The estimating process is difficult and sometimes impossible to accomplish but we're going to do everything we can to help you understand and then supply you the information to build your own cost estimate. Because you know far more about your car than I do especially before we've started working on it or even seen it, we're going to use your understanding of your car to begin the process. We've built a tool that will help you answer the question of "How much will my project cost."

We're providing the general labor categories and historical averages on what the base car will typically take in doing a correct restoration. The base car is defined as a muscle car from the late 60s complete and in fair shape. These are typically "mainstream cars" including the base Camaros and Mustang coupes which are the lowest cost and easiest restorations. If you have a car that is not a mainstream coupe, the labor and materials will likely be higher than our base figures. There are cars that are simpler than the Camaros and Mustangs like the VW bug coupes which will be lower cost than the base numbers we'll provide.

If you don't want a full restoration, the tool will still work as you can isolate the things you want into the various categories (for example if you want brake and suspension work, you can use our rebuild guide to help you determine what you might need).

When you populate the model with your information, the cost of the materials will be added. The hours will be calculated based upon our average shop rate. Please check the labor cost of shops in your area and look at the typical hours they spend to do builds for reasonable comparisons. I found a shop that claimed to be $45.00 per hour but they billed an average of 4,000 hours to body work and paint a classic car. Dealerships typically bill at about $140 to $250 per 60 minute interval. Their hourly rate they post may be low but it is generally billed every 20 minutes or so on average and it's called "flat rate billing" which legally allows up to five hours to be billed for every 60 minute interval they actually work. It's not illegal for companies to do this but we don't think it's ethical and that's why we bill based on a 60 minute hour never a 20 or even 12 minute hour.

If you fill in this table properly, we'll both get a honest and realistic evaluation of your project. This step provides an idea of hours and predicts the potential costs. If you decide to fill it in with completely inaccurate information and misrepresent your project (as most applicants do) you've unfortunately only wasted your time. Because I have a pretty good idea of what it takes, at a minimum, in each of these categories for various types of cars. Therefore, if I believe that you've grossly underestimated your project then I'll be forced to ignore your submission and consider it incomplete.

DO NOT hit the back button as this will cause you to start all over. Sorry but we did our best and we weren't able to figure out how to save you from the back button tragedy.

If your vehicle is in "Really Amazing Shape" drive it and don't restore it. If your vehicle is in "Perfect shape" as many customers claim before they bring it to us; don't bother bringing it to us we can't help you; contact your nearest Smithsonian and put your car on display there.

If you bring us a vehicle other than a muscle car, (a prewar, 50's, etc.) you can expect the prices to go up because of both parts and build characteristics. If you ask us for CUSTOM work, prices definitely go up and we cannot estimate custom work; if you want a resto mod with 100K worth of chassis and drivetrain components (and many people do) then prices again go up.

So, you now know what I know about the pricing of vehicle restorations and you know more about your vehicle than I do and even a little more about my philosophy. Please don't bother asking me to build you a vehicle for LESS than I can even buy the parts for because we all have extenuating circumstances, but I cannot afford to do your restoration for less than it costs me.