How do you control the costs of your project

[snack]

Let's say you have  a 60's/70's Mini project.  Not a Cooper, not an "S".  Good chance you may start out with an 850 or 998 and you plan to upgrade to 1275cc.  Add front discs, tear down and rebuild engine and transmission maybe include some minor mods.  rebuild front and rear suspension and include Hi-Los.  The shell is not terrible but at a minimum you will need to replace partial floors both inner and outer sills, a-panels maybe inner fender repairs, May be a fender or two.  You want to end up with a decent interior, nice wheels and tires and new paint.

When your done and if you have done a decent job and had to sell it in today's market  I'm guessing the actual selling price would end up in a wide range between $8500 to may be a high of $13,000?.

My guess is that with the original cost of the car and before paint you will probably be somewhere over $8,000, maybe closer to $10,000.   So how do you finish the car and stay close to what the car is worth.  I know most of the time it's cheaper to buy what you want to start with, but what fun would that be.

So original question, how to you manage the cost of your project.

[94touring]

Good topic Snack.   Where to begin..  To me to keep cost down on my ideal car, my pickup for example, already had items I desired.  It had a 1275, 4 speed, with disc brakes.  I could drive it and I did for a couple years while collecting a few panels along the way and anything else I may have wanted.  I didn't pay a ton for it.  Granted when I bought it we knew it needed a lot of body work but was in so so condition at the time and I felt 6k given what I planned to do was fair price.  I'll have to look at my master list of parts for it, but end price after a COMPLETE job (truck price included) will be 18k give or take some change depending how I alter my mind as I move forward.  I have about two thirds of the cost counted for already, so not much left.  Thats close enough to what I could maybe sell it for given what go fast parts it will have when I'm finished, though I have no desire to. 
A couple years ago I was buying sedans with 998s for 4500 to 5k and they were pretty solid to begin with.  Just a little tlc and an easy respray turned them into cars I could sell for 7500 to 8000.  Wouldn't have been hard to upgrade brakes and rebuild an engine and keep it under 13k.  I priced everything out on paper, what I wanted vs cost.  I shopped around for good prices.  Not to dog minimania too bad, but they are stupid expensive 9 times out of 10.  Some panels if you are patient enough don't need to be genuine to get a good end result.   The suppliers link is who I use to get all my parts.  Thats why I put it on here...I want you guys to keep cost down!  When it comes to tools, I can literally do a massive project with a chepo harbor freight welder, angle grinder, a drill, and some vise grips.   I invested in a nice paint gun, afterall that part is important to get things perfect.  I plan to buy another sedan for myself at some point and will be looking for a car that runs but has body work issues.  5-8k is a good range to start with on a car that should need only minimal body work.  The rest can be spent on good quality paint, suspension, interior, and a few engine enhancements perhaps. 
Buy good used parts is another way to save a buck.  You bought that subby from me for the cost of my tolls to drive up and buy one of the cars I flipped.  Whats a new one go for...several hundred dollars?  You paid about $75 I think.  Sandblast, paint, and its brand new again.  Being able to do your own work is certainly the biggest cost savings out there.   

[Nicholasupton]

On personal projects I keep costs down by reusing as much as possible, and quite often leftovers from customer projects, and second hand parts. I also never build a car for myself that I plan on selling as they always cost more than they are worth, with the exception of a few of the rare cars. Also doing as much as possible myself save a bunch and looking for deals/ purchasing in quantity helps.

   

[snack]

Nick, I agree I would not be planning on selling a car I built for myself.  That philosophy in itself however, kind of opens the door to overspend.  What the heck I've gone this far what's another Thou.
I am redoing a 64 and doing all of the work so far myself and learning a lot in the process.  I've learned to weld and getting better at mechanicals just very slow going. But i'm enjoying the project.

I guess one of my price concerns will come in about a year or two when I'm ready to paint.  I've never painted a car before, not that I wouldn't give it a try, but living in a residential neighborhood I have 5 homes that abut my side line.  And I don't think the fumes from painting a car at my place would go over big with the neighbors.

To get a decent paint job will be a large percentage of the total project cost.  Not so much the material cost, although I would imagine that would still be significant, but once labor is added in it appears that will be a pretty good chunk of change.  I've read a little about water based paint, but it sounds like you still need to use a clear coat with regular VOC content.  Any thoughts on painting?

[Nicholasupton]

I live in one of the most restrictive counties in California for paint regulations. I have combated this with a VOC except paint booth, it has charcoal exhaust filters that remove 85% of the VOC's produced. This allows me to spray what and high end restoration shop uses everywhere else.

I would look for a shop that only uses top shelf PPG Concept for example, as no respecting painter will want to use cheap over his hard work. As for the cost of materials and aver 2 tone mini is about $1600 in materials (top shelf), unless it is red then you can add another thousand. As the cost rises dramatically.

With paint you get what you pay for in longevity, fade resistance, and gloss hold.

[94touring]

Don't go cheap on the paint as Nic stated.  I have painted in a few nice neighborhoods out of my garage, but always setup an air filtration system that allowed me to go unnoticed.   

[Willie_B]

I use as many used/recycled parts as possible also. Clean them up and repaint and they are good to go. Of course, I do not want a show car that I would then be afraid to drive anywhere. The seats I bought for my car were used but usable so I drove it that way for 3 years till I could have them redone. If you can attend a mini get togeather of some type there are usually folks that are selling their extra unwanted parts at good prices. eBay and Craigslist are places to look.

[joltfreak]

also i would just take you time while doing it. when i wanted to do my high power mini project i had the shell sitting in the back of my garage for about 5 years before i even touched it. with that said also don't take too long where you forgot about certain parts you've already bought and end up buying them again. :-[

[Richard1]

My mini is going to be much like the first one described. The others are closer to stock.

First I don't restore to sell, just for my pleasure driving and showing to friends. I figure since I drive one of them daily, I don't need the absolute best paint in the world, but a good paint job, clear coat, etc.

Next, I do it as a hobby, so my labor doesn't count. My back doesn't allow me to spend hours in weird positions doing body work anymore, but I do all the mechanical, trim, etc myself.

I also restore used parts when possible. For the Corvair there were several small donations from other owners around the world. Some duplicated so I passed them on to other countries.

[scottb6058]

also i would just take you time while doing it. when i wanted to do my high power mini project i had the shell sitting in the back of my garage for about 5 years before i even touched it. with that said also don't take too long where you forgot about certain parts you've already bought and end up buying them again. :-[

My 64 sat for 20+ years and another 5 collecting bits and I agree its easy to buy spares by accident. Patience is the key if your not rushed. If your lucky you will find those rare parts.
I bought a super nice full red and gold brocade interior for $200.00 and have two rear seats to fix up the front seats if needed. Funny this stuff isn't appealling to the US market but the brits would pay about ten times for it.

[wevebeenhad]

You control the cost by not caring how much you spend. Or winning the lottery.  36.gif

[clm]

Control cost!? Surely you jest!

First.. Don't get a project in this condition and consider repairing it!



Unless you are insane like I am...  22.gif

Chris