The most frequently asked question is:
“What does it cost?”
The cost to restore a 356 depends on condition and desired end result. 356Restore only does driver level restoration, as concours restoration can cost two to three times more and take at least three times as long.
Disassembly
of the car will take 20 hours. Nothing is left on the car except the suspension to roll the car. All of the wires are wrapped up and taped. The engine is pulled out. 20 Hours at $75=$1,500
Media Blasting
Blast Tech will then Media/Sandblast the car to bare metal. Depending on the amount and thickness of the paint, body filler and undercoat equals to the amount of time and money.$ 2,000
Metal Work
The worst case where we are doing every panel on the horizontal plane at knee level (Floor pan, Battery Box Floor,Diagonal, Longitudinal, Engine tray, Door Bottoms, Nose, Bumpers)$20,000
Paint
We go back to the single stage (A) or double stage (B,C) clear coat similar to the factory. We use Wilhoits for the paint samples. $20,000
Upholstery
Autos International supplies Stoddard, we buy direct. Vinyl sets with the Seats, Dash, Panels is about $3600. Leather is about $ 3,600-$4,600
Assembly
Takes about 50 hours. Parts are cleaned, repaired, painted and if needed sourced from the World Wide Web. $ 3,750
Extra
If engine or transmission work or a electrical harness is needed. $ 2,000
Chrome
We have used Salt Lake Chrome for awhile. There are no shops in Denver that I can recommend. We can get reproduction parts but the seat recliners and window frame are re-chromed. $ 4,000
Parts
We can get most of the parts as reproductions. If the owner wants original parts we are not interested in doing that the pool of original parts is very small. $ 2,000
TOTAL
This is a guess for the worst case but prices change and issues come up. $58,850 – $59,850
So if Hagerty or others says a completely restored level 2 car is worth X, subtract what you have into it and the restoration cost. If you are in the red, you are upside down.
We bill on Monday for work that was done the past week. The VISA card is due on the 15th of the month and we are looking for money then!
The shop rate is $75 per hour, that is for painting parts, welding, transportation or computer work.
Stoddard is the supplier we buy most of the parts from. They give me a 20% discount which I will split with you 10% you, 10% me and they do charge for shipping. Sierra Madre and other have some different stuff. 80% of the parts are available. 20% are a pain to find.
Auto International is where we buy the carpet and upholstery kits. If they give a discount I will split it with you. Labor by the upholstery shop is a bit. Carlos at CB Interiors has done our cars for many years
Thom Agnes at Mirror Image has painted my cars for ten years. His background is the restoration of a classic car collection of Clive Cussler, the author of the Dirk Pitt books and “Raise the Titanic”.
We use Jeff Frazier, a car broker at Frazier Motorcar CO in Lebanon TN. to sell our cars. He has a large inventory of classic cars (615) 971-4409
We do engine work and transmission work in house. Tony Peak is my auto wizard with his background working on Sprint and Indy cars. He was a lead mechanic on the 2nd place 2020 overall winner of the Pikes Peak Hill climb.
Michael Markham has been doing my metal work for over a year. He has a background in graphic arts and Cad drawing but found the welder to be more to his personality.
I worked with Jim for 20 years before his passing and the shop was handed to me. I am not a accountant or a business man I am more comfortable under a car.
