The restoration begins! Options

[993inNC]

So I hadn't been terribly active here lately since deciding to jump into the resto fire. I had hoped to have a driver i could restore, what I ended up with (from what I can tell) is a good candidate for saving. So I have been stripping it since September of last year. Took the holidays off and just this week really jumped in heavy.

Quick update, its a 75 L13 (Summer yellow) 1.8L and has had a few paint jobs (terrible ones) over its life.

I found a media blaster here locally (finally) and I have to admit, I LOVE soda blasting. Makes 35 year old metal look like brand new (other than damaged areas). Was considering sand before finding this guy, but he has convinced me. So far he's done the doors, deck lid and hood (threw my 993 track rims in there since they were looking ratty too (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) ).
Next week, his rotisserie is supposed to be available, so we'll load it up, he'll blast it down to metal (may sand blast the floors to get the nasty rust off and see whats left) and he's going to let me have the rotis for 1 month to give me time to replace the pans etc....

Now the questions

Who really has the best price and product when it comes to the replacement metal? I know Auto Atl and Resto Design have them and there seems to be a decent price difference. I know a good many of you have experience with both and since I have none with either, I'd like to rely on what you guys have to say. I'm going to need pans, inner lower firewall, engine tray (holds the engine rubber) under the battery tray, and maybe a couple other small metal bits.

I'll need this stuff pretty quick if I don't want to pay for the rotis after a month, so who can I rely on?

I'll be posting pics soon for a complete diary of the restoration. Hope I can live up to some of the amazing work I've seen here. I plan to do the pans etc myself, but there is rust in tight spots (underside of doors and small area on the rear decklid) that I don't have the talent for. The blaster was a Mercedes body man for many years and I'll defer that intricate work to him.


This is going to get expensive, I can already tell (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Oh as a bench mark, he said its going to run between 12-1400 to do the entire car. Sounded high but what are my alternatives .....? It is pretty work though, and I think is the right thing to do

TIA

[gopack]

This is going to get expensive, I can already tell (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Oh as a bench mark, he said its going to run between 12-1400 to do the entire car. Sounded high but what are my alternatives .....? It is pretty work though, and I think is the right thing to do

TIA

Funny, my guy quoted me $12-14K as well. After a while (3 months) I got it back in primer, and a total of $16500 spent there, NOT including the 1K for the flares, the $700 for the fiberglass parts, and the $500 for replacement body panels! I added lots of "wants", so it is my own fault. As it sits now, it need between $5 and 8K for a good paint job!

Just my $0.02!

Good luck! and show it off!
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/thisthreadisworthlesswithoutpics.gif)

[993inNC]

This is going to get expensive, I can already tell (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Oh as a bench mark, he said its going to run between 12-1400 to do the entire car. Sounded high but what are my alternatives .....? It is pretty work though, and I think is the right thing to do

TIA

Funny, my guy quoted me $12-14K as well. After a while (3 months) I got it back in primer, and a total of $16500 spent there, NOT including the 1K for the flares, the $700 for the fiberglass parts, and the $500 for replacement body panels! I added lots of "wants", so it is my own fault. As it sits now, it need between $5 and 8K for a good paint job!

Just my $0.02!

Good luck! and show it off!
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/thisthreadisworthlesswithoutpics.gif)

I'm sure hoping you mean 12-14 HUNDRED and not THOUSAND and $1650, not 16,500!

As for the expense part I figure, 1200 for the blasting, 1000 in new metal, 1000 in body work and prep that I can't do, 2000 +/- for the paint. So 5k in the body/paint with me doing a lot of the metal replacing. I've received prices on interior, which comes to $1000 seats (leather), 600 dash recover (alcantara) 5-750 (misc interior coverings) and a couple hundred for carpet and minor trim bits.

Not doing anything crazy with the motor or suspension, just want a nice stock driver. hope to have 10k or under in it when done.......we'll see how that goes! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)