Roland,
I think it's worth it, but it will always depend on how much "disposable"
income you have and whether or not you go into it with your eyes open.
Fortunately, you and I deal with cars that don't cost that much for the
initial purchase, and we are not talking tens of thousands of dollars of
outlay even for a really nice finished product. If you put all of that
money in with unrealistic expectations about getting it back, your just
looking for heartache.
For cars that will be worth less than $10,000 when you're done, though, it's
hard to justify $3000 carpets, $4,000 leather, or a $9,000 paint job, and I
have seen all of them done on cars that will never bring that much at sale.
In some cases, excellent vinyl might be better than leather, and it probably
won't hurt the resale all that much. From what I've heard, you could
probably refinish the wood yourself. Chrome is an expensive pain in the
neck if you can't find excellent used stuff.
The problem with doing a $10,000 MGB is that there are going to be 25 MGBs
at every show that look as good as yours up close and 100 that look just as
good from 15 feet away. At least with a Rover, you end up with something
rare, interesting and classy when you're done.
Glen
----- Original Message -----
From: <BritshIron@aol.com>
To: <british-cars@autox.team.net>; <rovernet@lyris.ccdata.com>
Sent: Thursday, November 16, 2000 11:56 PM
Subject: Worth The Price?
> It's come to my conclusion, that any certain vehicle has to be important
to
> the owner to put so much into it. I am speaking of trying to restore a
> vehicle, from purchase to rolling beauty. I am in the midst of having the
> body work and upholstery done on the P5 and it's looking pretty good. Of
> course I'm going to own the most expensive $3000 Rover, as Rover prices
have
> not really commanded Ferrari prices. My question is this: is it worth it?
I
> know a friend of mine that has a $10,000 MGB and he knows he can only get
> between 6-8K. Saloons get even less. I know this question has weighed
heavily
> on many minds. I can do the mechanical work, but the more expensive labor
> work I have to source out. There's also the wood work and the chrome that
> still needs doing. Is it all without regret? Or should we all just buy
cheap
> import cars and park the old ones out back. Guess I'm wondering if
everyone
> is happy they did it instead of just buying a new car.
>
> Roland
> 52 Austin Somerset
> 54 Rover P4
> 60 Rover P5
> 66 Rover P6
> 67 Sunbeam Minx
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