Cost of Restoring Your Opel GT

[Aardvaark]

Well, mine's a Manta and not a restoration, but a fixup to the
way I want it for cruising.
$3500 originally price.
$210 tax
$1250 new classic auto air system.
$430 new Rostra cruise control.
$350 other parts, accessories and supplies.

$5740 Total in Manta to date.

[namba209]

Originally Posted by DennisGardiner Yikes! Do I dare ask, 'how much $$'?

To be honest, Dennis, IDK, but if you remember the OMC picnic a couple of years ago, when we were parked next to each other, kinda sorta, Willit? was on the trailer. During the raffle, I won a GT part and Gil took it back because, as he said, "You bought out the store". Actually, it all started when I bought the engine and tranny off e-bay 7 years ago. Everything went on one credit card, and I've been putting $500 a month on it since then, and I'm still working on getting it back to zero. But you've gotta remember there were a lot of peripherals involved, including 3 months in the body shop, chroming the wheels, buying and installing the posi, a total color change, and a whole bunch of other stuff that I needed to do a prototype build. What I couldn't or didn't want to do, I turned over to the pros, just to be on the safe side, and they aren't as frugal as "we" are.

Case in point was $160 to replace the rusted tubes on the heater core, because I had to buy 20 feet of 5/8" thick wall tubing or $120 to surface the exhaust manifolds, twice and a whole bunch of stuff like that.

[GTJIM]

I guess juggling a wife and a human mistress would be almost as expensive!

[namba209]

Originally Posted by GTJIM I guess juggling a wife and a human mistress would be almost as espensive!

Pretty close Jim. My Ex gets more than I put on Willit? and Margaret gets more than her each month. Good thing I'm a triple dipper now.

[broszzy]

4,500 so far and I'm just getting started (I'm glade the wife don't read this lol)

Pat

[Aardvaark]

Originally Posted by broszzy 4,500 so far and I'm just getting started (I'm glade the wife don't read this lol) Pat

A lot of us would be in trouble if wifeys found out.
I know one car guy (non opel) who has a secret checking
account his wife knows nothing about. Not that I condone
such a thing.

[broszzy]

Thats ok we won't tell your wife!! he he he

Broszzy

[West Coast GT]

Originally Posted by Aardvaark I know one car guy (non opel) who has a secret checking account his wife knows nothing about.

Wow, that's a mistake waiting to bite him in the ass. There will be a day, without a doubt, when something will come in the mail or by way of a telephone call that he'll miss and his wife will pick up on. He'll be damned lucky to convince her, or her attorney, that the secret funds were not spent on another woman. Unless, of course, his wife's got her own secret stash for her cabana boy.

Still, from what I've seen on this forum, this group generally spends very little money on our Opels. Just go to the car shows and look at the custom rods. A big block crate engine, chromed, tricked out, exceeds what most of us have spent on our entire car.

[hotrodder1969]

traded a monty ss for two opel gts not to bad i think the monty had a blown tranny ive spent around 300 on ebay and another 200 at autozone not counting my discount im the asst. manager there so i save some that way still need some small things and a paint job so not sure how much ill have in her yet but i do know she is sweet

[blancojp]

My start was a bit different on Stealth:

1) To start off, the car was a gift from Rick, a local club member.
2) Engine/tranny work $475.00
3) Chassis work $225.00
4) Body work (so far) $418.32
5) Suspension, brakes and hoses $435.00
6) Electrical $280.00
7) Convertible frame and top $600.00
8) Power equipment (windows, locks, sirius radio) $165.00
9) 16" wheels and tires $800.00
10) Custom Interior including dash $450.00

Bear in mind the costs above are mostly wholesale and all materials purchased through our new company GGC. Now all I need is time to put the car back together, test, fine tune and then take it appart just to paint it.

The only cost that I have not made part of this estimate is the gallons and gallons of beer the Gargoyles drink when they actually work.

I'll bet you guys can't guess what the new company's three initials stand for..

[namba209]

Originally Posted by blancojp The only cost that I have not made part of this estimate is the gallons and gallons of beer the Gargoyles drink when they actually work.

That hits close to home JB. When my uncle, (who passed Saturday) was building the racing boats in his garage, my aunt counted the cases of beer and gallons of whiskey consumed during the builds, and it almost cost as much as the boat.

[blancojp]

Sorry to hear about your uncle, I lost mine when I was very young.

My guys can drink up a storm and still do excellent work.

