For what it's worth, the latest Hagerty Owner’s Club magazine is themed as the “patina” edition. It’s 2-3 page articles on owners who have old cars that they drive regularly but have not been restored. It’s actually pretty cool, there are some really interesting cars and many of them look like they’ve been sitting out in the AZ desert for decades, but they’re still drivable.
-D > On Oct 27, 2023, at 2:53 PM, Allan Streib <astr...@fastmail.fm> wrote: > > I would be more in it to make an old car nice as a driver, and > correct-looking but not necessarily original. Not interested in > concours-level perfection or the costs of that, or doing restoratations at a > profit (Leno says if you're making money restoring cars, you are doing it > wrong). Just making it look and feel nice within the scope of what I can do > in my garage. And I'd like to learn to do metal shaping and welding well > enough to at least patch up minor damage and rust. > > > On Fri, Oct 27, 2023, at 12:33, dan penoff.com via Mercedes wrote: >> To opine on this a bit, I’ve done complete, chassis-off restorations on >> a few cars, and more “cosmetic” restorations than I care to recall. I >> am not retired - yet. >> >> If you’re serious about a major restoration, do your due diligence >> upfront if possible. It will save you some major headaches. Make sure >> stuff is still available, or there’s a good supply in the used market, >> or rebuilders. Anything you can’t do yourself will be your major money >> consumer. Sure, the results are far better, but it costs a lot more, so >> be sure you understand what you can and can’t DIY. Set your >> expectations at the start. Have an understanding of the condition and >> functionality that you expect to have with the car when you’re done. >> Going full-on “Martha” versus “daily driver” has a significant impact >> on the costs. >> >> I’ve found, and my experiences are hardly unique, that the “cosmetic” >> restorations, as I call them, yield the best return if you’re looking >> to flip or sell short term, especially if the work that’s needed is all >> within your abilities. The last car I did, the 1965 220SEb, was like >> that. The only thing I had to farm out was the headliner. Amazingly, >> they were in stock in Germany and only cost $170. Unfortunately, having >> a professional install it was around $1,000. The dash pad was NLA, and >> getting the original “restored” wasn’t realistic because of the huge >> backlog all the restoration places had, so I ended up getting a >> reproduction dash pad from a place in Turkey that does reproduction >> parts for vintage MBs. The Turkey dash pad was actually a money-saver, >> as the restoration places wanted about $1800 to restore the original >> pad and the reproduction was only $1k to my door. I bought a lot of >> parts from German suppliers, which was very reasonable, especially if I >> grouped my orders to get as much in each one. >> >> All-in I had around $9k and change in parts, the cost of the car, and >> related expenses like shipping. I had projected $10k, so that worked >> out well. I sold it for almost $15k, so I made (on paper) about $6k. I >> didn’t track my time, but I would estimate at least 100 hours, if not >> more, were involved from start to finish. >> >> It can be different if you’re attached to it and plan on keeping it, >> but the basic idea still applies. >> >> -D >> >> >> >> >>> On Oct 27, 2023, at 1:02 PM, Allan Streib <astr...@fastmail.fm> wrote: >>> >>> Yeah old cars are money pits to put right, but I'd be sorely tempted if >>> that were close. It's a weakness. When I retire and am done sending my >>> money to colleges I hope to be able to restore one or two but the project >>> backlog is already large so we'll wait and see. >>> >>> >>> On Fri, Oct 27, 2023, at 11:56, dan penoff.com via Mercedes wrote: >>>> $10k minimum DIY to make it whole. That doesn’t include paint and body, >>>> just mechanicals and interior. And many hundreds of hours of time. >>>> >>>> Not the ideal Floyd car unless he’s looking for a lawn ornament. >>>> >>>> -D >>>> >>>>> On Oct 27, 2023, at 12:44 PM, Allan Streib via Mercedes >>>>> <mercedes@okiebenz.com> wrote: >>>>> >>>>> Close by? You should go get it. >>>>> >>>>> On Fri, Oct 27, 2023, at 08:38, Floyd Thursby via Mercedes wrote: >>>>>> https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1540917476652763 >>>>>> >>>>>> -- >>>>>> --FT >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> _______________________________________ >>>>>> http://www.okiebenz.com >>>>>> >>>>>> To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ >>>>>> >>>>>> To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: >>>>>> http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com >>>>> >>>>> _______________________________________ >>>>> http://www.okiebenz.com >>>>> >>>>> To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ >>>>> >>>>> To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: >>>>> http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com >>>>> >>>> >>>> _______________________________________ >>>> http://www.okiebenz.com >>>> >>>> To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ >>>> >>>> To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: >>>> http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com >> >> _______________________________________ >> http://www.okiebenz.com >> >> To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ >> >> To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: >> http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
