When I checked ebay the listing was already pulled. Anyway, I did my '67
Healey in 1980. Took over a year of my time, working every evening after
work until 11:00 in the summer, no work in the winter as I was in North
Dakota. Spent over $8,000 in parts and traded a Mercedes for the paint job.
In today's dollars I sure that parts would be over $25,000 and a good $10K
for a decent (not great) paint job along with a good year of your own labor.
I took the car apart so I knew where everything was and where it went back
to. If you're buying a basket case and haven't worked on one before I would
add 6 months to the labor time and probably 20% to the cost. I did rebuild
the engine myself with only machine work on the cylinders and the head, but
I was lucky and didn't have to break into the gearbox or diff. That could
cost significantly more. I agree with other posts, find a complete car for
your first and still plan to spend a LOT of money and time.
Pete
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-healeys@autox.team.net
[mailto:owner-healeys@autox.team.net]On Behalf Of William Moyer
Sent: Sunday, September 18, 2005 7:30 PM
To: Austin-Healey List
Subject: RE: AH in Pieces
Can anyone give this gentleman an estimate of the man-hours to bring that
car
to life? --And anyone who can either confirm or offer other estimates of
cost?
In 1991 I spent a year and $25,000. The car was mine already so I didn't
have
to buy one to get in the game. The 25K covered taking it apart, frame
repair,
putting it back together and finish work by someone who knew what he was
doing
and me doing the grunt work. We worked on it every weekend and two nights a
week. That also didn't include any drive train work and other than a new
clutch it hasn't needed any, but I stored that engine with the cylinders
filled with oil. In today's dollars that would be $34,000 but I was paying
someone $30/hour for half the man hours put in. I'm not mechanically
inclined
enough to even think about doing it alone. There's no reason to think that
the car in question can't be put back together, but, as has been said, you
really don't know what isn't there or what condition the drive train is in.
The engine and transmission could easily cost $4000 more when done by a
professional if they both need attention and you decide to make changes in
the
crankshaft, head, flywheel, etc.
This process will never be cheap or easy. That said, it can be rewarding on
a
level that money and time alone can't begin to compare to. After all, how
many of your friends have built their own car? I'm all alone in my small
group of pals, although every one of them has a little sweat equity in mine:
I
told them I wasn't going to let them drive it if they didn't.
Bill Moyer, BJ7
|