Then 8 grand shouldn't matter. I know it's a lot to pull out of pocket but it is the right way. Your project may take a little longer than planned
'71 Sport Fury
- Thread starter TheFearlessFury
- Start date
I'm going to be the devil's advocate and go against the grain.
Is it worthwhile putting this much money in this car? You are talking $8k in quarters and trunk floor alone. The rest of the paint and bodywork will probably set you back another $8k easily. Then you have an engine that may or may not have a rod knock. Another $4k. You can easily have $20k plus in this car without touching anything else.
With the other usual expenses in a project like this and your purchase price, suddenly you aren't just upside down in the car like the rest of us... You could easily have triple the value of your car invested... and not have a finished, driving car.
There are cars on here that have been built from less. But if you look at them, they are cars that have some quality (rarity etc.) that makes the restoration journey worth the effort worthwhile. Quite often, the owner is doing a lot of the work themselves too.
My suggestion is this... Sit down and take a long hard look at what you are doing. You could drive this car as is for a while and start looking for a similar car with less rust issues to deal with. Perhaps a half done project or a south western car with a baked interior. Your car could then be sold or become the parts car for the new project.
Please understand that I'm not trying to discourage you... I'm just wanting you to think about this first. There are many projects like this that have been abandoned because the owners have gotten discouraged over the long haul. It's easy to start something like this... Hard to stick with it and even harder to take it to completion.
Is it worthwhile putting this much money in this car? You are talking $8k in quarters and trunk floor alone. The rest of the paint and bodywork will probably set you back another $8k easily. Then you have an engine that may or may not have a rod knock. Another $4k. You can easily have $20k plus in this car without touching anything else.
With the other usual expenses in a project like this and your purchase price, suddenly you aren't just upside down in the car like the rest of us... You could easily have triple the value of your car invested... and not have a finished, driving car.
There are cars on here that have been built from less. But if you look at them, they are cars that have some quality (rarity etc.) that makes the restoration journey worth the effort worthwhile. Quite often, the owner is doing a lot of the work themselves too.
My suggestion is this... Sit down and take a long hard look at what you are doing. You could drive this car as is for a while and start looking for a similar car with less rust issues to deal with. Perhaps a half done project or a south western car with a baked interior. Your car could then be sold or become the parts car for the new project.
Please understand that I'm not trying to discourage you... I'm just wanting you to think about this first. There are many projects like this that have been abandoned because the owners have gotten discouraged over the long haul. It's easy to start something like this... Hard to stick with it and even harder to take it to completion.
commando1
Old Man with a Hat
There's no disgrace in thinking about alternatives.
The education has been priceless.
The education has been priceless.
70Tom
Senior Member
Big John gives sound advice. Often it's better to find a more solid car to start with so you're not dropping $8K in body work. Another option is to purchase some how-to DVDs, a welder, and learn how to do the repairs yourself. However, I understand that this is not always possible due to time and/or space.
If it's not an option to do it yourself or just something you don't want to do, I'd recommend finding a more solid vehicle to work with and slowly restore. I just picked up a 1970 Sport Fury that has a few minor rust issues, but it's nothing major and nothing that I can't slowly replace/fix over time. Just my 2 cents after having dealt with a few restoration projects that got me in deep trouble financially. It can get out of control quickly.
If it's not an option to do it yourself or just something you don't want to do, I'd recommend finding a more solid vehicle to work with and slowly restore. I just picked up a 1970 Sport Fury that has a few minor rust issues, but it's nothing major and nothing that I can't slowly replace/fix over time. Just my 2 cents after having dealt with a few restoration projects that got me in deep trouble financially. It can get out of control quickly.
jstaples2
Member
$8K for rear panels, trunk floor and fender wells? Even if that included the materials that seems really high. Did they tell you how many hours they anticipate? I don't know what their hourly rate is, but even at $80 an hour that's 100 hours of work. I could be way off, but seems pretty high to me.
I know I don't have that kind of cash and am using my rust spots as an excuse to learn to weld. Keep me updated if you get other estimates...
I know I don't have that kind of cash and am using my rust spots as an excuse to learn to weld. Keep me updated if you get other estimates...
A car with an emotional connection has no monetary limitations
How about this... Drive the one you've got, sheet tin, pop rivets and Bondo is exactly how these cars were kept on the road in the NE USA. Hone your sheet metal mud skills with an attempt at an ugly, keep her on the road repair... If you don't go deep into the sound metal, you wont be interfering with any future repairs.
A few favorite products from over the years you may want to try out on a part of the car you eventually want to replace. Ospho from any hardware store to kill rust, Rust-Oleum Shop coat primer for steel from Fastenal (not the same as other rustoleum products, judging by my bus). Try these guys for good durable cheap and ugly paint that was never meant for a car Metal Steel and Aluminum Coatings : Epoxy Floor Coating : iPaint.us
Remember paint is the rust proofing that matters, and a few hundred and lots of blood sweat and swearing could make the old girl look... well, ok from a distance.
While self educating, there is a world of options out there... try the cheaper ones that come with credible recommendations not advertising. All the while you could be saving and shopping for the next one, they really were not meant to last forever.
FWIW the body shop prices may have much to do with those guys not wanting the job. The manager wants the extra revenue cushion and the bodyman is going to chase it back out the door or score big if he gets it. The back woods guy would see the car as complicated to repair and not worth the effort, the mainstream late model guy doesn't work on that stuff at all. Unibody is way more work than BOF for rust repairs.
