General Cost of a total restauration

[El cargador]

Hi Everyone, i was wondering what everyone who has done a complete restauration has spent on their cars?

 

[SDHXIII]

The previous owner of my 500F spend well over £18,000. The work was done by a bodyshop with almost every part replaced or refurbished.

 

[phoenix1]

Hi. It all depends what you mean by a full restoration and how much work you are doing
yourself.(i.e. labour free) .How good the bodywork is.How good the engine and gearbox are.How much trim needs replacing,the list goes on and on. I would say with a respray about £3.5 to £5.000 at least. Good luck

 

[AndrewHarvey]

the grey 500 that appeared in a recent magazine here in England had in excess of £23K spent......wowsers!!!

 

[fiat500]

Hi. It all depends what you mean by a full restoration and how much work you are doing
yourself.(i.e. labour free) .How good the bodywork is.How good the engine and gearbox are.How much trim needs replacing,the list goes on and on. I would say with a respray about £3.5 to £5.000 at least. Good luck

I agree with that estimate and I was lucky in that the cost of restoration for me was at the lower end of it. But that was partly because I was able to re-use all of the interior fittings, only wanted the car back to standard specification and did everything myself.

As with life in general, it's the cost of labour that will make the biggest difference and I think that most cars that need a full restoration, including major bodywork, will need a budget of around £3000 for parts alone.

I doubt that many people would dare to say their full expenditure just in case it came to the attention of their partner!

 

[AndrewHarvey]

Shuuuuuuush!

 

[Paolo66]

I gave up trying to keep a tab on the spending a long time ago. I've still got respray to come and the inevitable parts I've missed come the rebuild. I would say somewhere between those two figures (I hope)!

 

[Michael Dranfield]

People do this for the love of there Fiat and not the cost, the pleasure it will bring you when its done is priceless .

 

[AndrewHarvey]

Mine will be priceless - quite literally priceless
Burn receipts

 

[1500500]

I usually calculate how much is spent by dividing how long you've owned the car by what You think You spent (but like Andrew the receipts keep getting lost)

For example if you own a classic fiat for 25 years,even if You spend $50,000 on it over the years, it comes up to only $2000 per year.

So spend a bit now, enjoy the car for as long as you can and each year tell yourself what good value you are getting compared to a new car that loses so much money as soon as you drive it out of the dealership.

 

[stevehg]

My parts bill was about £5,000 (~€6,400 ~$7,250), but that did also include a new engine and gearbox.

Oh, and no worries about my wife finding out how much I spent, as she can't comprehend anyone wasting their time looking at an online forum!

 

[fiat500]

With this and the last posting we are drifting away from the topic a little, but my car is back on its feet and doing great service, as designed, as an everyday vehicle. As a non-luxury item it's earning its keep by being a substitute for a big, expensive, modern car that costs a fortune to service and maintain. In fact, I look st it the other way now....occasionally I have to substitute a modern car for the 500.

In my case it also earns a mileage allowance for business use. Effectively I am being paid to use it and any wear and tear that might lead to further expenditure has therefore been subsidised.

 

[Vitesse]

I was lucky because I only needed a rear wheel arch repair panel and due to the fact that it had been subject to a dodgy paint job in the past that had caused it to be covered in fish eyes, it had to be stripped back to bare metal. I out sourced this to a body shop due to the fact that the paintwork was in such poor condition. It is a really top notch spray job though and has old school lead filling where needed.

I think it cost me about £2k for the body work to be done, engine didn't need anything other than the cost of paint to tart up the tinwork. Lots of new shiny bits and new interior, probably about another £1.5k - £2k???? So probably about £4k in total the last time a couple of years ago.

 

[Vitesse]

I agree with that estimate and I was lucky in that the cost of restoration for me was at the lower end of it. But that was partly because I was able to re-use all of the interior fittings, only wanted the car back to standard specification and did everything myself.

So are you saying Peter that your restoration cost £3.50??????

 

[fiat500]

So are you saying Peter that your restoration cost £3.50??????

Good point, if Sheila is asking....yes!!!

I also included the costs of a compressor, sorting out a welding gas supply and various, serious tool investments that are still serving me and my Fiats very well.

As for my latest project or outbreak of corrosion, depending on your viewpoint , I suspect that if I ever finish it (I will by the way) we will be talking bigger money....closer to £5000 or £5.0K But, mainly due to experience and lack of a need to rush rather than the additional money, it could turn out to be a better looking car than my current one (were that possible?)

 

[timgarman]

Sadly mine is not finished and is sitting at $40,000. Ground up restoration. On today's exchange rate that makes £19,700. Biggest part of that was panelbeating (£6,400). Then respray (£1700) and parts (approx £2,500). Then engine recondition and re-bore (£1200). The car cost £1500.

Still have carpets to buy. More mechanics, bits and bobs and then certification and on road costs.

Fun though.

Fortunately the wife doesn't logon here.

 

[El cargador]

I was wondering what everybody had spent because mine is now finished,i bought "Fiona" in 2015 and have spent about 10 months on her.As the car had been laid up under a carport for 7 years and in the spanish heat i replaced nearly everything with new,the engine was stripped and painted.new bushes and rubbers all round the only thing i did'nt do myself was the white roof(the blue was already done) and the front hub bushes.these are the before and after photos. I calculate that she has cost me 3,500€ in parts and the paperwork to get her legal and on historic plates will be another 1000€

 

[El cargador]

More photos

 

[the hobbler]

That's fine Tim---but does Skye look at the Forum?

 

[El cargador]

I bought a new £150 welder but this was the only piece i needed to do,a strip under the seat rail