Cost of Restoring Your Opel GT

[Gary]

No, it will be a new feature.

Here's a sample...

[Jarrod Li]

That looks pretty sweet! What is the "log book" section for?

[GoinManta]

Well mines not a GT, so amounts are a bit off.

My Bitter cost $8,000

I have rebuilt the suspension - $2500

Replaced the F.I. - $1200 (injectors, fuel pump, mounting plates, AFM, etc..)

Paint - $800 (killer deal for a killer paint job)

Replaced the motor (with a used 3.0L that I then regasketed and put in new bearings) - $800 total in parts

New Tires and Rims - $850

and other misc.. things..

Daily drive it and have about 190,000 miles on (about 50,000 I have put on it since I bought it)

[GoinManta]

Originally Posted by Killer Tx GT Now the the 70 GT up to 98 I had $7000 tied up in it when it took 1st place modified at the 98 OMC picnic. Since then I have spent about another $3000 more on it and I am in the process of the 2nd restore on it.

We going to see that at the OMC picnic in 2005?

It was one of the coolest looking GTs I have seen. Damn near as wide as a Vette.

Just Curious

[bear]

I fugure by the time I am done with my 70 gt. I will be looking at around $30,000 us dollars.
I am completely rebuildig the entire car from ground up, everthing is getting scrapped and replaced. I have had custom 12" barkes made, custom 16" wheels with the proper offsets. All new poly bushings, stage two suspesion, custom hime join front sway bar in addition to the aftermarket front and rear swaybar. Euro brake booster and master cylender, Getrag 5 speed, 2.4 liter fuel injected motor. custom 2 1/2" stainless steel exhaust front to back. All new braided stainless steel lines ,
Working on
Complete wiring, power windows, power seats, power mirror, custom drop drivers floor pan,
And the list goes on and on.

[ve39]

Cool man can't wait my opel gt got one more week at the mechanic then i can take some PIX

Originally Posted by Gary You are going to love our new "garage" feature, it will have places for a few photos, along with space for a complete description of your Opel(s) all tied into your profile. Now if the developer will only release the multiple vehicle version....

[chuckspeed]

Man - you guys are INSANE!!!

My 1st opel set me back $1500. Spent another grand getting it up to snuff. Not including labor - $2500.

I really can't see dropping ten grand on a car that trades hands for 5-6K in pristine condition. By this yardstick - I oughta be selling Maggie the Opel for 6 grand - not two grand.

Fair is fair, though. Two grand is fair for a solid, rust-free original Opel.

The moral in ANY restoration project is to get THE MOST solid and rustfree shell that you can find - and start from there. Rust sucks, and is darned near impossible to fix once it gets started.

I've been to hundreds of car shows, and the story is the same - guys bemoan the fact they've sunk 2-3X what the car is actually worth into the resto. Last one I saw like this was a pea green '67 Mustang 'vert the guy had over 40K in over a seven year period. Bizarre. It was worth less than 20K.

Y'know - I can save y'all a TON of frustration by having you email excess funds to my Paypal account whenever you get the urge to drop serious jing on a restoration project. Granted - you'll still be out the money - but look at all the frustration you avoid!

[GTJIM]

The best buy I ever made was a 1938 Ford V8 Standard Coupe' for $1,200 in 1981. in 1987 I sold it for $12,000 having put $2,500 into it. Now It has just changed hands for $34,000.

Maggie for $2,000 - less than a months salary? I only wish I was closer and there was not quite so much ocean between here and there! If she is looked after then I predict she will be a $10,000 car in five years! The market for sound original cars fluctuates from time to time but nothing other than collectible guns and art work escalates quite so much!

My GT is registered and has a LHD exemption - I just cannot drive a newly imported LHD car in this RHD country without thousands of dollars of red tape and probably end up having to convert to RHD. The GT is one of five known here and I have wanted one for 30 years!

[tekenaar]

Originally Posted by GTJIM Bucky, I am in awe of your accounting system! Wish you had made it known to me before I started. Unfortunately I don't drink beer so those savings are denied me.

