Just wondering how some people do them so fast

[Troy]

The guys I see do them really fast do (almost) all their own work, have done other cars previously, have access to tools and equipment to make tough jobs simpler/better, and have the money to overcome the little "gotchas" that pop up in the middle (and normally put the rest of us "on hold" until we find a solution). I can't even count the amount of time I've wasted doing things in the wrong order or doing the same thing several times because I didn't know the right way to do them OR waiting for a "professional" to rebuild my parts. It's funny (in a way) to see professional restoration shops with seemingly unlimited budgets and a whole team of employees that can't manage to finish a car in less than 3-4 years when guys working in a cramped garage at home can come close to the same quality in 6-9 months. Then again, I think I can only name 3-4 guys on this site who fit that mold and that bar is way higher than most of us can achieve. The one major caveat is whether it's a real "restoration" (complete with NOS and date-coded original parts), a show quality - but not "correct" - car, or a nice "driver". Tracking down super-rare parts is a full-time job. As is impeccable paint preparation and paying attention to every minor detail. Guys with experience at any of these things can make it look easy but there's still a time penalty for doing things "right".

Troy

[UH60L]

I think it's a combination of things.  I took out a $20,000.00 loan from my Thrift Savings plan (investment plan) and figured that would finish most of my car.  Since I can't do bodywork, I had a shop do it, that cost me $24,000.00 (and change).

Used a credit card to pay for the engine build, and most of the body panels that were replaced (not included int he bodyshop charge above...).

Now I still need to finish the front grill & headlight support, put all the glass in (and chrome that goes with it), buy all the interior stuff, buy a radiator, have the driveshaft cleaned, balanced and painted, fix the rear brakes, have the body shop put the antenna hole in the new fender...that they forgot..., finish installing the new wire harness, buy tail light lenses, buy or create new headlight cover hoses, install the front bumper and front valance, break the engine in, and I'm sure i've missed a few things.  I still owe over $14,000.00 on that loan and that credit card is still nearly maxed out!

Oh, and I'm married, two teenage boys that are both doing sports in high school, mortgage, car payment, wife works at wal-mart, so she makes less than half what I make after 13 years of working there, and my job, without specifically saying it, requires me to work "one weekend a month and two weeks a year, or sometimes a year at a time overseas...", so I don't always have alot of time.

Money is a huge factor unless you can do most of the work yourself.  The other factor for me is a lack of mopar knowledge combined with very few people willing to help me.  I belong to a mopar car club.  There are several memebrs who are of similar age to myself, and they help each other regularly, be it free of for a fee, depending on the job.  Yet when I ask, they are always too busy, or state that "I don't really do that sort of stuff for other people", and then at the next meeting another memebr will tell me that the same individual helped them with the exact thing I asked them about, and wouldn't accept any money for it.

So, my car will take several more years, unless I win the lottery or a relative leaves me money or something.  I find some info on here and other mopar web sites, but have resolved that I am pretty much on my own.  I honestly thought I would be driving my car 6 months after dropping it off
at the body shop.  Within 2 weeks of gettingit back I had the engine and transmission installed.

I just hope I can get the car driveable before something bad happens to me.  I'd rather leave a driveable muscle car to my wife an kids and not just an endless project.

I guess the answer to the question is,in many cases, those people have alot of money, alot of time, and alot of friends (or at least people who owe them...).

[bull]

It isn't all about money, but money sure works as a good excuse for some people. The way I look at it is by being able to do most of the work I can spend a little more on the parts.

Well, money is a pretty good excuse in some cases. You make your living doing paint and body work but someone like me, if I want it to look half decent, has to pay someone to do that labor. And it took me quite a while to save up the $15k for body work and another $5k for paint. Even after working for, saving and dropping $20k it wasn't done right and so I'll be paying even more at some point. Body/paint is one area (probably the main area) where skill and know-how really overcomes a lot.

[randr]

Well i had to add my 

I own a small computer company, have employees, 3 kids oldest 24, 19 and 16. yes i am married. But i have 3 mopars also!

my latest project from start to finish was about 1 year and 3 months, did all myself after work and weekends. complete restoration! I think its nice! Honestly it comes down to time more than anything! i give 110% to any project and only do the work myself or it would never be finished! 1 year 3 months in my back shop missing dinner often missing breakfast! LOL
i cant imagine taking 2,3,4-6 10 years... life is short! get-er done! then you can ENJOY IT!

my wife and kids hated car until it was finished, now they understand why i was working on it every night. THEY enjoy it now. feels good!

