jay770

Hey guy new to CO. Here's a few thing about my car. Its a 1971 cutlass S. it has a 455 engine, front disk brakes etc. My problem is I'm eager to drive it but I dont wanna just put paint on top of rust. My question is where do I start body or frame, engine and trans. what? Also Im here in Atlanta Ga and haven't been able to find any shops here that doesnt sound like there just trying to rob me. Example Atlanta Auto Restorations told me 50,000 at the least. Another interior shop "forgot there names" said my interior would be 4500.00. Does these prices sound about right.
P.S.
All of this because I went to a YearOne car show.
will add pics

RAMBOW

impossible to say without pics.

It really depends on what you say you want. If you want a show quality paintjob- and the car has any kind of rust or other damage to start with- it could easily be $20k+ for a shop to do it all.

If you just want a nice driver quality paint job fix some rust issues- Somehwere between $8k-$15k

Again, this is with you doing nothing, and assuming you don't need MAJOR panel replacement.

Post some pics of the car and we can probably give you a better idea, but it still cannot replace an exper in person telling you the problem areas he can see- and even then may not be able to see all the REAL problems until he starts stripping paint.

Interior stuff is pretty cut & dry.
Get yourself a restoration catalog & get prices for everything you need...
Seat Covers, Foam, Carpet, Headliner, door panels, etc etc.

Then call around and find out shop rates- and estimates on the time to do it.

If you need/want the whole interior redone for you- then $4500 may not be that far off.

The thing is... These old cars are easy to work on... There is almost no reason if you have any sort of a handy bone in your body you can't do some of this stuff yourself.

Interior stuff especially. Door panels, Carpet, even headliner & seat covers. Its not rocket science and there are lots of places on the internet to see/learn how to do it.


If you are NOT handy... and the car really does need a lot of work- you may want to consider selling it and buying a car that is closer to being done (or all done) you will save money in the long run. Its very expensive to have a classic car restored at shop rates.

Just my $.02

RAMBOW

Went back and re-read your post again...

RE: Where to Start....

Start with safety things-
Go through the Brakes & Suspension & Steering

Then move onto drivetrain-
Engine, Transmission, Rear end

Once its safe, and runs and drives good & reliable & up to snuff- Then you want to do the interior & body work.

That way, you are not trying to protect your nice new paintjob while pulling the motor out.

Of course guys that do full on restorations do it the other way around...
THey will buy the car- immediately strip it down to the shell- Separate the body & frame

Send body out for stripping/bodywork & paint... While thats going on their will restore/modify the frame, suspension & brakes & do the engine/tranny/rear.

When the body comes back finished they'll put it back on the frame- Do wiring, exhaust, put the glass back in, interior, outside trim, glass, etc etc.

Of course the guys doing those type of restorations know they won't be driving the car for a couple years while they do all that- the real world doesn't work like an episode of overhaulin.

There is something to be said for each way of doing it- an it depends on what you want out of the finished car, and how much time, space, money etc etc that you have.

citcapp

I am with Rambow on this if you do the mechanical stuff first then you can take a brake and enjoy the car for a bit before going into the body. Helps keep the interest level up, at least it did for me