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I have had my 69 for 52 years and figure that I have paid at least 12 times in upgrades and parts over what I originally paid for the car. I had it painted and redid the chrome in 1983, and they both still look good. Not quite perfect, but still good enough to get trophies at car shows. I paid $2,000 for the paint job in 83 and wonder how that rates compared to a paint job now. A number of the parts that I bought back then are no longer available, so I wonder what I could sell the parts that I removed from the car. 3x2 carbs that I could rebuild, etc.
I have been documenting the list of parts on an EXCEL spread sheet from the receipts that I have kept over the years. I have many of them, but not all. Why have I done this? I have no idea!
If I had to pay for all the hours that I have involved over the years I could never afford to have this car. Any project that you start extends to at least several times as long as you think it would take.
I've had mine for 55 years and except for some specialty rebuilds of various running parts, have done all my own work. Pretty much everything everybody says here, I've also bought and paid for. To those lists, there are all the tools that I wouldn't otherwise have paid for and owned. Paint guns, lifts, specialty wrenches, etc., etc. Autocrossing meant a trailer, tires seasonally and wheels, helmet, blah blah blah. So I would guess a quarter million dollars should cover things. That might be on the low side. But annually that works out to $5K a year so really not that much in the long run
I think the bigger question is: does the value of your car exceed what you've invested in it? What is the difference in cost vs value?
That only matters if you bought the car as an investment. Most of us who bought their cars in their 20s and still have them bought them simply because you wanted a Corvette.
I didn't buy my car as an investment I bought because I like it. Now has a ramjet 350 and TKX 5 speed. I am only into it for about 31K which I don't feel is too bad