Value question regarding restorations

The problem with that is the repro grill emblem will pit and pock, the fender and trunk emblems will follow, the door handles will pit (and cut your fingers,) the window knobs will get wobbly and anything plastic will fatigue, warp, melt or break. And then you have to worry about the clear adhering to paint, the paint to the filler, the filler to the metal and how the weld seams are holding up.
Fortunately, with my meager budget, I’ve only been burnt by emblems, knobs and clearcoat (budget paint) but I’ve seen and read some real nightmare stories, beautiful cars that fell apart with what used to be normal use.
Patrick

 

Like Mark said, back in the 80's get parts wherever you could. Fenders from Floriday, one door from Texas one found locally and quarters from Sherman and Associates that had just become available. My first GS took me 4 years of parts hunting and saving $ to get completed. The local junk yard used to make parts runs down south 2x a year back in the late 80's and they would take orders on what you were looking for, at one point they offered to bring me a complete 68 GS that was in a Texas yard. Fenders were $100, doors $125.
My current GS has its original sheetmetal, verified by stamped codes, but when I purchased it I really did not think about the original sheetmetal vrs restored side of it, that was back in 1999. Now I would consider that more if purchasing something.

Before and after on my first GS that I purchased when I was 19. (sorry about the 110 film pictures, it was the late 80's, lol)

 

I'm driving it straight to Barrett Jackson to sell

 

Clarification: When I say auto inspector. I'am talking about putting the car on a lift, doing a compression check, a leak down test, brakes, suspension, exhaust, and rust. Pull plugs to read. Check oil and trans fluids for color. Check exhaust for oil smoke or rich black smoke or worse, White smoke or water.

You know what is recommended, take the car to your mechanic to do these inspections and tests. No way dealers will let you do that.

Dealer, O' please drive the car, turn on the a/c & heater. Drives great doesn't it. That's not an inspection. Vet

 

With most things people want or have an interest in, your best educating yourself first, research, read on forums, visit restoration shops, attend car shows, get the “vibe” of what’s good and not good.
Many people, usually non car people, just want a specific car cause they like the styling, and if the car in question has shiny paint and emblems, THATS THE CAR I WANT!
They don’t know or care about build quality, or if the mechanicals are 100%
they want “THE LOOK”

 

Exactly....95% are clueless buyers and flippers....they have no desire to truly know and be one with the car....people think I'm crazy when I buy the stuff I do ....yea it's rusty...bent...whatever...BUT I WILL KNOW WHATS THERE WHEN DONE....THAT IS PRICELESS,,...to someone who knows their ass from a hole in the ground

66 chevelle I done several years ago...he was at cars and coffee...smart-ass comes up and is heard talking to another dillhole about "I bet it's hiding all kinds filler to look "that" straight "....owner heard him and showed him pics of the car in process...I generally document my work with pics for obvious reasons.....guy just stood there with his foot on his mouth....not all body men have to pull the entire surface in filler or putty to get it straight....if you can't feather into the steel around the damage you're lacking fundamental skills..just my opinion

But that ability comes from a life in collision work where you have no choice but to feather into existing substrates

 

YEP!
When I strip these cars to steel and come across a panel that’s mud from end to end I think “this panel probably has a small ding”
Sure enough, straight metal except for the ding.
The “bodyman” that did the work kept chasing his “low” spot to the ends of the panel
Used to see the bodymen at the Chevy dealer where I was a painter fix a dent, sand the mud too far down, they’d end up with a steel titty poking up, they perceived it as a high spot, hit it with their pick hammer, and chase the dent all over

 

When you have the high level of skills you both have, it's easy for you to see right from wrong.

A lot of us don't have paint and bodywork skills.
I got into cars because I liked the engine work. Vet

 

I love doing engine/mechanical work far more than body/paint work.
Body/paint work is unhealthy, messy, repetitive, laborious and requires copious amounts of patience.
Mechanical work is hard work too but you don’t have to cover the whole car with plastic, paper and tape to pull and disassemble and engine, no worries about engine parts landing all over the car.

 

That’s true, BUT a lot of folks on here have skills I WISH I had, like machinists, numbers decimals, fractional equivalents confuse me.
HVAC guys
Carpenters
People that understand investing money.
Other people “in the know” like insurance, and health care.
The people on this board are a smart educated and diverse group, we each know what we know so to speak.

 

When I went looking for a GS I knew it had to come from California, New Mexico, Arizona, etc. Mechanical stuff you can fix, but bodies are only factory once. My car was 30 years old when I bought it and every nut and bolt I turned by finger once it was loose! Of course that was 20 years ago and the east coast has done some damage, but was a better starting point!

 

I think the same way, as long as the steel is clean I’m good with that!

 

All your reasons is why I don't like to do bodywork and painting.

Sometimes we fall into a trade and hope we become good at it.

When my father was transfered to another army post, the school I when too had the best and largest vocational system in NC.

Our lady school counselor took a look at my academic grades and strongly suggest I try one of the trades they offered.
I thought machining would be very cool to do so I took machine shop for 2 years.
I really liked doing this type of work. Fortunately, right out of high school, I enlisted into the Navy were I continued the machinist trade. After 4 years in the Navy, I was able to get a job as a tool & die apprentice.
After 2 years, company went bankrupt paying me $3 bucks an hour, lol. They did go bankrupt.
Got another job. I've had another 2 more jobs that finally didn't go bankrupt.
I always wanted to work in an automotive machine but the shop closest to me was a NAPA store with a full machine shop in the basement. It was so dirty, grungy and dark, it was a depressing place to work in.

Just because you work in a machine shop, doesn't mean it has to look like a dungeon from the dark ages.

I worked for an owner who had white floor tiles in the shop.
Had the janitor clean the floors ever night.
IWhen work got slow, he didn't lay anybody off, he had them repaint the shop machines and do maintenance on them.
He was a fantastic guy to work for. But made super strong coffee, Ugh. Former Navy officer, Lol.

 

It is typically frowned upon, but…. Re-body, and not piecing it together , especially in terms of keeping the vehicle for yourself and not for resale would be what I’d prefer. You get the factory welds, factory sheet metal, the way the manufacturer made it, etc. still comes down to doing correctly either way.
Ethically or otherwise, I do know a high end shop that is known for Mustangs, Shelby’s, and other rare Fords that’ll re-body using the original vin and other stamping’s by either cutting and replacing, and or other means.
For instance, he’s done some Shelby’s for Carroll Shelby himself