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Is this what I think it is?

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It does look that way but it could be the mod where you bore out the area and put a big bolt in there. Can't really tell.
BillM
 
Definitely yes.Must have forgotten to put the cotter pin in and the fulcrum pin has unscrewed. Should tell him.....

Just sent him an email.
 
So anyone tell him yet. This one is getting to some serious numbers? John Felt sold Ladybug last night. Our cars are appreciating rapidly. Spring is coming.
 
Yep, I concur...that pin is coming out!
Rut
 
How come if the seat covers are new they are penetrated by cat claws?
 
Heater-box top looks a little bashed in. No?
Pretty otherwise.
 
But all that work and they painted the engine the seriously wrong color.
 
Yes, and the wrong seat covers from a later Sprite were installed!
But the paint looks over the top! No Sprite ever, ever came with paint like that!
Maybe the paint is too good....it does not look the period.
What do others think???
Scott in CA
 
smaceng said:
Yes, and the wrong seat covers from a later Sprite were installed!
But the paint looks over the top! No Sprite ever, ever came with paint like that!
Maybe the paint is too good....it does not look the period.
What do others think???
Scott in CA
Click to expand...
I agree! :encouragement:
 
Seller reports and says thanks to the BCF Team. Car went on lift this AM to have issue with fulcrum pin corrected. A potentially serious disaster averted due to watchful eyes.

wishbone and fulcrum pin were likely damaged. I told him if pin does not fully seat it will need to be replaced. Threads on wishbone bushings likely damaged as well.
 
Why do people paint the underside black? :rolleye: Still, a nice-looking car.
 
Black can sure hide a lot of sibs that is why.
 
Shame... given the car was completely done-over. Oh well. :smile:
 
$50,000 spent on restoration and they couldn't buy a correct fresh air hose instead of dryer vent, including articulated sheet metal tubing? There's so much wrong for a car in this price range. No dash grab handle, scrap of painted wood as a radio delete plate, no windscreen wipers?... bashed heater, painted brake lines, suspension and frame in engine bay painted black indicates it was all painted in place too. Even the diff housing looks to be painted over all the built up grease. The cobweb hanging from the back underside indicates attention to detail by the seller. The body looks nice in the pix, but the quality of other stuff I see makes me question how well everything else was done. Rotisserie restoration... really?
 
All I can say is you guys have good eyes for stuff done wrong. I am slowly learning about stuff, but I don't think I have enough years left or smarts to rise to your level of expertise.
As for $50K spent for restoration, I don't think it is enough. If you guys who do the restoration your self charged yourself $110 an hour to restore your cars you would probably have in excess of $100K in them. I asked my mechanic one time how many hours it would take him to restore a BE from the ground up and he said at least 1000 hours. At $110 an hour you can do the math. So flashing invoices totaling $50K doesn't really impress me, because the 1000 hours is all labor and doesn't include parts etc.
I don't see how you can hire someone who is in the business of restoring cars to restore a car to excellent condition from the ground up and expect to get your money back down the road in a sale.
So my conclusion is to do it for $50K you have to cut a lot of corners to make the math work.
 
Pardon me but I guess I wasn't finished. In my way of thinking if you could buy old heaps and restore them and sell them at a nice profit there would be shops popping up all over the place. But I only see the Rich and Famous, like Jay Leno paying people to restore cars for them. If Jay ever decided to sell his collection I bet he would take a huge loss.That is why I highly respect people like Scott Macdonald, Jim Gruber, Gerard, Rut Rutledge and others who are putting in the time to do nice restorations, knowing full well that they will never get their sweat equity back when they sell their cars.
If it was the case that you could make every car you acquire perfect then people like BUGEYE GUY would only be selling perfect cars, but even he has categories of cars at different prices depending on what shape they are in and how much it would cost him to make them perfect.
So, I guess I have said my piece about the CAR RESTORATION BUSINESS
 
59diamond said:
Pardon me but I guess I wasn't finished. In my way of thinking if you could buy old heaps and restore them and sell them at a nice profit there would be shops popping up all over the place. But I only see the Rich and Famous, like Jay Leno paying people to restore cars for them. If Jay ever decided to sell his collection I bet he would take a huge loss.That is why I highly respect people like Scott Macdonald, Jim Gruber, Gerard, Rut Rutledge and others who are putting in the time to do nice restorations, knowing full well that they will never get their sweat equity back when they sell their cars.
If it was the case that you could make every car you acquire perfect then people like BUGEYE GUY would only be selling perfect cars, but even he has categories of cars at different prices depending on what shape they are in and how much it would cost him to make them perfect.
So, I guess I have said my piece about the CAR RESTORATION BUSINESS
Click to expand...


No question you are right about making any money restoring "our" cars. You can't, at least not the way I and some others do it. Most people, especially in this category, have the philosophy "if you can't see it, it doesn't matter". or "that's good enough". If you want to make money at it, do it for others who don't have the skill or the time, and appreciate having someone do quality work for them. Consequently, what always baffles me, is the shortsightedness of some thinking you can buy a heap or a rust bucket and end up spending less than buying a well sorted car for a fair price. (fair price being a relative term, I mean good value for the money, NOT as in cheap)
 
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