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86 ESIR restore -- how do I minimize my losses?


hippynerd
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I setup a webpage with most of the details at:

https://sites.google.com/site/1986starion/

 

I've done a few things to it since then, but that shows the bulk of the work bringing it back to a usable condition.

 

I made lots of mistakes along the way, and struggled through.

 

Right now, the car runs pretty good, but I think its not quite right (could be faster, probably a little tweeking here or there.) The engine mods are:

Mechanical lifter setup

Mechanical cooling fan setup

Lo-Buck FCD

Big 16G Turbo (I've only put about 30 miles on the big turbo, so im not used to it yet).

 

I've had this car a few years, but I havnt driven it much, until last fall when I did the FCD. I've put about 10,000 miles on it since I got it.

 

I"ve been trying to sell it for several years, but I've not had any takers, probably because the price is too high, but the price is my cost (does not include labor, just parts). If I could sell it at my cost, then it would be like working for 6 months for free, but at this point i'd be stoked to just break even.

 

Im considering parting it out since I cant sell it. I really want to drive my car, but I cant, untill I sell this car. Ive taken parts off my car to keep this one running.

 

 

The not so good:

The cars in OK shape, The paint looks terrible, The paint I used was crappy, and its going to take some work to repaint it. The interior is a bit worn (particularly the drivers area), but not too bad.

 

The suspension is all original, and could use some updating and refreshing.

 

The tires are kinda crappy, but perfect for burnouts (thick crapy rear tires) They are the wrong size, but the tiny front tires make for tight circles, and the big back tires make a lot of smoke. The speedo seems to be pretty accurate with those tires.

 

The running gear/driveline is in real good shape. I serviced the trans, diff, axles, shafts, brakes, bearings, replaced broken mounts, bolts. The motor is from my 83, just after rebuilding it w/out jet valves, balance shafts... Freshly rebuilt 16g turbo, TB/Fuel injection rebuilt/flowed.

 

Mechanically speaking its in very good shape.

 

At this point, ive put a lot of time, effort and money into a car that I only bought to keep from getting crushed, and hopefully make someone happy, and a few bucks in the process.

 

What have you guys done that has worked for you? Having too many cars has caused me grief, and Im real sorry that I bought this car, Its just keeping from driving my car, and costing me money.

 

What I would like to know, is:

 

What has anyone else done that has worked for them?

Its not working out for me, and I am very frustrated.

 

If I cant sell the car at my cost, what else can I do to try to recover my losses?

 

How much can I get for parts? how long will it take to sell the parts, and have the car crushed?

 

If I part it out, It wont be drivable, and I'll have to have it towed to a scrapyard, so I would probably need to sell stuff fast.

 

Is there some way I could use the car to make money? (sorry, im too old for getaway driver, something more legals in order...)

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I forgot to add, I have an spare entire front end (fenders, hood, grill, sidelights, that panel between the hood and grilll. I stripped the paint off them, a couple of the fenders are a little dented. I put the parts on the car, let it rain on them, and there is just a tiny amount of rust where the rain sat on the car. Im thinking of waxing them up so they keep the raindrop rust marks. They also come with the car.
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You sound like a pretty up front guy, but w/ all that's go'n on here, not sure if you are realistic about breaking even? I didn't even see a "Price" that your look'n for, but didn't open up your site, if it's mentioned there.

Suggestion: you really limit your perspective buyers when talk'n about "good for burnouts, tight turns" & all. Just a thought, & keep the faith, GLWS :)

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Well, you don't specify how much money you have into it or what you're looking to get out of it, so it's hard to know if you'd make your money back.

 

 

Basically, it sounds like your car runs, but not well, and needs to have the body freshened up and repainted. Since it was painted with laquer, it will probably neeed to be all sanded down, sealed and repainted, as the newer, quality urethane paints that most people use nowadays might have issues going over laquer.

 

Cars on here that look iffy, and run, but not well might sell for $1500-2000, unless they are loaded to the hilt with performance or rare parts. Then, it may go for a little more money to the right person who wants those parts.

 

Sadly, people rarely make their car and parts cost back, let alone any labor costs if they sell the car. I have over $10k into parts and materials on my car, not counting my hundreds of hours of time redoing the car. There is no way my car would sell for $10k, and probably wouldn't go for anymore than $7k, if I was lucky. If I could break even on my car, I'd sell it right now. I've been considering stripping out my stereo, rare parts, and then just selling it as a good looking, good running car for around $4k. I really think that would be the only way I could sell my car and feel good about what I was taking if for it.

