Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire 1969 Roadrunner revival

As a friend of mine said after restoring a number of classic cars you never get your money back on a car as how do you figure the cost of the labor you put into it. He said it's a labor of love in the satisfaction you sit back and look at the completed project and hear the kudos's from your peers and well as from complete strangers.

Covering the true cost of labor never quite seems to pan out for restorations, be they cars, tractors, houses, rifles or whatever.

I think W7ACT's friend is right on the money.

Beings I do EVERYTHING myself, I could actually make a living restoring old cars. The key is to pick the right projects, buy them right and know how far to go with the work and how far not to go with the work.

You don't want to fall short of the mark but you don't want to throw parts and labor beyond what's necessary either, there are no returns on stupid chit like huge stereo systems, air ride, stupid wheels and over the top "custom" graphics. Same goes for any area of the car, be it engine, brakes, trans, suspension... Go far enough, make it nice, make it dependable etc, but don't go nuts in any particular catagory because you won't get that back.



I could go full time with this, I think about it a lot. A whole damn lot.

Dave, I'd be curious to know what you could sell that car for when it is done. I have no idea of what that sort of thing goes for.

But don't turn a fun hobby into work. Might take all the fun out of it.

The fun part is owning them, the work part has been just plain old hard work for me for many years now, not much mystery or excitement left in it for me.

But a guy has to do something for work, and I think I hate restoring cars much less than I hate what I'm doing now so...



We'll see.

Sometimes one hell of a hobby just turns into a job. But sometimes thats OK....

It's OK to go to work but it's really play.....it's how it should be if it could be. I say go for it full steam! You will never look back.

Dave, wizard is the only word I can think of!

ready for glass

Ha,...Shasta...

Haven't seen any of that in a LONG time...

Car Looks Sweet ND..!

Very Nice Dave! i want a full shot outside. Cant wait to see this car. it'll look great at chickenbuck!

hey, on a dry day... it could happen.

George Bernard Shaw said, "Work is whatever a body is obliged to do, and play whatever he is not obliged to do."

His way of saying that when you turn your hobby into a job, it's just work again. But I have to agree with your reasoning... if you hate the work you're doing now and could replace the income doing something you enjoy doing, that's a strong incentive.

Getting into self-employment just as Obamacare is starting to roll out might be something to consider as well.

You can never make a "good" living restoring cars for people who are concerned with the cost of the restoration...........seen it way too many times......

The wife carries the healthcare as her plan is better. So that part is not a concern.

The restoration stuff, with the metal surgery, fabrication, welding, body/paint work etc. I don't know that it's a "hobby" for me, I think of my hobbies as hunting, fishing, shooting and the tinkering part of owning hot rods and classics. I enjoy tinkering and tuning. The all out surgical restoration process... It's not nice work, it's ugly, dirty...

I tolerate it ok, but I don't exactly love it.

Agreed, I would never take work for a customer who's had this old car sitting around for 20 yrs and they want you to "fix it up a little"

I am not interested in doing car projects for customers period, more interested in spec builds and sell them.

DAMN! That is fine looking.

Yep. Spec builds and sell 'em. Doing resto's on other people's stuff is a nightmare... their expectations are rarely realistic.