How sharp is your crystal ball? (’55 Chevy Project Potential)

Locally there is a 1955 2-door Chevy Belair available for about $6-$7k. This car is described by the seller as a “virgin”. In other words, he is saying it is 100% original as his grandpa bought it as a second owner. He has never repaired anything other than a muffler/battery and did this purposely to preserve this purity aspect. Not including the globs of bondo, (still un-sanded) he himself put on the car when he was 16 years old, about 40 years ago or so. Grandpa had gifted him the car at that time.

Borderline rust-bucket for sure, and lots of metal needs to be replaced/repaired. Everything chromed would have to be re-plated. 3 on the tree, 260 straight-6 and everything is still there as far as chrome, body parts, original interior, solid-frame...etc. (As far as I can tell.) Granted it is in rough shape, but dam it still goes!

My question is:

Knowing the popularity of a ’55 Chevy and outrageous cost to buy one “done-up-original”, is it worth bringing it back to life and still have it be a profitable investment?

I estimate $6K to professionally rebuild engine and trans, $6K to go through the ch***is, $6K for body/paint/interior, and about another $5K for chrome. (Only because my potential investment partner is a professional body/paint guy who also does interior work and I can probably do most everything else other than machining work and plating. We are both willing to invest our time and labor.)

Total estimated investment for body-off near show-room all-stock restoration ~$25-$30K.

Are we pipe-dreaming?

What say Ye?

 

Now double that total. You'll spend $50k to be able to sell it for $40k.

 

body ,paint and interior for 6k.Yes i think your very light.

my weekly metal work blog www.themetalsurgeon.com

 

A restored six cylinder car that needs that much work will net you a return of -50%

 

I think you could do it for about that much only if YOU did 95% of the labor involved to bring it up to a nice stock reatoration. But once again that you doing most of the labor and alot of swap meet shopping and maybe some bartering involved but then that would take a great deal of time and commitment, a supportive spouse, or no spouse,lol. But then you could take great pride in doing things that maybe you weren't that confident in and then becoming the expert on things.lol. Also remember the nicer the piece is to begin with the easier the restore and cheaper the costs in the end. OK thats my two cents worth. Good luck YRUHOT.Doug

 

Cars aint a good investment unless you dont do anything to them or do it all yourself, think of the motor and trans you could build yourself for 6k... I have a DAMN site less than that into my crossram 302 chev race engine i'm building for one of my projects

 

G***er !!!

 

Border line 'rust-bucket' for $6-$7k?? In the case of a 55 I would maybe look for a less complete car with less rust. Most everything is re-produced now for these cars, making the complete cars worth less, in my opinion. My point is, who cares if its a complete car if you have to replace or recondition everything? I would gladly pay good money for a car with less rot, I can locate the missing stuff more easily than replace panels.

I think there's better deals out there. And if you are thinking of a quick flip for big money, this probably isn't it.

 

Old car + investment partner = total disaster.

 

My crystal ball is about as Sharp as a marble, sounds like yours is even less Sharp.
You are better off buying a better original than fixing a rust bucket for a show quality 6 cylinder.
You guys probably won't be good partners or friends by the time its over.

Funny thing is, it will cost roughly the same to do a perfect chevette restoration as a perfect Corvette restoration, or a 6 cylinder challenger vs a hemi challenger, or a lemans vs GTO , regular wagon vs a nomad yet the finished product yeilds so much more. There's a price differential getting in but no where what it is getting out. That holds true for cars that are complete.

 

initial vehicle waaayyy overpriced. Are you doing it for love or money?

 

If you are planning on metal work, you might aswell start with something like this.

http://atlanta.craigslist.org/atl/cto/2840691781.html

 

you can buy a brand new body for 16000 from woodys ,why start with rusty junk

 

If you're thinking it's an "investment" and you're not doing all the work yourself or you're not a famous builder, prepare to be disappointed.
I bought my project because it had a good body and frame, the rest I could do myself. As it sits now, I'd be lucky to sell it for what I have in it, not that I'm planning on selling it. Tri-Fives hit their ceiling years ago before the market fell out, so I wouldn't expect too much appreciation, especially from a base engine car. But the good thing is they're holding value better than most cars.

 

How do you make a small fortune in fixing up old cars to make money? Start with a large fortune. IF you are able to control the costs and the "while we're at it, lets do this too", you will be able to just about break even. Adding an "investment partner" will complicate your life exponentially.

 

I stiill have a '55 210 to door post with a 261 transplant with a Crower Roller Cam setup plus roller rockers and a triple side draft with Weber 44's on it. Seldom do those who want to "Go" get ahead in the quarter. Good car. great engine!
Normbc9

 

It will become a HOLE in the garage that will eat money like there's no tomorrow!

