> ++> Most or all of us are convinced of the "restorer's central truth,"
> ++> which is, always start with the best car you can afford.
...
> ++> One can very often spend x thousands more than a basket case would cost,
> ++> only to find that he has bought little more than a basket case with very
> ++> good paint and upholstery.
from William Woodruff:
> I could not agree more. Take, for example, a rocker panel. Once the
> thing is rusted through, you have to replace it. It doesn't matter if it has
> a few pinholes or is 25% gone, the replacement cost is the same.
>Unfortunately,
> you will have to pay much more for the car with the pinhole rockers versus
>the
> one with large holes. Unless the car you are buying is absolutely pristine,
> chances are that you will get little more than someone buying a badly rusted
> example.
AH, but there is an important difference just the same. On a car with
pinholes in the rockers, and even the floors, you may get away with
replacing them, and a few other bits. With a very rusty car, The rockers,
will be gone, and a lot of the rest of the car will be rusting too. You end
up needing to fix a bunch extra, that was usable on the "pinhole car".
And, remember: If a car looks OK, There's always at least 2-4 times as much
damage than what you can see. It it looks rotten or lumpy, there's at least
4-8 times as much...
> I guess my advice would be to concentrate on the things which make a car
> unique. Sheet metal, paint, and mechnicals can be repaired or replaced.
> Glass, chrome, guages, trim, can be extremely expensive or impossible to
> replace.
This is a pretty good rule. Fer instance: It would cost me if I wanted to
put an original style dash and guages back in my MG PA. But, I like the
turned Aluminium dash with TC bits just fine, thank you.
> I'll bet if you asked Roger Garnett what the 3 most difficult/expensive
> aspects of his Peerleess GT restoration are, finding a new rear window
> would be one of them!
Actually, I've found some, it's *buying* one of them that would hurt. I may
end up making one out of Lexan- a project for sure, but I'll get
un-breakable for less than glass. The *good* thing about the Peerless, is
that most of the body and chassis can be fabricated from scratch.
(Fibregalss & Tube frame). I've already bought a replacement door, which
would have been the hardist body part to re-make.
The most difficult part overall, is the *Time* to do it. Of course, I've had
a lifetimes worth of projects in the hopper for years now, so it's hard to
get bored.
I'd figured the house was getting closer to done, and wanted something to
keep me busy while I saved money to go racing in a couple years. Then I blew
the whole plan by buying a race car before the house is done, so now I don't
have any time or money! So, while the car is in hold mode, I've been filling
that void by creating the Peerless and Warwick Register of North America. I
get to find out a whole bunch about the cars, and create an information and
people base that will help me, and everyone else with these cars. (I've even
got one Gordon-Keeble owner!)
To make matters worse, this winters car project may be someone else's car,
in trade for another project to add to my own list. Sigh. What was that about
them comming to get people with their garages 3 cars deep, with Castrol 20/50
and LMA all over the floors?
On the other hand, to temper one aspect of Scotts "Cost of racing, Pt II",
my family is still seeing enough of me, almost. This is due to several
factors:
-I bought a good car that was reasonably together, meaning I don't
have to spend my whole life in the shop. (yet)
-My family enjoys the race stuff a whole bunch. We do car stuff together
when we can.
-I can't afford to race often enough for them to forget who I am...
________________________________________________________
Roger Garnett (Roger_Garnett@cornell.edu)
"The South Lansing Centre For Wayward Sports Cars"
"All donations of stray, orphaned, odd, neglected, etc.
sports cars and bits in need of a good home accepted."
"The drop off bin is right there- behind the barn..."
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