[69bronzeT5]

You know Curtis, I'm very glad you started this topic because I've been thinking this exact question for a few weeks now and wanted to make a thread. I just couldn't figure out the exact wording I wanted to present my question with. I've also wondered how people just up and buy a restored car. I mean I've seen people just turn around and buy a $40,000 finished Charger and I can't even up and buy a $750 quarter panel for my Charger. I just don't get it. You are right, it is very frustrating when you see people restore their Charger in a year and I've had mine for 12 years and I'm still saving up just to get body and paint done. I noticed a lot of people mentioned time and how much they spent. I sure got the time.....just not the money to back it up....

[bill440rt]

The guys I see do them really fast do (almost) all their own work...

Time & money, money & time.

Troy, I almost have to disagree with that comment you posted. I think, for the most part, that most "average" car guys will take several years to complete a car. The "above average" car guys (the ones with body/paint & mechanical experience), can get a car done a little faster. Money is a factor based on income or personal lives (house, mortgage, family, etc). The ones that get completed in under a year are for the most part, IMHO, the rarity.

Took me 6 years to do my '69. The '70 took 5 years and another 1-1/2 years again on top of it. That was with me doing most of the work during any spare time I could scrounge up.

A lot of these "check book restorations" are the ones that get done the quickest. There was a fully restored '70 Road Runner at Carlisle this year, that was displayed in the Barn Finds exhibit the previous year. Yep, one year, voila', instant concours show car. The owner simply paid a well-known restorer to do the car. Done. There were lots of high-end cars there that were check book restos.

Don't get me wrong, that's not a bad thing if you have the funds to do it. Some people just don't have the means or skills to do certain things themselves. For me, I enjoy the challenges a restoration has to offer. And, I know it will be done the way I want it. I don't know how to do everything, but I do what I can. I KNOW that it will take longer, I don't have a shop with a dozen experienced techs. I'm just one schmuck working (mostly) alone in his garage. One guy blocking out a Charger takes forever. Put 2 or 3 guys on it and it gets done in a single afternoon.

Bull, don't feel bad if it's taking you longer than you would like. Keep chipping away. Don't stop or lose faith. It WILL be done someday for you to enjoy.

[Patronus]

Its good to have a twin brother too 

[morepower]

its mostly finances. If they got the $$$ they can afford to pay someone else to stuff, and only take care of the critical things. It also helps to not have a total basket case car.

[Troy]

But you only quoted part of what I wrote Bill!

While a high-end restoration shop *can* do a car in less than a year I hear a whole lot more stories where that isn't the case.

Troy

[stripedelete]

The guys I see do them really fast do (almost) all their own work, have done other cars previously, have access to tools and equipment to make tough jobs simpler/better, and have the money to overcome the little "gotchas" that pop up in the middle.

Add the aforementioned "determination",  which IMO (in these people) is better described as "laser focus" and "high energy", and you got the profile.






   

[Mike DC]

 
   
Fast, cheap, and good.  You can pick any two of them but you can't have all three at once. 


 

[XS29LA47V21]

The days of a nice driver numbers matching XS29V for $3200 and-or available good use parts are long gone.  If you farm more out, which I have done some, saves time for sure, but it is significantly more money.  Regardless it has gone financially way into the five figures to build a nice car separating some out of the hobby,  very sad really.  At this point, even with the economy it comes down to priority and balance with life's other needs-obligations .  One of my cars, I started setting parts aside and planning for almost ten years and waited to be financially committed to start it, because I knew I was farming out the paint and body and likely a long block and others specific stuff too like gauges and bolt on stuff.  I am sitting at 18months from start time and sheet metal is basically done with paint come soon, it would add undesired additional stress if I had in my head that I have to have it done by August 31...   I am juggling cars anyway, maybe that is why it is not that critical to me (I have to have one wife, I get to have more then one old cars )

[jaak]

Like everyone else says time and money.
I have owned my Charger for 12 years. I stripped it down 10 years ago, then it got put on hold. I really started working on it about 2 1/2-3 years ago. In the 7 or so years it was on hold, I bought parts when I had extra money, clean/repainted/etc. parts I was gonna re-use. When It came time for body/paint, I decided to tackle myself, because I could not afford the thou$ands it would cost for a shop to do it (I did have a little previous experience doing bodywork).
I bought a cheap welder to fix rusty areas,  then when I was through with the welder, I sold it to put the $$$ back into the car. Another thing I would suggest is a parts car. I gave 2500 for the car I used for parts. I used alot off the parts car, everywhere I needed to patch rust on my project, the parts car had the pieces I need, then the remains were parted out on eBay where I probably made 1500 of my 2500 back. Now my car is getting close, I like the interior and a few odds and ends. Thats why I got my 73 on eBay right now, Im ready to buy the rest of the stuff I need and try to finish this thing up.

Jason

[Charger_Dart]

An understanding wife goes a long ways. Mine happens to be very understanding when I am spending every morning and evening in the garage working on the car. My goal was to have a nice driver so many tasks went quicker then a full restoration, and cost less too.   

