How long does it take to restore a car?

[captcolour]

Going to be starting on my '69 Road Runner soon.  Was wondering what a realistic expectation should be regarding how long it will take start to finish?  I know there are a ton of factors, but assume a person is working on this 20 hrs a week.  Full nut and bolt restoration.  Engine and transmission rebuild would be sent out.  Needs a new fender and patch panels on both lower quarters.  Everything is there but a lot of sandblasting of parts and buffing of trim.  Have a lift and access to a rotisserie.  Would include final body prep and paint, and re-assemble.  Just looking if my expectations should be 5 years or 2 years, etc.

[cudaragtop]

At 20 hours per week, 1000 hours would be 50 weeks...

[RUNCHARGER]

Yeah: Bodywork and paint will take longer than you think, also you'll be running into long waits for parts. I budget one year to do a resto but you have to figure on 2 years these days accounting for delays.
Don't loose focus, do something every single day without fail. I also recommend restoring assemblies as you remove them from the car and store them in completed form. Anyone can completely blow apart a car in a weekend and figure they have it half done, then sell it in the same state 10 years down the road.

[erik70rt]

My last restoration took about 5 years to complete.  4 of which were it sitting in the body shop.  While not typical (and I'll never go back to that shop), it's a good example of taking it to a shop that doesn't specialize in restoration work - i.e. insurance repairs.  If you can do most of the body/prep work at home, you will be better off.  Hence I now learned to weld (still practicing) and am learning proper paint prep. 

[anlauto]

If it's your first, and you stick to it....under two years is more than reasonable...any longer and you're likely to lose interest..

Only advice....start ordering your parts NOW....most everybody is back ordered or out of stock on a lot of items....and if you're shipping a lot of stuff, be prepared to be raped on shipping costs these days. I was just quoted $204.00 shipping for two mufflers 

Sheldon's advice is solid....Make a commitment to do at least one thing everyday towards the restoration....even if it's just searching parts or ordering parts....get something do everyday...

[dodj]

I did mine in about three years. At the time, the major thing causing it to take that long was cash on hand to buy the parts.
To do it again I would stock up on at least half the parts I need before starting and have an 'order of purchase' for the second half of parts before I start.
To do that, first, you really need to thoroughly envision what your goal is, and stick to that goal. Otherwise you will find yourself buying different parts, rendering some of what you bought previously...redundant.

[JH27N0B]

Mine took 16 years versus my 2-3 year estimate. 
In my case, I did a fair amount of disassembly, plus parts chasing and getting components restored, then a restoration shop picked it up to do the body and paint, and then the problems began.
If you can do body and paint at least you don't have to worry about a shop hanging you out to dry.  Sadly shops flaking out on clients happens a lot.  Which throws a wrench into many projects!
Age factors in too. Sadly as years go by energy and ambition often go down.
In my case after I finally got the car back as a painted rolling chassis, I got a good start on reassembly the following spring.  Things mostly went on hold all summer as I couldn't get motivated to work in heat and humidity. Then in late summer I got back into gear and managed to get the car together and running a week or so before showing it at MCACN.
Having that show commitment certainly drove me to work on it rather than procrastinate!

[Dakota]

I was 8 years for the round trip.  The first 1.5 years was in a body shop (with my agreement, the shop owner used it as "fill in" work while things were otherwise slow).  It was mostly weekend work for me from then on, excluding winters when it was usually too cold in the garage.   I had a couple of 40-50 hour weeks towards the latter stages in large part that I was self-quarantined for 2 weeks based on NY travel rules at the time.  The work included nearly every nut and bolt, new suspension, wiring, fuel system, interior & dash overhaul. 

If you can sustain 20 hrs a week - bless you.  I certainly couldn't do that before I retired. 

Good luck!

[torredcuda]

I had my cuda torn down and started but really didn`t get into the real work until I bought my first house with a garage to work in back in `92. I had the car up and running in primer in`95 and on the road in `96 with everything done but the interior and that was only due to lack of funds. Now that I am a bunch older my time/ambition for working on stuff is lessoning so it takes me a lot longer and lack of money always seems to be a hold up both then and now.

[Bpret]

Here are a couple of examples. The Dart took two years. The Cuda took six years.

[usraptor]

To many variables.  Mine was 9 years from purchase to maiden voyage.  But three years off for major surgeries and recoveries.  My best friend did the initial body work on the side so I was at his mercy as to when he had time to work on it.  Money?   I did all the disassembly and reassembly myself.  Engine was at machine shop for rebuild for 4 months. After initial body work at my house, was three months at body shop for final paint work. Etc. Etc. And as they say, "It's never really done." Always tinkering and making small upgrades and trouble shooting gremlins.   

[jt4406]

It took me 14 years, been driving it ever since (summer 2014), worth every minute.....

https://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/1617770/1.html

[jimynick]

As mentioned, time, motivation and money can be large deterrents, but nobody's mentioned aptitude. It makes a huge difference what your skill sets are. If you're farming out body or mechanical work, then the money and timeliness factors come more into play. If you can do the work yourself, that'll make a big difference. I'm an old, heavy on the old, bodyman and the year I retired at the end of April, I went into my garage and worked every day, all day and manys a time into the night, to get the car ready for an Old Boys Reunion in the middle of August and my one son was still bolting the wiper motor in the morning of the Friday of the OBR weekend.
  I replaced both frt aprons, the rt frt frame rail, firewall and cowl, both door hinge pillars, both front doors, frt whole floor, both 1/4's, inr and otr whlhses, trunk floor, deck lid and gutters and rebuilt the rockers, rear floor and reinforced the roof, added subframe connectors and frt apron braces and torque boxes. I only quote this to give you an idea of the work done in the time quoted.
  You can see where that took a trained man in a warm, well lit shop about 3.5 months, so extrapolate from there into your own situation. Based on your description, you'll have an easier and quicker resolution, but also be advised, that if you look at all the visible repairs you think your car needs, and multiply by 2, you'll be in the ball park. Ditto for the budget and don't be too surprised if it ends up X3. LOL Good luck 

[Chryco Psycho]

How long is a piece of string !!
Mine took 29 year before I started to work on it while promising the whole time I would get it done , once I started it took 9 months , while the body was being done I was rebuilding everything else , reassemble was quick with everything just needing to be put back together !

[dodj]

We plan on pulling the GD around the southern States next winter Capt, maybe I'll stop in and check on your progress. As well as see the new IS on the Solitude.