Restoration Opinions

[72B5blue]

The thoughts of having our car  restored have been floating around for a few years now, and while at the somernite cruize, I thought I found a place who I would let do it. 

http://kreativecustomsccp.com/

We've considered letting local body shops do the body work on it, but haven't really just because we want it done right.  There's alot of it we could do our selves, but haven't for the same reason. 

SOoooo...

Anyways, I emailed the guys at kreative custom shop in london, and talked to him about doing a complete restoration.   

He says all they do is an A-Z restoration, bumper to bumper and at a flat rate of $35,000

I thought dam, well maybe when he sees the car, he'll realize it doesn't need a ton of work and might do it cheaper.  So I emailed him pictures and get a reply basically saying its a flat rate of $35,000 regardless of the car.   

Thats a little pricey in my opinion, I may be wrong though.  We thought if we had to spend  10 - $15,000  to get it done right we would do it, and expected the price to be something like that.   

If they charge a $35k flat rate regardless of the car,  why would I not take a door from a 70' hemi cuda, and let them build a car around it??    

Any opinions?

here are some pics of the car:

I may be wrong, and once we strip it down it may be 100% rust, but judging by what it looks like now it seems to be pretty straight.  its been garage kept for 15 years..





It really doesn't need a whole lot...   

Exterior:
It has a very small amount of rust visible behind the rear wheels
It has a little rust on top we found after taking off the vinyl top.
I'd like to have the bumpers and trim re chromed
Underneath the car appears to be solid

Engine:
100K~ miles and never been touched
It could need a lot, but I think a basic overhaul should do it. 
I would probably go 30 over, a different set of pistons to get compression up to pre 72' specs (10.4 vs  8.5) a mild cam
I'd like to have the heads redone and machined for 2.02 valves from pre 72' 340's

Transmission/ Drivetrain:
I would put a new clutch and flywheel in it while its apart. 
The transmission shifts fine, and as far as I know the rear end is good.. 

Suspension:
I'd like to go through and change all bushings and basically everything that can wear out


Interior:
The dash pad is busted up where it just got hot in the sun and started cracking I suppose.   
There is a small hole above the headliner where a little mouse sit on top of the sun visor and eat a hole.     
The Clock doesn't work.
We already purchased a dash pad,  new front seat covers (they were replaced years ago and are a tad crooked), carpet, and head liner from Year One.

Wheels / Tires:
We just bought a set of 15x7 / 15x8 Rallye Replicas.. 

Any opinions?

[cudaguy71]

If they charge a $35k flat rate regardless of the car,  why would I not take a door from a 70' hemi cuda, and let them build a car around it??    

 

The price seems quite high to me...

[ChallengerHK]

I've run into the same thing several times. What I think is important to remember is this: a restoration shop (versus a run-on-the-mill body shop) has a brand to protect. Even though the car may be in pretty good shape and you may only want a drive, they can command such a high rate because total restoration is all they do and (hopefully) they do it well.

I talked to a local guy last year and asked him how much he would charge me to paint my car if I did all the body and prep myself. $12,000.

The flip side of this is that the regular body shops do pretty slapdash work a lot of the time. I thought I had finally found a worthwhile place (again last year). I had them put in the driver's floor pan. When I was upgrading my front suspension I noticed that the floor pan is not tied in to the torsion bar mount.

This is a long-winded way of saying that finding a quality, reliable body shop that will not charge an outrageous amount is a tough row to hoe. I've been at it for 3 years and I still don't have a place that I really trust.

Good luck.

[73Chally]

That price is pretty high.  Something tells me these guys are booked solid and will only take on extra work if they will make big  on them.  It would probably sit in there shop for a year without ever being touched.  I would start looking for other options.  Your best bet might be to ask around at shows for one-man operations that do a lot of this stuff on the side, maybe only 3 or 4 cars a year.

[n9671x2]

You would be miles ahead buying my buddys done car.   It is not listed for sale, but I am sure could be bought for less than they quoted you, and I guarantee you this car is nicer than what will come out of that shop.

http://s101.photobucket.com/albums/m75/psrde/Tims%20Challenger/

[n9671x2]

[n9671x2]

[cudax34me]

i asked the other dayabout the cost of just putting on quarter skins......about 700 bucks. these are 2 brothers with good rep. just so you know....body shop labor ain't cheep.

[73Chally]

That's not bad.  If you figure a decent shop rate will be $50/hr, that's just one day if both guys are working on them.  Are these the same guys that gave you the $35K price?  Seems like quite a discrepancy.

[NoMope Greg]

Two different members - two different prices for two different things.   72B5blue was quoted $35k for the whole car.  cudax34me was quoted $700 for the quarters.

[73Chally]

Oops.  Been a long day and my laptop sucks on the road.

[sprecks]

I agree that maybe your car doesn't need everything, but they quoted you a bumper to bumper nut and bolt restoration. Check what that includes. If it is a true "complete" restoration that probably isn't a bad price. I have done a number of restorations and usually do everything except machine work myself. I have spent ten grand before with no problem and actually quite a bit more than that on occassion. That doesn't include any labor. That leaves $25,000 for labor. Divide that by what you think is a reasonable hourly rate. Lets use $50/hr. That works out to 500 hours. I assure you it will take more than 500 hours to do a complete restoration. Just my two cents.

[cudagirl4406pk]

Well my husband charges 40.00 a hour and alot of sites say min of 350 hours to take a car apart and restore it without replacing any panels.He is doing a members car here right now a 72 challenger and the body shop told him 7k for replacing just the floor pans and sealing them up.My husband will have replaced trunk pans,both rockers,floorpans,lower rear 1/4's outer fender wheels,and engine compartment metal work and it will prob run 6-7k.They shops are outragous but no one really wants to do rusty or old cars anymore all the money is in the insurance work.My husband does frame off and rotisserie resto's and take about 1 1/2 years to do car from front to back.Takes so long since he works a job if your interested in getting your car done after he is done with trick's car sometime next year shoot me a pm and you can talk to him about pricing and such.Every 50 hours of work he gets payment this way if you run out of money or unhappy with work then you can part ways not worring about large sums of money.Memebrs at carlilse saw his work looking at my cuda you can ask people on here what they think.....When tricks car is done he will of had a complete resto.Now he pays for all supplies and has them shipped to my husband so that way he is not getting jackedup on the price of materials and also the $40 is strickly labor no parts are included in his prices.He tells people you dont know what you got until you dig into it always be ready for a surprise.

michele

[sleepychallenger]

The guy that i go to is pretty good and has had cars all over the world shipped to him to do. Also, isnt fishn in this line of work, from what i remember, they did one HE!! of a job on cuda guys car!!

just a thought.

[Carlwalski]

Sorry, I'm lost, $35K for body work and paint only OR $35K from a tired car to show piece??