Here’s an email from a gentleman with a 63 Impala. Shopping for restoration shops makes you wonder what kind of work they do when you hear the prices…<\/p>\n

Subject: I Saw Your Home Page<\/p>\n

\u00a0 I ran into your website after a search of restoring impalas in Google. I myself have a 1963 Hardtop impala and I’m really interested in restoring it. I plan on redoing everything, have the usual surface rust etc. I get quotes of 30k! I don’t believe it. How much should it cost me. Also if I spend the time to order every part myself.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Thanks<\/p>\n

\u00a0CC<\/p>\n

\u00a0Hi CC,<\/p>\n

The typical restoration cost is around $50k. It’s not unusual to talk to\u00a0car\u00a0owners at car shows who spend around $80k. A substantial portion of that\u00a0is labor, so if they are quoting $30k you need to get a lot more\u00a0information on what methods they are using and exactly what they will\u00a0restore.<\/p>\n

A “frame off” restoration is far more extensive than a cosmetic\u00a0restoration. They may be quoting you on a cosmetic resto’. This likely\u00a0means body work and paint, refinishing (refreshing) the trunk space, under\u00a0the hood, Chrome, trim and glass, and interior.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

For this price it’s doubtful they will replace many panels. They will\u00a0likely patch your old ones. This is where the work quality can get ugly.\u00a0Most body men do not do a good job of patching sheet metal and this too\u00a0often leads to more rust a few years down the road.<\/p>\n

I think you should get references, previous customers they have done full\u00a0restorations for, and get a statement of work. Make any required\u00a0payments\u00a0in increments upon completion of predetermined benchmarks. If they ask\u00a0for\u00a0all the money up front, look somewhere else.<\/p>\n

Just for reference; A good example of a cosmetic restoration is this 61\u00a0Impala. He didn’t strip the car down to the frame, but he didn’t need\u00a0to,\u00a0the car had very little rust.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/home.earthlink.net\/~61_impala\/61_impala\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Carl<\/p>\n

Hi CC,<\/p>\n

How did you make out?<\/p>\n

Do you mind if I post this email dialog on my blog? I’ll replace your name
\nwith initials and remove your email address of course.<\/p>\n

Carl
\nCarl:<\/p>\n

I don’t mind at all. In fact I would appreciate it if you could provide me a link to your blog if you proceed to post this. In the event that I restore my impala I’ll be more than glad to provide you with a timeline and step-by-step procedure of how the restoration was carried out.<\/p>\n

As far as where I stand with the decision on restoring my impala, I’m currently undecided.<\/p>\n

Every so often I find an ad for a 1963 impala that’s been partially restored to the point where minor work is required. They usually run anywhere from $15-$17k<\/p>\n

However, I had a chance to call several mechanics the I’m personally close to for quotes on work for different sections of my car. This is what I came up with:<\/p>\n

To have the body and frame media blasted: $700<\/p>\n

Complete Interior Restoration (Leather): $1200<\/p>\n

Engine + Transmission: $2500-$3500 (Depending on size)<\/p>\n

All this would come out to a total of $5400, and this covers the major work required to restore the car.<\/p>\n

I would add an additional $5-$7k to finish up the rest of the car.<\/p>\n

So I envision setting a $12-$15k maximum budget if this is all correct.<\/p>\n

Now, I’m torn between purchasing a decently restored impala or putting in that same amount of purchasing one into my current clunker. Note that I can always sell my current impala for $5k and use that towards the purchase of another.<\/p>\n

Thoughts?<\/p>\n

Best,<\/p>\n

-CC
\nHi CC,<\/p>\n

It’s always less costly in terms of both time and money to buy one thats already restored. The market value for a beautifully restored 60’s Impala is still only in the mid $20K range. Considering it cost a lot more to do a frame up restoration because of labor costs, that’s really a deal. Most restorers lose money when they sell a car.<\/p>\n

Your numbers seem reasonable but I see a few gaps in the the list of things that need work, especially if the car has any rust at all. The sad part about rust, is if you see any on the exterior, it’s only the tip of the iceburg. Too many times I’ve seen a classic car with “just a bit of rust” come apart only to find it is just a couple years away from becoming a parts car because 90% of the rust is hidden inside chassis cavities.<\/p>\n

You really need to take it apart to get the whole picture before you decide to restore it or sell it. You need to do a complete evaluation. The article I wrote on finding out if a car is restorable covers a lot of the discovery process that would help you with the evaluation. You’ll find it at http:\/\/www.classiccarauto.com\/impala\/articles\/index.shtml<\/a> . This should help you see what you are in for before you get started.<\/p>\n

I would recommend you at least take the front fenders off to see what’s rusted behind them. The front end cleanup I did on my 64 Impala 4 door sport sedan cost me $200 in fasteners for the front end sheet metal and bumper alone. And that was a car that had very little rust. Once i took it apart, I realized the fasteners were beyond being re-used. I thought I was just going to do a sheet metal “refresh” job.<\/p>\n

You should remove the interior and look for rust in the seams. If any rust is coming through the floor ANYWHERE, you need to find out where it is originating from. Most of the time it’s because the floor pan supports are full of rust promoting dirt. Pull off some of the undercoating from under the car near the floor pan supports and you may find metal so thin you can push a screwdriver through it.<\/p>\n

I’ve talked to owners who have done a car for under $15k, but that was because they did the work on the car themselves.<\/p>\n

No one likes to knowingly throw money away. Since you are aware of the differences in cost between buying restored or restoring before you jump into it you’ll be more comfortable with the decision. There are a lot of partial restoration projects circulating at a loss to the sellers because they didn’t realize it would take so much time and money before they got into it.<\/p>\n

Find out just how good or bad your car is, and then you’ll have taken the mystery out of the decision making process.<\/p>\n

Carl<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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