Using this pic from everyone's favorite 914 / Porsche website as an example of what I mean by "shell".


Why do people not do this as a side business? A fully repaired, primed, and ready to go 914 shell seems like it would be a worthwhile thing to do for money. Is the cost to get a car to this level not worth the labor or is the demand just not there?


I'm not a body guy (not even close!) and the estimates that I've received have all been over $5,000 and some of them wanted to use bondo way more than even I'm comfortable with. Is this why so many of you have taken up welding and buying the repair tools yourselves? Just a curiousity I've had for a while now. Who knows, maybe one of you guys out there does this kind of thing already.

Does anyone have some plans for a rotisserie? I want one!

I think I have the plans for one. I got a awhile back. Let me see if I can fined it and I will send it to you. PM me if you didnt already get them.

Chris Foley Makes them, Rotisseries that is. Also an expert on Rustoration. He is in Connecticut. CFR welding. He is frequently on this site.


Erik

You mean one of these...






I have a set of designs that I got when I was in the market to build one. They are ok, I did some modification and changes to suit my needs. Email me if you want them, the rules of this forum do not allow me to attach a PDF.

-Britain

or you can look at this one: Rotisserieeee

I didn't want the ROTISSERIE do sidetrack the thread, however!

914 owners are cheap bastards. no matter what, they will always tell you they can do it themselves for half the price, in half the time and twice as good.

no one will fork out enough money for a stripped and repaired tub "ready to go". you would starve to death if you would try to do that for a living. it's just not going to happen with this crowd.

Andy

OT: Nice Rotiseriee Britain BTW, AA has plans available through their Tech Section.

Sorry to totally hijack your thread... i get distracted really--oh look, a kitty!

I agree with Andy... the few that would buy a ready to go tub would probably be the same ones that just pay to have their 914s restored by someone else anyways. A while back when I was restoring my MGB, the aftermarket places were selling brand new MGB tubs, made with the original tooling. I didn't even consider it, and I don't think most people would. It's alot of work to move EVERYTHING over, too.

I made this one in about three hours. It's no big deal.

Joe

Another..

Joe, that looks good, how much do you think you have in Materials?

The MGB shells are made at a place called British Motor Heritage, which took over all of the original tooling for the MGB, the later MG Midget, and the last version of the Mini (pre-BMW). They produce both repro body parts to complete shells, and they sell a pretty good number of complete shells for all types.

I can't say if the economics would work for the 914 in the US. The Mini shells, for example, run about $7000 complete (primered) at retail prices. A completely rotted pre-smog Mini with a running engine and usable suspension parts is about $3000. Mini engine builders are willing to sell nice fully rebuilt engine/gearbox combos for $3000-4000, so I figure cost would be in the $2000 range. $12K plus paint, $1K in interior parts (simple car) and another $1K in misc for $14K before labor. The end product, with the VIN and title from the donor car, would be worth about $18-20K in the US, and the buyer is getting basically a new car that doesn't have to be smogged. Ethical or not, it's done pretty commonly. In the UK, the annual inspection is also waived for sufficiently old cars, so there's a steady market for new shells with old VINs there, too.

A cherry, like-new 914/4 would only sell for $10K, tops, so it's a lot harder to make any money on a 914, as the work to get a shell, fix its problems, and primer it would still require a sales price in the $5-7K range. The main attraction is no body work required (other than paint, and you get to pick your favorite color), and you just bolt the car together. No cutting, no welding, no worries about alignment. In CA, it's pretty easy to find a basically rust-free car, but that's not so in Minnesota, where I'd be strongly tempted to buy a prepped shell from someone to build up a car.

I thinks it cost around $80 in materials. It was pretty light weight and only intended for this project. It's since been recycled into other things.

Joe

Personally I'm just the type of guy to buy the tub as I don't trust myself with anything that cuts metal

Joe what kind of money did it take to get your body to the point it was in the pic w/the rotisserie?

$1400 to dip it. The rest is just time welding. The reinforcement tubing cost about $100 in materials. The flairs (flears) were $800 and the argon was about $300 (five 150 cu ft bottles).

By the time it came home from paint, I figured I had about $10k in it (I included the cost of my TIG welder in that figure, because I bought it for this project).

I do this. The line for fully welded and painted tubs starts here! Just a shell or the full restoration. But I'll warn you that just a straight painted tub will cost around $8500 if it's acid dipped. Painting the full car top and bottom isn't cheap or easy. Could do non acid dipped for about $6000. It's worth it, it's just not in everyone's budget.

I suppose part of it is being cheap, but for me it's mostly the satisfaction of learning to do it myself. I'm 53 years old. I don't know when I'm going to retire, but my dream is to retire and "putter" as a one man VW and Porsche restoration shop. I don't want to have to depend upon it to make a living, but it's what I want to do with my time.

I've got a 72 on the back porch with rusted-through fender weatherstripping channels. It's the kind of job you don't even want to think of paying someone to do, but it's exactly the job that I want to learn what I need so that I can do it. For me that's not about economics, but satisfaction with the accomplishment.

I don't even own a welder yet, but soon I hope!

LOL! Andy nailed that! 75% of this group would have a coronary when they heard the price.

appearance & performance will be shifting gears next year on our approach to dismantling.we will start repairing the bodies.that are not severly damaged.
instead of cutting them up.we feel that the value of 914s will be increased enough to make this investment.im 37 now the value when im 50 will mostlikely be alot more.

Sounds like my kind of operation. Great wines in Amity too (stopped there this summer) and it's close the the big quilt show in Sisters. We've been threatening to move to Oregon... maybe I should actually consider it!