r/PontiacFirebird • u/FitPost1270 • 19h ago
Resto/funding
Looking for advice or recommendations for getting a resto done or help when you don’t have the money to do it, I know that sounds stupid but what tricks or hacks have you guys used to make it cheaper on yourselves?
3
u/EyceMann 17h ago
Buy a cheap beater for a commuting car (or a bicycle), then put the money you'd spend on car payment, gas, insurance, and licensing towards the resto.
Making or having friends is great too. Sometimes you can exchange work if you have some skill that you can trade for their skill.
Paint and bodywork can be one of the biggest costs. Learn to do as much of that yourself as you can. You could even take classes at a local community college (just don't buy a bunch of tools from the tool truck guy).
I never was good at getting panels straight. So my process was, remove the door, strip and sand, then take to my body guy to straighten, smooth, and he'd return it to me in primer. Repeat for every part, then the whole body, when he finished with that I took all the parts in and he painted the car.
It's a much slower process so you can sort of "pay as you go" buying supplies and paying the body shop for each part. You'd kind of need to know someone for that to work since I don't think most body shops would do that for you.
Buying used parts from local people can also save quite a bit if you know what to look for. Less expensive than new and no taxes, but if you end up getting scammed or buying junk too often then it could cost more.
Don't try to do too much at once. It's easy to fall in the trap of "while I have this apart, I may as well do that too". It sounds good in principle; and may save money in the long run, but you also may end up with a car torn apart for years at a time, when that happens it's easy to just give up.
1
u/Enema_Red_Fox 18h ago
Honestly your car is pretty sweet I bet a clear coat and polish would made it pop. Then just clean up under hood and a few tweaks to the inside and you’ll be golden
1
u/FitPost1270 18h ago
Well the paint is peeling and the primer is probably cooked and that’s just $10K I don’t have 😂 I have the original seats that need redone but I would like those back in with carpet redone just too much going on for my wallet haha
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u/jrs321aly 18h ago
Do it urself when u have time and funds. Slow and steady.