New member hello and new project

[NYNick]

17 hours ago, attilars said:

Thanks everyone for the comments and advice. Will definitely be stripping down to just the body shell so I can clean that up properly and have a good starting point.

 

Engine will get rebuilt as well. I know there is a good chance it would run ok with just some minimal work, but I enjoy the work and want to do it. Also I don't expect finding parts will become any easier, so best to get it all sorted now.

 

Suspension, brakes, steering, ... will also get fully pulled apart, cleaned up and the reassembled. Not sure yet on specifics for brakes/suspension, but that's a fairly easy part. 

 

Interior I'll have to think about more. A lot of it is in decent condition, but seats don't match the door panels and I don't really love either shade of blue that much. Dash is cracked in a few places, so will need to decide how to redo it. The fake food around the instrument cluster is also pretty awful in my opinion, but that's pretty minor.

 

I'll likely start by dropping suspensions/subframes/engine/trans/... Get engine on a stand. Then start to strip down the interior, get it stored in a safe place inside while I decide what to do and then pull off the remaining trims/electrical/... I'll build a simple frame with casters for the body, so I can still move it around as needed. 

 

I was going to start a build thread in a separate section, but looks like the build section is setup for just individual blog posts. Is that the prefered method for this forum vs a single long build thread?

You should check out my blog about my 74tii. You should also have tens of thousands of dollars ready. You'll need it. GL.

[Dudeland]

In the FWIW department, skip the 5 speed.  If you are doing that much bodywork bump the tunnel out and drop a 6 speed in it.  

 

I would normally say restore it to stock because it is a one year only car, but it doesn't seem to matter what you do to these old cars, they are going for a fortune.   With the front end, roof and other bits and pieces, nobody will look at it as original. 

 

Do what sparks joy for you,  rev the nuts off it... repeat. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[NYNick]

3 minutes ago, Dudeland said:

In the FWIW department, skip the 5 speed.  If you are doing that much bodywork bump the tunnel out and drop a 6 speed in it.  

 

I would normally say restore it to stock because it is a one year only car, but it doesn't seem to matter what you do to these old cars, they are going for a fortune.   With the front end, roof and other bits and pieces, nobody will look at it as original. 

 

Do what sparks joy for you,  rev the nuts off it... repeat. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While I agree these cars are going for a lot of money, one must be cautious about ROI. Restoration costs escalate quickly and even given todays market, you can go upside down in a hurry. 

 

Of course, if money doesn't matter and/or you're just doing it for fun and never plan to sell it...have at it.

[Dudeland]

1 minute ago, NYNick said:

While I agree these cars are going for a lot of money, one must be cautious about ROI. Restoration costs escalate quickly and even given todays market, you can go upside down in a hurry. 

 

Of course, if money doesn't matter and/or you're just doing it for fun and never plan to sell it...have at it.

 

I have been working on cars for decades.  ROI and classic cars usually meet around the the $250K+ mark in my experience.    Anything under that and you are paying yourself close to minimum wage to follow your passion. 

[0257]

24 minutes ago, Dudeland said:

 

I have been working on cars for decades.  ROI and classic cars usually meet around the the $250K+ mark in my experience.    Anything under that and you are paying yourself close to minimum wage to follow your passion. 

Or less. For many, these cars are the poor man’s equivalent to a vacation condo.  You get to have fun there and you hope to get your hard costs back one day if you need the money!

[attilars]

Certainly the intention is not to make money on a restoration like this, although I have been lucky in the past where it worked out that way. Even then that is only because I don't consider my own time spent on it a cost, since I enjoy doing the work and fit it in when I can without impacting other higher priorities. 

 

That said I have no interest in putting $50k into a car worth $25k, so just need to be smart about decisions made and find a good balance.

 

I'll start a separate build thread and update it periodically as things progress.