jas2730

iTrader: (7)

Really? That cool $10 switch?

LHernandezJr

Excellent point!


You are correct. It's her money and she could've had her car dipped in chocolate for all I care so I'm not complaining. I just think that $40K is totally absurd money.





LMAO!!!

88Fan

I have watched this show from the beginning.
a spin off from the producers of Pawn Stars and American Restoration.
One thing you have to remember is they do not do these shows actually for Car Guys.
they are made for the general public,who know little to nothing about car car repair and what it costs to do any of that type of work.OR the value of it.

Having watched this show a good bit the big guy in the office Scott is all ready getting on my nerves.
Riding around looking for work is really not unheard of.
I had a mobile welding business and used to go for rides when thing got slow and all ways came back with work or a new customer.
I also have a big enough set of stones that if I do see a project/parts car I would want. I have no problem stopping the owner on the street of walking up to a house and knock on the door to find out about it.I would rather do that that deal with some of the morons on craigslist or E Bay.

As far as the price goes a GM performance 383 crate engine listat 5,429.97.
not counting all the rest of the parts that went into that and the rest of the body drive train interior.
to guys that do most of there own work yes ,the price does seem crazy high.
the one fact they left out was how long did it take.
a week a month a couple of months.
Sorry, I did not care for the wheels painted black.IMHO polished out with black accents would have look better.

The down side to all of these shows from Chip foose's Over Hauling to this one.They do kinda hurt reputable shops in a way.Just because the general public who know NOTHING about paint body work mechanical stuff get the false impression there local shop can knock a big restoration style of job in a short amount of time and get a good quality job.

If there is really that kind of crazy money out there it is time for me to come out of retirement.........LOL

FIRE SCOTT.....

.........88Fan

CradleofFilth08

****...I thought I when I heard the price he meant in hundreds....._.

zachkuby87

for 40k she could have bought the tools,equipment needed and paid some to teach her. done the entire thing herself...

88Fan

I take my skills for granted.......
IF you don't have the necessary skills to do a job like this.Spending money on tools you don't know how or can't use, is as bad as spending too much for a job to be done.

Agian this is television.the people who produce these shows are pretty smart.They know if they do something that will give people who do watch the show something to talk about.Weather it be negative or positive the show will get more viewers.It is a form of advertising they don't have to pay for.
This tread is two pages long.It has had 988 views since the thread started on 9-6.Looks like there plan is working.
........88Fan

jas2730

iTrader: (7)

It would be nice if she was a member here so we could get the real scoop on what actually went down.

LHernandezJr

Yes, advertising costs money while publicity is free, however, if this was a forum about quilting, I'd say their "plan" was working really well

But anyway, I am glad we have several shows on television about cars. I think that's a good thing for the industry and hobby.

scottmoyer

There's another show that drives me crazy, Desert Valley Auto. These guys own a large junkyard and decide to find a car in the field and completely restore it and sell it for good money. These guys are hacks and all they really do is make the thing look better and sell it. There are certain cars being frame off restored and they are selling for $20k+ in beautiful condition. These guys took a car, threw paint on it, got an engine running, had the interior cleaned up and sell it for $20k!!! The wheel wells and undercarriage still have dirt and rust caked all over. I've seen the body panels have waves in them and then they buff it incorrectly and it now has buffing halos/ghosting. Absolutely pathetic!

BlueZee28

iTrader: (30)

I was watching Gas Monkey Garage the other night and they were trying to flip an old Chevelle or Impala, I forget which. From the outside it looks pretty nice but when they popped the hood, the camera angle caught the underside of the hood and it was rusty/paint falling off. How do you miss this?

And then they hussle an employee's father-in-law and get $23,000 profit on the guy. Pathetic.

91 Droptop

I have to say, I could never do a frame off restoration for 20K, that would more than likely be my cost on a job, labor is about $80 and hour if you round up body and paint work together. Costs of paint (high quality) is really high even by the gallon, add in insurance and utilities, along with macinery and recycleing costs and you are near 5 K a month and you have not even added in payroll. Its the old adage you get what you pay for, these shows are nothing more than that just entertainment. I would love for them to post the cost of an Overhauling episode, I bet you are in the 50 K range on some of those old school Impalas and Mustangs.

89demon

iTrader: (1)

I saw that episode to......now they did do a good job and it was nice and all BUT.... 40k!?!?!?!?!? and it was plain as heck! all they did was black the car out and like another member said...a carbed 383 stroker!? for 40k!? oh yea and they "hidden" kill switch because of the thefts on it in the past????? I have one to! and a push button start! Big deal! that car for that money better be able to crap on a ZR1. she loves it and I guess that is what matters....just wish I had that money for mine right now. I would do it all myself though.

