Cost of restoration

[jonzcustomshop]

Originally Posted by LILRED66

In closing, if the shop is a mess, there are several half-cooked projects sitting around collection dust, it is a good indication that your prized possession will become part of the herd. Additionally, if a shop insists on a percentage of the total cost down, prior to commencing work, grab you keys and run. This shop is paying last months rent with your money, that is supposed to be used to purchase supplies for your truck.

I think this is the best advice yet, I have seen this very situation, and it is true.

[jason65]

Originally Posted by LILRED66

I just finished a punch list on a '64 Chevy C20 lwb fleetside truck, that the owner took to a "hack-master" masquerading as a restoration shop. It ended up at my shop after several months of broken promises and the help of the local Sheriffs Department, because the shop owner would not surrender the truck to the rightful owner, even though the owner was willing to accept the truck with many of the items, that were paid for in advance, were not complete. After much wrangling with the owner, I suggested the owner of the truck contact the Sheriff Department to assist him in recovering the truck. With title, proof of insurance and many photos of the truck, to show rightful ownership, the owner of the truck met the Sheriff at the shop and firmly suggested that the shop owner surrender the truck to it's rightful owner.

Long story short, here are a few items that made the punch list the truck owner hired me to complete or correct:

1. The new ceramic-coated headers were cut off at the collectors and the exhaust pipe was friction fit over the 4 small tubes. The hangers were #4 rebar welded directly to the frame rails and the exhaust pipe, where ever convenient.

2. In order to tuck the exhaust, the C20 cab mounts were torched, to allow the mufflers to clear. One was completely distroyed and the other had a scallop torched out of it.

3. The fuel tank straps were not installed.

4. There was overspray on every piece of rubber, the brightwork and glass.

I did a list consisting of over 50 minor detail items, that any good, reputable restoration shop, worth their salt, would have completed before taking the owner's money or releasing the truck to the owner.

In closing, if the shop is a mess, there are several half-cooked projects sitting around collection dust, it is a good indication that your prized possession will become part of the herd. Additionally, if a shop insists on a percentage of the total cost down, prior to commencing work, grab you keys and run. This shop is paying last months rent with your money, that is supposed to be used to purchase supplies for your truck.

So you have herd of Mills bodyshop. Stuff like that is why I'll never use a bodyshop again. I'll buy the equipment I need and do it myself and will probaly still come out ahead and the vehicle will be to MY standards, not some hacks.

[heymoe]

Originally Posted by LILRED66

My suggestion to you is to tackle the project yourself and you will see, first hand, that "properly" replacing rocker panels, inner rocker panels, cab corners, floor boards and kick panels, is not a 16 man hour project. I just completed the above work for a fellow board member, with a helper and I, we racked up 24 hours, between us, or 48 man hours. My aggregate shop rate, for the two of us, is $57.00/hour. Keep in mind, I don't do this for a living, so I don't have the high overhead, that many shops do, so I try to keep my rate, as low as possible. There are many shops out there that will "yard" the panels in and charge 1/2 price and some will do shoddy work and charge you a premium, for lesser quality work.

The answer to your question is 40 man hours is a pretty honest guesstimate of the time required to do this work.

This is why I love this site. What I might think takes 16hrs really takes the 40hrs. But what I am saying is if you do not have the experience in doing the work yourself than you have no justification or proof to say what the shop is estimating. Information like this helps the average joe make decisions with a piece of mind that he is not getting taken to the bank.

Great post and thanks for the information

[SIR]

...after all was said and done (almost), $15K + or - and that was 6 yrs ago....

[MacAttack]

Originally Posted by SIR

...after all was said and done (almost), $15K + or - and that was 6 yrs ago....

That's one sweet truck.

Originally Posted by Alan's Classic

Just say the rate is $40/hr

So what Alan is really hinting here is I could trailer my truck back to him for all my body work @ $40.00 per hour, right?

Mac.

[67Run]

this is the part that scares me on mine. i'm doing the guts now and i can drive her again which i love. i'm going to be sanding it all down myself, unsure about the rust areas though. they are just under the rocker panels of the doors and under the cab. other than that, it's just surface rust.

i'm not wanting to restore it to eat off of it, just to be very safe and reliable. so, i want the rusted pieces fixed and new bushings put in under the cab and redo the wood in the bed and reset it. not even sandblast the frame and all of that.

i'm thinking mine would cheaper than what you are looking for, but i'd imagine a full restoration would be very high in cost.

[67Run]

and i just realized this is hella old. my bad.

[dthela]

$25,000 for restoration, $40,000 for mental health professional services.....

[61K10]

find one already done (they are out there) if you have no experience on restorations and limited funds, DON'T even get involved. like was said earlier, find one done or almost done and finish to your taste. sadly you really never know what's under the paint. there are some good sculptures with body filler out there. I have a friend that had a after hours and weekend shop. customers where always pissed because their project wasn't getting done. so beware--been there. and yes everybody wants a show quality truck/car for 20k--not going to happen. there are good shops out there but not cheap. good luck and happy hunting.

