Hi,

Hope you all had a nice Easter! I have a question. How much should a person expect to spend to fully equip a shop? I mean totally from scratch. I know that a good air compressor will probably cost about 6 to 8 hundred. How much will a good sand-blaster and all that stuff cost and what all do you have to have?

Thanks,

Bonnie

Hi Bonnie:

SOunds like your inquiring about equipping a shop for body work? Welding? Painting too?

I think the guys will need a bit more specific info on what you want to be equipped accomplish, in order to give you a good estimate.

Hi Bonnie,

I'm assuming you have a building or garage in mind? Next, what kind of work will you need to do? Doing general maintenance is a lot different than pulling engines, rebuilding transmissions/rear-ends, etc.....

If you can see where I'm going... this is an open-ended question. Some people spend $10,000 while others spend $1,000. I've even seen people (cough... 2manyZ's... cough) who assemble whole buildings just for their Zcar projects.

[m]

Defiantly welding, maybe painting. I am thinking along the lines of a complete restoration shop up to painting. Well really if you already have the air the rest of the equipment to paint isn't all that expensive is it?

Arghh... how'd my name get into this?

First, you have to have the shop... that is the biggest expense right there... 2 car garage with lights and plenty of storage.. 7500 or so..... plus the cost of the lot if you don't have one already.

Air compressor: 500-1K dollars depending on how many tools you will be running at once.

Sandblasting cabinet and a free standing blaster: figure another 600 or so.

Miscellaneous air tools: 400 or so depending on how many air sanders you want.

Mig welder: 700 and up for a decent set-up

Torch outfit?: 400 or so

Drill press: 150 and up

Engine hoist and stand: 300 or so...

Plasma cutter: 800 and up ( not necessary but would be a huge help when cutting out floor pans etc...) I wish I had one too:disappoin

Floor jacks, jackstands: 200 or so..

Hand tools and a cabinet to store them in: unlimited....

Miscellaneous hand tools, grinders, sheetmetal bending brakes, etc...another 1k or so...

You starting to get the picture?:cross-eye This won't even get you to where you can paint yet... you'd then need spray guns which could be in the 500 and up category for a couple different ones.. plus, if the laws are strict where you are, you might not even be able to spray without a paint booth... those will cost upwards of 20K...

You can spend enormous amounts of money on tools and never have all the ones you need... I've spent the last 20 years buying tools and such and still have a long wish list...

This is getting more and more depressing. When I bought the car, I had the tools to do all the work. Then, I split up with my sorry !#*!#*! ex and left all that. Now the car is all broken down. My options are:

1. Keep the car and pay someone else to do all the work. This is never what I intended, I thought I would be able to at least do some of the work, that was alot of the appeal, and I am not rich.

2. Get a place with a garage and outfit it to do the work. This is what I want, but I am not rich.

3. Let the car go to someone who can do right by it. I have held onto it for over 2 years in hopes that someday I would be able to get it all fixed up, while all the time it has gone further and further downhill. I really don’t want to give it up, I have a hard time giving up on things.

Sometimes I wish I had never driven the damm thing. I would never have known what I was missing.

:disappoin

For those of us on a budget, "sometimes" throwing in the towel on one car is a better option than sinking tons of money into it. Perhaps you could find a Z with less expensive repair needs for a reasonable cost (less than the expense to repair the one that you have). Many times I've seen people start repairing a 30 year old car and some of them have ended up investing far more money in the car than they can ever expect to get out of the sale of the car.

That may not be what you want to hear, Bonnie, but "sometimes" it's the best course of action when faced with major ($$$$)structural repairs.

Sorry to hear of your problem with the Blue Streak

Well, if all you want to do is fix just one car, you can get away without a lot of the stuff I mentioned. The main things you would need are an air compressor, Mig welder, floor jack, jackstands and the basic list of hand tools. A lot of the things I mentioned are luxury items that most people won't spend the money for.

You'd need an angle grinder and a few other assorted hand tools but by and large you could get away for a lot less tools than are on my list.

Biggest question is, is it worth it to buy all this stuff to work on only one car? Or would it be make more sense to hire someone to do the difficult jobs, and just do the easy stuff yourself that you can just do with basic tools?

I guess I just hate to see it just sitting there all broken down. I know a place where I can get the frame welded for just a couple of hundred dollars, but if the frame is that weak, I am afraid that there is another place that is about to break. I am wavering between fixing it or getting another one and fixing it up or just giving up altogether. It just is not working out as I planned at all. The motor is perfect and the transmission is good. I have been looking for a rolling chassis but the only ones I have seen still need a lot of work and I would be right back where I started. I just wish I could do some the work myself. I am not mechanically inclined but if I can see what is wrong I can fix it. I was thinking about getting the CD, it seems very well illustrated. I was looking forward so much to working on it myself. Right now it just seems beyond reach.

if you really want good consitions for the car...

most shops actually have an climate controlled.. constant temperature and humidity for perfect engine conditions...

and that would be $$$$

If you want a serious shop, It`s going to take cubic dollars. I`m at $60k and growing. A lift is essential. Space is a premium. I have built cars in a one car garage and I tell you it is far better to be completely equipped to make restoring enjoyable. My shop is 100 by 40. That 60k does not include the building.