Anyone here restored a car before? I mean a full restoration...

I've got about 13k wrapped up in this 79 f150 and it's not even finished. All on parts and materials, no labor, everything was done by myself with the exception of installing the windshield. I wouldnt call it a resto, maybe a rebuild. I did have it stripped down to just the frame sitting in my garage about 4 years ago. Everything has been either rebuilt, replaced, and/or stripped and painted. I swapped into a 4 speed and converted it to 4x4.

The benefit of restoring it Yourself is you know exactly what you have when it's complete, and getting to say you built it yourself is pretty rewarding

Should also mention i did alnost no engine work, was a fresh rebuild when i bought it, i just tore it down to inspect it and verify it was rebuilt, resealed everything, rebuilt the carb and replaced ignition components

What were the top 5 most costly items so far?

As heretical as it sounds you might only be able to succeed if you treated it like a parts and body kit. A full restoration is harder than you might think. Can you find another car that is the same or similar around you?

Can you post some photos?

Just off the top of my head, this is I canuckbucks btw

>1k purchase price
> roughly 2k for each axle, all new and added lockers
>500 ish for all new bearings and seals in trans and t-case
>1k for materials for paint
>1k for tires
>$1200 to build driveshafts

I don't even want to know where the rest went.

Not to mention countless amounts of $100 - $200 every paycheck for odds and ends, bushing kits, seal kits etc....

I never thought id meet another firebird owner! What so you have? A sprint? 350? 350HO? 400? Is it a convertable?

Ive done this bronco. Its nowhere near a full restoration. I did interior, rewire, fuel injection, vintage air, seats, new guage cluster, tire rack, front rear bumpers powdercoated, aluminum radiator, new shocks and new back seats. Future projects include a body lift, overdrive trans, and a family roll cage. All this shit adds up

noice

Nice car user, firebirds are some of the greatest cars ever made.
restorations are a lot of time, and, money.
Even if you do everything yourself the restoration will cost more than the car is probably worth, restoring is not an investment normally so if you are doing it for that your out of luck.
It will take alot of time so dont think you can get it done in a few months, mine is not even close to done and I have been working on it for over a year.

If this is your first go at thinks,god bless you and I hope you know what a money sink your getting into.

Come over to /CCG/ we can get rust in our eyes together

>Worked for years to save enough money for my dream car restoration
>"shop" is a barn
>restoration is not easy
>A year and a half into mine and barely any progress because I dont have any time and live hundreds of miles away from my "shop"

Your just upset because you got booted out of that garage because a stancefag was irresponsible.

Wrong user, but I can't say I disagree.

But, OP. Get ready to have your bank account get bent over.

Whatever you say bud, have fun repainting your freshly "modded" dart

Will do.

Dude. Since i was 16 ive been on exactly this path youre on now but with a chevelle, a nova, an el camino and a camaro
Unless you know how to build engines, weld in body panels, and redo wiring harnesses right now.
This is too mich for you.
Unless youre a shop with experience then youre in over your head. Dont get me wrong its frustrating and addictive and fulfilling but its expensive.
No project car will return to you your investments into them.
Theyre a representation of skill, pride, and passion
If you sell it for a million dollars it still wont be worth it a few years down the line when youre wishing you still had it.
It always happens. And thats IF you finish it.
This is a lot more than youre ready for.
But goddamn will it feel good. Even when it doesnt

When youre 3-5k in on just the drive train, and coated in old soot and oil with knuckles busted open and bleeding hoping against hope that you can get that last bolt off or unseize that block or pull off that manifold. When you reach for your wallet and all you can do is sigh and try not to do the math in your head on expenses. When all these things align and youre short on rent or late on a bill or collections or change jobs and you look over at your car in pieces and think about the work left on it and the expenses.
That moment determines if youre really a 'car-guy'.
All the forum junkies and armchair racers are bullshit. You have a project now and you wont know if you can handle it until that moment comes.
Its fuckin spiritual man

restoring cars is a waste of time, people spend years restoring cars when they could just buy one that has been restored with no driveline, etc and drive it in 3 months.

OP if you have to ask you can not afford

My advice?

Don't do a period restoration. Focus on getting an exterior and dash to look right, and leave the rest to what you actually want. Don't be afraid to throw in a newer crate engine, and don't be afraid to build things as you want.

That's pretty sweet man. I saw a guy driving today who had an immaculate 70s F150. Looked brand new, absolutely beautiful.

It's not hard. Just a moneypit.

I'm restoring a 1967 Mustang Convertible

It was pulled from a barn in Ohio where it sat since 1991

Waste of money, ask me how I know.

You will never make money on a restoration unless you are doing every aspect yourself.
Resto's are for the people who truly love and worship the car they're working on, or the stupid rich, most of the time both.

This is true, i got an engine and trans for $400 much better than the $10k period correct crate engine

I just finished the major part of assembling an MS3 and there's a blank wiring harness staring at me.

I'm scared.

I restored a kingswood ute. Either be prepared to learn absolutely everything there is to car repair especially body and paint work or have piles of cash. Pick something that was reasonably common in its day as anything rare will either end up non original or fuckin expensive. Realise that it take a fuck load of time and unless you're doing it full time you won't be driving it for a long time and it will work out much cheaper to just buy an already restored car.

I wouldn't say a waste of time, more like bad investment. Very few people can restore a vehicle and make money on it.

If nobody restored them where would you buy said restored chassis?

YES

OP here
The car did come with a 400 that needs a rebuild with original muncie. The 400 looks to be from a GTO.
I plan on assembling the car one system at a time. The main issue is the body and rust. I only work 6 months out of the year and i have plenty of time and medium money.

You're not going to paint it yourself.

A good paint job is 6-10k.

Restore cars for other people at $150/hour and buy your cars ready to go with your fat stacks.

Hey i love those fucking ford steel rims bro, something about that look with those M E A T Y fucking tires really gets my goat
Where did you find tires and for how much because its fucking bonkers how much people want for a 33 by 12.50 by 16.5 tire

Well i guess my knuckles are still going to be bleeding, still gonna keep pulling those heads, stripping bolts and alll its worth is the pain and satisfaction i get when i finally accomplish it yo

Thanks user but they're 15". I have a set of 16.5 but they're useless unless you're running fuckhuge tires like 39" and up. Good streetable tires in 16.5 are pretty much non existent.

I also added 92 - 96 f150 center caps. I tacked 1/4" kits to the face of the rim for the bolts.

1/4" Nuts**

brb going to shoot myself then

I forgot about the humvee takeoffs. They're still big, 37", they're not overly aggressive, performance is meh-tier, but they're cheap and plentiful and 16.5"