I could probably get it done $6-7,000 cheaper here, maybe more, but our cost of living is much lower so body shop rates are correspondingly lower. Also our regulations are probably looser so the shops overhead is lower here too. If I knew someone in Arizona and I could ship it and save $10,000, I would! As for putting this kind of money into a 73, while the earlier cars are bringing more money it won't be long until this will make more sense. We have seen really nice cars done with strokers or well done engine builds and all the mods for several years now be priced at $40k and above. So if the car is neatly done and clean I don't think you would get hurt that bad if you had to sell it...

I'm spending that much doing it myself....

I need to talk to him and see what he thinks we can trim out of the list. He did say his estimate was at the top end for the project list, meaning it might come in under estimate. I think there are things in here I can not do, and there are things in here I can do myself.

My dad is having a friend of his who ran a shop in New Jersey until recently take a look and tell me how much of this is New Jersey prices and how much is just the shop being expensive. The former might be unavoidable.

Shipping to AZ is looking more in the cards now that I have an actual number. Not sure how I feel about it, though.

You pay one way or another.


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9 hours ago, wheee! said:

I'm spending that much doing it myself....

Ditto...

I still don't think I could bring myself to write that big check for $28K.  My project has been more like a death by a thousand cuts (or credit card charges).  I'll bet I'm up to $45K by now but that includes a really hot engine setup by Datsun Spirit.  

Matt:

Reassembly from a rotisserie resto is still a lot of work.  Take it from me to save every part.  Even the ones you don't think you'll reuse.  Sometimes you need them just to see where stuff is supposed to go.  I'm glad I saved all the grommets and whatnots.  I even saved broken bolts so I'd know what needed to be replaced.  Label things by subassemblies and tape them to the parts they hold on.  Take lots of pictures.  I still find myself going back to 3 year old pictures of the engine bay to see where things go.

My first rebuild I cleaned everything first, mistake for me.  You can look at a dirty part and figure out a lot, shiny side down, indented gaskets show the orientation, things like that.  When I rebuilt my 2.4 I waited until I needed the parts to clean them.  It made a little easier.  Another thing I learned between those two projects was to write down the contents on a piece of paper and put it in the Zip-Loc bag, just marking the bags with a Sharpie won't last long.  It seems to always smear off after handling them a few times.  My $.02

Update: getting quotes from two places in Tucson and talking to a third. Looks like we can definitely knock off a significant portion by sending it out of state. One guy said he can do the work for 1/3 to 1/2 the price with the exact same list of tasks. We'll see what happens and what the quality levels are like, but right now it looks like I need to figure out how to get the car to Arizona.


Regarding reassembly and parts labeling: with the things I've pulled off the car myself I have been following all of the advice above, but when I got the car about 3/4 of the parts were in cardboard boxes, so reassembly is going to be... a project.

Some progress on the brake and clutch lines.

So some more thoughts on paint while I keep pulling crap of this car. I really like the idea of a black hood, but I am not a fan of just the hood. It's defeats the purpose (cutting glare).

This looks rad:

 

So I messed around with an orange one I found on speed hunters in photoshop and ended up with this:

 

And then I thought about this color on this BMW M1, also from Speedhunters:

 

And came up with this:

 

Anyway, back to work.

On 8/2/2016 at 1:28 PM, Matthew Abate said:

 I need to figure out how to get the car to Arizona.

Beware - http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/topic/55976-slicks-garage-interested-in-z-cars/#comment-501094

Your project is beyond my ken (I have no idea why I know how to use that word.  Too many books as a child).  Considering all, risks, the joy of seeing progress, a reason to take a drive...maybe a local shop is the way to go.  Arizona was just one suggestion.  Really hard to keep track, especially if you get a non-communicative shop.

1 minute ago, Zed Head said:

Beware - http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/topic/55976-slicks-garage-interested-in-z-cars/#comment-501094

Your project is beyond my ken (I have no idea why I know how to use that word.  Too many books as a child).  Considering all, risks, the joy of seeing progress, a reason to take a drive...maybe a local shop is the way to go.  Arizona was just one suggestion.  Really hard to keep track, especially if you get a non-communicative shop.

Not an issue. My dad lives there and would manage the project, as he has several others.

However, I have not made a decision yet. I am still talking to other local shops and looking at how I can get portions done in other ways for less. Might have solved the metalwork part.

5 hours ago, Zed Head said:

Your project is beyond my ken (I have no idea why I know how to use that word.  Too many books as a child).

Roland of Gilead. the dark tower series by stephen king. it means "understanding"

14 hours ago, sweatybetty said:

Roland of Gilead. the dark tower series by stephen king. it means "understanding"

So how do we work lobstrocities into this thread?