How do I maximize the profit on a 68 coupe resto?
2nd Gear Member
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 432
From: The unemployment epicenter, Detroit, MI
I tried the same thing (for myself, no kids) starting about 3 years ago. Now that its basically finished, theres blood on the streets here and every other car is for sale too. My only word of advice is dont try selling a resto'd classic in the Detroit area.
ROTM Moderator
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 8,157
From: AL
5th Gear Member
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 2,166
From: Oregon
Like everybody else said, you will have a VERY difficult time making money off of the resto. I was able to make money off of mine, but that's because it's a GT car and I helped my uncle do the body work and paint. The experience your son will gain and the time he'll get to spend with his father is priceless though, that car will form a special bond between you and him and you might not want to sell it when it's done, especially once you see the joy it brings to him once he gets to drive it. Good luck!
5th Gear Member
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 3,566
From: Marquette Mi
To make actual cash on a resto/rebuild you work for free. All the labor you do is for free, or mere pennies each hour. I am not kidding or just talking our my posterior, not making it up. You are working for free. Not only that but YOU and your son are doing ALL the work possible, that means EVERYTHING except machine work on the engine. The rest you will both have to learn as you go, trial and error, and asking advice from other gearheads like us.
Buying NOS or reproduction parts from parts stores or the internet will break the bank quick, you will need to learn to refurbish every possible part on the car. Some you will have no other choice but to buy, I call them expendable items. Headliners, carpets, bearings, rings, gaskets, tires, stuff like that. The rest of the stuff, like wheel bearings, engine parts, transmission, body work, glass, you will have to do the work and invest sweat equity in it.
Click the links in my sig, I started the Mustang in 2005, and the Cougar usurped it in 2006. My dad needed it out of its 20 year residence in his quonset. I couldnt let the Cougar sit outside with no paint, I would have junk in one winter up here in the U.P. So it took precedence over the Mustang. I cant work on them all the time, but my time is free and available. I am "retired" so to speak so I dont have a job taking up my time. I just have to wait for my monthly infusion of cash. That is the major stoppage in my projects, the other one is mobility. I just dont have it anymore and sometimes I need to take a few days or weeks off. Your situation is different, and if mine were $1500+ more each month it would happen much faster here!
I do everything on my cars, I have been to tech school, ran a general repair and transmission shop, and started working on cars when I bought the Cougar in 1983. That doesnt mean you cant do it just like I am, what it means is I have spent more time learning how than you have, you can start today.
The only way to make actually cash profit on an old car is to do the work yourself. I have well over $4000 in the Mustang, and it still doesnt look like a car. Of course most of that is sheetmetal to rebuild a $20 (yeah twenty bucks) rust bucket beater. You are ahead of the game with a limited or no rust car. If I had someone else do the work on the Mustang to get it where it is now, I would have another $4000-$8000 in it. Perfectly restored with the numbers matching engine, trans, rear end, and absolutely beautiful its worth about $15,000, maybe a bit more, maybe less depending on the market.
I figure I have $1500 for the interior, just buying everything it needs and installing it myself, $2000 in paint and supplies for the paint job, $2000 easy for brakes and suspension rebuild, and thats pretty much stock. I have the original engine, its in the Cougar right now. I have about $2000 in it, give or take. So add all that up, and not counting any labor of mine, which is an astoundingly high number, and you get, well over $10,000 cash in it. Mind you that isnt enough to make it perfect, just close to drivable. Lucky for you, the Mustang you have isnt a parts car.
the Cougar is more representative of your car. It had minimal rust, but needed everything massaged or rebuilt. So far I have spent around $4500 on it, and the paint job, being only good enough to be a driver for myself, would never net much more than $5000. I still have around $2000 to go, mostly in brake parts, hoses, caliper kits, rotors, and all the stuff you dont see on the engine. Water pump, radiator, hoses, belts, etc. Now to have someone else do all this work, with the quality of paint and body work needed to make it worth stupid money, like over $10,000, would run me around $8,000 to $12,000 just for the paint and body.
Since I rebuild my engines and transmissions, I only have to pay for machine work and the parts that go in them. I set up rear ends, do brakes, alignments, you name it. Paying for all of that is what eats up any profit on an old car. If I were to charge myself what I used to charge in my shop, I would owe myself $50 an hour for just under 1000 hours. Try finding a shop that will work for that cheap now.
That is the reality of it. Another part of the reality is I dont expect to make money on my time, its something to do to keep my mind and hands busy.I do it because I enjoy it, working on old cars is great therapy for me, not to mention I dont have to worry about who will fix my car or truck when it breaks. You dont put the hours and $$$ into these cars to turn a profit, not if you want to have a quality product in the end.
Sure I could make a couple grand here or there on some of my cars, but it woudnt come close to paying for my time, and they wouldnt be quality work. It would be just enough to get sold, much like a small used car dealer operates. The payback is in the doing, then in enjoying the car after its done.
I live in salted roads, 300 inches of snow each winter, and already its getting cold up here. I cant drive anything I care about until very late May, sometimes June, and the first snow is usually in October or as late as November. Once the snow hits I am driving $200 beaters that can rust in half and I dont care.
That doesnt mean I am selling my cars to get the money from the work I put in, or the parts I bought. I have them because I want them, and I want to keep the product of my accomplishment. I want the delayed gratification that comes with driving a car that once looked like this.
If you build it, keep it and enjoy it. You can pick up a front wheel drive beater, like our 97 Intrepid, or the 92 Blazer for cheap. You can also learn how to keep the beater going, and enjoy the nice car in the summer.