[sanders7981]

Wish mine was done as fast as some of those on T.V.!!!!  I dont have the cash, and hardly the time, to work on it as consistently as I'd like to.  I need ot take about a month of leave and do nothing but work on it... then I may have it complete, or atleast ready for the engine. 

[bull]

After reading many of the responses it sounds like having a detailed plan of attack, having a lot of money saved up beforehand and having some prior experience doing restorations makes things go a lot faster. I had none of those when I bought my 68.

[Brock Samson]

I'm sure you'r familier with my rebuild, but back when i did mine in '84-'99 i could buy two really nice parts cars for $500 a piece, today those cars would be worth at least ten times that... i often wondered what happened to the drivetrain and interior that was missing from mine when i found it... 
besides, a nut and bolt resto is gonna take one heck of a lot longer then a driveway restomod like mine.. i just stockpiled 440 parts as i went, but my car had to be a runner even if it was just a small block intill i upgraded in '99.. 

[472 R/T SE]

cudaken always used to say he could tell who was working on their cars by the time they spent on here.  So...I got to investigating. 

[Charger-Bodie]

Yeah but look whos right above bull in the time online catagory.

[aussiemuscle]

but I just don't understand how a guy can restore a Charger in 6-8 months

how do you feel about shows like desert car kings doing a complete resto in three weeks? (however half-asssed they might do it)?

[bull]

cudaken always used to say he could tell who was working on their cars by the time they spent on here.  So...I got to investigating.  

I almost never go on moparts, the 70 registry, the E-body or B-body sites, Hub Garage, etc. Meanwhile, many of the main guys you see here (including you) are posting on 4-5 other car sites and many are also on Facebook, Twitter, etc. Maybe I don't have much of an online life but 98% of it is spent here. The other 2% is on Facebook (but that place gets boring real quick).

Also, I can punch out responses and create topics quickly because as a former newspaper reporter I type very fast. I don't have to spend 20 minutes pecking 25 words out with two fingers.

[bull]

but I just don't understand how a guy can restore a Charger in 6-8 months

how do you feel about shows like desert car kings doing a complete resto in three weeks? (however half-asssed they might do it)?

Well, despite the quality of work (not good) they have the cash ready to go and lots of people with lots of experience working as a team.

[Old Moparz]

I don't do anything fast, so if I did restorations on cars for a living, I'd be broke.   

One thing a lot of us have in common is that we lack time or money, maybe even both. I hate to admit it, but if it helps anyone else, having lost focus on the initial project can slow things down drastically. My first goal was to turn the car into a convertible, but after finally finding my Charger, it was too nice to cut up. This led me to collect all the Daytona parts to build something else I wanted without cutting up a solid car.

Now I just hate projects & think I should just ride my bicycle more. 

[Cooter]

   
Fast, cheap, and good.  You can pick any two of them but you can't have all three at once. 


 

There it is right there.....
I got a buddy poor thing, he is such a perfectionist, he has painted his poor challenger a total of 5 times. Still isn't happy with it...
Every time I go see him to "Check on the progress", he's bitchin' bout something else he wants to "Get right" from before.
I don't sweat the little sh*t like perfect chrome on ALL aspects of the car. Sure, I don't win any trophies come car show day, but that's not what I'm there for in the first place. When you sweatr the details, you end up with more time in your car.
I do enough to make the car a nice driver quality car that looks good enough to be a "Restored" car to the many that come to see it. I also don't own just ONE car I have all my nuts in either. I have 5 cars that are not anywhere near the quality of some here. However, If you added up what I have tied up in all 5 cars combined, it doens't even come close to HALF what those cars here have invested either.
I'd rather have 5 cars in "Driver" quality, than ONE car in top show quality....

[472 R/T SE]

cudaken always used to say he could tell who was working on their cars by the time they spent on here.  So...I got to investigating.  

I almost never go on moparts, the 70 registry, the E-body or B-body sites, Hub Garage, etc. Meanwhile, many of the main guys you see here (including you) are posting on 4-5 other car sites and many are also on Facebook, Twitter, etc. Maybe I don't have much of an online life but 98% of it is spent here. The other 2% is on Facebook (but that place gets boring real quick).

Also, I can punch out responses and create topics quickly becuase as a former newspaper reporter I type very fast. I don't have to spend 20 minutes pecking 25 words out with two fingers.

Oh stop, you don't have to explain anything to me.  Just pitchin' you a little chit.   

I'm about to fall off the top 10 online @ the Registry.  I'll admit, I'm all over the place.  Chiefs forums, fantasy baseball, ebay.  As far as Mopes, it's here & the Registry right now.  Next week, it'll change.