How far gone is too far gone?

Yesterday, a fellow came by the office around 5:15 asking for advice. It seems a "friend" gave him a neglected 76-or-so (he didn't remember the exact year, but it had rubber bumpers and he thought it was a later car) MGB. The floors are rotten and the engine is seized, but he was hoping we could direct him to a source of cheap parts.

I gave him the standard batch of sources, but he kinda cringed at the idea of buying any parts, saying that he didn't want to turn the car into a money pit.

While I can understand where he's coming from, if your car is broken and you want it fixed you're gonna have to replace some things. You can be cheap or you can be nostalgic, but it's hard to be both. If the car isn't worth fixing, there's nothing I can suggest that will change that.

Maybe he expected me to have a spare MG mill in my back pocket. He seemed to like the idea of a street sign for cheap floorpan replacements.

It's not that he wasn't a nice guy, but I don't know what I could have suggested that would fit his needs. Anybody else deal with someone like that?

Se he's hoping to find a spare engine for free hiding in someones garage and such. OK. He needs to go to swap meets and such, where such things can be found.

He's hoping to make a running scrounge of this MGB for next to nothing. It's possible. It will take time and some effort.

Part it out and use the money plus some to get something better or start a new hobby. Real friends should never expect you to finish their basket cases.

Cheers Ron

I agree with Ron. A car that far gone is a parts car in my book. Also I just cringe at the street sign floor pan fix. So many cars have be absolutely ruined with these kinds of repairs. The reality of the collector car hobby is that you will have to spend money on the cars. maybe he should part out the MGB and get a Miata with a salvage title that has been repaired well and drive that. much less work and money involved.

If you don't like doing the work or really want the car in question, you don't need to restore it. It's going to be difficult, messy and expensive no matter what. I agree, part it out, sell it as a whole, and move on.

if it were extremely rare that might be a different story, but rubber bumper MGB's are still not that rare or collectible. But you don't want to botch the thing up for the guy that really wants it. There's nothing I hate worse than having to redo something that would have been easier if it had been left alone.

I tend to pop their balloons before they start. Classic car restoration requires a serious commitment to financial irresponsibility.

A shell is going to run you 10k to get to paint if you do most of the work yourself and another 10-15k to deal with comprehensive mechanical and interior rehabilitation.

All that time $$$ and effort is going to get you a 12k car when you sell it.

If you want to go cheap and own a classic, go buy a good one that someone already did. Drive it for 5 years, take good care of it and sell it for what you paid.

By the way just as a barometer, I just checked out and drove a nice 80 MGB LE that drove nice, everything worked and it had no rust and decent paint and interior. Guy was asking $4,500 or best offer. Sounds like a much better place to put your money to me.

Andy:

You should have pointed your guy at the car and told him to buy it as a "Parts Car".

I keep telling people to decide if they are in the "Project Hobby" or the "Driving Hobby" when they say they want a classic car. A 20k MGB built up over 5-8 years is a lot of entertainment for the $$$, cheaper than golf and still a better return than real estate!

If you want to be seen driving a classic, do like you say and go buy a good finished one. Not any fun, but smart.

I completely agree with NOHOME:

"I keep telling people to decide if they are in the "Project Hobby" or the "Driving Hobby" when they say they want a classic car. A 20k MGB built up over 5-8 years is a lot of entertainment for the $$$, cheaper than golf and still a better return than real estate!"

I've been working on my '68 Spitfire off and on for the past 7-8 years and it's not drivable yet. I've invested a LOT more in it than it'll ever be worth. But the enjoyment and satisfaction make it a worthwhile hobby for me. I have a Miata to drive and the Spitfire to fiddle with.

In reply to Tom Heath:

Well, in my opinion the rubber-nosed MGs weren't worth saving anyhow. Save what you can, which doesn't sound like much since the block might not be worth tearing down.

If the floors are rotted you know the sub-frame will have rot, or scaling, or worse deteriorated welds that aren't apparent.

If it's got wire wheels and an intact front suspension system these parts are worth more than the sum of the whole car. And the bonnet and boot (unless it has a luggage rack). Straight is good.

Help him part it out and make a commission or take it on consignment.

I don't know where you work or if you're in this line of work but there's money to be made in parting out usable items now that anyone can find you on the web.

I agree with everything posted above. However, How many of us have been in Tom's place and in that moment? You're standing there listening to some guy prattle on about how "rare" his '78 Spitfire is, and we're thinkin' this thing is crusher bait... One can either offer him the parts value and piss him off, or say something like "it's a bit more of a project than I was looking for at this point". Hey Andy, how many times have you been in that spot? Just my .02 worth. Cheers, Scott

well, I think it depends on how old you are, a good friend's brother wants a rubber bumper B, not that I would but he is maybe 5 years younger and grew up with those being new when he was a kid, most of the cars I like are late sixty early seventies, some people like earlier cars so to the guy who loves his 87 spit, good for him, he has his dream car, to the guy who wants a buys a rust old B and wants it to be a 10 year old miata, good luck, sell it and buy the miata

In reply to GregF... Uuuhhhh, what? First off, Mate, there are no '87 Spits. I think I see your point though. But no matter how smitten one is, at some point, you have to realize that your rust infested 'B, or TR6, or 240Z or...? is worth $10,000 when fully restored... But it will cost $18,000 to get it to that point. Here is where IMHO, the Barrett-Jackson auctions being televised does a huge disservice to the classic car community as a whole. There's absolutely nothing wrong with wanting a rubber bumper 'B... Unless you want $5,000 for one with no floors and rusty doglegs. At that point the potential seller is just being stupid. Cheers, Scott

GSCReno wrote: In reply to GregF... Uuuhhhh, what? First off, Mate, there are no '87 Spits. I think I see your point though. But no matter how smitten one is, at some point, you have to realize that your rust infested 'B, or TR6, or 240Z or...? is worth $10,000 when fully restored... But it will cost $18,000 to get it to that point. Here is where IMHO, the Barrett-Jackson auctions being televised does a huge disservice to the classic car community as a whole. There's absolutely nothing wrong with wanting a rubber bumper 'B... Unless you want $5,000 for one with no floors and rusty doglegs. At that point the potential seller is just being stupid. Cheers, Scott

I agree about the Barrett-Jackson events. It is fun to watch, but in my opinion the prices are out of line with the rest of the free world. I've already run across some people that think their rusted Camaro is worth $50k because they saw one sell for $100k on TV.