Newbie considers jumping off the Austin Healey project car cliff

[Carlos Cruz]

> Hi Murray,
>
> Glad to hear you have the "Bug".  Nick Horn passed along your note.  He has
> already provided you with several quality resources locally.  There are a
> couple of items that you should keep in mind as you embark on your
> endeavor.  Some of these could mean the difference between a happy or sad
> ending - regardless of how the quality of the work turns out.
>
> First scheduling, as you investigate your restoration options make sure to
> talk to everyone about how soon they can begin the work and how long it
> might take them to complete it.  Ask them for a high level plan with an idea
> of when you can expect to achieve certain milestones like when will the car
> be stripped and primed, engine starting, body fit, painted, etc.  This will
> help you track progress to an overall schedule.  If your goal is to have the
> car in your hands and on the road come June 2009 - you have a good idea come
> December, March or May if that's going to happen.  This will also help you
> gauge expenses.  If 80% of the schedule is eaten up completing only 20% of
> the work - you've blown your budget buy a large, large number.  Remember
> time is money.  The longer your car sits in their shop - the more it will
> cost.
>
> Second outsourcing - this is an off shoot of scheduling.  How much of the
> work will the shop do and how much will they send out to other service
> providers.  Find out who they plan to use and look into them.  These guys
> are good at what they do - hoverer if they're using a machine shop with a 6
> month back log - your car will be delayed no matter what your restorer
> does.  As it relates to parts - sourcing them might be a place where you can
> save yourself some money.  Making calls, negotiating best prices and
> handling shipping issues may cost you less if you do it yourself rather than
> pay the shop to do it for you.  This also helps you control the quality of
> the parts being used on your car.  The Healey List is a tremendous help for
> this - if you're not on it yet - join!  Remember, time is money.  The more
> time they spend doing paperwork and researching the more it will cost.
>
> Third is Budget.  When it gets down to it, this is really a simple
> exercise.  Shop around, talk to a lot of people (references) - learn from
> their mistakes.  Get your hands on some estimates.  Now, take the most
> expensive estimate in time and money and apply the Conventional Wisdom
> factor - 2 times.  Conventional wisdom tells us that these projects never go
> as planned.  99.9% of the projects undertaken, Healey or otherwise, never
> come in on budget.  Unforeseen circumstances, delays, labor increases, etc.
> all impact a budget.  BTW - the Realistic Factor is 2.5 - 3 times.  Some
> would say body work is the toughest part of the project, others would say
> the mechanicals - in all seriousness - it's writing the checks towards the
> end of a project.
>
> Fourth and probably the most important bit of advice I could give you is
> make absolutely certain - given the absolutely worst case scenario - given
> the ever-growing sums of money - your better half and family is behind this
> project.  Include your wife / family in the decision making process.  Find
> ways for them to be part of the dream.  Include them in the tough decisions
> as well as the easy ones.  Talk about how you'll handle tough decision where
> you can't agree - you want the $15K paint job and your wife wants that new
> kitchen she's been dreaming about.  If others in your life feel like they
> are part of the project they will likely embrace the challenges that will
> come your way and you'll enjoy the outcome that much more.
>
> Hopefully I didn't scare you... well, too much at least.  All that being
> said, These are not cheap projects no matter what your starting point might
> be.  I would suggest buying the best car your money can find.  A $6K basket
> case / donor car will probably cost you more in the long run than a $25K
> dependable daily driver in need of some TLC.  And as Nick suggested -
> document, Document, DOCUMENT!  Let me know if you have any questions.  I
> hope to see you on the road soon.
>
> Cheers,
> Carlos Cruz
> '60 BN7