Classic / Muscle Cars - Do's and Dont's?

[nobbie48]

As many have replied, stock is best. I recall talking to a well informed Brit car guy and they tended to only do mods that were reversible with wrenches. The originals were kept. Modern stuff was used for the sunny day tea runs but a bit of wrenching made them competitive for the concours stuff.

One would have to ask a concours judge how de-modding was seen (Cut and weld followed by more cut and weld) and if it could be unnoticeable.

There are sites where you can shop for a motor by serial number, getting the right year.

Be careful where you store stuff. A guy I met had a Corvette with a very tired original engine and did an economy swap using a generic SB Chev junkyard engine. He stored the original at his brother's place and his SIL got in a clean the place mood. It got scrapped.

 

[nobbie48]

The numbers will be dated but the percentages are likely the same.

Years back I had long chat with the owner of the Guild of Automotive Restorers and he turned down a lot of work. A young guy would come in with the Camaro he inherited from a relative and wanted it restored. It was pointed out that a nut and bolt restoration would cost six figures and there were cars on the market already don for a third the price. Few people could afford the sentimental value.

A friend who is heavy into mid sixties Darts commented a good starter could be had for around ten grand and another forty would have it looking really good. Then it would sell for twenty-five grand.

If you want to make money restoring stuff get paid to work on someone else's. Otherwise it's a subsidized hobby.

It would be interesting to get the opinion of the Guild on the cost / benefit of any work on the subject vehicle.

Also check the provenance of the vehicle. Who has owned it?

It was antiques and collectibles from Jay Leno's home being evaluated but the estimated value of the items were doubled because Leno owned them.

 

[GreyGhost]

The numbers will be dated but the percentages are likely the same.

Years back I had long chat with the owner of the Guild of Automotive Restorers and he turned down a lot of work. A young guy would come in with the Camaro he inherited from a relative and wanted it restored. It was pointed out that a nut and bolt restoration would cost six figures and there were cars on the market already don for a third the price. Few people could afford the sentimental value.

A friend who is heavy into mid sixties Darts commented a good starter could be had for around ten grand and another forty would have it looking really good. Then it would sell for twenty-five grand.

If you want to make money restoring stuff get paid to work on someone else's. Otherwise it's a subsidized hobby.

It would be interesting to get the opinion of the Guild on the cost / benefit of any work on the subject vehicle.

Also check the provenance of the vehicle. Who has owned it?

It was antiques and collectibles from Jay Leno's home being evaluated but the estimated value of the items were doubled because Leno owned them.

The guild does good work and have made a successful business but they definitely have a preferred client type (cost is no object) and can stay busy without opening that up. I wanted to get a head hot tanked and it was basically a no go. If you want them to touch a car you ask to be put in line, then drop off the car and a big retainer cheque to get in the queue. When the car is done, they tell you how big the next cheque is (most jobs are double or triple retainer) and you bring the money and pick up your beautiful car that you can sell for 30% of what you just paid.

 

[nobbie48]

The guild does good work and have made a successful business but they definitely have a preferred client type (cost is no object) and can stay busy without opening that up. I wanted to get a head hot tanked and it was basically a no go. If you want them to touch a car you ask to be put in line, then drop off the car and a big retainer cheque to get in the queue. When the car is done, they tell you how big the next cheque is (most jobs are double or triple retainer) and you bring the money and pick up your beautiful car that you can sell for 30% of what you just paid.

He pointed to a custom car they had just finished and the workmanship was superb. IIRC he said it was a $230,000 car. That may have been what the owner paid but like a lot of (Most) custom bikes the input doesn't equal the output.