John, I don't have a TR6, but I'm restoring a TR3. I took on a job that
should have been a parts source for another car, so I can offer you a few
insights.
1) The car will never be worth what you spend restoring it. You need to
justify the expense in some other fashion. For me, that's knowing that this
car would likely no longer exist except parts if I hadn't gotten involved.
Also, I'll have the pride of having done the job of reviving the old heap
myself.
2) When you're done with the restoration, you'll KNOW that the car is as
good or better than when it was new. Buying a car that you think doesn't
need any work might give you some suprises later on in areas you can't check
out.
3) You can reduce the amount you spend by learning to weld, paint, do body
work, mechanical and so on. Don't be afraid that the ruslts won't be perfect
to start with, you'll learn, and these skills will be needed to keep up the
car after it's done. If you buy a car in good or better shape, or pay some
one to do the work, you'll be paying them as long as you have the car. Learn
to do as much as you can yourself.
George Richardson
'57 TR3, TS15559L
(getting ready to paint - and now on the web!)
http://www.merlingroupinc.com/tr3.htm
-----Original Message-----
From: Haeg1 <Haeg1@aol.com>
To: triumphs@autox.team.net <triumphs@autox.team.net>
Date: Sunday, December 07, 1997 2:51 PM
Subject: TR6 resto. Costs
>Last night I sat down and started to itemize all the parts that I will need
to
>rebuild the suspension and brakes for my car. I started up a spread sheet
that
>basically turned into a budget for the restoration of my TR6. The interior
>trim, body work and engine rebuild are all estimates. I will perform the
labor
>except for the machine shop work and a majority of the body/paint work. The
>prices are from a recent Moss catalog. The data is organized strange,
because
>it was cut and pasted from an excel file.
>I have a few questions and thoughts for list members:
>1) Do these numbers look realistic compared to your actual experiences?
>2) What are your thoughts on ways to best reduce the costs of rebuilding a
>car?
>3) The financial facts of restoring my car are looking bleak to me.
> - Is my car going to be worth 9-10K? even if it turns out great?
> - I keep thinking that 7K will buy an extremely nice TR4 or TR6.
> - I have a garage full of used parts if I purchase another TR6.
>4) I am obviously at the crossroads of my TR6 restoration. So far I have
spent
>much labor and little money. If I proceed there will be no turning back. I
>could use some encouragement from anyone who has been there.
>5) I feel that scrapping the project is just the easy way out. I would hate
to
>see my car turned into a parts car.
>6) On the positive side, I could be driving and maintaining a nice TR next
>summer.
>7) Regarding the 4K estimate for autobody work: If I deal with the inner
wheel
>well repair, outer sill replacement and fender installation myself, there
is
>hope of getting the car painted for 1.5 to 2K. I'm concerned about
squeezing
>2K out of the body work, and having an inferior restoration. Mechanical
repair
>is much more my strength than autobody repair. I have no welding experience
to
>date.
>
>Thanks for any input that you may have.
>John H. in Minneapolis.
>
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