No Foster's for you, eh!? What IS your choice of "adult beverage" then?

[GTJIM]

Artillery Port!

[chuckspeed]

I usedta drink beer.

gained 60+ lbs over 20 years.

Gave up beer

Lost 53 lbs in six months.

red wine, baby!

[GTJIM]

That is what Artillery Port is - concentrated red wine!
Helps when paying the bills for restoring rusty GTs!

[chuckspeed]

Originally Posted by GTJIM That is what Artillery Port is - concentrated red wine! Helps when paying the bills for restoring rusty GTs!

y'know, Jim...

The family and I want to go to New Zealand in the not so distant future (maybe next Christmas) and it would be nice to have someone tell us where to go/what to see...Red wine included.

[GTJIM]

Premier wine district of Canterbury around here and the GT HQ of the South Island. We must get in touch!

[chuckspeed]

South island...

Christchurch.

Actually would like to rent a motorcycle and explore thataway...

Am looking for a nice seaside resort to stay at whilst we are there.

[GTJIM]

There is a M/c rent outfit here and the North coast is better than Big Sur!

There is coast everywhere!

[Washout]

I've got a 1950 Willys Overland that is my primary project right now and it has been disassembled for the past two years. As I've started reassembling it now I needed an insparation to help me stay focused, I wanted an everyday driver to play with. That was the focus when I bought my 1970 GT for 1600.00 last year. I did most of the standard upgrades to make it relable, i.e. electronic ignition, 65 amp alt, did the valves and sealed up a few leaks, added sway bars front and rear and added a killer sterio. This and insidentals brought my "can jump in it and go for a cruse" car to the 3500.00 range. Once the truck is completed I will get stupid with the opel, body work and paint, engine rebuild, EFI, Turbo and so on.

I guess my point is, for a new guy that can do his own wrenching the cost to get something you are not ashamed to be seen in can be pretty resonable.

P.S. No, I'd rather not say what I've got invested in the Willys.

[Thom71GT]

I guess if you count since my 71 GT was bought new by my Father, with ALL the repairs, modifications, etc... It is easily over 15,000 dollars. Since I got it out of storage 2 years ago, I'd say I have spent somewhere around 2 - 2500 in tools and parts since then.

[Motor Mouth]

Just wondering if any of you guys/gals out there have ever bitten off more than you could chew in a GT restoration?

I checked a car last week that was so bad that the bottom 3inches of the inner front wings were completely missing. I told the guy the car was for spares only and offered him £300....'na' he said, 'some one could spend a little time and make that into a nice little runner.'

To be honest he could be right if the person was a genius with a welder and grinder, I just think the car should be left to go to the big Opel Carpark in the sky!

Luckily I've never had to do a big resto, but it'd be good to hear how some of you got on / or maybe are getting on with projects at the mo.

[GTJIM]

Originally Posted by Motor Mouth I checked a car last week that was so bad that the bottom 3inches of the inner front wings were completely missing. I told the guy the car was for spares only and offered him £300....'na' he said, 'some one could spend a little time and make that into a nice little runner.' To be honest he could be right if the person was a genius with a welder and grinder, I just think the car should be left to go to the big Opel Carpark in the sky!

Shame on you! An official of an Opel Club wanting to consign a GT to the rust bin of history.

There are many and varied reasons for restoring quite far gone examples of any collectible car. One is rarity - with less than 200 GT's in Britain they are few and far between - each one being 1/2% of the total available pool unless costly importing is undertaken, with attendant compliance problems for LHD cars in a RHD country.

Have a look at "Practical Classics" or some of your other local magazines to see how far people go doing rust repairs on far more common cars in Britain.

There are maybe five GTs in New Zealand and two recent imports have very little chance of being able to be used as they are LHD. Fortunately, the one whose bodywork I restored (see gallery), has an existing LHD "Exemption Letter" and is on the Restoration Register with "live" registration plates.
As such it is one of the few chances of owning AND driving a GT in New Zealand.