 

 

You'll make more money parting the car than selling it, but even then I have no idea if you'd make your money back, as I don't know how much you have into it.

 

As far as how much you'll make on the parts, that all depends on how far you strip it, and the condition of the parts you're selling. Lots of people strip the engine, interior, easily removed body panels and other mechanical bits but leave the suspension so it can be rolled onto a liftback or trailer. Some people go further and remove all the wiring harnesses, cut off the rear 1/4's if they're good and take all the suspension off to sell too. Those parts will sell and would bring in extra money if you took the time to remove them. I've put cars on jack stands removed everything that was salvage able right down to all the nuts and bolts. Basically, all that was left was the unibody minus the 1/4's and roof that got cut off. Of course, stripping the car fully like that lowers the weight of the car and in turn lowers the amount you'll get for scrap, but the extra parts you pull off and sell will make way more money than the $100 less you'll get for scrap rate. The unibody can easily be dragged onto a rollback or trailer with a winch.

 

 

How long will it take? well, that depends on how thuroughly you part the car and how long it takes you to do that. It also depends on your resources. If you have a garage with lots of tools, and all the other stuff you need like engine hoists, jack stands, etc... then it will take a lot less time than if you are just stripping it in your backyard with basic tools. I bet I could strip a car of every part, nut and bolt in 3 days or less if I worked pretty much full time on it. If I only could put in a couple hours a day then it might take a week or two.

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Thanks for the info. I dont have a yard or garage, I'd have to do it on the street, which means I wouldnt have much time. I could take the car apart in a few days, but I dont have an engine hoist anymore.

 

Buying a car to restore and sell was a really bad idea, it seemed like a good idea, I thought I might be able to make a few bucks even, boy was I wrong. It was a lot of work, and expense, and it still needs more work.

 

Before rebuilding the turbo, I was over $4k, im probably near $4,500, but I should also end up with another usable turbo.

 

I've considered stripping the paint, and rolling some primer on it, and painting it, I can do an ok job with the paint, but I dont have the stuff to do car paint. But thats more money, time and effort, and no guarantee of even getting that money back.

 

If I strip it and sell the parts, I will have to sell them in advance, and make plans on having the shell towed off, or I'll get tickets, and grief.

 

Im tired of losing :( Last year I sold a 33' motorhome for $3k, after putting almost $8k into it. It was costing me $100/month to store, so I had to sell it.

 

I hate selling stuff, I just lose my tail everytime, but I have too many cars, and little to no income.

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I did see a car with a busted motor on craigslist, but he has a lot of mods that he wants money for. I offered my good for his bad + cash, but he says he has a lot of money in the mods, and repairing a motor with bad bearings is easy and inexpensive.

 

Even if I had a free shell, with perfect paint, and perfect interior, it would still be a lot of work to put my driveline into another car, and somehow Im sure that it would just end up costing me money, and I'd have more cars to deal with.

 

I've been trying to swap my red interior for black on my 83 for several years now. its only half done. I would have like to have black interiors in both cars, but that too is a lot of effort, and money, and Im really over budget as it is.

 

I do appreciate your post, but I just dont see how I can swing that.

 

How much could I reasonable expect to sell a good running starion, that isnt too pretty, but comes with lots of extra body parts. I can sell the car with a newly rebuilt 12a, 16g, or super 16g turbo.

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Thanks for the info. I dont have a yard or garage, I'd have to do it on the street, which means I wouldnt have much time. I could take the car apart in a few days, but I dont have an engine hoist anymore.

 

Buying a car to restore and sell was a really bad idea, it seemed like a good idea, I thought I might be able to make a few bucks even, boy was I wrong. It was a lot of work, and expense, and it still needs more work.

 

No offense, but buying a car with the plans to restore it without having the resources (garage toos, etc...), you doomed yourself from the start. Look at the collector car auctions.... Beautifully restored cars are selling for less tha the cost of a good restoration. You can by an old muscle car ready to go for the cost of restoration or less, so you pretty much get the rest of the car for free. And that's for cars that are actually highly collectible. Ther only way to make money on a restoration is to be able to do all the labor yourself. I used to work in a restoration shop and some of the jobs we did were $75k or more- A couple of custome build show cars we did came close to the $200k mark even. Of course, that's with 1000's of hours of labor at $60/hour rate. I could buy a car and all the parts, restore it, and sell it, and while I would probably get my cash investment back, I might only make $4 or 5 an hour for my time- If I'm lucky.

