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OT - Car Restoration

3K views 27 replies 17 participants last post by  fish-vw 
#1 ·
I have an old 66 Ford Falcon Coupe I am looking to restore. Don't have the time or talent to do it myself so was looking for some recommendations. I need to get the seats redone, dash board, ceiling, painted, engine fixed up and the AC fixe/converted.... pretty much its a good solid base but needs love all around.

Anybody have recommendation on who to use for each (or many) aspects of the rebuild? I would like to keep it as original as possible. Anybody ever done something similar? How much does it cost all in? Tips?

For those curious here is a picture of the model/year (in similar condition). This was the first car I ever owned and have held on to it for this reason (restoration).

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a1/FordFalconSportsCoupeGrndRouteB.jpg

289 V8, 3 on the tree, manual everything. Poor mans Mustang.
 
#2 ·
It's going to depend on how thorough you plan to be and what your expectations are. It will definitely cost more than what you expect, especially if you are paying someone else to do the work. Very good quality work is labor intensive and takes experience, both of which aren't cheap. There are a couple pics in my profile of my Mustang, I've got over $30k into it- and I did all of the work myself except the engine build. Not bragging, OP asked. It can add up fast, and you get to a point where there is no turning back. The thing that sucks the most, it's still only worth $5000 on CL. I always wanted to build a hot rod, and it is a blast to drive, but I will never do it again. Check your commitment before you begin, then have fun.
 
#3 ·
Todd owns the Interior shop he is one of the best in the world. He is also a rider. His number is.602-743-6058. He rents one of the bays out of my building. I own a custom shop called Grunion We do not do restoration, but I am sure I can help you find a few other good people. We mainly build customs. Check out the vehicle gallery on my site http://grunionfabrication.com/ Here is Todd's site its not very updated but you will get the idea
http://www.theinteriorshop.com/
 
#4 ·
Stumpy is absolutely correct. I've built a couple of cars (65 Chevelle, 68 GTO, etc.). I can do a lot of the work myself and it's expensive. Paying someone to do it will be astronomical. Honestly, with a base like that, the biggest fun in the ride is doing a lot of the work yourself, learning, experimenting and keeping one of you garage bays tied up for the foreseeable future.
 
#5 ·
Whenever and where ever possible go with either good used original parts or NOS. Although both are more expensive (especially NOS FoMoCo) than reproduction, both have a better fit and better quality than reproduction parts. Make a list and be patient. Original used or even NOS will almost always show up on ebay or craigslist. Doing a '65 fastback myself. .

jeff
 
#6 ·
az1jeff said:
Whenever and where ever possible go with either good used original parts or NOS. Although both are more expensive (especially NOS FoMoCo) than reproduction, both have a better fit and better quality than reproduction parts. Make a list and be patient. Original used or even NOS will almost always show up on ebay or craigslist. Doing a '65 fastback myself. .

jeff
+1. I had to resort to some after market convertible top weather stripping, and I am very dissappointed with the fit and finish. Eventually, when better quality is available, it will have to be changed out.
 
#8 ·
@berzerker, where'd everybody go? did they get deleted? how lame. this place is starting to suck as much as scottsdale. buncha whiney girls. what good is a board without someone stirring the pot every now and then? f'in' russians!



bike content?
 
#10 ·
Wow... didnt really expect to put that much money into it. I don't want/need it to be show room quality just something that looks good and runs well. I was thinking paint job, new seats, carpet, ceiling liner and dashboard... not tricking it out or anything... am I still looking at a money pit? Thanks for the info so far!
 
#11 ·
I restored a '66 442 and I realized its much more work (and money) than I would like to admit... but it was fun.
My first car was a '70 buick skylark GSX, so the stock 455 block type car was what I was going for. The project was half done when I got it. I bought it with absolutely no interior, however, the body was complete with new paint chrome etc.
Now for the interior... I tried doing my research on the car and other cars of that year. This may be obvious to you, but there are a LOT of companys (ford included) that exchanged most of their parts between most of their models, especially in the 60s.... I lucked out... I was able to find the some awesome black leather seats from a less desired model that had exchangable parts. It took me about a year to find them though... I found them in a hoe-dunk town near stawberry. If you plan to keep this for awhile, do your research on the car... take your time finding your parts, they will come.
 
#12 ·
Stumpy29er said:
@berzerker, where'd everybody go? did they get deleted? how lame. this place is starting to suck as much as scottsdale. buncha whiney girls. what good is a board without someone stirring the pot every now and then? f'in' russians!

bike content?
A thread calling residents of Scottsdale whiney girls falls under the approved MTBR rules. Failed to see that within the eMPTyBeeR rules! Even though it may be fun to pick on the residents of Scottsdale! I look in the mirror and pick on my self for living there also!