LivinLarge

The guys like Gas Monkey and Desert Valley **** me off because they don't do the job 100%. They set insane deadlines on cars that need major work and don't do the job perfectly like they should.

jas2730

iTrader: (7)

Yeah, the guys from desert valley are a bunch of hacks. If you can't buff a car without burning and swirling the paint you definitely shouldn't be restoring them. LOL.

bestracing

A lot of people would be surprised on how much they really spent on their car compared to what they think they spent.

I actually thought that we didn't spend a lot on having a 388 engine built and then installed into our 67 Camaro race car. The shop only built the short block and we had them swap out the valve springs. When I started to look into building a 383 for myself I added up all the materials from the 67 build and then realized the build was $1K over what I thought we spent. There were so many little things I didn't factor in that were bought over a month after getting the block.

I know I have spent at least 10K on my T/A over the years including the 3K I paid for it. I had the paint stripped and repainted and replaced the spoiler for approx $3,300. I've pulled the motor and tore it down to a long block, stripped the paint and repainted the motor, installed a new cam and lifters, painted all the covers and brackets, new gaskets, new roller rockers, new valve springs, used Performer RPM Air Gap, New Holley carb, new distributor, new coil, ect...

You get my meaning, I could never get out what I have spent on the T/A and besides the body paint work I did all the work myself so I know that $10K would be much more if I had paid someone else to do it.

I agree with most on here that $40K would be too much for ME to lay down on a 3rd Gen like that but it's her car and her money so it's ultimately her choice and who am I to judge.

I enjoy working on my car and playing around with it and it's my time and my money and I really don't care what other people think of it. I do it for myself and if others can enjoy it as well then that's just an added bonus.

2007xl50

I watched some reruns last week and was thinking what hacks. Yeah you can sure see buff marks and they just don't do a good job. Gas Monky is hacks too. Count's Kutoms seems to do alto better work, but i'm just going from what I can see.

That would be cool if the owner of the Iroc was a member on here.

LHernandezJr

Even if she were, I am sure the producers have an iron-clad NDA (Non-Disclose Agreement).

fadedirocz28

In case anyone hasn't seen it and was curious how it looks, snaps from the show

ROCFATHER

Yeah I guess we can all agree that she basically got ripped for 40K!!! But on the other hand I'm glad one of these damn shows FINALLY restored/worked on a 3rd gen! I'm even a bigger fan now of Counting Cars.

On the subject of the car itself, they didn't do nothing spectacular at all...painted rims? 383 carb motor?
I dont think they really ever go over the top on there projects tho, not like my buddy Chip Foose.

hartsmike

I saw the show the other night and next morning googled it and, naturally, it came up to third-gen.. I'm thinking no way it would cost 35-40 K.. At first, like a previous poster, I thought he meant hundred. Like has been said before if it has sentimental value it is hard to place a tag on it but 40 G's to me is too much. The one question I have is did they just throw the 383 carbed stroker in there because it was easier and quicker? I'm thinking if your going to spend that kind of money, man, stroke out a 350 but keep the TPI!

bestracing

It was designed to work on the 305 and then adapted to the 350 where it started to see the limitations. You would not want a stock TPI on a 383 motor. Those motors like to breath and the TPI is too restrictive. Most manifolds are built to be a compromise in efficiency to work good over a wide range of RPM's. The TPI was designed, "Tuned", to work in a specific small rpm range where it actually is more efficient.

This is not an argument of Carb vs Fuel injection just stating that a stock TPI will not let the 383 live up to it's full potential. Now I agree with spending that kind of money I'd probably would have stuck with EFI, just would have gotten a Holley Stealth Ram or something similar.

Chevy86 IROC-Z

iTrader: (17)

Subscribed.

2007xl50

I can't stand Chip Foose. Sure he has some talant, but he has one style no matter if it's a Civic or a Truck-They all look about the same.

Chevy86 IROC-Z

iTrader: (17)

Sounds just like "Fast N Loud". All that they do is take out dents, repaint, redo interior, and fix the suspension. The undercarriage is not cleaned nor touched. That's another pathetic show. There was actually some big controversy with Gas Monkey on a other forum. But that's another story.

Chevy86 IROC-Z

iTrader: (17)

Not all IROC's where TPI. Some IROC's had a L69 High Output package and some where 305 TBI as well. IIRC, someone on TGO had a carbed 85 IROC. Not sure of its validity though. But yes. There where and still are IROC's with other forms of intakes that came straight out of the factory.

camaro1185

Did anyone notice if she spent all that money on a restore, in the third pic, they couldn't even fix the flippy ac vents. Or at least thats the way it looks. I guess it could just be pointed in that direction. I fixed my vents and it took all of 50 cents.

energycontacts

iTrader: (1)

hold on to your cars, they just set the bar of value for them in the future.

prossi

For those saying she paid too much that is your opinion .....BUT consider this nobody here even knows what was included or done in the build. All thats being taken into account is what you are seeing like the paint, wheels and engine of course those 3 things wouldnt be $40k but what about what you dont see like the trans, diff, what was replaced in the interior because it looked pretty freaking bad to start with, the body looked trashed so it wasnt just "sprayed", was the wiring replaced since it was stolen, steering components, brakes..and so on.

