I just found out about "restoration project management software" and am wondering if anyone has used this before?

Is it worth the time and effort?

Which software program would you recommend? I notice there's several: Auto Restoration Assistant, Xun Performance, AutoResto, and Restoration Manager.

Any feedback would be great - thanks!

 

i use Quicken.

it helps me to see how much money i can spend before going in the red. that really helps with my restoration.

 

What happens if you get into the red zone?

 

I am a computer IT guy by day, and I didn't even know they had restoration software, nor did I even think of the possibility of it. I guess sitting behind the keyboard for 8 hours a day, working on the car is an escape for me, and the last thing I want to do is input a bunch of data into some "expert" system. Where's the fun in that? lol

A restoration is super time consuming, the last thing I want to do is ad more work to it, and one thing I found, is that on paper it all looks so purdy, and I am so rich, and I will have so much money left over, then you go to do something and it's a difference of night and day.

I am not saying there's no need to be organized, I consider myself a highly organized individual, heck I still use a Franklin planner. But I find an Excel spreadsheet to do everything I want, if you are after prices, total cost, why not just use Excel.

I guess it all depends on what your goal is? Is it to restore a car? Or is it to document every single excruciating part of the restoration process? In my case I want all of my energy to be transferred via the angle grinder, or paint gun, know what I mean.

 

pull out the plastic!

 

only thing i would do is use excel to keep track of spending.

you can easily create a spreadsheet that has a description column, part cost & total running cost.

type description, enter its cost and then the running cost/total just keeps adding together all the parts you enter in.

no need to buy more software when what you have will work just as fine

 

I use excel for all my cars. I keep a sheet for each race car. The sheets help me keep track of what I need, and what I've already bought. I also carry the printout when I got to swap meets so I can easily tell if I'm getting a good deal.

For the race cars its vitally important because there are so many different parts used on the same car (extra a-frames, shocks, gears etc...)

On the mustang I use it to chart what I expect to spend and what I save by doing something myself. If it gets too expensive I just cool my jets a little and wait till I have some more $$. Mustang $$ come after race car $$ so I have to keep track of the money pretty close.

 

Well put and you make a good point! :-)

Thanks for your thoughts!

 

Hey thanks guys for all the great feedback- I appreciate you sharing your perspectives! As I was reading all of your posts, I was thinking "yep, sure enough!"

I'll go ahead and put a spreadsheet together and should be sufficient enough.

Thanks again.

 

Old thread, but thought I would provide an update. You might want to check out Collector Car Companion. It lets you document and organize all sorts of classic car restoration projects.