MTFCA Forum

doing a complete restoration of a 24 model t touring, I have found that today it is far cheaper to buy someones car than restoring your own. Doing a total rebuild I will have over 15k into the car and this does not include the car itself when I purchased it. Parts, outside labor and shipping are all skyrocketing and is making this hobby less affordable each day. If your lucky enough to find someone parting with his car, do your homework on it, but its far more affordable to buy it than to restore it.
Same note, I am building a 15 speedster and I am excited to say that Rootlieb is in production of the body/fenders and will finally be getting them soon. Again, it would have been far cheaper to buy a speedster complete than building my own but its my last one and I will be keeping this one for a while.

The less you pay for it, the more it will cost you.

I have never made money on doing a car restoration. But, then again I don’t do it to make money. I enjoy the experience and, in the case of my long running speedster project, I am building exactly what I want. That’s worth more to me than getting a good deal.

When you do the complete restoration, sure you spend a lot more, but you know exactly what you have. You can tour with confidence, and how to do the maintenance.

That has pretty much always been a given in this hobby. However, for so many of us, it has been about saving and preserving historic automobiles! We hope the cars we pour our dollars and souls into will outlive us for future generations to see and appreciate.
I like to think that every antique automobile I have had over the many years was in better shape when it left me than it was when I got it. That includes cars I bought nearly done, that only needed a little, as well as the eight or so that I almost literally dragged out of the soil they were returning to before resurrecting them and returning them to the road!
I love driving them and enjoying them for what they were originally intended. But I also like the feeling I get when I make a bad part good again! I do almost all my own work on my cars, by myself. And I have scrounged a lot of parts and pieces over the years to supply my model T addiction. Several truckloads were a lot cheaper than by the piece! Several good friends know I am an easy mark when they have junk they cannot get good money for! And most of my projects were bottom-of-the-barrel when I got them.
I have also bought a few nice cars over the years. Those I always enjoyed very much! However, there is something special driving a car that you KNOW every piece, part, and bolt of!
You should see the radiator and the fender I am currently working on.

Friend of mine has a '39 chevy He saves all his receipts. I've found its a lot more relaxing to enjoy the car and work rather than look back at the costs. Of course if the goal is only to have an old car then yes it is cheaper to buy one ready.

GM and several other major corporations have gone broke building cars. If you want to go broke buying a car, you may need to contract with one of the credit vendors and their insurance buddies.

It has always been cheaper to buy an already-restored car then to do it yourself. This is nothing new.

It's a lot of work, however there is satisfaction in doing so. It's a good retirement project, but probably too much for a working person, not enough spare tome to do everything needed to do. The more you can do yourself the less it will cost, however, might not be as perfect a job as a professional.

Even a car which looks perfect from the outside when you buy it might have some flaws inside. One of the ones I bought which had already been restored, needed a complete transmission job when the low drum broke unexpectedly.

Another one I bought snapped a driveshaft. The previous owner had welded the front end of one driveshaft to the back end of another and was only welded around the outer circumference. Good thing the first thing I had done after I bought it was to install auxiliary brakes!
Norm

Rarity of the car drives its restoration cost and its provenance drives the value when completed.
The purpose of the project (trailer queen, historical preservation, retirement, speedster, racer, develop building skills, or just for the heck of it) is where skill, funding and condition matter.
Part cost, while expensive, can be much less than contracting restoration of engines, axles, spokes, spindles, paint etc is where the money pit is. So there is a balance between skills, initial purchase price, whats needs to be restored, car condition, desired modifications (ruckstell , RMB) etc, and available funds.
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Bottom line: In Today's Market you will never recover your cost - unless you purchased a well documented low engine numbered rare model for a ridiculous low price in near perfect condition. Because your still going to do a ground up restoration.

I have long said, "The worst tool any car restorer can own, is a calculator!"

I could never afford a complete running Model T. I have pieced them together as I went buying pats as I could afford them. It did make me responsible for the work and I can drive them with the confidence in fixing things that go wrong. I learned a lot but anyone who buys them will surely be surprised when things get out of whack. Had I been able to buy restored ones I'm sure I would have and then dealt with the problems however I could. It really boils down to the circumstances at the time. There are certainly a lot of cars out there for sale for less than they cost to build. I would buy some if I had the room.
Good luck with whatever comes along.
Rich

Im in Rich's camp. Now I have been through two Ts top to bottom, I feel I can drive them and fix things as needed at home or on the road. Last night a friend called with a1918 DB touring he purchased a couple years ago. Never goes more than a couple miles from home because if something goes wrong, he knows nothing about how to work on it.

He was told he had a bad rear wheel wobble. He called me wanting help. I know a little about T's but nothing about DB cars. In an hour we determinned he needed rear wheel bearings and was in a tizzy about never finding parts for it. I called a friends and found a source for parts and they will ship today. I hope he feels more confident about driving it after this as its a nice driver quallity car. Buying restored cars can have its down side also. I bought a nice looking 59 chevy years ago. I was under the car for something and happened to be reading a newspaper on the underside of the front fender. It was to keep the bondo from falling through when they "restored "it. One way or another they are all fun.

I thought about buying a complete one but I would have needed a car loan. I’ve also always been attracted to projects lost to time. I just ended up selling off a number of projects I lost interest in to buy a 26 Tudor from Model T Haven. I took a chance based on pictures I saw and made the deal and had it shipped to my door. The first time I actually laid eyes on it I owned it. Not long after I found MTFCA. Started reading and learning and reading some more. Now that the car is disassembled I can do what I love and go thru every part rebuilding and probably spending to much money! I work the farm a lot! So Iam building this thing 20 minutes at a time in between keeping the wife happy and raising kids. I made a goal for a 5 year refurbished Daily driver. Hopefully she will be on the road for her 100th birthday! But if I could start again I would buy one finished and another one not! I just want to drive one around! It’s only money right?

Quite frankly it’s easy to go out and find a T to buy and just buy it.
BUT it’s a different experience to find a restorable T acquire parts and pieces and build it from the frame up.
I have a 24 Coupe that I inherited that was a mostly complete car and restored it. The other 2 that I have were built up.

The 1919 Runabout and a 21 Touring were built from the frame up. I acquired the correct year parts and tried to keep them near correct as I could.

I went to swap meets and private sales to acquire parts over the years. The bodies were just hulls and that was it. I bought wood kits and installed all the wood. Rebuilt the engines other than having the block machine work done.

Yes they are what some would call cobbled together but I think I’m in a big crowd of folks that have done just that. And they look and run well from 5 feet away!