Buying NOS or reproduction parts from parts stores or the internet will break the bank quick, you will need to learn to refurbish every possible part on the car. Some you will have no other choice but to buy, I call them expendable items. Headliners, carpets, bearings, rings, gaskets, tires, stuff like that. The rest of the stuff, like wheel bearings, engine parts, transmission, body work, glass, you will have to do the work and invest sweat equity in it.
Click the links in my sig, I started the Mustang in 2005, and the Cougar usurped it in 2006. My dad needed it out of its 20 year residence in his quonset. I couldnt let the Cougar sit outside with no paint, I would have junk in one winter up here in the U.P. So it took precedence over the Mustang. I cant work on them all the time, but my time is free and available. I am "retired" so to speak so I dont have a job taking up my time. I just have to wait for my monthly infusion of cash. That is the major stoppage in my projects, the other one is mobility. I just dont have it anymore and sometimes I need to take a few days or weeks off. Your situation is different, and if mine were $1500+ more each month it would happen much faster here!
I do everything on my cars, I have been to tech school, ran a general repair and transmission shop, and started working on cars when I bought the Cougar in 1983. That doesnt mean you cant do it just like I am, what it means is I have spent more time learning how than you have, you can start today.
The only way to make actually cash profit on an old car is to do the work yourself. I have well over $4000 in the Mustang, and it still doesnt look like a car. Of course most of that is sheetmetal to rebuild a $20 (yeah twenty bucks) rust bucket beater. You are ahead of the game with a limited or no rust car. If I had someone else do the work on the Mustang to get it where it is now, I would have another $4000-$8000 in it. Perfectly restored with the numbers matching engine, trans, rear end, and absolutely beautiful its worth about $15,000, maybe a bit more, maybe less depending on the market.
I figure I have $1500 for the interior, just buying everything it needs and installing it myself, $2000 in paint and supplies for the paint job, $2000 easy for brakes and suspension rebuild, and thats pretty much stock. I have the original engine, its in the Cougar right now. I have about $2000 in it, give or take. So add all that up, and not counting any labor of mine, which is an astoundingly high number, and you get, well over $10,000 cash in it. Mind you that isnt enough to make it perfect, just close to drivable. Lucky for you, the Mustang you have isnt a parts car.
the Cougar is more representative of your car. It had minimal rust, but needed everything massaged or rebuilt. So far I have spent around $4500 on it, and the paint job, being only good enough to be a driver for myself, would never net much more than $5000. I still have around $2000 to go, mostly in brake parts, hoses, caliper kits, rotors, and all the stuff you dont see on the engine. Water pump, radiator, hoses, belts, etc. Now to have someone else do all this work, with the quality of paint and body work needed to make it worth stupid money, like over $10,000, would run me around $8,000 to $12,000 just for the paint and body.
Since I rebuild my engines and transmissions, I only have to pay for machine work and the parts that go in them. I set up rear ends, do brakes, alignments, you name it. Paying for all of that is what eats up any profit on an old car. If I were to charge myself what I used to charge in my shop, I would owe myself $50 an hour for just under 1000 hours. Try finding a shop that will work for that cheap now.
That is the reality of it. Another part of the reality is I dont expect to make money on my time, its something to do to keep my mind and hands busy.I do it because I enjoy it, working on old cars is great therapy for me, not to mention I dont have to worry about who will fix my car or truck when it breaks. You dont put the hours and $$$ into these cars to turn a profit, not if you want to have a quality product in the end.
Sure I could make a couple grand here or there on some of my cars, but it woudnt come close to paying for my time, and they wouldnt be quality work. It would be just enough to get sold, much like a small used car dealer operates. The payback is in the doing, then in enjoying the car after its done.
I live in salted roads, 300 inches of snow each winter, and already its getting cold up here. I cant drive anything I care about until very late May, sometimes June, and the first snow is usually in October or as late as November. Once the snow hits I am driving $200 beaters that can rust in half and I dont care.
That doesnt mean I am selling my cars to get the money from the work I put in, or the parts I bought. I have them because I want them, and I want to keep the product of my accomplishment. I want the delayed gratification that comes with driving a car that once looked like this.
If you build it, keep it and enjoy it. You can pick up a front wheel drive beater, like our 97 Intrepid, or the 92 Blazer for cheap. You can also learn how to keep the beater going, and enjoy the nice car in the summer.
5th Gear Member
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 2,990
From: San Diego, CA
I don't think you should sell a car that you are going to be working on with your son for a couple years. Those are going to be cherished memories and you're gonna wish you had that car every day after you sell it.
My dad and I restored my 69 mach 1, got it when I was 15. A lot of money has been put into it, but everyday he says it is worth it because of what I learned, the experiences I have had, and just the fact that we did it together.
Restore it to your hearts content, then keep it.
My dad and I restored my 69 mach 1, got it when I was 15. A lot of money has been put into it, but everyday he says it is worth it because of what I learned, the experiences I have had, and just the fact that we did it together.
Restore it to your hearts content, then keep it.
2nd Gear Member
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 243
From:
Can you put a price on the experience or education your son will gain? Look at it as a beginning to something few fathers are doing with their sons or daughters. I just finished a resto with my 17 year old son. He proudly drives a 70 Chevelle knowing he put hours of time into something his friends now desire. I am about to start the same with my niece on a 66 Mustang coupe. She lost her Dad to cancer before she could see her dream come true. I say spend each hour on that car like it was your last with your son and the car will priceless when done. Good Luck.
Yeah... what he said.
just finished a restore of a 68 for my wifes birthday in June...
im kinda tempted to make her get a license plate that reads : NVR 4 SELL
