I started with a decent car, and did a frame off rebuild. Took me not quite 2 years. But i have a job that allows me to work from home, so i got paid by work to rebuild my vette durring the day. I redid everything except paint. The car is good enough for a driver, i may look at paint down the road.

 

There should be prices and medals for guys like you who preserve a cultural heritage!

You have built a very beautiful car!

 

There are . NCRS and Bloomington Gold

 

Those are prizes and medals. Decent prices are hard to come by these days. Buyers are looking for bargains, trying to get something for nothing...like all the free labor. Been mentioned already in this thread. Why do the work yourself, when you can buy a car already done for a whole lot less?

 

Actually I'm into my car a lot less than you can purchase the same for.
Also when I smash the gas, or dive into a corner, I know exactly what I have under me and don't have to worry that Bubba did the work on a critical part.
True it's not an NCRS restoration, and there are a lot of "incorrect" parts on it, but it sure is fun to drive, and drive it I do!

 

It took me 5 years to do my car. I removed every nut and bolt, some rivets and and extensive body repair. But I went into it knowing it would be a long term commitment. While certainly I had times where I lost some enthusiasm, but for the most part I made it a habit to do at least one thing every night I was home or every weekend day.


My next car will be someone's project that they began but lost interest and commitment as there are lots of those cars out there.

Many of you have seen these already.

 

I bought a 69 in march from a guy that had owned the car for about 3 years.

It was stripped for paint, all of the chrome was redone and the interior was almost totally removed. The car was repainted in lacquer. This was all done in 1986.

I still havent been able to get in touch with the guy who owned the car from 1985-2008. It sat in his garage untouched for 23 years.

The guy I bought the car from spent $15k on parts to put the car back together, but lost interest in completing it. The receipts are all from 2008, so after spending a ton of time ordering 98% of the parts needed to finish the car sat for another 3 years. He had more money than god and just said that one day he would get around to it.

It amazes me to this day that cars can sit so long in pieces without being reassembled. I know it cost me about $6500 to have a restoration shop finish the car and get it back on the road again after a 23 year period of sitting. This process took about 2 months.

 

I'm with Alan on this one. There are good days, bad days, and frustrating days, but I am learning and loving the experience. Mine isn't done yet, but it will be, and when it is I will be a very happy camper. 70% feels high to me but who knows for sure? I would do another one in a minute if I had the space.
I keep watching the posts about cars for sale and more than one of those has given me pause...
Good luck to all that are in the process of a restoration and congratulations to all those that made it successfully through and survived.
David

 

The number 1 reason for failed frame off restorations is this forum! If they'd get rid of it I'd spend more time working on the car than reading and posting on here.

 

 

Take your laptop out to the garage. You can keep an eye on posts while you're wrenching.

 

I definitely found this post very interesting... When I purchased my 72, I made sure I got a complete driver as that is what I wanted. I never have and doubt ever will get the urge to do a complete restoration on my vette. I want a great driver that is as dependable as a 38 year old car can be, but not be so worried if someone breathes on it wrong.

So now I am doing a "recondition" of my vette. I have started with the undercarriage... sanding and protecting the frame section by section. The great thing about this is my vette is usually not down for more than a few days so I can get back to cruising I find this keeps me motivated to continue my recondition.

And in the end, I don't think these cars are ever done. There is always something to do on them, but that is why we do it for the love of the hobby.

 

Good thread, I know I seriously considered dumping my vette because I could not fine time to work on it

I finally hired some help and things are moving along now.

If I could not afford help on it, it'd still be sitting

I've got a thread going on it here under C3 General titled (appropriately enough) "stalled project restarted"

 

I think what gets a lot of the new guys is the tv shows where a car gets done in an hour. They don't always notice the groups of 10 people doing each task or notice the pile of parts that were researched and bought ahead of time. I would definitely agree that 70% of new owner restorations fail.

I've done a couple of rolling restorations now and spent the better part of 6 months doing it myself and with a few friends. Projects continue as long as you own the car.

I bought a 72 project and thought it would take 2 years. Now I'm starting to think longer. I've told others for years and now I am repeating it to myself, Just do a little bit at a time so it stays fun.

Bill

 

All true and worthwhile comments about how life is what happens when we're busy making plans. I left my car passion for years while I chased the dollar, raised a family, divorced, chased more dollars etc. Once my kids were grown and life priorities straightened out I got back into it.

Had my first Corvette at age 19, a silver 63 340 hp roadster, followed by a 63 300 roadster and a 64 300 coupe. Had all kinds of fun cars prior to that, 66 Nova SS, 66 Canso SD (Canadian equivalent to a Nova).

My first career was that of mechanic (Journeyman) so I enjoy advantage there, and when I got back into the hobby taught myself the bodywork and paint side of things. I did this by buying, fixing and reselling insurance write offs. There is a huge amount of info on the net that will enable anyone with the will to do it to produce show quality paint and bodywork.

From the experience I have gleaned doing this kind of work I will offer some advice for those that would find it helpfull.