 

You are a glutton for punishment. The number of hours you will need to put into it will be huge. I don't think it is the right car to try and flip for a profit.

 

Ever see the episode of the Flintstones, where Fred and Barney decide to share a swimming pool? While it's animation, it rings true... some things are not meant to be done in partnership.

And your estimates do seem low. I used to work at a paint and body shop, doing paper work. The figures you have are almost what JUST the labor would be for a "almost rust bucket".

But...... good luck with it and if it makes you happy, go for it!

 

Yep, my crystal-ball is less sharp than even a whole bag of marbles, however I did somewhat expect these types of responses from the cosmic-mist. And rightfully so!

A good swift kick in the *** can be a most rewarding experience! And in this case, perhaps good preventive medicine. Let’s face it, this is the HAMB, people here know a thing or two about building cars.

I truly appreciate the advice! Yep, this ’55 ain’t the one.

If you’re in the mood, what about:

1951 chevy pick-up truck, told it was road operated and carries a current safety inspection sticker. Blew a connecting-rod through the block. Has wooden-flat bed (not stock). Apparently body-metal and ch***is in decent shape. Driven daily (Not seen yet...phone call in to im') Pick-up locally. Asking $1,500.00

Resources: I have a running 235 and ****** from my ’48 swap, and a still game body/paint guy?

Another pig in a poke? Lawn ornament? Bank buster? Paint it green and say I made money?

 

i see alot of swearing and anger followed with regret

 

lol the crystal ball told me to do it

 

As was mentioned, if you want to make money on cars, you have to "invest" in cars that are worth a lot when they're done. The truck is even further away from this goal, than the 55.

but if you want an old truck to bomb around in, it could be just fine.

 

.
I'm starting to wonder if there are any examples of quick-turn-over projects that have made a profit?
.

 

Restore it and I will buy it from you for 15k

 

My dad bought a 55 hardtop in 1972, in Abilene. He replaced the crushed quarte panel, painted it, put an interior in it, and parked it. Ten years ago, he blew it apart, rebuilt the engine, OD trans, did ALL the paint and polishing, bought a Ciadella interior, and put a Vintage air in it. Car is Gypsy Red, Shoreline Beige, all correct except for the 283 and the A/C. He said he had about 5K in the re-do. Beleive it or don't. But he farmed nothing out, nothing. Had a connection for chrome, so the expence there was minimal. The car was a rust-free, west Texas car that never sat outside since 1972, floors as solid as they were in 1955, and he sold it 4 years ago (before the economy tanked), for 45K. SO - it can be done, but you need to buy incredibly solid and desireable cars for less than $200.00, do ALL the work yourself, be a penny-pinching workaholic, and spend 8 hours a day in shop for three years. Easy as pie.

 

Are you in it for the money or for the love of the hobby. If you have to spend 10 to 20 grand to make a profit, it better be high. A guy once said--don`t buy yourself a job.

 

as a rule dont do cars as an investment ........ do em cause you love em......

it would be better if you posted pics of the car because rusted out in the upper east doesnt equal rusted out in the midwest or out west

plating is HUGE money

if you can do the work your self your much better off then if youd have to pay 50-75.00 an hour easily could get 100+ hours into paint and body if you want it done right

one good thing is its a 55 chevy open a danchuck catalog and buy almost EVERYTHING you could need

partnerships in cars very rarely work out not everybody sees things in the same way

 

I will take some pics of the '55 on the way to the shop tomorrow and try and post them same evening. The '51 truck is sold unfortunately.

My '48 delivery was a pure project of love. I will never make back my $$ investment, and forget the hundreds of hours. But, I don't care it's mine. And a jewel it is!

However, I love working on old-cars. As a kid I always wanted to become a mechanic, but as things turned-out I never got to turn any tools in a meaningful way.

So, what's better than making money doing something you love? Can it actually be done is the question.

Thanks!

 

Can it be done ?
Yea, but you make your money going in, not on the way out. That means you need the right car at the right price.
Also helps if you can do several of the same car because your parts inventory goes up, the learning curve is dealt with and each one gets more profitable than the last. You know what to look for and what's easy and what's not.
Keep them as original as possible, the market is bigger for originals and they are more valuable dollar in dollar out wise.

I have a good friend that does Buick grand nationals, he used to do GTXs. I know another guy that does sebring convertibles and some Mazda thing everybody wants a different guy that does subaru brats, and another guy that started with 97-03 grand pirx and then expanded to others with the same or similar drive line. It's not just the rebuild its selling parts and buying parts cars. Some times these guys fix 4 cars with one or build one from 6 different cars. They all make money, plenty it seems.