fbekholden.com

Well, I guess I'm keeping her now because I'll never get my money back...

When I bought Plastic the FB from one of the curators of the Forbes Motor Museum, I knew she had been sitting for 8 years or so and would need a little work to get her back on the road as a driver.

So far I have replaced the vacuum washers with a NOS unit, sent the VH24 brake booster off for rebuild and the engine / gearbox / radiator are soon off to get professionally reconditioned & converted to unleaded (decided to go the whole hog).

The clock has been fixed and 5 very nice white-wall tyres fitted.

Next the bumpers will be getting re-chromed.

Then I'll start on the paint...

Luckily there isn't any rust to speak of

How is it that you buy a car for $18,500, spend $10 - $15,000 on it and then have a car probably worth $20,500? I'm sure there must be something wrong with my maths somewhere

Oh well, at least I can be pretty sure she'll make the trip from Adelaide to Mt Gambier without shaming herself



Now, where did I leave that overtime approval form

i think because in general people don't spend that sort of money on a car that "needs" work
same i don't think that the car you have "needs" that work, you want to do it not that there's anything wrong with that

The pitfalls of old cars and paying others to do the work unfortunately. Sadly just because you've spent x amount of dollars doesn't mean you may see any of it. The more hands on you are the better of you'll be in the long run. But sometimes that isn't an option so you do what you do for the love of it. Forget the monetary value, a car is still only worth what someone is willing to pay regardless of what you may ask for it. I'd hate to see over the last 20 odd years how much I've spent on cars.... But then again I don't care as its just what I do.

For most its a hobby not a money making exercise , some follow the horses win some lose some , some follow sports and buy up on memorabilia , some collect all sorts of odds and ends
we love the old cars and at the end of the money we spend we at least get to drive them ,

Bugger the expense
I love mucking with the old girls. Its what I do too. Wouldnt have it any other way.
Mine will owe me about $10,000 and I dont care what shes worth. To me its worth every second i've put in on her.
I suppose being a painter by trade helps heaps in my case, and hands on with most everything else. But even if i wasnt she'd still get the same treatment.
Just over a longer period of time while i saved the money.

We just love the things, that's why we do it. And if we didnt save the old things,who would?

MeFB wrote:How is it that you buy a car for $18,500, spend $10 - $15,000 on it and then have a car probably worth $20,500? I'm sure there must be something wrong with my maths somewhere

Nothing wrong with the maths at all. As tm50 said it's a passion and hobby, not a business. In general hobbies are money losing exercises, not money making

Why do you need to spend that sort of money on it anyway?

Ya could also support ya local R.S.L. and play the Pokies...

Cal wrote:

MeFB wrote:How is it that you buy a car for $18,500, spend $10 - $15,000 on it and then have a car probably worth $20,500? I'm sure there must be something wrong with my maths somewhere

Nothing wrong with the maths at all. As tm50 said it's a passion and hobby, not a business. In general hobbies are money losing exercises, not money making

Why do you need to spend that sort of money on it anyway?

I guess I don't need to get a full reco on the engine and gearbox, but I'll need to fix all of the oil leaks for rego, and that includes rear main seal (by the looks of it) and also convert to unleaded. I just think it's better value to reco the engine whilst I'm having the work done. The figures I'm talking about includes paint and chrome work etc. and will be over several years.

Still - cheaper than golf

it shits me when i talk to people about cars, and fixing them up or whatever and they say "you'll never get your money back"

i dont think that they realise that we dont do this to make money on (well most of us). we do it just because of the love of it.

aidan...

my70wg wrote:it shits me when i talk to people about cars, and fixing them up or whatever and they say "you'll never get your money back"

i dont think that they realise that we dont do this to make money on (well most of us). we do it just because of the love of it.

aidan...

100% agree. If you applied any logic to it we'd all be driving beige 2 liter Toyota Camrys...blech!

I have a car that cost me $20k spent $90k on it and is insured for $35k. You'll never get your money back tinkering with cars but it sure is fun.

What gets me about the ill never get my money back comment is people are quite happy to buy a new car for many tens of thousands and after a few years happily trade it in for tens of thousands less.
I think you will find the late model car will have similar or even greater yearly running costs.
For some reason thats not acceptable for an old car.
If over the course of the time you have an old car you get a tonne of fun out of it that far outweighs the loss.

Actually, there's a couple of very good points there. Never looked at it in comparison to a new car. I guess you really would lose a lot more buying your average BMW or Porshe etc., or even 4WD.

I feel much better now

Plus we have much cooler cars than anything made in the last 20 years...

bootlegger wrote:What gets me about the ill never get my money back comment is people are quite happy to buy a new car for many tens of thousands and after a few years happily trade it in for tens of thousands less.
I think you will find the late model car will have similar or even greater yearly running costs.
For some reason thats not acceptable for an old car.
If over the course of the time you have an old car you get a tonne of fun out of it that far outweighs the loss.

To justify to anyone who asks (not that it's anyone’s business)
I use the Hyundai Sonata principle.

The figures are a bit rough but ya get the point I'm trying to make.

Buy new Hyundai Sonata = $35,000
Showroom deprecation = $5000
Rego 5 years = $1600

Insurance green slip 5 years = $3000
Compresensive Ins 5 years = $3,500 60 % No Claim
Service’s 5 years = $10,000
In five years it’s a = $1500 Car

Buy early Holden, with investment and restoration costs look at roughty spending $30,000
Maybe a bit more or a bit less depending on what you can do.
Same running costs over the 5 years and what do I have.
A car worth $20.000 to $25,000
That’s my story and I’m sticking to it fellas.

You dont want to know the money ive spent on the Chopped Wagon.... and its not even together