• Hi Guest!
    If you appreciate British Car Forum and our 25 years of supporting British car enthusiasts with technical and anicdotal information, collected from our thousands of great members, please support us with a low-cost subscription. You can become a supporting member for less than the dues of most car clubs.
    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

What would you do?

Share this page

L

lucky

Freshman Member
Offline
Always a fun game to play. So here's the situation. Friend of mine has a 58 100-6 that's in pieces and we're trying to figure out what to do with it. He has decided it's not a project he's going to get to.

Among the pieces the body and frame have been completely restored and the body painted in BRG, ready to come home from the shop. Rear axle under it, nothing in the front. We have a correct engine and tranny, 2 of each really and another completed donor car. There is one each of the internal manifold head and a regular head. We think the engine is a newer rebuild but it's not painted. We have all the front end parts, drive train parts, hubs, wheels, windshield and frame, etc.

I've offered to put it together for him if he wants to go that way but we're wondering if it makes more sense to sell it as is. It's half a year to a year project, still needs wiring harness, interior panels, and more so there's some money to be spent. We don't have the resources to do a top notch restoration so we'll end up with a very nice driver at the end of the process.

I'm wondering if it's worth almost as much as it is, ready for a really great restoration and with all the grunt work done, as it would be reassembled as a really nice driver but not a top drawer restoration. What do you think?
 
I'm wondering if it's worth almost as much as it is, ready for a really great restoration .

Yes i think so but it will take some good pictures to sell it
 
Try the first option and see what the market will pay for it like it is. That will help you decide. If you can break even now , why not? Why on earth would you invest another $10-15 grand and 4-500 hours to break even down the road? Kevin
 
I think it rarely pays to put in time and money to assemble and "improve" a project like this. Rather, spend your time getting good pictures and try to organize and document what you have.

There are many folks out there who like to buy projects, you see them bid to high prices all the time on e-bay. I think you will do fine and let the next owner figure out how to keep the project right side up.
 
While I agree he is better off selling it as is, it is not reasonable to expect to get anywhere near the price of the car assembled and running.
 
There's plenty of people here in Oregon I could direct you to that could assist with the restoration. Do you belong to the AHCO, https://healey-oregon.org/
Some car hobbiest will even work for food....uuurrrr, beer.
 
Hi Lucky, you didn't mention, but do all the other parts (some two of, like the cyl heads) included? Does the donor car come with it?

If so, you're looking at a heavy shipping cost.

BTW, what condition are the shrouds in?
 
It probably depends on if it is a project you WANT to do and would value your time an $0. If so, it would make more sense to get a running car and spend minimally on parts to do so. If not, I would sell as a project.

There are a lot of very cheap projects available in the market today. The number of people that would be interested in your car that is driving is immensely bigger and would be reflected in the sale price.
 
dougie said:
There's plenty of people here in Oregon I could direct you to that could assist with the restoration. Do you belong to the AHCO, https://healey-oregon.org/
Some car hobbiest will even work for food....uuurrrr, beer.
Click to expand...

I think the owner is or was. We have the contact info though, thanks.

Somebody asked what I want to do. We have a rotisserie and I'd love to get the chassis mounted up and install the wiring harness, brake and fuel lines and tank, install front suspension and steering, the drive train. I guess then one option would be to sell it as a running chassis with the refinished body ready to hang and trim out. I'd think there'd have to be some value in that, and a good bit of fun along the way.

Timing is another thing I wonder about. Anybody see much movement either way in prices over the next year?

Thanks for your thoughts, keep em coming.
 
I'll play along... its a little slow here today. My opinion fwiw, it may be worth $25,000 finished . Perhaps its worth $7500 now if its complete. There's nothing to indicate that its been done to any higher std. than that. On a big Healey resto. , how the doors open, close and fit when its finished is EVERYTHING. Let somebody else worry about that! Forget about the fact that the market says its the least desirable model big Healey, meaning it will be the last to appreciate in value. Assemble all the parts in an orderly manner take some good detailed pictures and sell it on ebay like it is.
 
Back
Top