One of the reasons many restos fail to launch and interest is lost is because of the amount of time that's spent. From reading the posts here and numerous other sites it's apparent that many people attack the job without a thoroughly thought out plan which makes the best use of their time. Most restorers would benefit from several hours of reading and researching before picking up a wrench. The biggest tip.. determine the order in which things were originally assembled and reverse it when taking the car apart, then follow it when reassemblying.

I don't know how many times I see the engine being pulled, suspension being taken apart then the body lifted off the frame. Huge waste of time. Removing the body as a first step prior to disassembly of the chassis turns all those hours into minutes. Remember, the car is engineered to go together very quickly as it's moving a couple mile per hour down an assembly line. Reverse it and it goes as quickly.

The reality is that the less time it takes to show results the less likely it is that interest will be lost.

No disrespect intended to previous posters, but if you're spending 2000 hrs on bodywork you've been chasing your tail. 40 hrs max to strip the car to bare fibreglass. Another 40 to prime and block in prep for paint. 4 hrs to paint. 1900 hrs to repair body panels has not been efficient use of your time.

I am currently doing a 69 coupe for a friend. I charge a rate that's well under half of shop rate and I provide value for what I charge (meaning I don't lean on the fender drinking beer for the first half hour). I've been tracking my time on a spread sheet and at around 50 hrs I have the drive train and chassis pretty much detailed and ready for reassembly. This is steering gear rebuilt, u-joints replaced, trailing arms completely dissassembled etc. It is not a wipe down and paint with rustoleum.

If you are methodical with what you're doing and start each session with a clear plan and objective you can accomplish a lot in a pretty short time.

The 69
The 67 442

Steve

 

I would agree to a certain extent however, rather than saying "failed frame off", I would restate it as "extended frame off." When I bought my 69 it was partially restored but the PO sold it due to a medical condition (back injury) that wouldn't allow him to finish it. After getting into it, I found like many have said, I didn't know what was done and what wasn't as well as the knowledge that things that were done, were done right. During the process of continuing I found myself rapidly going towards a complete frame off that I estimated would take 2-3 years. As I disassembled the car and reading the many many threads on the forum, I found that there are better ways to do things than what I probably would have done which is in part where the additional time came into play. Then (like 7T1vette said), I started to find that more needed to be done while I dug further.

For instance; what I thought to be a simple clean and painting of the frame, ended up being a complete sandblast and multi-step reconditioning between cleaning up poorly done welds to the POR 15 process.

After realizing that I did underestimate what a frame off was going to involve, I arrived at the reality that it was no longer going to be a 2-3 year process. I also started to get discouraged because I wanted a Vette that I could drive. In my case I was fortunate to be able to buy another Vette (71) from a forum member that I could use as a daily (weekend) driver while I continually worked on the 69. Now, I don't care if it takes me 10 years to complete the 69 because I want to ensure it is done right but still have another C3 to curve my appetite in the process.

Now my problem is that I am sticking money and time into both cars . With all of this being said, I have learned a very important lesson which is to never underestimate the time needed to complete an automotive rebuild because it will inevitably not be what was originally envisioned.

My next dream is to have a pristine restomod 69 Camaro but I have already made up my mind that it is going to be a car that is already complete to where all I have to do is my own little personal tweeks.

So after all of this rambling in my post, I'm not sure I would consider all of them as failed restorations. Alot of them may just be "significantly" delayed but then again it just depends upon who's measuring the difference.

Good luck to all of you restorers out there. Press on and keep the faith!

Terry

beginning with incorrect front clip;


in process;



in process to date;

 

You have got to love wrenching to start a restoration. Sometimes you even have got to love it more than driving the car.

It's correct you need a lot more than just dismantling and buying parts. You need tools, time, space etc etc.

Sometimes don't work out as you planned, but you have to stick with your project.

 

When I first read this thread, I really thought 70% sounded too high. I still think it is a little high but started thinking about it and then wondered what percentage of corvettes actually have a frame off started. It has to be pretty low.

I think that the only thing that skews your success percentage is why the car had one started to begin with. I think there are 2 kinds of frame off restorations. The first is a decent car that someone wants to make immaculate. I bet those percentages of completion are pretty high because they won't require quite as much or the owners are more prepared to put out the cash to have them finished.

The second type would be the basket case, non driveable car that was found dirt cheap and someone wanted to tear it apart and rebuild it to have a really nice cheap corvette. The type of car that should be parted out because it is just too far gone. I can see those buyers digging into the car and finding that they are a money pit, finally realizing that they could find a decent DD for just a little more and thereby walking away from the project. I believe that those are the ones that you mainly never see or hear about again.

I'll admit that it is hard to keep going on these things. I can't even see a light at the end of the tunnel because I feel like I am just entering the tunnel. I never planned on going this far but one thing led to another and then you reach the point of no return. Barring a life changing occurrence, mine will be completed one day or I'll die trying.

Hopefully those you haven't heard about since starting one are so busy working on the car, they don't have time to come back on the forum

 

wow

 

Have had my 71 vert since 1984, was restored in 1993, and now being restored/upgraded and painted. Been doing this since 2007. Keep all documents, many pics, still gets frustrating as hell when waiting for someone to paint,etc. I can't do that, so it's best I leave some things for a pro. Love my car, though! LOL!