The Ford Barn - View Single Post - for those who say the hobby is "expensive"

Marshall V. Daut · 03-20-2025, 09:42 AM

Well, for starters: Structural wood kit for this body style from Snyder's: $3811.00. And this does not include chassis wood, door wood or top wood. Add another $2000 or so to the structural wood kit price. Shipping will probably be $200 or so. O.K., so now you have a complete wood kit lying on the garage floor. What to do? Installing a wood kit in this body will be a nightmare if you don't have woodworking skills and tools to re-shape/re-fit some of the pieces, which NEVER fit right out of the box. Pay someone to install the wood kit? $2,500 at least.

Let's see: Purchase price undelivered: $2800. Delivery charge? Depends upon where it's going. From New York to California? $2,000? Restored chassis with standard engine? $10,000+. Correct, authentic interior? $6,000+. Chrome plating? $1,000+. Special three-color paint scheme (four with black fenders, etc.)? $10,000? And so on, and so on...

This is a great body style and when restored, very beautiful. But by my estimate, IF you did everything yourself, you'd have $35,000+ invested and thousands of manhours. I take my hat off to anyone who will take on this project. Too scary for this old guy. Best of luck to the new owner!
Marshall
ADDED: Ha! I forgot to include body work, which this car apparently could use. This could easily run into many, many thousands of dollars not accounted for in my above rough estimates. Yikes! We could be past the $40,000 mark now!

03-20-2025, 09:42 AM	#9
Marshall V. Daut Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Davenport, Iowa Posts: 2,626	Re: for those who say the hobby is "expensive" Well, for starters: Structural wood kit for this body style from Snyder's: $3811.00. And this does not include chassis wood, door wood or top wood. Add another $2000 or so to the structural wood kit price. Shipping will probably be $200 or so. O.K., so now you have a complete wood kit lying on the garage floor. What to do? Installing a wood kit in this body will be a nightmare if you don't have woodworking skills and tools to re-shape/re-fit some of the pieces, which NEVER fit right out of the box. Pay someone to install the wood kit? $2,500 at least. Let's see: Purchase price undelivered: $2800. Delivery charge? Depends upon where it's going. From New York to California? $2,000? Restored chassis with standard engine? $10,000+. Correct, authentic interior? $6,000+. Chrome plating? $1,000+. Special three-color paint scheme (four with black fenders, etc.)? $10,000? And so on, and so on... This is a great body style and when restored, very beautiful. But by my estimate, IF you did everything yourself, you'd have $35,000+ invested and thousands of manhours. I take my hat off to anyone who will take on this project. Too scary for this old guy. Best of luck to the new owner! Marshall ADDED: Ha! I forgot to include body work, which this car apparently could use. This could easily run into many, many thousands of dollars not accounted for in my above rough estimates. Yikes! We could be past the $40,000 mark now!