In message <9506011750.AA22741@ig1.att.att.com> G A Oliver writes:
> TeriAnn,
>
> I enjoyed your reply, you didn't include it, but I want to emphasize the car
> is probably free to anyone who carts it away.
>
> On another point, the Old Car Price Guide (Kruse) which some LBC people do
> not
> like puts a #1 (Excellent) 61 TR3A @ $10,500, #2 (Fine) @ $7,400, #3 (Very
> Good) at $4,200, #4 (Good) @ $2,100, #5 (Restorable) @ $1,250 and #6 (Parts)
> @
> $400. If these prices are anywhere near right, what about the economics of
> restoration?
In my neck of the woods I would add about 40% to the above prices. I would also
put the car as you described it as restorable. The economics of restoration is
that you will never be able to sell the car for what you paid to restore
it...Unless you purposly went out to do a cheap coverup to appear to be a
restoration.
On the otherhand, you can alost never get a good restoration. My car when
finished will be much better than it came from the factory. Everything is new
or like new. Even to the springs and all the parts inside the steering box. A
car like this is VERY hard to find and would be very expensive. You can take a
wrecking yard fugitive and turn it into a like new car for not much more than it
would be worth if you do a lot of the low skill time consuming work yourself and
shop the sales. If your willing to put in the time and labour you can end up
with a car that you could almost never find. Or you can make a lot of short
cuts a get a niceish looking driver that will need constant maintenence as the
already worn parts need attention. Restoring a car is for money only if its the
only way you can afford a really nice example of a marque. Restoring a car is a
matter of love and passion. I don't like working on cars and resent the time
taken from my life to rebuild the 3. But I love my car and have a passion for
driving it.
You don't restore a car to sell it, you do it to fall in love with driving it
all over again.
>
> Third point, are you in California? If so, how did you get a rusty car?
Just lucky I guess. I purchased a nice looking recently restored TR3. The body
looked perfect with new white paint. The interior was worn & the seats not
bolted in. I was told about the rust under the seats. The engine compartment
looked a little ragged and was painted black as was the boot. After about 3
years of driving her, vlisters poped out along the sills & lower rear of the
front valence. The engine was getting worn. I was getting about 50 miles
before the #3 plug oil fouled. The steering was a bit sticky and wouldn't
return on its own.
One December, 5 years ago, I decised to take her off the road for about 6 months
to spruce her up a little, rebuild the engine, fix the steering and put in a new
interior. As I took parts off I started to discover the hidden stuff. The more
I took off the more I knew needed to be done. Then I decided to replace the
floors, inner & outer sills, lower rear front wings. Then I decided that the
car will need to be repainted. Then as I was scuffing up the body I put my hand
through what appeared to be a perfect condition rear valance. Thats when I
decided to go for a full remove every part strip every part to the bare meatl
restoration. Then I decided it was a short step to a new TR3A. And I knew I
could do a better job than the factory did.
The previous restoration largely consisted of wirebrushing the rust, putting
fiberglass over the holes and painting. Then hand brushing flat black in the
engine compartment & boot. So much for purchasing a restoration that someone
else did.
I have records for my 3 going back to '74. They indicate that the car was in
mechanically poor condition then. It was in California at that time too. The
car had blue plates which indicates it was from out of state. Had she been in
California in the sixtys she would have had black plates. I suspect she just
sat outise in the rains with wet carpets and wet trunk mat as most of the rust
was from the top in areas where water would stand.
TeriAnn Wakeman .sig closed for remodeling
twakeman@apple.com
|