Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Ray White]

How often do we see this type of thing... where someone with good intentions takes on a project only to be faced with the reality that they will never finish it.?

Doubtless there are many different and genuine reasons for abandoned restorations but there must be countless unfinished projects out there.

This one has potential but is not for the faint hearted.!

https://www.carandclassic.com/l/C1882068

[alastairq]

Now, will it be finished to be better than original?

Or will it simply have the essentials to get it running & driving be done instead?

I think, from experience, that what many of us forget as we get older is....we get older.

We often start with good intentions, being fit and flexible enough to tackle the endless lists of jobs to be done.
But as time passes, we become more & more infirm....less flexible of body, more painful even doing the simplest of jobs we once did without a thought...

We'll never get back the money we have poured into our ''projects''...Or the value of the time, except as experience.
It is that experience that we rely on to bring us back to reality.

Personally I find my so-called 'ambitions' with old cars have had to be tempered by the forthcoming realities....I no longer find it easy to bend, kneel down, lie down [or get up again].... If I suffer a small cut, or a mere scrape, I would ignore it once, but now, I find Im leaking blood all over the shop!
A day's playing with a welder underneath is nowadays followed by half a week of recovering from the pains and aches of joints....

Plus, I certainly don't have the income, surplus or not, to pay someone else to do what may turn out to tbe a half hearted job, either.

Then there's the reality of looking into what is now fast becoming the ''near future!''
If I spend a few years sorting out this, erm, Morris Minor, will I then be too old or infirm to drive the darned thing?

If I could drive it now, will it matter what it looks like?

The first thing I ask myself nowadays when looking at old cars is...what is the head lining like?

I could manage a small repair of a rip, etc..but droops and curtains? No way....I know from experience my poor old worn out body wouldn't stand the pain..and so it would be left undone....

Soft tops, or no tops, are fine....except, I think about what it'll be like using the car, in wintertime?

These days I like a modicum of heat...no interested in 'climate control,', as it's too complicated [AKA costly] to fix when it goes wrong..

Same with demisting? One time of day I thought nowt of suing a dry rag for demisting.....especially as an old-school, bus driver.

But, today, now I'm older, and feel the best start to the day is when I actually wake up?

Yup, there will always be a myriad unfinished projects on the market, methinks?
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Dellow Mk2, 1951 built, reg 1952.
Fiat 126 BIS
Cannon special [1996 registered. Built in 1950's]
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Ford Pop chassis, Ashley 1172 bodyshell, in pieces.

[Ray White]

You always make some good points Alastair.
I will never tackle a major restoration again for some of the reasons you give.

The car featured here is an interesting project but not one that I would have chosen to do. Originally it would have been a James Young coach built fixed head coupe and someone decided to convert it into a drop head. Personally, I would be doubtful that the end result would be any more desirable ...simply because it would not be authentic enough for the kind of buyer these cars attract.

It seems the market today only wants "the real thing".

[badhuis]

Would be very wary about this Bentley. The body is not exactly finished under that primer, panel edges are wobbly and creases not straight either. Who knows what repairs has been done to it and to what standard?

I bought a Triumph Roadster a couple of years ago. It is all in pieces. Was done by the owner after he bought the car in the UK, drove it over to the Netherlands and decided it needed new paint. Disassembled the car, then left it in his large garage where I could pick it up - 50 years later!
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a car stops being fun when it becomes an investment

[Ray White]

The one thing that seems to be consistent with most Mk6 Bentleys is that they have been got at. There was a point, of course, when you could hardly give them away. Rust is the biggest enemy; poor quality steel was all that could be had after WW2. The problem was apparent fairly soon after the launch; indeed I have read that quite a few were rebodied by bespoke coach builders because the 'Standard Steel ' offering which had promised so much turned out to be a rusty disappointment in many cases.

Later, of course, when the majestic S1 and Cloud cars arrived on the scene, the old Mk 6 /R Type looked hopelessly out dated and the wholesale conversion to "specials" took hold.

I have mixed feelings about these specials. Some are very well done and fetch big money but as is so often the case there are some right dogs out there which should be avoided.


Personally, I would sooner be gifted a barn find along these lines.....


https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/uk-news/gallery/classic-bentley-left-gathering-dust-24863497

[Rootes75]

Personally now I wouldn't take on a car restoration that requires more than just some running work and some bodywork tidying. Its more to do with time and the price of cars. I simply don't feel its worth sinking money into a car that's not financially worth it. I also now prefer the oily rag or original condition car.

But, I will and I am currently taking on wartime vehicles that require chassis up restorations. They are a lot simpler to restore than a car, mainly due to my experience or lack of with interiors etc.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not looking to make money in my restorations because I keep all that I do. But I want to leave a legacy or inheritance to my kids that if they choose they can use or sell on when and if they need to. And the value of a military vehicle is off the scale compared to that of a standard type prewar car.
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Various Rootes Vehicles.

[badhuis]

[Rusty]

Travelers' cheques, then you can take it with you!

[Ray White]

As I get older, I do worry that, should I die before my wife, then she would be saddled with tons of garage stuff to get rid of. The cars are fairly simple; just advertise and they get sold and taken away. Heavy items like my lathe and other tools; she wouldn't even know what they were used for, let alone want to have any dealings with them.

We don't have children and when we are gone everything goes to charity. I keep thinking I should start thinning out stuff but the trouble is I keep using things that I might otherwise sell.

When we came here 25 years ago I had a separate waggon hauling 50 crates of garage paraphernalia ...and I have added to it since then, so it is really something I need to deal with.

[alastairq]

I have told my kids, to contact the owners' club, and get them to nominate someone [trustworthy?] to sell the Dellow...

I really ought to thin out all the other magpie junk I've hoarded over the decades...
_________________
Dellow Mk2, 1951 built, reg 1952.
Fiat 126 BIS
Cannon special [1996 registered. Built in 1950's]
----------------------------------------------
Ford Pop chassis, Ashley 1172 bodyshell, in pieces.

[Rootes75]

My kids both have an interest in my hobby. Especially my Son who is 13, he's been helping in restorations for a couple years now and he does really well.

I see it as sort of a nest egg for them and they can do what they want with it. Thin out the collection, keep the ones they're close to etc.

A good earlier point though would be what happens with all the accumulated spares and tools that fill our sheds?
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Various Rootes Vehicles.

[badhuis]

think the son must be very happy!


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a car stops being fun when it becomes an investment

[bjacko]

One way here in Melbourne we (club) have organized a Garage sale to dispose of items not required by the widow or family. Members act as salesmen when potential buyers arrive and it seems to work quite well.
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1938 Morris 8 Ser II Coupe Utility (Pickup)
1985 Rover SD1 VDP