[kieth]

We worked on my 66 gmc for 1 year, tried to save money everywhere, the paint and bodywork is where all the expense is. The drivetrain is simple, the bodywork & prep that is the most expensive and really determines how the finished truck will look. I would say $20,000 is cheap, I have more than that in my truck and I was only paying some employees $15.00 per hour. Went shopping for insurance the other day and American Modern insurance was the least expensive but said NADA only allowed 12,0000 to 17,000 dollars on this year vehicle (66 gmc) I laughed and told them they were in the regular car insurance business not the collector car business........you really do not want to add all the reciepts and time into one of these vehicles it would be much less expensive to buy one already done,,,,,but that would not be as much fun.....would it ??

I am insuring my 66 gmc for $30,000 because it would cost that or more to replace the vehicle paying someone else to do the work.

[theastronaut]

Depends on what your idea of restoration is. Some people think a $800 buck Maaco paint job and a LMC seat cover is "restored". The other end of the spectrum would be cost-is-no-object restoration projects that take thousands of hours to complete. That includes taking every single part off, taking everything to bare metal, and renewing every single peice to better than new condition before it's assembled. The body is completly reworked so all the panels are flush with each other, all the body lines are aligned and match up panel-to-panel, and all the panel gaps are exactly the same all around the truck. Every square inch of the body is block sanded completely straight, and it's painted in peices to avoid overspray or tape lines. All of the chrome is fitted before sending it off to be rechromed, and all of the stainless is straightened and buffed. The only stopping point is when every part has been reworked to the point to where it's not humanly possible to make it any better.

[1963c-10]

Originally Posted by theastronaut

Depends on what your idea of restoration is. Some people think a $800 buck Maaco paint job and a LMC seat cover is "restored". The other end of the spectrum would be cost-is-no-object restoration projects that take thousands of hours to complete. That includes taking every single part off, taking everything to bare metal, and renewing every single peice to better than new condition before it's assembled. The body is completly reworked so all the panels are flush with each other, all the body lines are aligned and match up panel-to-panel, and all the panel gaps are exactly the same all around the truck. Every square inch of the body is block sanded completely straight, and it's painted in peices to avoid overspray or tape lines. All of the chrome is fitted before sending it off to be rechromed, and all of the stainless is straightened and buffed. The only stopping point is when every part has been reworked to the point to where it's not humanly possible to make it any better.

Well said.

[198plus]

25,000 to 50,000 all day long

[heymoe]

Well I ended up with a little over 12k in mine. I have done a ton to this truck and still have more to do so I can see 18k to 20k for a nice restored driver.

[RAYDAY]

Most body shop horror story's start with the customer choosing the cheapest estimate! expecting top results from bondo billy prices. Truth is good tools and good employees cost $$$$ so a good shop has to cover that cost with there hourly rate. I work at high end shops tons of magazine coverage awards turn out awesome cars. most the time when people find out the paint work was $60,000 or the car cost $300,000 to build they get freaked out but thats why the cars stand out someone was willing to pay for the time it takes to make the whole package work!

[SIR]

20K is about the norm...when we did ours we came on a shop that was just starting out..and got great deal...I bought all the parts I needed had them sent to my builder & they put it together did all the sand blasting and body work and assembly...cost was close to $20-25K...and the work is STILL holding up 6 YEARS LATER...I got really blessed, be careful about getting trapped in "BODY SHOP HELL"..they tell you ....ya we can do that...and you don't see or hear from ANYONE till YOU go over there and wake them up!!...this is how we started out and how it looks now ... KEEP THE DREAM ALIVE!!!

[64shortbox]

As 72BlkButy stated in the long run it's a LOT cheaper to buy one done or almost done. But who has the cash to out right buy a finished truck? I already have 2 project vehicles that aren't finished but I wanted a 64 - 66 Chevy C-10. I did a little creative financing. I had some money set aside in savings, my daily driver was paid for. I found my truck, a Big back window, Short Box, Fleet Side with Vintage air, power steering, lowered, decent paint & interior. I refinanced my paid for daily driver, took that cash along what I was willing ot take out of savings, combined the two and bought my truck. It's still not the way I wanted it but I can and do drive it as I make my improvements. I'm adding disc brakes from 73 C-10, I still have over $1000.00 into just that by the time I added drop spindles, 6 lug disc rotors, all new ball joints, poly bushings etc. I added a tilt column froma 73 Chevy van for $119.00 off eBay, I plan on adding power windows & locks and bagging the rear. I can still drive the truck and make the improvements I want as I go.
I'm also a very lucky man, 30+ years ago I took a 2 year body shop course (my painting skills SUCK though) I'm a maintenance mechanic at a processing plant and have access to lathes, Bridgeport mill, 100 ton press, TIG welders, MIG welders, drill presses, grinders, plasma cutters, we are also the plants electritions so wiring & trouble shooting isn't a problem either & still I chose a truck that was done that I could drive and modify to my liking as I drive & use it.

[McCoyAZ]

I have NO IDEA what a complete build would cost but just the other day I stumbled across a totaly rebuilt 64 stepper all customized that I could buy fo 10K and drive it home.

I will have way more than that in mine and it wont be near as nice, but i'm too far in it to stop now.