Does a beautifully restored body on the car bring the same as original on the car?
I am tired of restoring the car myself and am considering selling my original 1912 slab side body for a well built repo 1911-12 body that is ready to be painted - if I get enough for the 12 body.
Which leads to the question of, how much do 1912 bodies sell for that are in good condition. Only few rust holes under the frame, four doors, two front remove, original upholstery removed and sits in a bag, irons ok to good and bows fair to ok. Any thoughts? Thanks.
Bob
If the body is original to that car, why would you even consider separating them. If you do not want to finish it, sell it and buy a complete car... Its useally cheaper to buy a finished car anyway ...
Bob, for what my opinion might be worth, the value of a car depends on who's looking at it. Personally, I think an original body is far more desirable than a repro and would be worth substantially more than a reproduction body would. But, everyone has different tastes. A car is worth only what someone is willing to pay for it on any given day.I'd say that if you're building the car for yourself, for your own use and enjoyment, build what you want and don't worry about what it might be worth when you're done with it. That being said though, if the body on your car, as Donnie asks above, is original to the running gear I would strongly encourage you not to separate them. I would disagree slightly with Donnie, however, and say that it is ALWAYS cheaper to buy a finished car than to do one yourself. The problem there of course is finding a finished car that suits your desires. Sorry if this doesn't help any. Good luck with what ever your decision is.
Bob,
Don’t do it. . If you have to replace or repair a panel or two do it. You have a body number and body maker stamp on that car,most likely on the seat riser as does my slab body.
You should either sell the entire car and buy a restored one,which may or may not save you any money. Or finish restoring your original. You will be glad you did in the long run..
Robert
I'm not sure how long you've been working on your 1912 but if your getting tired of working on it, just walk away. Give it a couple weeks you'll see all your issues in a different way, then get back after it.
Sounds like your getting burnt out or have reached a point of frustration on your build, it happens.
Model T's are simply a labor of love, you'll never recover your labor you put into one of these T's just know if a dollar amount for labor was factored in on the price of our T's they all would be $100,000 cars.
It took me and my dad 2 plus years to build a 1911 look-a-like roadster, frustrating at times YES! It wasn't an original car it sold in the low to mid $20k range. That's the difference in not having a Henry Ford body. The 1912 Touring on Tbay last week last time I looked it had broke $45k take the original body off and your back at $20k ! Not because your body is worth $20k it's like Donnie and Bryan stated above its original to the chassis as a package they both complement each other.
Something else to consider is the car Mr. Kim Dobbins has 1909-10 Touring. Repro body, oil pan, ect... Currently on Tbay $16k very nice car would make a beautiful early (looking) T but it's not a true Henry built car. That's one of the reasons I sold my 1911 T . Henry didn't build it, so it would never be a true Model T Ford. Remember they are only original once.
In the end don't separate the car you have pass it on to someone that will preserve it, and buy Kim's car. If I had an extra $16k it would be headed to tennessee right now, I would finish it up, list it back on Tbay and try to gain $10k profit .
Take a break Robert, you'll sort it out .
Thank you for the advice!
Model T people approach the Model T from the standpoint of it being a historical artifact, so, to most of them (us) original is better, but there is an irony here. If we really felt that way, all of our Model T's would be all rusted or rotten, and decrepit instead of pristine and beautifully restored as most of ours are. Even those of us proclaiming to "Don't do it. Leave it original".
Obviously, there are many closet Model T enthusiasts that say one thing and do another and I am one of them. While I think a solid original body is nice ("It's only original once"), I restored my 1926 Coupe to showroom condition which certainly gets more admiring looks than if it were in the original dirty, smelly, rusted, dented, moldy, rotten, condition it was when I bought it.
While an original solid body is nice from a historical standpoint, most people would prefer a beautifully restored Model T and would pay more to own it. So, I would say that a well restored Model T (especially brass era) is worth much more than one in original condition and the prices are slowly but surely appreciating and should continue to do so as the supply of Model T's diminish, from being converted to hot rods or from deterioration or accidents, or from doing what you are planning to do with your 1912.
Either restore it or leave it original, but please don't alter it by placing an unoriginal body on it, especially a 1912. That will certainly diminish its' value and be one less true brass era Model T in the world. If you are "tired" of restoring your 1912 T perhaps you might want to consider selling the entire car to someone who will treasure it and do what is right, historically, then with the money, you can buy a fully restored Model T, or maybe something that takes less time and maintenance such as a Model A. As Donnie said, buying a restored car is cheaper than restoring one yourself from the ground up. Those of us that restore our own cars do it more out of the enjoyment of doing it than for the possible monetary gain that we might or might not see. Jim Patrick
Hello Bob:
As per the 11-12 repro body you describe, how are you accounting for the production date mismatch between your current slab side chassis and the proposed step side body? A Calender 12 motor would not have appeared in a step-side body, so this could be a market value concern to some. I doubt that a knowledgeable buyer would get too excited about a quality finished repro body, but the same person may have justified investment concerns where a noticeable chronological gap is present. As for the 11-12 repro body....is this a wood or metal skinned body? I'm sure you are aware that the repro sheet metal is rolled versus stamped, so there is added finish work needed to work out the tooling and forming issues that are part and parcel to this form of fabrication.
Regards,
Scott
Can't see breaking up "the set" either. You're basically trading off for something that needs almost as much work as what you've got. Plus, as stated above, if you're honest enough to tell a potential buyer that the body is a repop you'll be beaten up on the asking price. Painting is the big $ item here and you have to paint either one so no gain there. You need to give this more thought.
This is somewhat of a sore spot for me.
In the mid 50's my dad restored our 1919 T "Suburban" and he kept it as close to original as possible.
His goal was to protect the vehicle.
He refinished the wood without going overboard on replacing gouges and small worm holes.
He sandblasted the rust from the metal and painted it with enamel with out filling the pit pits so the paint was not perfectly smooth, etc.
As A kid I was a bit embarrassed because we didn't get awards like the shiny show cars and wanted dad to refinish it again.
As I said in an earlier post - I have taken the car to 5 car shows and have been awarded 2 first place trophies, one second and a third place. The other show was display only so no one got a trophy.
"Father certainly knew best"
4 out of 4 is an excellent track record -- I wish I could apologize to Dad for what I used to think!