A few favorite products from over the years you may want to try out on a part of the car you eventually want to replace. Ospho from any hardware store to kill rust, Rust-Oleum Shop coat primer for steel from Fastenal (not the same as other rustoleum products, judging by my bus). Try these guys for good durable cheap and ugly paint that was never meant for a car Metal Steel and Aluminum Coatings : Epoxy Floor Coating : iPaint.us
Remember paint is the rust proofing that matters, and a few hundred and lots of blood sweat and swearing could make the old girl look... well, ok from a distance.
While self educating, there is a world of options out there... try the cheaper ones that come with credible recommendations not advertising. All the while you could be saving and shopping for the next one, they really were not meant to last forever.
FWIW the body shop prices may have much to do with those guys not wanting the job. The manager wants the extra revenue cushion and the bodyman is going to chase it back out the door or score big if he gets it. The back woods guy would see the car as complicated to repair and not worth the effort, the mainstream late model guy doesn't work on that stuff at all. Unibody is way more work than BOF for rust repairs.
TheFearlessFury
Active Member
Thanks Big John, I sort of arrived at the same conclusion. I'm gonna be shopping it around as much as I can but I seriously can't afford something like that and go to college at the same time. And letting it set until I have the money together probably won't work either... It seemed like the guy who appraised it knew what he was talking about. He showed me another car he had on the rotisserie, it was a late 60s/early 70s Torino with a similar (Although slightly worse) rust damage pattern.
Thanks Commando, It really has, and you guys are great. This is easily one of the best forums I've ever frequented.
Yeah I've been looking around and theres fully restored Furys for only a few thousand more than what these repairs are running. My dad knows a bit about body work and welding but I don't actually know if that'll help. I'm gonna keep hunting around for other shops to do the work within my budget, Which is more around 3 or 4 thousand.
I guess I underestimated the rust damage at first, When I first saw it I thought that the rust in the trunk was no big deal and it could be patched up at home in an hour or so. I didn't really know that those side welds are crucial to the structure of the car. I'll keep you guys updated with the progress.
Thats true, but unfortunately due to my situation I do have monetary limitations. I wish I had the money to do that.
I'll keep you guys posted with the progress as usual, I've already thought of some alternatives if worse comes to worse. I'd like to give you guys first dibs on the car, maybe it'll help one of the other projects around here or maybe someone with more money than I do could do it up right. I'll probably end up going with something a bit older honestly, as that's sort of where my tastes have migrated. That isn't to say I've given up, There's a shop in town I'm checking out tuesday after school that does body work that I've been recommended.
I get it, I do. But you also understand the statement I hope
TheFearlessFury
Active Member
Yeah I understand what you mean.
I've been pretty down these last couple days, just thinking about this is enough to give me a headache
TheFearlessFury
Active Member
So I suppose I'll do a follow up to what happened with the Fury for any interested parties. That guy from Italy who I said bought it sort of strung me along for a full month. In retrospect I should have probably told him too bad earlier and relisted the car much sooner then I did, but he seemed like a nice guy up until he basically fell off the face of the earth.
By the time that deal fell through I already had my new classic so I couldn't keep the Fury. I ended up buying a beautiful 1950 two door ford sedan. I'll include a picture.
Then Kp ended up contacting me about the car. He's a real stand up guy and I think he'll fit in here great, and I'm glad he joined up with my old car.
That's the short story of it anyhow. Hope you guys like my new ride even though it's a Ford. I'll drop in from time to time but I won't be posting to much about the Ford as it isn't a C body and therefore isn't really relavant to the forum.
By the time that deal fell through I already had my new classic so I couldn't keep the Fury. I ended up buying a beautiful 1950 two door ford sedan. I'll include a picture.
Then Kp ended up contacting me about the car. He's a real stand up guy and I think he'll fit in here great, and I'm glad he joined up with my old car.
That's the short story of it anyhow. Hope you guys like my new ride even though it's a Ford. I'll drop in from time to time but I won't be posting to much about the Ford as it isn't a C body and therefore isn't really relavant to the forum.
commando1
Old Man with a Hat
I'd be proud to own that Ford. Congratulations .
Very cool! I always liked the shoebox Fords.
TheFearlessFury
Active Member
Thanks guys! I really like how it handles itself. It has a 350 chevy in it too.
I most likely won't be chopping it, I like the way it looks with the stock roof line lol. I will be raising the front end though. It's got a slight rake to it that I'm not big on.
I most likely won't be chopping it, I like the way it looks with the stock roof line lol. I will be raising the front end though. It's got a slight rake to it that I'm not big on.
There's very few shoebox Fords that look good with a chopped top. It has to be a very mild chop to look "right"... Then it doesn't really look like it's chopped. A lot of guys section the body... but that's a crazy amount of work.
Do the usual stuff for a mild custom... Nose, deck etc. IIRC, you can use an aftermarket VW bumper guard to simulate a Desoto grille. The HAMB is great place for info.
commando1
Old Man with a Hat
And Fuzzy Dice and wide whites ARE period correct for this car, too.
Enjoy.
Enjoy.
Don't stay away just because you don't feel like you have the right kind of car... Many here will remember you love C bodies too. I really like your new ride... I wouldn't change much about it and just enjoy her.
TheFearlessFury
Active Member
Thanks Cantflip, I'll take your advise. You know what's weird? There doesn't seem too be a shoebox ford forum.
Anyhow I'm not planning on changing her body. I'm gonna do a couple performance upgrades though. Disk brakes, wider tires (atleast an inch, I'm keeping the 14 inch rims though.), better suspension that gets rid of the forward rake the car has, front and rear sway bars, and a volvo 160 power steering box.
antonellomopar
New Member
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