Full Nut and Bolt Restoration

[SS427]

The first question I always ask people is, define concourse restoration (nut and bolt). In many peoples mind a full restoration is complete bodywork and paint, frame cleaned and painted, interior cleaned and needed items replaced and then the driveline cleaned up and restored. I define it as what you get back is a brand new car. Every single component on that car from the engine to the brake switch is torn down, cleaned and rebuilt. Distibutors, carburetor, alternator, fuel pump, water pump, AIR pump, starter, ALL rebuilt and restored. New bushings, seals and bearings in every component on the car. Absolutely NOTHING is left untouched. This in my mind is a concours restoration but this also takes a lot of time and money. Our 69 Yenko Chevelle took just shy of 3000 hours between the bodywork and paint, interior, driveline, chassis restoration, sublet work and then restoring and rebuilding every single component on the car. We had a tad over $50,000 in parts so do the math. Obviously this is not the norm but I will say that most of our LS6 restorations started at $125,000 for a concourse restoration and that was almost 3 years ago since I retired so it would be a lot higher today.

[Too Many Projects]

Originally Posted by mhm1966

Could prices have doubled in five years?

The short answer to that is YES, covid changed everything. Availability of goods and employees caused prices to skyrocket quickly. In the building industry, with the unforeseen/unexpected increase in sales, some prices quadrupled. And not much has come back down in cost from that time.
I suspect your car got caught in an employee shortage or the shop was overwhelmed with increased business from people with time and money on their hands to start long dormant projects/dreams.
Still doesn't justify the length of time, if your car was there first and has been bypassed for others.
If you have a reputable establishment that will take the car in and get it done in a timely period, you may be better off doing as Bergy did, get it and ALL your parts out and cut the lose.
NAPA-TIM did pose a very relevant question on paperwork to justify the time and cost.

[mprice]

I have had 17 cars over the years that have undergone complete frame off restorations. My advice would be to find someone you trust and like and even then have them put it in writing for the number of hours not to exceed. There also has to be an agreement that if there is major surprises found both parties must agree on any changes. My general budgeting rule is 1000 hours for complete restoration. I have had one that went 2.5 times that but 1000 hours in a good shop should suffice. Parts on the other hand is a different question, my budget if a lot is missing is usually $40,000. To echo others here don't expect to recoup the cost of the restoration when you sell the car. It is sad because there is so many great cars that needs to be saved but todays economics it just isn't feasible to expect to come out on the other end.

[mhm1966]

To answer Rick's question yes, every single component was taken apart, cleaned, and restored which was done by me. Yes, it is a concours restoration and to answer another question yes, I have invoices that document the work completed although I am not sure about the hours on the invoice to complete each phase of the restoration. Yes, this was when shop had a shortage of employees during COVID. So, it seems like the $200,00 that I paid is getting closer to reality.

[SS427]

With regards to me question about defining the word restoration, I was stating that more from a standpoint of what quality of restoration that the restoration shop was performing, dollar wise. That greatly effects the overall price of the restoration and the fact that you restored all those items, this should have kept the overall restoration shop price down as these items are very tedious and labor intensive as you well know. I cannot speak for other shops but on my receipts I listed the total labor for that billing period and an overall itemized list of jobs performed. I did not break each job down by hours on the invoice. However, my specific hourly time sheets (by employee) were readily available to anyone who had a question about the billed hours.

[Arrowsmith]

Upside down on a nut & bolt restoration? I spoke to a fella a month or so ago at a car show who owns a beautiful 1968 Super Bee. It was a 383 car with absolutely no special options. Paint and body was exquisite (done by a farmer local to me…and honestly he’s really, Really good). But the owner started with a junk car. He tells me there was 1,200 billable hours in paint and body labour. Oops… factor in materials plus parts and even though I’m not exactly sure what the hourly $$$ rate is, I’m pretty sure he now owns the most expensive 383 Super Bee on the planet.

[Crush]

Originally Posted by mhm1966

To answer Rick's question yes, every single component was taken apart, cleaned, and restored which was done by me. Yes, it is a concours restoration and to answer another question yes, I have invoices that document the work completed although I am not sure about the hours on the invoice to complete each phase of the restoration. Yes, this was when shop had a shortage of employees during COVID. So, it seems like the $200,00 that I paid is getting closer to reality.

I want to see the car!