(Well it seems that my original email exceeded the list's maximum message
size... so I have split my message into two parts)
This is an interesting topic and so it deserves its own thread, IMHO.
> BTW-the addition of an overdrive is the one cost that you can
> make back on a restoration. If you decide to sell the car, you can
> ask about $1K to $1,500 more for the car. For a typical tranny
> rebuild, and adding the rebuilt J-Type from a Volvo is about $1500
> to $1800 bucks. There is no other restoration part, upgrade or
> rebuild that can get your money back like that. Including Webbers,
> SU's, Superchargers, etc..
Agreed on the overdrive adding value to the vehicle and being able to
recover that cost when you want to resell. But it is not true that there
are not any other items you can restore or improve that do not add
substantial value to the vehicle and are recoverable at the time of a sale.
The first item that leaped to my mind was redoing an interior. I have seen
some very nice TR6s with excellent exterior cosmetics but the owners have
not gotten around to doing the interior, rather the tonneau cover always is
employed at shows and parking lots to hide their scruffy interior (I admit
to that with my old 1974 TR6 with its tatty Shadow Blue seats and panels).
If one were to reupholster the seats, put in a panel kit and use a decent
grade of replacement carpet, the value of a car with excellent exterior
cosmetics climbs dramatically. Your $1000 investment in interior parts
would probably translate into an additional $1500-$2000 at the time of sale
pending on other factors that would be relevant to the car's value outside
of the interior. But you take that $7500 TR6 with the new paint and rebuilt
engine from the PO, add that nice new interior, and you get a nice large
bump up in value.
Here is an easy value adder, repaint your wheels and buy new trim rings.
For a $90 outlay you get much nicer appearing vehicle. From the side of a
TR6, the wheels take up a huge area... so they are focal points. With some
good masking of the tires, you won't even have to dismount the tires.
-- Con't in Part 2 --
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