For all the years I've been restoring vehicles, doing modifications, ressurrections,
repairs and the likes, it has come a time that I simply must ask;
How much do most people plan to spend on their project?
How long do most people plan to accept the project for what it is and continue to
work toward what they expect it to become?
I have many, many articles other people have written, and I do keep copies, about
what it really costs to do a restoration (or modification, ressurrection, etc.) and how
long the painstaking process really is. Example, just like today, I get calls all the
time about how a project is wanted, expected to be time wise, detail wise, and cost
guess wise. For some reason when it got to the cost amount it was obvious that
research was laking. Almost every person who inquires or has done a project is/was
suprised by the cost, estimate or actual. By now, after my 22 years in business, I
thought that word would have gotten out; it's expensive! You can't plan on resale
value, there will be no market that way. Even at auction, by the time your vehicle
lands on the auction floor you will have invested at least three time your opinion
value of the vehicle. Wow, huh.
Know this. projects don't turn out in calculated time frames, rather they evolve over
time. If you have a vision, a dream, a desire, then you can probably stick it through.
But, if you have a time frame, a time limit, a need to be finished, then you may not
make it to your expected completion goals. Reason is that these projects are all
different, every piece of metal, every component piece, every piece of rubber, clamp,
nut, bolt, wire, etc. Every piece on your vehicle will be in need of what it needs, not
what the other cars needed. Your electrical problem won't be the same as anyone
else's because your wire is going to be broke, corroded, cut or removed, etc. some
where different from that of everyone else's. There ought to be a Restorer's Law; If
it is, then it was, but it ain't no more. Now you begin to create your own.