Cute story:
Had a customer come in to our new shop with a '49 Ford. Someone backed into the left rear fender so he wanted to know if we could take care of the work. Roger told the man he would do it but required additional compensation. I could have killed him, he actually told the guy to go on a beer run for them since there is nothing near by. The customer left the shop in my truck and returned about 45 minutes later with a case of beer. Roger unloaded the truck and then told the customer he had changed his mind and could not do the work. The guy was furious, I thought he was going to have a stroke or something because he was pissed big time.

He went outside and came back in the office few minutes later with a smile from ear to ear. Turns out, in the time the guy went to the store and back, the dent was popped out, the dent area was touched up, wet sanded and buffed. The car looked good as new and no evidence of a dent was anywhere to be found.

Though the guy was very happy and I got additional work from second vehicle the customer had, I told Roger I kill him myself if he pulls a stunt like that again.

Never underestimate the power of BEER.......

[tekenaar]

Originally Posted by blancojp . . . I'll bet you guys can't guess what the new company's three initials stand for..

. . . uh, I vote for GarGoyle Central!

[chilly_75]

Originally Posted by blancojp I'll bet you guys can't guess what the new company's three initials stand for..

Guzzle Gallons of Coors

[tekenaar]

Originally Posted by tekenaar Originally Posted by blancojp I'll bet you guys can't guess what the new company's three initials stand for.. . . . uh, I vote for GarGoyle Central!

. . . on second thought . . . Gargoyles Gesticulating Conundrums . . .

[blancojp]

Originally Posted by chilly_75 Guzzle Gallons of Coors

They don't drink Coors dude!!

[74Opel1900]

This thread has made me feel a lot better about the money I'm spending on my '74 Ascona. So far here is the break down.

Car purchased for $2,750
New Exhaust $250
New Tires $220
Various Parts $675 (new battery, complete gasket kit, tie rod, fuel pump, etc)
Labor for mechanical repairs $2,000
Interior estimate $2,200 (all seat rebuilt and recovered in vinyl and tweed gray tones with black piping, carpet kit installed and rear panels custom painted to match vinyl) This will be done within the next couple of weeks, I already put down a deposit to get the ball rolling.
Carpet kit $225
Dr. Manta stuff $650 (mostly window gaskets and a passenger side mirror)
So far I'm up to $8,970 and I'm hoping to keep the final cost around $11K
Minor rust repair and new paint ????$$$ This is the final stage. I chose to do the interior first since only the outside of the car needs painting. My door jams are in perfect shape and I'm keeping the original color.

I figure since this is my daily driver if I can drive it for 2 or 3 years then sell it for $7K or $8K then I got my money's worth. If I keep it for 15+ years and it becomes recognized as a collector's car then who knows what it will be worth. Either way I'm going to be driving a unique car that will look and drive like new. What car can you get for $11K new that can compare? I'm also saving money on car insurance since I don't need to get collision.

[RallyBob]

Originally Posted by 74Opel1900 So far I'm up to $8,970 and I'm hoping to keep the final cost around $11K

I'm also saving money on car insurance since I don't need to get collision.

Hmm, it seems to me that you probably should have collision on any car with $11k invested? Otherwise any accident, even with another person at fault, will result in you getting no more than 'book value' for the car. So $2k damage would result in your car getting totalled, and you'd be out $9k.

I'd look into classic insurance at least. My friend has his '69 Camaro insured for $280 per year, and even though the car cost him $8k ten years ago, it has collision insurance for $30k.

Just food for thought...

[74Opel1900]

Bob, You're absolutely correct. I'm going to do that.

[1970GTV8]

Here is my story:
Bought a 1970 gt in 1997 for 2000$ the car had a v8 conversion in 1986,and was a show car at the time.i was very lucky,the car has a 215buick v8 stroked and bored,side exhaust,alloy flywheel,
needed only a carpet kit 120$,and some torque tube mounts around
200$ worth at the time from gt source,had it at the tacoma gt show in 1998 and 1999.

My 2nd gt:bought it from the original owner,original paint,exept it had an engine fire.it was sitting in the garage for 12 years under cover.it was for sale for 1500$ in 1997, carb melted plus all the wires,and the engine was stuck.made a 300$ offer to the lady,she called me back 6 months later taking my offer.
Bought a kadett station wagen for 50$,for the engine ,20$ for a coplete wiring set from a fellow gt fan.
300$ for rebuild the radiator.

Both of my car could use a paint job,perhaps this fall..........

[SantaClaw]

I'm looking at 40 000 just in parts.

[newman27]

Originally Posted by SantaClaw I'm looking at 40 000 just in parts.

Is that in Euro or US Dollars? . Your car looks worth every penny - awesome GT!

[SantaClaw]

Originally Posted by newman27 Is that in Euro or US Dollars? . Your car looks worth every penny - awesome GT!

It was in US dollars, but due to inflation, it's now more like, 50 000$