I know it can be a very wide range... but I'll break it down for this one.

Diassemble, including interior, drivetrain, suspension, glass, etc... basically strip to a bare shell. Strip, remove undercoating, blast, some minor rust repair(minor patching, filling pin holes), better repair some previous crash work better... epoxy, prime, block and so on including the underside to prep and paint, inside panels like fender valances... repaint rear suspension, new brake/fuel lines, reassemble, and so on.

This doesn't include recovering seat, any refurbuishing to the front suspension, dash, column, and so on. Basically a rotiserre paint job on a fairly straight rust free car.

Just curious to see how many hours people have had in doing something similar or how many hours they think it should take.

500 hours.

I concur... that means agree

Thanks guys, that's a good bit higher than I expected. I should mention, not refinishing anything on the inside, not polishing trim, and alot of the small detail stuff. More just a rotisserre done car as far as paint/body. Interior, just pull and replace once painted. Engine, front suspension and such are being done by the owner. Not redoing the entire brake system, just new lines/cables. Not doing the underhood wiring, carpet and seats back in.

Does 350 hours sound realistic? I read a site from a member here that said a typical top side resto will take about 300 hours.

400-450. Maybe a hair more depending on your collision repairs you stated.

Typically shops have a minimum of 250-300 hrs just for prep and paint on the exterior body, you're talking about doing the complete underside as well.
You've done restoration work in the past so you should have an idea of how much time it will take to dismantle and strip the shell...

I personally think you're robbing yourself if you quote anything less then 500 hrs...

I've done a lot more collison work and the resto work was always stuff done for myself til the past few years. I never really kept track of hours on my own cars... seems like when you do that it feels like work.

The reason I asked is because I felt like I was getting to the point on the current car that I had too much time into it. I am quite suprised to see what you guys think it will take. I've follwed your thread Alan on the ta and the time you have in the assembly and that's what got me wondering. I really thought I could get this one done in 300 hours, but say it takes 75 or so for assembly and such, where it's at now I can;t see anyway I'll have 350 plus hours into it.

When I say 75 hrs for assembly, that's with having EVERYTHING ready to go...that doesn't count the engine and tranny being set-up on the K Frame, that doesn't count any of the sub assemblies being restored...

Well this car, very little needed to be done. It's pretty much just needs reassembled. Some stuff will need work or refinished, but not a lot.

several variables can plany in here,

example,
A- if the underside is being done, how is it being cleaned? laying on your back with a scraper and wirewheels on a drill

or

B- up on it's side and cleaned with a blaster of some kind, such as media blasting or steam cleaning


A= cheaper initially but adds in more labor time

B= faster but more costs, possibily outsourced

"cloneguy" just did a customers cuda i think....blue... he'd have a ballpark, alan s done a few..... also having an extra set of hands,, helps!! i get to unload a B5 today!!!

remember partial.. usually ends up being FULL restoration..

my B5 i just bought,, sounds like the car you are discribing. i'm going to keep a hour meter and expense box (sealed, and away from wife ) on this project..


the master painter for the high end shop told me he puts in 250+(400+) hrs for each paint job, his shop charges min, $15,000-30k, my cars will get done at $8500. 250hrs x $30hr= $7500(+$1000 for material)($8500)

it took me almost 2+ days with a helper to tear down "butterturd", but it was Ruff, and had no motor/trans in it. 30+hrs

blasting a whole body, 8-10 hours, plus fenders 1-3 more:= 13 hrs

250+
30
13 = 293 hours

add a few more = 293-300 hours
add body work welding 100+ hours

=400+ hours

100 for beer drinking...
500 hrs

I know nothing. My wallet does my talking. If I was estimated 500, I'd figure a thousand. I'm just saying.

aahh, man, do you homework.. or start lighting $100 bills.

when i first saw the number 500hrs, i thought, no way. but it adds up. don't cut yourself short.

dennis, you must have way too much money(good for you) or see an estimate, and pray for the best, and hope not to get the, "well, when we......" phone call.... i'm just saying...

Quote:

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100 for beer drinking...
500 hrs

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Ah, but the beer drinking is at 1/2 the normal shop rate to save the customer some money. Be sure to check this on your next estimate.

First, let me say this is a car I'm doing for someone else. It was a pretty clean car and came in looking prety straight and very little rust. Of course after being stripped it had mud and more rust once it's was cleaned/blasted. I'm doing all the work in house and on a rotiserre.

One thing is normally I find factory undercoating pretty easy to remove. Some heat and a scraper and it comes off in chunks. This one had some aftermarket crap and was a real pain. I assume it was used to cover up some of the dents and such from when it was wrecked.

After tear down, then blasting, straightening, replacing a few sections and so on, I'd say the 250 or so number will probally be pretty close to the time I have into the body and putting it in paint.

I really thought originally I could keep it under 300 hours, but like I mentioned, you find more as you remove parts, paint, and undercoating. I've done body work for around 20 years and until the past 5 years, it was always my own stuff or smaller projects for others. So I was curious to see how my pace was compared to others. I go hourly, so I don't have to cut corners. And it's not like the owner had a problem with the time that's gone into it.

Thanks for the replies. I feel much better knowing that I'm making good progress on the time I have into the car. I think 350 hours should get me pretty close, but from all this I guess I could be closer to 400.

And the beer drinking is done on my own time