Restoration $Costs$

[Tamiya1/10]

This may have been posted before...by me?

For interest, care to share with fellow members how much did it cost to fix up an old runner to shelve queen or close to it. 

Approx. # hrs. spend:

Material purchased: brake fluid, rags, polisher/cleaner, replacement parts, new screws, rubber parts, decals, grease, bearings, tires, paint, tape, rubbing compound etc...

 At the end of the day, was is worth it or shelling out more coins for a better conditioned collectible would have been better?

For my RR, I spend around $300.00 for 4 new tires, steering spring, new bumper, switch cover, ball bearings, paint, hump battery pack made, metal polisher and spend about 35 hrs. over a 6mths period.

 From a monetary point, it was worth it since I got the RR for free and was in excellent condition other than has been sitting on a shelf of god knows how many years.

Was it fun...for me not really.

[Birdy]

well, if it wasnt fun for you then you did  the wrong thing..

if it was about money i wouldnt have this hobby anyways.

i do enjoy putting some effort into something and see the result right away.

its about gaining knowledge and craftsmanship, getting the needed information and using that know how is the fun part for me. a hobby doesnt really make sence.. you dont earn money .. you spend it !

you get to know different people with the same interests is the most fun, i think.

well if if think of in bigger terms .. i think you should spend your time and money in what ever you want, just enjoy yourself. noone is going to remeber you in hundred years.. AND ask you: you spend all that money on them stupid models ????

[]

just a thought !

cheers birdy

[acprc]

If this hobby was about the money I would have left many years ago. A lot of my showroom cars have been built from nothing, sourcing the parts all over the internet and fellow TC members. My FAV for instance http://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.a...34478&sid=4 was built up over a 12-18 month period and i dread to think how much i spent. I deliberately don't keep any record.

Bottom line for me is this...If you don't get any enjoyment out of it then maybe switch to something that you do enjoy or possibly change the way you restore vehicles.

Don't even ask how much an Egress costs to build!!

Adam

[secretsg]

It's always cheaper to buy a car in good condition than to completely restore it. RC or otherwise

[Shodog]

You know there are a few topics that are Taboo to talk about on message boards.  Those are Politics, Religion, Abortion, and Restoration Costs.

[Old Busted Hotness]

You know there are a few topics that are Taboo to talk about on message boards.  Those are Politics, Religion, Abortion, and Restoration Costs.

And we hit 'em all-

Politics- Endless hours squabbling about pointless rubbish

Religion- Church of Tamiya

Abortion- I'll admit I've got at least one vehicle that qualifies as such

Restoration Costs.... gotta go, the wife is watching []

[Bigwheels_inc]

my sand scorcher cost alot more than it would to buy an original but out of all the spares i gained i built a second one and i built the first one to how i'd like it (would hate to wreck an original)

and half of it for me is finding the parts and building it to my own stds

Pete

[eek!]

My opinion,

Buying restored is nearly always cheaper (overall). Regarding fun

for resto? Depends, I prefer to make custom parts as this requires much

more creativity. I find the usual grind of attaching part A to part B

can be monotonous at times.

I'd rather spend my time fabricating an entirely new part or creatively modifying a previously stock one.

Time is usually a precious commodity for me. Just sourcing replacement

parts can take months. Then the actual build consists of rough fitting

parts and another disassembly. Then properly re-fit, lube and locktite

(for me silicone sealant) all bolts and nuts. Then there's painting. I

don't rush. I spray primer first then wait a minimum of 1 full week

before topcoats. Then theres sanding, washing, drying, dusting. Then

onto 2nd possibly 3rd coat, repeat previous steps. Onto 1st clear coat.

Repeat previous steps. Then 2nd, 3rd, 4th etc..again repeat previous

steps.

I usually prefer to buy it 90% finished, then I can focus my

time/energy on fabrication and mods. A full resto for me probably takes

close to 6 months.

Best,

**As mentioned above one nice benefit to doing a resto is you usually

have many extra parts for backup. I actually have 2-3/4 Rough Riders,

as all I need is a body to complete a third...and I still have extra

parts.

[djmcnz]

EBay constantly reminds me in my summary of how much it cost me to build my Top Force Evo... took a few years too.

