TV series "Wrecks to Riches"

[Carl Beck]

There was a very interesting TV series that ran last weekend here. Barry White and his crew set the goal of restoring/refreshing or building restro-mods out of 10 more or less junk cars -and completing 10 cars in 10 months. Then taking them to the various high profile auctions around the country. Did anyone else watch that series?

What I found very interesting about it - was that they told you how many hours of labor went into each major step, of each car. They also kept a running total of the costs...

Keep in mind that this crew has lots of experience, and they were working to a goal, for a TV show.. The cars came from junk yards, or private owners. Most were purchased for a grand or less.

Nonetheless, it gave a good idea of just how many actual labor hours it takes to do a very complete body prep and high end paint job. Quarter panels replaced, metal patches made, car stripped to metal and put in epoxy primer in most cases....

Most took between 60 and 80 hours of labor to do the body work, panel replacements or metal patching. These were done right - not sluck bondo jobs. Once the body was ready for paint -they sent it out to a local shop for the actual paint job. This was a one to two day process. The show quality paint work was $5K to $10K... that's for the paint job...

80 hours is two men working on the car full time for five days. The labor rate was about $37.50 per hour.

When the cars went to the auctions - most sold for between $40K and $60K, as Super Muscle Cars..

One was a recreation of the Mercury that Parnelli Jones drove in NASCAR circa 64 as I recall.. All had upgraded brakes, suspension and high performance engines etc.

http://www.racingjunk.com/category/71/Pro_Stock/post/1478085/1964-Parnelli-Jones-Nascar-Mercury-Marauder.html

At any rate - its a far cry from having a car in a body shop / restoration shop for a year or more... just to get the body and paint done...

FWIW,

Carl B.

[Bonzi Lon]

I watched this series last year, but can't remember which network. It was a first class shop, and very well produced. Always the drama of a strict timeline. I really enjoyed the "Barry White screwdriver rust finding technique." Not many of our cars would pass that test, but a few would.

Bonzi Lon

[sblake01]

But, Carl, they say that car was built "@ Barry's Speed Shop SRRC at a cost of over $100,000!" What's so impressive about it selling for "between $40K and $60K'?

[Carl Beck]

What's so impressive about it selling for "between $40K and $60K'?

Hi Stephen:

Nothing.

What was impressive about this series, was the fact that they kept track of the actual hours and cost to complete the body work and paint etc. on all of the cars - - and shared that information with the viewers.

Like I said, amazing how often we hear from people that have had their cars in shops for 6, 12, 18 or more months - to get couple of weeks of actual work done...

FWIW,

Carl B.

[Walter Moore]

So they had about $3000 in labor alone, another $10K in paint, plus uncounted parts costs...

Must be a rich man's hobby.

[Zs-ondabrain]

I watch it all the time and my one big concern, dealing with my own rust issues, is that some of these cars that he turns into "SMC"s are real friggin rust buckets to start with.

He did a 69 Camaro that he paid $6K for the shell and the front body, around the subframes and kick panels almost fell off due to rust. Yo could put your foot thru some of the wholes, not to mention the floors were rotted out and had to be replaced. They bought all new panels and did some work on the front but they never really showed how the front rust issues were dealt with. So it makes me wonder if the hidden rust was actually dealt with or if it was just covered up and painted over.

And does the new owner, who got the car at auction, get a copy of the video of them rebuilding it after it is aired on TV?

jm2cw

Dave

[Carl Beck]

So it makes me wonder if the hidden rust was actually dealt with or if it was just covered up and painted over.

Complete replacement of floorboards, frame rails, inner-fenders and exterior panels seems to be routine during a correct restoration of almost any cars from the 50's, 60's and early 70's. It seems that Mr. White has a very highly regarded reputation, that has been built over decades. So I'd have to guess that any rust issues were dealt with properly before the cars leave his shop. Hard to boil down three or four weeks of work, and still show all the important aspects in a one hour show.

A friend of mine here locally has "restore", "street-mod'ed" and "refreshed " many late 60's and early 70's muscle cars. Several have been National Show Winners. He is simply a "master metal man". Looking at the job Arne's guy did on the roof of his car, it seems Arne has found another. In my experience, these guys simply can not bring themselves to sluck bondo on anything to cover it up.... With decades of experience, and the personal skills they utilize, they find it easier and faster to simply replace entire panels, or do what ever metal patching is necessary - than it is to try to shape bondo.

Nonetheless - there are always lots of shops turning out shinny paint jobs over rust buckets that have not been properly nor completely repaired... it is always "buyer beware".

FWIW,

Carl B.

[26th-Z]

I have not seen any of the shows, but I'ld like to comment from personal experience.

I'm finding the price for just the paint job hard to swallow. I realize what the paint alone costs but the labor rate can't be $37.50 if the paint job alone is going to cost 3 times the preparation. Either we're not comparing oranges to oranges or somebody is getting ripped off. Having said that, it seems like the 80 hours for metal work and prep is low. However! I'm right there with ya on your comment about how many people we know have spent months with a body shop, Carl!

[Carl Beck]

Hi Chris:

Yes - there were 10 cars done, for the average the paint work alone was around $4K to $5K for a single color. The Parnelli car and a couple others had paint jobs that ran $6K to $10K.. but that was three or more colors with lots of custom graphics etc.

If you use the best materials, it's easy to spend $1,000.00 on materials alone. Then you have the costs of overhead for the environmentally friendly paint booths etc... As I recall the "House Of Color" supplied the paint for several of the cars. Apply several base, color and clear coats and you spend some serious time and money on the paint job.

FWIW,

Carl B.