Would i be nuts to buy a restoration?

[Tallbut Buxomly]

Seen an alfa gt junior stepnose which i am tempted to buy and have restored. From photos i have obtained from owner it seems to be pretty decent owner has been very descriptive and honest about its condition and sent me tons of photos.

It will def need a new nose rear quarter panel and maybe a door or two from the off and the engine may require a rebuild. Interior looks to be in great nic. Not sure about floorpan rust.

Anyone have any idea what a decent condition would go for?

I realise buying a resto unviewed is absolutely insane but owner plans to break if it doesnt sell soon and that seems a real shame.

[mgroadster]

When you said "thinking of having it restored" tells me you are going to pay someone else? Go and get a completed one or do it yourself, you'll save £000s.

[Tallbut Buxomly]

I would do it myself but dont have the space or the skills as it will need a new rear quarter wing grafted on nevermind possibly needing a new floorpan panel or two.

Reason i am thinking of doing it is the car as is, is very cheap for its apparent condition meaning i may be able to buy and restore it for around 3-6k. Estimate is based on purchase price with a bad case scenario parts wise requirement.

Other thing is there dont seem to be very many stepnose gt juniors around these days.
Figured i would sell my present weekender to part fund the resto.

[ShampooEfficient]

Tallbut Buxomly said:

Reason i am thinking of doing it is the car as is, is very cheap for its apparent condition meaning i may be able to buy and restore it for around 3-6k. Estimate is based on purchase price with a bad case scenario parts wise requirement.

First rule of restos. Estimate. Double it. Add a bit more. And you'll still be below the final price.

[sunbeam alpine]

I'm in exactly the same position - with the same car (not the same one, but the same model). What has stopped me from committing up to now (apart from the two other cars I'm doing up at the mo) is availability of parts. If it needs doors you may have a problem - they're almost impossible to find.

I've been to look at 3 so far - it's definitely the model to have. Good luck if you go for it!

[Tallbut Buxomly]

sunbeam alpine said:

I'm in exactly the same position - with the same car (not the same one, but the same model). What has stopped me from committing up to now (apart from the two other cars I'm doing up at the mo) is availability of parts. If it needs doors you may have a problem - they're almost impossible to find.

I've been to look at 3 so far - it's definitely the model to have. Good luck if you go for it!

Found a place who can do doors for around 400 quid each iirc. Not metal though i dont believe.
In fact do all the part wings quarter panels nose floorpans replacement panels etc.

My problem yet again is that i have no idea how much these sell for in good nick so am finding it hard to judge how much i could spend on it before it is costing me more than i could buy a sorted one for.

[Tallbut Buxomly]

ShampooEfficient said:

First rule of restos. Estimate. Double it. Add a bit more. And you'll still be below the final price.

Which is what i have done to a degree. Basically from photos looks relatively rust free >crosses fingers< however have factored resto costs as needing 2 doors two rear quarter panels, two front wings and a front panel which wont be the case looking at the pics and they are the most expensive body panels by a country mile.

Inside of boot looks rust free though left back looks like it may have some rust but panel is around 80-100 quid iirc.

May need 1 door definitely 1 rear q panel and 1 front panel. Interior is only in need of a clean no rips tears etc. Rear seat even looks like its never been sat in.

[TallPaul]

Tallbut Buxomly said:

Found a place who can do doors for around 400 quid each iirc. Not metal though i dont believe.
In fact do all the part wings quarter panels nose floorpans replacement panels etc.

From your description, I think you'd be doing well to get a decent body only restoration done for £6,000, if there's any sort of issue with availability of panels, you can expect to see that figure double.
Dont fit fibreglass (I assume thats what you're talking about when you say "Not metal though i dont believe"), you will massively devalue the finished project.

[Tallbut Buxomly]

TallPaul said:

From your description, I think you'd be doing well to get a decent body only restoration done for £6,000, if there's any sort of issue with availability of panels, you can expect to see that figure double.
Dont fit fibreglass (I assume thats what you're talking about when you say "Not metal though i dont believe"), you will massively devalue the finished project.

Ahh you see thats useful info. It was a concern. I mean i wasnt planning on councourse completion but as said above dont wish to spend as much or more on a resto as a decent sorted one would cost but there seem to be none out there for sale to give an idea of value.

[snowdude2910]

Can yuo not find the bodyshop you'd like to do the restoration and take them with you for a quote or ask them for a rough quote from the pics??

[TallPaul]

snowdude2910 said:

Can yuo not find the bodyshop you'd like to do the restoration and take them with you for a quote or ask them for a rough quote from the pics??

Thats a much better idea, take someone from your prefered bodyshop with you to view the car. Even if you pay them £100, it'll save you buying a pup and you might be able to get them to drop the inspection fee if they do the resto. You wont get a very reliable price from pictures, they'll need to see the car in person and you can use their quote as a bargaining point.

[TallPaul]

IAN ELLIS STEPNOSE RESTO Absolutely nothing to do with me, just the first thing Google brought up.

It looks pretty good even with the fibreglass bits, so I guess you'd need to sign up on the owners club forum to see how they view fibreglass panels. Steel will always be more desirable but I guess if restorers can only get F/G it may not be too detrimental to overall value.

[Tallbut Buxomly]

Well viewing would be an issue as car is in a different country a long long way away. I could i suppose enlist a company out there to inspect and quote for restoration but it would require a fair bit of trust and the seller would need to be pretty patient as have already had him send me a shedload of pics. In fact seems a really good seller. Sent around 24 photos after being asked for some pics of the cars rust and general condition.


Nose

Boot

Rear seat

Rear quarter panel and by far the worst looking bit of rust in terms of removal as other q panel looks to be ok...

[VeeFour]

Bertone (105 series) cars are horrifically expensive to restore - but prices are on the up.

However, here are a couple of examples:

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C222618

(UK based GTV 2000 for £7999 ono)

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C153024

(Italy based GT Junior race prepped car for £8250 ono)

I'd not be buying and hoping to make a profit on the restoration...

[Tallbut Buxomly]

As said idea is not to buy for profit but not to spend more on buying and restoring than one would cost in good nic anyway.

[aventino68]

Tallbut Buxomly said:

As said idea is not to buy for profit but not to spend more on buying and restoring than one would cost in good nic anyway.

I would think you could easily spend 2 or 3 times the value of the car on a restoration. Unless you have sentimental value attached or the car is extremely desirable restoration is a road of doom.

[GavinPearson]

Having restored a car I think unless you can source the spares easily then it really is best avoided.

But buying a 'restoration' is also a minefield.

I have seen numerous cars for sale with fibreglass panels, poor workmanship and poor attention to detail for silly money, and quite honestly a well used example that is original and MOT worthy is a far better bet.

Driving an old car can be fun but I'd avoid using them for day to day transport - that simply isn't practical.

The more exotic the taste gets the bigger the potential nightmare when something goes wrong.

The best thing to do is research who the specialists are for the models you are interested in and then buy their catalogues. Then find out what the common repairs are for those cars. Then figure that everything can go wrong with your new buy, and only go ahead if you can afford it.