Guest ON3GO Posted October 2, 2005 Share Posted October 2, 2005 Im making a list of cars that i want to work on/build for my future ideas i have planned. goal right now is opening a small type shop/dealership that builds and sells oldschool imports. really all i like is oldschool jap and euro imports so i figure im young and i have nothing else to do so its worth a shot. right now my list is.. 70-80's Honda Civic CVCC's 80's Honda CRX's 60's BMW 1600's 60-70's BMW 2002's 80's BMW 6 series Datsun Roadsters Datsun 510's Datsun S30 and S130 Z cars Datsun 1200's Datsun 810's Datsun 610's Datsun b210's pretty much every datsun haha. Nissan Z31 300zx's Mazda RX's 2's to 7's.. no FD's though. og Mini's... always loved them. Older porsches from 914's to 911's VW Bugs.. mostly air cooled but i do want to try some watercooled Rabbits. Toyota UP15r, MKII Celica Supras, Starlet's, AE86's, Corona's, 70's celicas, 70's corrollas, even a few MKIII supras. 1980's Audi ur quattro ABT's... i would love to do some Austin Healey's and Fiats but parts a bitch! and i never really liked working on them, a few come into the shop and i dunno.. fun to drive though! Opel GT's would be great too! Every car will have some type of JDM or Euro based performance parts on them, i will do swaps to many, but all will have a oldschool look to them. I prob will do a few factory resto's but not many. am i forgetting any key cars that could sell and or be fun to build for customers? im sure this will take awhile to get to this goal of mine but never hurts to dream and plan out. think this idea could work well enough to make atleast enough money to get by? would at one point have enough cars done and forsale for somebody to come and search threw what they want, even have few of the same car but in different styles and color and etc. i cant sell the oldschool theme going away anytime soon. Thanks.. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
80LS1T Posted October 2, 2005 Share Posted October 2, 2005 No offense Mike but when was the last time you saw an old car that was restored actually go for more that whats in it? I too would love to do what your thinking but I just cant see it as a source of income because most people wont pay more than what you have into the car for parts much less labor. The guys that do make money off of old cars are the ones who have had the car since new and didnt cost anything to restore because it never got abused. The guys who hang on to those old classics and store them are the ones who turn a profit. Now setting up a shop where you take peoples cars off the street and restore/hot-rod them, that is a differnet story. However you have to build up a reputation for doing very very good work before you get anyone knocking on your door. This is my dream job. I just want to restore/hot-rod say 5-10 cars per year from anywhere from the ground up to just a motor swap. Rich people will pay good money for show quality work. Nobody is going to pay for average workmanship for the kind of cars your talking about. That's my $.02 Guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olie05 Posted October 2, 2005 Share Posted October 2, 2005 yeah your missing a big one, you should make it your flagship car or something... 2000gt very important... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ON3GO Posted October 2, 2005 Share Posted October 2, 2005 i agree with ya Guy on that.. but considering that beat up AE86's go for about 700 bucks.. i mean BEAT UP. i spend say 4 or so grand on it and make it look and perform great, i can sell that car easily for 7+K. cars like that go up in price big time. now same for Z's.. you can find junkers for little to nothing, and yes i know it takes alot of money to get a Z nice and perfect but they also do bring in some money too. im sure ill have to pick and choose carefully on what car i buy and sell but i think theres some money to be made. i would do performance stuff for peoples cars too, and yes i agree with ya that i do need to make a name for myself 1st... because i wouldnt buy or let somebody build me a car if i didnt know who they were very well or seen what they can do. thats why i plan on building a few more cars for myself or build to sell and overtime get my rep up. time is something i have, and ill have a nice size shop to work in once i get back, so thats no big deal. I also hope to have a partner for this... ED!!! but we will see about that later lol.. like i said its a dream that i want to make real and i plan on it, i just need to start figuring out what its gonna take. thanks! mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olie05 Posted October 2, 2005 Share Posted October 2, 2005 don't forget the 2000gt. and kpgc10's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ON3GO Posted October 2, 2005 Share Posted October 2, 2005 don't forget the 2000gt. and kpgc10's. im not that rich, nor will i be .. how ya doing olie? we need to have another Z get together! mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SHO-Z Posted October 2, 2005 Share Posted October 2, 2005 You missed the BMW 700, Use to kick everyones *** in the small sedan class in SCCA racing back in the 60s. Here are some more BMW 1800 ti TR6 TR4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparky Posted October 2, 2005 Share Posted October 2, 2005 You missed the BMW 700' date=' Use to kick everyones *** in the small sedan class in SCCA racing back in the 60s. [/quote'] YES, those are freakish little things and very fun to drive. try to find parts for them though.... Here are some more BMW 1800 ti TR6 TR4 love the bimmer sedans, talk about FANTASTIC handling cars. had the opp to ride in a race prep, but street legal (barely) 1800ti and it was amazing...unfortunatly though the car met its end in the carrara panamericana by driving off a cliff and into a tree @ 80+ MPH. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zdmz Posted October 2, 2005 Share Posted October 2, 2005 What, no Triumph's!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gollum Posted October 2, 2005 Share Posted October 2, 2005 Triumphs are a must. Dang fun to drive. I think you need to worry about performance/show mods as a mian source of income, and then to the project cars 110% and make them real show pieces. Make a car that you can pitch as a "one of a kind" so you can actually get your money out of it. And the AE86 is a small percentage of the jap market that will increase in value. Now, if you're doing performance work, exspecially head/valve train work you're charging for your knowledge more than anything else. This is where money is at. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNeedForZ Posted October 2, 2005 Share Posted October 2, 2005 Mike, I think it's going to be a very special shop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ON3GO Posted October 2, 2005 Share Posted October 2, 2005 thanks guys.. Triumphs are cool but performance stuff for them isnt cheap and partsare hard to find. still wouldnt mind doing one or 2. mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Z kid Posted October 3, 2005 Share Posted October 3, 2005 The minis would be something I would steer way clear of, I have a garden full of the bastards and they are fiddly underpowered, limited engine swap ability. And overall not that fun, especially if working on one with stock mechanicals. Not sure if its big over there, but here there are a huge number of adaptor plates cheaply available for VW Kombi transaxles to import motors. Might be something to try these are available for everything here from SR20's to Rex motors. I even think I have one lying round for a L series to kombi. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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