B7 Blue AAR Cuda...

[Jim AAR]

Thanks everybody.....

Considering I have less than $30,000 cdn invested in it over the years including what I paid for it, I could spend $60,000 cdn and still not lose any money if I sold it.

All of the mechanical parts have already been rebuilt and restored (Engine, Trans, Diff, Front End, etc.) and I would disassemble, sandblast and rebuild whatever other mechanical parts I need to do myself.

The unknown expense would be any rust repair that is not currently visible until I blast it, it will not be extensive and is fairly minimal. The biggest expense would be the final bodywork and paint.

95% of the original parts are still on the car and in very good condition. I have already priced out & estimated that I would need to spend around $5000 USD on parts that I need and maybe about $2000 on parts that I would maybe replace (depending on how well I can get them to the condition I want them in).

So all told, I would be comfortably ahead of the game and that is a good thing.

[HP_Cuda]

I for one know that Alan would do a much more detailed job then I could ever do for the same $$$$.

Just sayin....

[Jim AAR]

I for one know that Alan would do a much more detailed job then I could ever do for the same $$$$.

Just sayin....

Probably, but to me most of the fun in owning these cars is working on them, and then driving them and displaying your handiwork. That gives me alot of pride in knowing what I can accomplish with my own hands. I'm not looking for OE Perfect, I don't show the car and have no desire to. I would still drive it and OE perfect cars are rarely driven. I prefer drivers over trailer queens.

My car already has almost all of the Original parts with the exception of the Starter (Not Date Coded), Alternator (Not Date Coded), Distributor (Updated to Direct Connection Electronic), Exhaust Manifolds (have Headers on), Carbs (don't have the OEM Holley Vacuum ones, I have the Holley Mechanical ones), Master Cylinder (I have the 1971 - MC36307 and s/b the 1970  2229171- couldn't get it even in 1982) , Shocks, Front Disc Rotors (I have 1 piece and not 2-couldn't get them even in 1982), Calipers (I have the 1971 KH86168 - Small Mouth & s/b 1970 KH80012 Large Mouth - couldn't get them even in 1982). And I likely won't replace any of these parts anyways as there is nothing wrong with them.

The only thing I really can't do myself or don't have the confidence in doing to make it mint is the final Bodywork & Paint.

[anlauto]

I think it's great that you want to do your own car for sure....I wish I had a car to restore for myself too...

However, just a side note....the numbers $$$ I was throwing around would be for a complete nut & bolt professional trailer queen type resto....having the car strip and painted and throwing a bunch of old parts back on.....makes a big difference in resale value.
I think you'll still do alright though....Around here....just to get the shell of the car from where it is now to final paint would cost around $30K CDN IF THERE'S NO MAJOR RUST.....Maybe in your area, quality paint jobs are cheaper ?

[mjb765]

Thought I found my dream AAR until I saw the fender tag 
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Barracuda/162982490699?hash=item25f283724b:g:rm8AAOSwL3JaxdxO&vxp=mtr

I was even getting ready to "live" with the automatic...

Does that sound like a lifter tick or worse in the video??

[RUNCHARGER]

Jim: You could strip the body, send it out for body and paint and clean/coat/refresh all the little parts while it was gone. That's pretty much what works for Alan. I also agree with Alan, around here a quality body job is going to cost $30k if the body is in pretty good shape. The reason I didn't have my 66 Hemi Coronet painted it because the whole car looked pretty good as-is and I knew if the body was painted then I would have to refresh parts that were pretty darn good to start with.

[Jim AAR]

I think it's great that you want to do your own car for sure....I wish I had a car to restore for myself too...

However, just a side note....the numbers $$$ I was throwing around would be for a complete nut & bolt professional trailer queen type resto....having the car strip and painted and throwing a bunch of old parts back on.....makes a big difference in resale value.
I think you'll still do alright though....Around here....just to get the shell of the car from where it is now to final paint would cost around $30K CDN IF THERE'S NO MAJOR RUST.....Maybe in your area, quality paint jobs are cheaper ?

Jim: You could strip the body, send it out for body and paint and clean/coat/refresh all the little parts while it was gone. That's pretty much what works for Alan. I also agree with Alan, around here a quality body job is going to cost $30k if the body is in pretty good shape. The reason I didn't have my 66 Hemi Coronet painted it because the whole car looked pretty good as-is and I knew if the body was painted then I would have to refresh parts that were pretty darn good to start with.

Yeah that's what i figured Alan, not sure how much a quality paint job would cost here, but I do have some friends that have body shops, so i'm sure I could work something out with them where I could do some of the grunt work, IE, sanding, blocking, etc to keep some of the costs down.

I am thinking about it because it was restored in the early 80's and it's starting to show it's age, not by decay (IE Rust), the body was already stripped to metal and the Engine compartment sandblasted once and all the rust was cut out and the metal replaced and thankfully there has not been any recurrences of rust. It has always been stored in a dry garage since I bought it in 79.

The only 2 reasons I am even contemplating doing it is because (1) The body paint is starting to show it's age (IE cracking and some deep scratches from the past 35 years) my friend did it in his small paint booth at his homeshop and it is in Lacquer because the plan was to block it out again after a couple of years and then clear coat it but my painter buddy moved away and that never happened. (2) The Engine & Engine compartment paint has damage from Battery Acid eating the paint and leaving black spots all over from when my Electronic Voltage Regulator pinned on me and blew the tops off my Battery spraying acid all over my freshly painted engine & engine compartment while I was coming home from the lake, never even noticed it until I got home and popped the hood and almost   

I think you need to charge more so you can get your own car Alan.......  LOL 

You are right Sheldon, that is kind of where I am at, If I went this route, I would do just that with parts that are still pretty good and working fine and really don't need to be done but I would do that anyways because I am a little too much of a perfectionist too not do it as I would always be second guessing myself after it was done that I should have done it.

For now (well over the next couple of years anyways), I think I am just going to pull the engine, paint it, repaint the engine compartment, replace the carpet (the Legendary carpet now is so much nicer than the carpet I could get in the 80's), repaint my Interior panels and trim (it was painted once and is starting to flake in places), put the Spoilers back on and a get a stripe kit, get some of the parts that I can get now that I couldn't get in the 80's and just drive it.