 

Before rebuilding the turbo, I was over $4k, im probably near $4,500, but I should also end up with another usable turbo.

 

You may be in bad shape. If the body panels looked nice you could get more for them, but since they are iffy, they will bring lower amounts. Having an extra turbo to sell might help too, but without having a lot of desireable go-fast parts or rare stuff to seel, you probably would be lucky to make $4k on all of it, probably more like $3k. Now, if the car was complete and all the parts were in good to very good condition, then you'd probably be in the clear.

 

I've considered stripping the paint, and rolling some primer on it, and painting it, I can do an ok job with the paint, but I dont have the stuff to do car paint. But thats more money, time and effort, and no guarantee of even getting that money back.

 

Dont waste more time and money than you already have. If you were repainting it with the proper spray guns and a good quality automotive paint then it may be a winner, but without a proper spray job all you might do is make it look better than it was, but it still would not have a quality finish that people look for. Right now, the only people who would really be interetsed in the car are people who can do the body and paint work themselves, and everyone else will probably walk if it doesn't have a quality finish on it. You could spend some more money and a bunch of time doing a less than perfect paint job and it may look better, but people who can't paint will still walk. And anyone who can paint will want to strip the imperfect job off and redo it anyway, so you'sd probably spend more of time and money on somnething that in the end, won't get you an extra dime.

 

If I strip it and sell the parts, I will have to sell them in advance, and make plans on having the shell towed off, or I'll get tickets, and grief.

 

That will be hard to do. people with money to buy parts want them ASAP, and unless you're selling parts that nobody else has or you're selling them cheaper than everyone else people will just find someone else who can get them the part quicker. If you sell the parts cheaper than everyone else, than you will have a problem getting enough cash to break even.

 

Im tired of losing :( Last year I sold a 33' motorhome for $3k, after putting almost $8k into it. It was costing me $100/month to store, so I had to sell it.

 

 

Losing sucks, but you'd probably have better luck if you had the resources required for these sort of projects. I do work on RV's at a local RV shop and the money is out there for them, you just have to take the ime to find the right person. If you're gonna have an RV, you need to have the property to keep it on, or have deep pockets for storage.

 

I hate selling stuff, I just lose my tail everytime, but I have too many cars, and little to no income.

 

Yeah, when you have to sell stuff to make the ends meet that usually means selling them cheap to get them gone fast. The only way to make "too many cars, and little to no income." work is to be a junkyard that has the resources to strip cars of all their marketable parts. Having too many cars, no resources and no place to keep them backs you into a very tight corner.

 

 

 

My only advice.... Rent out a storage unit with electricity for a month, and borrow all the tools you need from friends. It may cost $100 or more to rent the space for a month, but it would give you a place and some time to be able to strip the car as thuroughly as possible. Don't have friends with an engine hoist or cutting tools? Take as many parts off as you can with basic tools, then get to the point where you only have the engine to pull, and rent a hoist for the day. Then when you got all the car stripped but are ready to cut off other sellable panels, rent a plasma cutter for a day. Sure the rental fees are extra cash you have to spend, but in the end, spending that money will buy you a little time and allow you to have more parts to sell. You should more than make up for the extra rental costs in the end by having more time to get better money, as well as having more parts to sell.

Edited by Burton
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How much could I reasonable expect to sell a good running starion, that isnt too pretty, but comes with lots of extra body parts. I can sell the car with a newly rebuilt 12a, 16g, or super 16g turbo.

 

 

I'd say $2500 would be top dollar if it ran really good but looked bad, but probably closer to $2k. Even with extra body panels. Now if those extra body panels were an 83 hood, undamaged airdams and other hard to find parts, then it might bring the price up a bit. I see ugly cars that run sell on here for as low as $1500. Having a really nice turbo on it would help the sale, but I bet you would get more selling your best turbo outright, than selling it on the car. Put a working 12a in it to sell the car, then sell the good turbo alone for better cash.

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I've been trying to swap my red interior for black on my 83 for several years now.

 

 

 

That makes no sense to me. Get up ealy and have a big breakfast work on it all day and its done. Several years to swap interior?

You wanna get outta the game and at least break even? You need a visualy appealing sellable car. You want get 4000 parting it and yourgonna spend money on a storage unit and halfway into you'll have a pile of parts that your paying 50 dollars a month to own. Then you get the little sales here and there a fender for 50 bucks a relay for 10 bucks and etc etc you never get anywhere.

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