anyone ever did a restoration on their GN ?

[fighterjet gn]

im just wondering what would be the price and how long it would take. ive had my GN since 92 and was thinking of doing this . thanks

 

[phillyturbosix]

Dollars for dollars it's not worth doing a resto on a GN. You can still go out and buy a low mile car for way less then it would cost you to do a top quality resto on one. Plus many of the parts are not being remade yet so finding parts would be very hard and pricey. Maybe in another 10 years it will be worth it to do a resto on a GN.

 

[QuickBuick87]

Mine is in now for a complete strip of the old paint to bare metal, and minor rust repair. If you add the cost of what I paid for it and body/paint work it STILL cheaper then what it would cost me for a comparable GN in the market and the paint won't be NEW and fresh like mine. So I would say it all depends on what you have into the car as to if it's worth the resto. There really is no yes or no answer IMO. Just check out out what a comparable GN with about the same mileage in good condition costs on the market and compare $$$. Right now there are a ton of these cars being stripped everyday because the owners can't/don't want to invest $$$ to restore. I'll bet almost 1/2 of the 86/87 GN's made have met this fate. Only makes the ones left worth that much more. If it were me, and I didn't have the extra cash to restore right now, I would park it and and collect the parts needed a little at a time to restore in the future. Of course I would get the harder to find parts now..... Hope this helps.

Ken B.

 

[y-hate]

I`m trying to do small stuff for now....like the interior first then the exterior next year....on a budget

 

[nick368]

I'm doing a Restoration right now now and these guys are right. I bought one pretty cheap but have put about 4k in already and will put about another 3-4 more before it's in a condition where I think it could be listed as good. All in all, I could have bought a lower mileage one in better condition for a little less.

Now if money is not a huge issue for you and you like the idea of rebuilding and restoring something and it's more of a hobby for you, then do what works for you. Personally I like the restoration idea. It's keeps my mind busy.

Good luck in whatever you choose. PM me with any questions.

Nick

 

[Grumpy]

well I am all the way with Jim on this !!! just go out and buy a nice car .. never get your $$$$ back on a restored one .. original cars always bring more $$$ than resto's.. they are only original once

 

[1BADTT]

If you think a restoration is expensive...try restorodding

 

[boostingbuick]

I did a full resto on my 84 gn. And now I have more money in it than I can get out of it. But its like new. And I know what I have. No body panel replacment or full of bondo, No rig up wiring or butt connectors, No alarm hack up in the car or removed, and all the parts are there. Like body bushing and rubberbumbers for the doors and trunk. But I did it for me. Not for resale. This car is what makes me happy as far as cars go. Its what I've wanted.

 

[chopped39]

Buy a real nice low mile gn. My car blew up in 1994 and it sat at my parents for 2 years. I started resto in 1999 .Once you start your screwed. Where do you stop. I pulled body off frame last year to do bushings.Thats where things got a little nuts.Sent frame out to get blasted and the por 15 was applied.Then you know putting old parts back on is not going to happen.I am building this car for me so every part is either rebuilt or getting replaced.I will have way more money in this car than it will be worth . After taking this car apart I found out how bad these cars were built.screws missing on trim .The welds on the frame looked like my 10 year old did them. I have had this car since the end of 89 . It had 12,000 on it. I always loved this car so thats why im rebuilding it. My ex wife wanted me to get rid of it. I got rid of her:biggrin.

 

[BlackMetal]

The other replies have already made it clear that at this point it may not make sense financially so the only reason to do it would be if you think you'd enjoy doing it yourself and spending that much time on your car. If you think you could have fun with such an involving job then go for it. If you were mainly doing it for the value of the restored car, refer to the posts above mine.

 

[Project TNX]

My dad asked, "How much do you have into it?"

I told him, "$15,000."

He then asked, "How much could you sell it for?"

I told him, "About $12,500"

I took the wind out of his sails with that one, I knew where he was going. I'm building the car I have dreamed about, and honestly, what new car could I buy for $17,000 that is worth a damned? NONE, so to me it's no big deal to put the money into and acknowledge that some of it isn't going to be recovered. Now if I suddenly got in a bind, then yeah that would sting a little.

Also, even if you want to restore one, start with a good platform. A car without rust is existentially easier to restore than a rusted out one.

 

[RobG]

I'm in the process of restomodding a dark blue '87 T and the reason I bought it was so I could do a frame off and build a car the way I wanted to... A to Z.
That's been a dream for me for years. I'm doing the majority of the work myself as that is the main reason I can afford to do it and I've been blessed with great people that are helping me out like my father in law (using his shop) and a painter friend (paint work) without whom this would not be a reality.

If I did all this this just to sell the car it would be the single dumbest financial decision of my life. I would have to find an equally dumb person to buy it for what I have in it.

It'd be very easy to rack up $20K in just the body work/paint, frame, suspension if you're farming it out. Assuming a rust free car with a good drivetrain.

 

[boostingbuick]

My factory paint never look this good. This is just befor I finished putting all the parts back on. Was glad to be able to go around the block for the first time.

 

[Bodhi]

I'm in the process of restoring my 86. I got the car cheap and do all the work myself. Yeah I have allot of time and a good bit of money in it, but to me it's easier to built it as you go rather than fork out all the money at once. I don't plan on selling the car so I don't really care how much I have in it.

 

[fighterjet gn]

guys, thanks for the replies , my situation : i have rust under the car , interior in good shape but the body and bumpers needs paint, drivers door & trunk needs to be replaced, not a major job but i just want my GN to look good. the picture you see next to my name is 7 years old. once again thanks.

 

[pjnutt]

That depends on

How much work you are willing to do. I got my GN for a song, however; it spend much of it's life in Arizona. The paint was shot, however; the interior was in pretty good shape. I stripped the body down to bare metal, this took the better part of a year, by hand, with lots of sand paper and air craft stripper. I paid someone to do the body work, and my dad and I painted it. I also bought some odds and ends that need to be replaced on MANY original GN's. I have < 10K into this one and I guarantee you can NOT buy one this nice for that much.

Just a different frame of mind :biggrin:

Ryan