Car restoration fees

[BOXoROCKS]

forgot something,Don thats a great looking car,but next time park it over the oil spots

 

[kcbugeye1275]

Sounds like you have a friend who won't ever get this car done unless he is fortunate enough to have somewone like you to finish it. It seems to me that this could be a win win situation. Simply tell him that out of your friendship you've posted this question on the forum(or better yet, get on the forum and show him the post and have him join) and out of protection for both of your sakes write up something agreeable for the both of you. Finally, make sure in the progress reports, ie bill statements, make sure he understands that the door is open to see the progress.

 

[Don Elliott]

In actual fact, I was struck with bone marrow cancer (a relative of leukemia) 3 years ago and all of the final work on the green TR3A was done under my direction by my brother and my neighbor, both of whom are retired and both are very mechanically gifted. I didn't charge for the supervision, but my "team" did a great job and finished it as you can see.

This is another option for you to do the TR of that person.

As for me it's been almost 3 years that I've been in re-mission. Life is GREAT ! I knock on wood every day.

This past spring, I had the strength to re-built the engine in my own black 1958 TR3A and after putting it back in and driving 90 miles around home to tune it up, I left the day after for VTR near Philadelphia in July. They awarded me 2nd in the early class concours with 381 points

 

[Gordo]

Would anyone know if the 2 on the left side of Don's picture is "Cotswold Blue"?

Gordo

 

[TFR]

Called him last night and told him I would do the job and that we should sit down and discuss the conditions.
He wants to start as soon as I am ready. He also mentioned me ordering the parts and billing him by-weekly. He said he would pay for a storage facility for my car to keep it from being damaged or involved in his cars work.
As someone said it seems to be a win win...

From past experience you need to be professional and deal with all aspects as they arrive. If there is a problem address it and correct it as it occurs before it becomes a deal breaker. Make it fair for both parties and do the work as though it was your own car.

 

[Don Elliott]

There were several names for that color of blue on late TR3s and a few early TR3As. They were

Salvador Blue
Winchester Blue
Wedgewood Blue
Cotswold Blue

There is a TR3A owner near Burlington Vermont who bought his from his uncle in Penn. The uncle bought it new and it was painted blue with one of those names.

There was a TR on e-bay last year from No. Calif. in Salvador Blue

 

[Andrew Mace]

There were several names for that color of blue on late TR3s and a few early TR3As. They were

Salvador Blue
Winchester Blue
Wedgewood Blue
Cotswold Blue....

Don, I don't doubt the possibility that Standard-Triumph might have used the "Wedgewood" more than once. But the "Wedgewood" I'm more familiar with was a mid-1960s color. It was a much lighter blue that could be mistaken for the early 1960s "Powder" Blue, although Wedgewood is a bit greyer in hue.

"Cotswold" was a bit darker than "Salvador." "Winchester" was somewhat similar to (possibly the same as?) "Salvador."

There are color charts from various manufacturers at the VTR web site that can give a rough idea (considering age of the charts, quality of scanning, monitor spec's, etc.) of what these colors looked like.

 

[donbmw]

I was just talking to a guy who has worked in the past as a Ferrari mechanic and as a heavy & highway equipment mechanic. Not surprisingly his $$$/hour charge was much higher when working on Ferraris... but i thought the rationale was interesting.

No it's not just because Ferrari owners expect/can afford to pay a lot more... it's because of the potential liability if he screws up. A scratch on the paint of a Catapillar earth mover is of no concern but do that on someone's Ferrari and it could cost you thousands to make ir right.

Not an answer for you but just a caution to build something into your price to cover your exposure when working on someone else's car.

It would be nice if aircraft owners were like this. They want the aircraft worked on cheaper than the have their car worked on.

Don

 

[Gordo]

OK, maybe I need some education here. The car I refered to in Don's post (blue one)is not a 2? I'm new to these cars and I may have it wrong. So it could be a 3 with the small mouth?

By the way, that link to the Salvador blue 3 is on my computer background. I love that color. I thought I read his history of the car and it was "Cotswold". I quess I'll have to get Cotswold and Salvador and test for the color I want.

Thanks guys,

Gordo

 

[tomshobby]

No it's not just because Ferrari owners expect/can afford to pay a lot more... it's because of the potential liability if he screws up. A scratch on the paint of a Catapillar earth mover is of no concern but do that on someone's Ferrari and it could cost you thousands to make ir right.

One reason shops carry insurance.

 

[TR3driver]

OK, maybe I need some education here. The car I refered to in Don's post (blue one)is not a 2? I'm new to these cars and I may have it wrong. So it could be a 3 with the small mouth?

With that commission number, definitely a TR3. But from that distance and angle, an early TR3 is indistinguishable from a late (short door) TR2, so we have to take Don's word that it is what he says it is. (Which is OK, Don knows his TRs.)

Really, only the grille and engine changed right at the TR2-3 transition. Many, many other changes were made along the line but without changing the model number. There's a partial list at :
https://www.vtr.org/TR2/TR2-production.shtml

BTW, most people refer to the "wide mouth" cars as TR3A (or TR3B for the last few thousand made). But the factory mostly ignored the "3A" designation so most of the documentation and whatnot continued to call them TR3s.

 

[Don Elliott]

Here is a bit of the blue early TR3A from Williston, Vermont originally sold in Penn. in late 1957. It's next to my black 1958 TR3A at Stowe in 1995.