Now i can tell you if this car WAS as bad as it looked from the start and if it was done correctly the bill is not too crazy. Take into consideration all the man hours it takes to do all that work, it had to of been at a mininimum 150 hours to do this car and at 100 an hour your already at $15k just in labor. If you break it down thats only 3.75 weeks of work with a dedicated team working 8hrs a day on the car.. im sure labor was more than that

91 Droptop

Amen, thank you!!!

91phoenix

iTrader: (5)

And that dedicated team is probably a team of one at $100/hr. Think of the times there would have been two or more working on it.

bestracing

Don't forget the LG4 option, The weaker brother of the L69

Ruckusz28

iTrader: (3)

My 86 Iroc originally came with a carb.

GenX'Motorsport

Wow, I cant beleive a bunch of Thirdgen "Enthusiasts" are bashing a complete restoration of an Iroc. It was actually a stockish appearing resto mod if you will. Yes, 40K is alot of money. But if you consider new bumpers, fenders, bodywork, getting the car straight, thats around 10k give or take a couple thousand. New interior, from the dash to rear plastics and rubber thats more than 6-7k. New built 383. They said "aluminum heads" so youve got to assume an 8k motor with assecories all included-intake, carb, serp setup ect... Im sure it included a 12bolt or similar in the rear thats 3-6k at least. All new suspension with quality parts about 5-7k at least. Exhaust- 3-4k. then factor in misc parts, wheels, tires, electronics, fuel pump, gas tank, decals, trim.. The list really goes on and on. Then the rest of the 35-40k- LABOR. 80-100 an hour. Perhaps it was a bit on the high side. But as always you do get what you pay for. And from what i saw on the TV. The car looked immaculate. straight as an arrow, deep nice black paint. IMHO, that car was done right. Stockish appearing, good power, new stock interior, not at all butchered or gauty as most "done" thirdgens r these days. We should be proud that a GOOD example of an Iroc is back out there with a high $ price tag. Take that car in the shape it was in when it pulled up. and get all that work done with those exact parts. Theres youre 35-40K.

Chevy86 IROC-Z

iTrader: (17)

Just my 2 cents. IF the interior was "new" from the Dash to the rear plastics, your wrong. You over looked something. If there was indeed 6-7 k in interior parts, then why didn't Count get a NEW center console pad? Look at the video again. There is a clip where the pad is flat and rounded. What does a new oem one cost? A buck fifty? I think they definetely took short cuts. Seriously, I'm not a mechanic or restoration guy, but you can see the sagging plastic under the dashpad.

Chevy86 IROC-Z

iTrader: (17)

For a $40k charge, I would of ATLEASTED boughten the obvious parts new, such as the center console pad.

Chevy86 IROC-Z

iTrader: (17)

AND,,,,, when they give the IROC back to the customer, the upper seatbelt clip molding that attaches to the headliner fell and is resting on the seatbelt holder on the headrest.

Chevy86 IROC-Z

iTrader: (17)

AND they placed the IROC-Z decals way too much towards the front of the doors.

Chevy86 IROC-Z

iTrader: (17)

Check out the so called $40,000 restoration Count and his crew did....

Chevy86 IROC-Z

iTrader: (17)

For $40,000, Id expect a lot more than that junk worksmanship.

Chevy86 IROC-Z

iTrader: (17)

looks like photobucket aint working....... Ill get my findings up tomorrow.

KMK454

That show's painful. Wheeler Dealers is a British version of that concept, but it improved over time and now they do higher quality restorations. I don't read too much in to the sale figures on these shows. The difference between TV and reality-TV is the actors in reality-TV are non-union.

For car shows, I stick to Chasing Classic Cars, Mecum Auctions, Overhauled, Pass Time, Top Gear (British and US, though they stage a lot of their stuff too), and any form of auto racing (NASCAR, road racing, etc.). I tend to avoid the reality-tv car shows that amp up fake drama over looming deadlines and clashing personalities.

So in other words, they restored it to factory original?

I do think $40k is steep, but I also think a lot of folks here are underestimating the cost to correctly restore a car. Just a properly done paint job can cost up to $10 thousand. The problem with this show is they don't give any details on what was actually done to the car. That specific car may have needed $40k worth of restoration. If they stripped it bare, fixed all rust, and professionally repainted and assembled it, I could easily see $40k. Of course, we didn't see that; all we saw were clips of biker guys sharing their infinite wisdom while the restoration happened behind the scenes.

