Full Nut and Bolt Restoration

[Canuck]

I have used the same restoration guy for 30 + years and he has done 12 cars for me. The only estimate He ever gave me was when doing my 68 Charger in 2005 he realized getting the quarter panels right for black paint was going to ad about $1000.00 per panel (blocking,sanding,repeat,repeat) about 8 hours each plus materials. Car turned out beautiful..
Mark did a 71 442 convert for me in 2005 and my latest one finished this year. I called the cars BC1 and BC2 , BC stood for basket case not British Columbia. The cost difference over 20 years was 2.5 X. Paint alone had quadrupled, wait times for parts had expanded from 10-12 weeks to 10-12 months ( interior). Chrome,let’s not go there. I had another car done about 2 years ago, decided to use a local shop, knew the place well. The car was a no rust eastern Washington State car, body work was mostly fixing small dents. I was planning to spend $15,000 to $18,000 (not looking for show quality). Final bill was $42,000. Job was done in 60 days.
Not to discourage anybody from doing a restoration,you just have to be open minded and realistic.