Yet I'm sure if one were to say that the spandex wearing racer boys were blasting over people on DC again. That may fall into not allowed material.

berzerker, where are my parts!!!!! :D
 
#13 ·
@jdpowers- my suggestion, and I'm sure everybody here that has done a car will agree, is if you want to avoid a "money pit" to make a plan. Take a good hard look at what you have to start with, and how you envision the end result. Do some research into parts availability and cost, you may now have to revise your plan. Do some more research into how to do as much of the work as possible yourself, scour boneyards and swap meets, plan on this taking a while. Bear in mind that your car is 40 years old, it's probably going to need parts that you're not even thinking of, like frame/suspension bushings, some wiring replaced, probably brake/fuel lines. My original response was not meant to discourage you, but to point out that this will most likely run well beyond what you are expecting. Take your time, learn some new skills(and words), try to enjoy the process. If you are decently inclined mechanically, you can do most of the work yourself. For reference, I spent 3 full years on my car, spending at least a couple of hours most days working on it, and probably darn near every weekend. Fortunately, this was before my mtbing addiction reared it's ugly head.:thumbsup:
 
#14 ·
jdpowers: I have completely frame-off'ed a 64 Pontiac Tempest that I sort of half pro-streeted half 60's gasser. It is expensive and I started with a figure in mind and I doubled it....I should have tripled it. Two things added to the number: being inexperienced and buying inferior product and not getting what I paid for from labor I farmed out. The car was painted twice because the 1st guy just didn't cut it and I finally had to cut my losses. I found a GREAT painter that is in prescott and is word of mouth only. An honest days work for an honest days pay guy. He is good (you can see it in my car). He has to want to do your car however but yours is from the era he likes so it might be a fit. The second thing that added to the cost was me changing my mind fifty thousand times. I can't even begin to calculate the dollars spent only to be discarded. I have gone through 2 complete drive trains in this car (still building the second motor, a 486 cube stoked Pontiac running a modified 66 tripower setup.....yeah yeah, a 4 barrel is better these days...or better yet, FI but nothing defines "*****in" like the old 3x2s). You can get it done for a reasonable amount IF you do your homework and have a plan you stick to from the onset. Grunion above may be a great fit given that he is a fellow biker. It establishes at least some rapport to start a relationship with a shop as it is just like a marriage. If it works, its heaven but if not, its hell. I still need to finish a few mechanicals on my car and then have the interior done to complete it so I may be visiting Gruion and team myself (career just doesn't allow me to do my own work anymore). Good luck with the project.
 
#16 ·
I used to own a motorcycle shop and did restorations. what everyone has said is absolutely correct. Also- don't be fooled by a flashy showroom or low prices. Both can be red herrings. Hook up with Grunion- I work down the street at North Valley Motorsports and the stuff he has in front of his shop nearly makes me run into the curb everytime I drive by!
 
#18 ·
Try All Ways Hot Rods here in Phoenix: www.allwayshotrods.com. They can do anything you want. Due to increased work demands, I had stalled at about 90% complete on my 74 Ford Bronco. I took this project right down to the frame and built it back up. End was in sight when I stalled. All Ways helped me finish it out. Can't recommend these guys highly enough.

With respect to cost, yes it is expensive. As someone told me going into this project, "there is no problem too difficult that can't be solved by throwing money at it."

Good luck!

Bob
(BTW, that is a beautiful Pontiac, chrome trim is really trick!)
 

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#19 ·
A buddy of mine owns Elite Automotive Finishes in Mesa (Alma School and Broadway behind Los Dos Molinos). He does very good body work and paint. Next door to him is a guy that does some really good upholstery work, could do seats, dash, headliner.

Chris runs Elite, don't think he has a web page yet but he recently painted another friends car and I got a couple pics:
http://picasaweb.google.com/tom93r1/Glens_car#5492419868399377362

Google maps has the address and phone if you are interested.
 
#20 ·
It will cost more than you want to spend, but if you do it right, and with the right car (market dictates this) it can be worth more than you spend.

my project took 2 years, and 4000.00 in chrome, over 1000.00 in new rubber seals, just some rough ideas of the numbers you can see building a car.

but I ended up with this

all worth it in the end, more than my 2cents
 
#23 · (Edited)
Nice looking car.

But honestly, I have to ask....Is that really worth restoring? After all....you call it a "poor mans mustang"

I mean, restoration gets quite costly and most likely the car finished & restored isn't going to be worth more than the cost of the restoration, and even then.....how collectable or in demand will it be once finished?

Having said that, I know nothing about collectables.
 
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