Was it "worth" it... depends on what "value" means to you I suppose... and I certainly valued the hunt for vintage parts and the multiple build processes... ****, the rere Top Force helped though!   Another of those, NIB coming my way in a few days courtesy of Dinball! Love it.

[DJTheo]

From time and cost point of view its always cheaper to buy a restored car (either it is 1:1 or 1:10) then to restore one, but the fun, hunt, learning and looking at it after with pride has its value too, in the beginning I also used to buy projects needing alot of work, but now don't do it anymore as it costs too much money and more imporant time that I don't have.

Cheers

[Tamiyabigstuff]

Best not to even think about cost as my wife is a very good mind reader !

[Mr.Nismo]

My Porsche 959's cost me about 400 euro's to complete. Thats including the purchase price. Recon that the body cost me 200 euro's it's not that expensive (i think []) I don't know how many houres are used to finish them. The body took the most time.

My Bruiser has cost me 150 euro's till now. That's about 600 euro's including purchase. I have bought the joint for the rear, front axle casing and all stuff needed for cleaning and polishing. I think another 150 euro's is comming for paint, decals and some small parts like the rear lisence plate. In the end i've spend about 800 euro's i think when it's done, but i had fun for 1500 euro's []

I don't know if 800 euro's is much to expensive for a 100% restored Bruiser, but i know the quality of the work. It's also a case of: sometimes you win and sometimes you loose. If  just bought a nice Hilux for 75 euro's. If restoring will be 300 euro's, the total will be 375 euro's. I don't think i can buy a 100% restored HiLux for that money.

The most fun i get from restoring, is that something dirty and broken can be turned into a displaymodel. Searching all those sites, stores and people to just find that one piece is great fun. The time i spend on the restaurations is not important in my opinion.

[WillyChang]

How do we still call it a "Restoration" when...

1) we go collect all the nice NIB parts

2) replace entire car with new parts, end up with a "new built"

and

3) then with the pile of replaced parts... REBUILD the original car for a runner?! []

[Birdy]

well , you could always "restore" a whole car around one single screw.. which is of course no restoration.

that is why i like hard bodies the most [] and also metal frame buggies.

by simply exchanging parts i dont see any challange.

cheers birdy

[Shodog]

Restoration costs are a tricky.  some cars I have spent a fortune on restoring.  Other cars have been essentially free.

It's too hard to fall into the trap of hunting down every single parts tree to make everything new.  I would say my most expensive restorations have been the SRB buggies.  They are in high demand and each of the hard to find parts are astronomically expensive.   

On the other hand my Hotshot was essentially free.  My hotshot was a wreck when I got it.  One reason I bought it was that I knew a local hobbyshop had a bunch of parts for it that I could get for 50% off.  I bought up all of their stock and resold the extras at a fat profit on ebay.  I recouped all my intial outlay and had money left over to buy the expensive stuff like the gold wheels and the front arms.  One set of parts that have eluded me are a set of rear arms which regualrly sell for $40+ which I refuse to pay that much for.

[RichieRich]

I've restored several cars and I've purposely not kept track of how much I've spent.  To me, the enjoyment I receive far outweighs the cost...too a point.  I don't have any SRBs or 3-speeds in my collection so I'm a bit immune to those high prices and I don't have the desire to obtain any of them. I like racing buggies.  Problem with those is that they were "raced" and generally get pretty beat up. 

[RA1028]

I recently bought a mint built Mountaineer and it comes with a spare Bruiser body. then I bought a used chassis and radio box and now the Bruiser is  almost completed. I ended up spending a little less compare to getting a restored Bruiser instead. To be able to do that, the most important I think is to set a budget at the beginning and stick to it. You will make yourself think more creatively about alternative such as makeing your own parts, finding replacement and getting repro parts. I have a lot more satisfaction from this project.

[Scorpn]

I must admit, I am with Ritch on the SRB/3 Speed front - but  I restore my cars and Buggys to runner status - I have a few Exceptions - My original 1987 Ultima cost far too much LOL. Restoring to Runner status means that used parts can be used which keps the cost down but you have to have a limit on what is too used!, and its amazing what a bit of sand paper and armorall can achieve - but Cracks GRRR

My Clod cost me $25US and I sold some of the bits that came with it for $12.50US, so pretty much whatever I spend is restoration cost - Oh well - it will be fun though

But overall, never count the cost it will just make you cry!!