For a restomod, the car on Counting Cars isn't that well done. A restomod licenses you to modify a few things along the way... why not swap that 86 rear hatch for a year without the exposed light? Why take a set of basic IROC wheels and paint them gloss black? I can understand the 383 concept... cheap and easy power with relatively easier maintenance and learning curve than a TPI, but not that much better.

hartsmike

I did not know that about the TPI. Thanks for that info... I thought everybody on here said if you've got the TPI set up on a 305 and are wanting more just put a 350 under it and basically change out the injectors.

Another thing, is the guy on Gass Monkey the same guy that used to be on CMT Trick My Truck in the beginning?

Thanks for the info.

Chevy86 IROC-Z

iTrader: (17)

Please don't mention Gas Monkey. That show makes me sick. They do half rear end jobs and flip the cars with the undercarriage completely rusted and untouched. There was a huge controversy about the 2 guys on another forum. But thats another story.

bestracing

I'm not putting that swap down in fact I agree that it is a quick and easy start for performance gains and with very little work you can get the car into the 14's in the quarter. Great bang for the buck if you can get a nice, cheap 350. That plus most things just swap over without having to modify it.

Chevy86 IROC-Z

iTrader: (17)

If you wanna do the swap right, it won't come cheap. Since the 350 is out, you might as well overhaul it. Injectors ain't cheap, and a 350 memcal ain't cheap.

bestracing

Depends on the condition of the motor and how many miles on it. No sense on tearing things apart if they don't have to be. It would be just plain stupid to take a good motor that has good compression and little leak down and tear it down just because it's out.

AS far as injectors, a good used set is not a bad way to go and you could find a good 350 PROM chip for a good price as well. You just have to spend some time and look around and wait for a good deal.

This is getting off the subject and I'll end it there.

Chevy86 IROC-Z

iTrader: (17)

Your right. It has gotten of the subject. I don't see this going anywhere. But to end it, who's to say that a engine in someone's garage is good? There are shady people out there. Back to topic.

project89

iTrader: (1)

id have belived 25-30 k as being alot more realistic.

ive had a few quotes form a couple body shops for only paint and body work alone and im looking at 8k plus or minus a few hundred for new steel hood, 1 front fender, i rear bumper cover + body work and paint

so i could eaily see another 10k in drivetrain another 3-4K in interior + all the suspension and whatever other upgrades they did do

have to rember if the lady agreed to that then she also felt that the price was fair.


i really wish they would have been more in depth on showing the finished car though

occupant

What would you rather have for $40K...

A used but reconditioned (I would NOT call this restored) 1986 IROC with a 420hp 383, all new interior bits, fresh inside out and underneath, and let's just say it has chrome 17's instead of those black things. If you want black rims, dip them, duh...

Or a new 2013 Camaro 2SS with the 1LE package?

I'd skip both options and buy a dozen $1000-$1500 cars and recondition them, sell them, make my money back plus some, buy some more, etc etc ad infinitum...

Oddball

My first post here in some years. I saw the episode too and my first thought was "40k holy carp!". I saw this becasue I have a red 86 IROC that had a shitty paint job by the previous owner. I am now in the process of tearing her down to get repainted factory red, having spent today grinding off the factory decals with a magic disc. I am not a mechanic and have no body repair training. I am lucky enough to have found the son of my fiancees friend who is opening up a side business after years working in a body shop and looking for his first paying customer. I am doing my prep work to save cost because I know how expensive these things can get. Each time I touch something I can see just how sloppy and how shitty of a job the previous owner did including not using the right paint color on parts of it. No wonder why I had paint issues for so many years!

He is only charging me $10 an hour to do the work (I am his guinnea pig). My cars body is straight with only minor dings but his estimate is 40 - 50 hours worth of work adding up each component. At $100, that would be $5000. Imagine of I had a lot of damage? It would get expensive quick.

Would I spent $40k for a factory looking 383-stroked IROC? Probably not. But she did. The car means a lot to her just as ours means a lot to us. With cheap labor and sweat equity in the tear down and reassembly I might only be $1500 out of pocket in my partial resto, but that is my choice. Others would have sold the car instead of having the hassle of repainting it. Saving on cost by doing prep is my choice because I love the car and want to have that satisfaction of working on it myself. My neighbors were breaking my ***** for putting in the time (and whining about my aching back) just as many on this thread were breaking this womans ***** for spending $40k.

Everyone please remember not everyone makes the same choices. And if she were willing to spend $40k on this car it bodes well for our cars in the future.

Drive Well,
Oddball