Body off chassis repair - value added

[ocean1]

As some of you may know I purchased a 4.3BV from ebay recently, with a view to sorting its minor ailments (which I have done)and selling on. It is down at Autotune TVR now and there is bad news, it requires a body off chassis restoration, despite it appearing solid to me. Im too moral to re-sell it on Ebay as it is, so I have to go ahead with the restoration. So the chassis will be repaired, shot blasted and re-coated/painted and will then be as good as new and at the same time the wishbones will be similarly treated ( I will take photos of this to prove). The question is by how much will this increase the value? The first thing anybody should look at is the cahssis, so if its perfect that would be a major plus point right?

Edited by ocean1 on Wednesday 24th October 18:13

Edited by ocean1 on Wednesday 24th October 20:31

[nig-gtv]

I suspect I wont add a massive amount to the value (a few £100 maybe), as unless buying a 'project' most buyers expect a solid chassis, even on an old car. However, it will be a major selling point - so it should sell quickly.... Chims can take a while to sell sometimes.

[bobs4c]

It just depends upon the buyer. There are a lot of cars for sale out there and a chassis renovation costs big money, so it would be a good selling point to those that know.

Unless you bought the car VERY cheaply, I can't see you getting your money back! I was quoted 100 manhours for an outrigger repair.

Bob

[kenny Chim 4]

I was in a similar (albeit cheaper) pickle a couple of years ago.

My clutch had started slipping so I had my garage make a judgement. They concluded that a new gearbox was needed too due to the louder whirring sound when in neutral with the engine running. Ready cash was tight at the time so this was an unexpected blow.

Some friends and family urged me to sell it (hey, what did they know) but my response was that, even if I did sell, I would have to replace these items prior to the sale anyway. V8 Developments supplied the clutch whilst I sourced a gearbox from a Chimaera written off with under 10k miles on the clock.

Once all up and running again (it only took a week!) there was no way that I was going to sell on a great car, with a virtually new trasmission system, for a relatively cheap price.

[andy-w]

i got burnt like this as well.

As said before people would expect to have a solid chassis...having a newly restored chassis would just be seen as a bonus.

100 hours is a reasonable quote for time taken...but at £50 an hour (not sure how much your garage will charge per hour)thats going to be 5k just for labour...if you look on autotrader there are chims going for under 7k now...is it worth it?

Saying that I have nearly finished rebuliding my chim after a body off restoration..it doesnt have to be an expensive job.
I did the welding myself (Used to be a welder fabricator which helps)
Got the chassis shotblasted, zinc sprayed and powder coated for £130
Materials for chassis £20
...and then it was just things that i wanted to replace...petorl pipe, engine/gearbox mounts, handbrake cable, discs and pads...i doubt i have spent much over 1k if that...might have to add it all up and see what it has cost