In the Vintage and Hot Rod scene today's rusted junk is tomorrows gold! The GT scene is rapidly becoming the same. After all, they are not making any more of them.

[Thom71GT]

In response to the gentlman that said he couldnt see putting thousands into a car that would only trade for 5 - 6k. I'll put whatever it takes to get my car the way I want it. See, I will never......NEVER EEEEVVVEER sell my GT. SO, I can spend 15, 20, even 30k on fixing it up JUUUUUUUUst the way I want it and I can drive around in a car that gets just as many turns, looks, stares and questions as the guy that spent 100 - 200k on some exotic.

Now, I know, never-say-never. I guess if someone offered me 50 grand, I might do it. But I can guarantee that a good chunk of that 50 grand would go to buy another GT and fix it up just the same way.

Actually, I probably WOULDNT sell my GT even for a hundred grand, but I would offer to build one to the same guy for 100 grand.

[Old Hippie]

I HAVE to say this: Rust is a pain, BUT! it is always removable and treatable. It only depends on how dirty you want to get and how much you like your car. With alittle practice, anyone can mig-weld. talk to bodymen, the only reason they will say "No" is because of time vs money. When it's your "toy", time vs money becomes very less important. Patience and love of car will always get you by.

[DennisGardiner]

I belong to the, "I've spent too much money on my Opel club".
I have ent over $28,000 in parts (not including any labor) on my
2.4L 1973 GT.

I have $6-7000 into my Manta already.
Dennis

[oldopelguy]

Turbo motor parts and all, I probably have $8-9k into my wagon, but I easilly have another $9-14 into the other 4 Opels. Oh well, spread out over a few years, it sure beats payments on a new car.

[West Coast GT]

Since we're addressing the financial logic of restoring our GTs (and other Opels); we've basically got two approaches here.

1. Investment. Don't even think that you (or any of us) will get back the cost we've sunk into restoring an Opel. At least until they are recognized as collectable. This could happen. Look what happened with the Austin 3000. 20 years ago they went for next to nothing. Today...

But basically, if we're in this for return on investment, then we should get out and look at real estate.

2. Cost of Driving something Cool. This makes sense. So what's comparable to a GT in today's selection of new cars? Comparable being a low priced sports car with low to moderate performance, low on creature comforts, affordable to youngsters? Entry level Volkswagens and Fords in the $13,000 to $20,000 range. Toyota, Honda, Kia, and Mitsubishi have their respective models in this market. Is that what we want to drive?

So, can we spend under $10,000 and have an unusual sports car of comparable characteristics? Sure can. And we can upgrade some areas to boot.

What would happen if we sunk $20,000 into a GT? I'll bet some of the talented Opel GT Forum crowd here could have a car comparable in comfort, styling, and yes, dare I say it, performance with the Lotus Elise. By the way, that is one kick-ass (can I say that) automobile. I'm not into buying new autos, but that Lotus would be my 1st choice. Price for that car? 41k euros. Speculation here in the US is $40,000 dollars. But, as with any new release of a truly cool car that would be considered a "milestone" model, dealership gouging will bump that baby to the $45k - $48k range.

Does it make financial sense to sink $20k into an Opel? Yes, when we consider the end result (improved performance & creature comfort), and compare it to what it would cost to obtain the same level of automobile in a new car today. And we haven't factored in the "cool quotient” yet. Except for the Elise, I haven’t seen a more slippery sexy design than the GT. To me, it’s better looking than a Ferrari.

Have you guys had a chance to see Gil’s GT from Opel GT Source? I’m thinking maybe it could be in a class with Porsche. And I mean one of the good ones. I only got a chance to look at it at the Opel picnic he hosted last month, (and it looks damn good) but I’m betting it would perform close to a ‘Vette, BMW, Porsche level. I’m real curious what it cost, but don’t know him well enough to ask. His car could very well be the standard by which all others are measured.

Picture this; you’ve set up a $20,000 five-year loan, put the money into an account dedicated to your GT. What would you do to your car, and how good would it be? Better than anything on the market for $20,000?

Makes sense to me.