you're working on. Lots of things will go wrong and the budget always seems to blow out (or so I've read), and that's why so many people just abandon the work, leave it in the shed and then sell it five years later for beer money.

Mate, first buy the car you want... no V8 ?? If you want an old HQ with a V8 for example ... get one. Are you on No V8's licnese restriction, don't worry about that .... it'll be years before it's on the road .... you'll be allowed to drive 'em again by the time it's on the road.

If you anything like me ..... "time poor" ... and definitely "$$$ poor"..... (ie: covers just about any single wage earner with young kids). Go the bodywork first.

Just remember though .... YOU WILL NEVER MAKE MONEY FROM A RESTORED CAR. Typically you'll put probably 3 times the amount you could buy a fully restored car for by the time you have finished.

But, but ... where's the fun in buying a car already done. I say start with the bodywork, 'cos often it's the most involved. And there's 100's of hours of labour there where you don't need to spend much money (other than primer, sandpaper and stripping discs .... even that suprisingly adds up a lot). Plus once it's all nice and pretty with shiny new paint, it's actually worth something to sell on as a "project" if you can't finish. A car that's had thousands spend on mechanical restoration, generally isn't worth a cent more.

And once it's all shiny and pretty you won't loose enthusiasm for the project 'cos you'll be keen to drive it ... rather than seeing it as a battered looking piece of crap you have spent thousands on .... that still looks the same as wehn you started.

This is what I've been tinkering with for the last couple of years: Gee's it's bloody ugly, but I've had a bloody ball driving it around this summer in it's battered 50year old paint with the roof unboled :Rolling:
Is this the best project car you have ever seen?

seeya,
Shane L.

Wow, thanks for all the responses, I really appreciate it.

I'm on the phone, so I can't really see pics well, and I can't answer everyone at the moment, will do so after work when I'm at home.

Mick, I'll talk to you later :-)

As for "getting my money back, or making profit", it doesn't matter. I've been around long enough to have seen this first hand many times over, and see some of my mates very disappointed with their end losses.
It's about personal satisfaction, and keeping a bit busy. I can't always go bush, so some tinkering at homes good.

I'm on a few FB pages to do with old trucks and cars,, missed an old 48 Bug eyed Bedford a few weeks back,, would have been awesome :-/

I would just love to have the time left to restore a 1949 5 ton Austin truck.
It was my first truck and I loved the thing.
But alas.
Sigh.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DoubleChevron

Just remember though .... YOU WILL NEVER MAKE MONEY FROM A RESTORED CAR. Typically you'll put probably 3 times the amount you could buy a fully restored car for by the time you have finished.



seeya,
Shane L.

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Bull****

You're restoring the wrong type of cars if you're not increasing their value, plenty of money to be made in classic restoration, the older the more profitable. (Generally)