What Cost........

[NickF]

Slowly getting along with the "not a nut and bolt restoration" and finding the costs are mounting as I go so many small bit its and pieces that I never considered, every bit of 

rubber seems to have perished, the little dove tails, trim retainers, horn pad ring the list goes on.

Most of what I need can't be sourced in Australia and that adds to the cost. Some of the parts are quite cheap but the cost of delivery, taxes etc adds so much.

I'm doing most of the body work and the painting so that's a major expense that I don't have to worry about.

I am in awe of people that tackle some of the restorations that I see, their commitment and the quality of the work is amazing

Once one gets into this high end restoration the cost must run into the tens of thousands on paint and body then  the cost of sourcing the OEM parts take to cost to another level

 

[AndBir]

20 minutes ago, NickF said:

Most of what I need can't be sourced in Australia and that adds to the cost. Some of the parts are quite cheap but the cost of delivery, taxes etc adds so much.

The online source of second hand parts in Aus seems to have dried up in the last 12-18 months as people have either decided to keep their parts stash or not part out their rusted hulks.

[gilltech]

Quote

The online source of second hand parts in Aus seems to have dried up in the last 12-18 months as people have either decided to keep their parts stash or not part out their rusted hulks.

I concur. I also suspect that we're fast running out of cars to part out, there was only ever a finite number of cars sold new, or imported used, to begin with. Probably very few 'rusted hulks' that are even slightly viable for restoration still remain to be retrieved from their final resting places ahead of the crusher.

They weren't Toyota Corollas sold by the thousands. I venture to point out that IMO there has never been a steady stream of NOS, OEM or used parts, more like an intermittent supply of this or that. I've owned my RS30 for well past 30 years and have kept tabs on the market that long.

With the S30 series cars now being 40 - 50 yrs old, every part will eventually deteriorate to some degree and either need refurbishment if viable or failing that then total replacement. So an intermittent parts supply is something that has to be realistically factored into a S30 restoration project.

Hence it's best as ever to buy the best and most complete car or project car that one can afford. Understandably there's very little NOS stuff around these days. So we can only hope that the rules of supply and demand, market driven, will encourage manufacturers to further tool up for OEM parts we still need.