The Ford Barn - View Single Post - Interesting read in Hemmings about restoration costs.

rotorwrench · 11-15-2019, 02:27 PM

There are enough photos from the manufacture of model As to see that they were put together very well with excellent quality control. They were inexpensive, yes, but cobbled together, No. Fit and finish was very good on these cars. Ford never accepted crap work from any of the sub-contract companies either. When some part or assembly gave problems, it was changed by engineering. This is evident in the service bulletins that were so many, it takes a book to hold them.

As far as how long it takes to do a thorough and accurate restoration, that depends on a multitude of factors. A one man shop can do as good a job as any but the time involved is going to be a lot longer due to the hours of labor it take to do the average job. There are only so many hours in a day.

A multi man shop can do it a lot faster since the labor is split between the workers. The larger the shop, the larger the payroll and overhead. Different people have different skill levels and work ethics so that really has an effect. If work gets slow then some employees have to go but where do you find skilled help and how much do you have to pay to keep them when times are good. I don't envy larger shops since I've been there myself and know how much fun it can be. As a forman, I've had to be a customer care guy, teacher, a quality control fixer of problems, and a worker in my own right. It's not an easy job. Things go more quickly but not necessarily smoothly. This always reflects in the costs of the job.

The DIY guy can take as long as he wants but even those folks need some professional help now and then for skill sets they don't possess & tooling they don't have. Some DIY guys possess a lot of drive to finish their projects. Others may never completely finish and it will go on to the next owner. The simpler cars like the open cars and pickups suit a DIY guy better than a fordor or station wagon since those cars have a lot of wood or trim that is more complicated to work with. The coupe is less complicated than a tudor model but similar skill sets are required and they are still relatively simple. The cabriotlets are high on the complicated list and not very easy to restore or find parts for. All of these different cars have different amounts of labor involved for a restoration and that has to be considered by the prospective buyer.

Folks that have done restorations can generally tell you how long it takes for the different models they have experienced. Clubs helped a lot back when they were more popular by guys willing to help each other out when they needed and giving some much needed motivation at times.

11-15-2019, 02:27 PM	#34
rotorwrench Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: San Antonio, Texas Posts: 16,441	Re: Interesting read in Hemmings about restoration costs. There are enough photos from the manufacture of model As to see that they were put together very well with excellent quality control. They were inexpensive, yes, but cobbled together, No. Fit and finish was very good on these cars. Ford never accepted crap work from any of the sub-contract companies either. When some part or assembly gave problems, it was changed by engineering. This is evident in the service bulletins that were so many, it takes a book to hold them. As far as how long it takes to do a thorough and accurate restoration, that depends on a multitude of factors. A one man shop can do as good a job as any but the time involved is going to be a lot longer due to the hours of labor it take to do the average job. There are only so many hours in a day. A multi man shop can do it a lot faster since the labor is split between the workers. The larger the shop, the larger the payroll and overhead. Different people have different skill levels and work ethics so that really has an effect. If work gets slow then some employees have to go but where do you find skilled help and how much do you have to pay to keep them when times are good. I don't envy larger shops since I've been there myself and know how much fun it can be. As a forman, I've had to be a customer care guy, teacher, a quality control fixer of problems, and a worker in my own right. It's not an easy job. Things go more quickly but not necessarily smoothly. This always reflects in the costs of the job. The DIY guy can take as long as he wants but even those folks need some professional help now and then for skill sets they don't possess & tooling they don't have. Some DIY guys possess a lot of drive to finish their projects. Others may never completely finish and it will go on to the next owner. The simpler cars like the open cars and pickups suit a DIY guy better than a fordor or station wagon since those cars have a lot of wood or trim that is more complicated to work with. The coupe is less complicated than a tudor model but similar skill sets are required and they are still relatively simple. The cabriotlets are high on the complicated list and not very easy to restore or find parts for. All of these different cars have different amounts of labor involved for a restoration and that has to be considered by the prospective buyer. Folks that have done restorations can generally tell you how long it takes for the different models they have experienced. Clubs helped a lot back when they were more popular by guys willing to help each other out when they needed and giving some much needed motivation at times.