Hi, a friend and former long time contributor to the List asked me to pass on the following question as at the present time he is unable to connect to this List.
Terry asks: ‘I need your collected wisdom to help settle an argument! What does it cost to fully restore a 150DHC to ‘S’ specs both engine and all ancillaries as well as Man/OD gearbox and L/S diff, keeping to standard specs and assuming the body is in fair condition ie, not a rust bucket.
The car is owned outright and purchase cost is not included in restoration costs. Estimates in any currency will be converted to Australian dollars. The more replies the more accurate the result, there is a dozen good ‘reds’ at stake here! Regards to all Terry H S83091DN, T831445DN, Australia’.
I’d say to restore it to a very decent driver would be in the range of US$120,000 to US$175,000.
Add $50k to make it a 99.9 point trailer queen.
Hi Terry,
Having recently gone through the exercise of restoring a virtually nonexistent 120 FHC, and being around other XK restorations going on at the same time, I would expect your friend to pay around $200K USD to restore his 150S DHC. That would include body removal, derusting, repair, painting, and some sheet metal replacement (sills, floors, spare tire well, B Post panel) Also included would be engine and transmission rebuild, dashboard restoration, interior replacement, and hood restoration and material replacement. The frame would be stripped, blasted and repainted, all suspension components blasted and rebuilt with new bushings, and the wiring harness would be replaced. Also new wire wheels and tires, of course. Gas tank and fuel system would be renewed, as would brake lines and all the wheel cylinders and rotors attended to or replaced. The steering rack would also need attention I am sure.
All chrome would most likely need to be redone, another expensive item.
This type of hands off restoration can easily run $300K or more, and run totally out of control, as more and more issues are found as the process unfolds. Several owners on this list can attest to this. Finding a reliable and trustworthy restoration shop is a real challenge. As soon as the “S” demarcation is mentioned everything increases in price, as the “S” was the best of the best regarding the 150. As everyone knows, the cost of the restoration will far outweigh the final value of the car.
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The time-proven method I’ve mentioned before:
Step 1. Get three estimates.
Step 2. Add them up.
That’s it… there is no step 3.
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There is: it’ll cost ya more.
Pretty good estimate.
Needing everything Brady mentions above, I’m at 120 with only paint left to go.
Buy one already done that someone else spent the money to restore that they will never recoup… This will be much cheaper then starting from scratch, and you get to enjoy driving it from day one.
This is total madness, and unless you are in love with this model, it makes no sense to restore one. The joy of these cars is not in the perfecting of one, but the driving, and there are many cars that can out-perform a perfect example. You could however, consider it the perfect coffin, and you could be buried in it. A ‘perfect’ example would be in a museum, and not on the road. One trip, and it would be a used car. Again.
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the amount of madness depends on the amount of money you have.
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Thanks guys for the input , havnt had "how long is a piece of string " reply yet!! Will be interesting to compare Uk and Euro replies Regards Terry T831445DN ( already done 20 years back)
Restoring any car is only madness, if you expect to get out of it what you’ve put into it: that RARELY occurs.
Would it be madness for me to sink 30 large into restoring Margaret?
Only if I felt it was going to be worth more than $3000, when finished.
(As it is, filling the tank doubles the value of the car…)
For most here, it’s the journey–restoration–tgat counts, not the destination–whether or not it’s worth the money invested.
So… spend away! Just be woke about it.
Hear hear.
Many a disappointment after pouring time and money and love into a car… then falling out of love with it, and into love with another car…
“Why didn’t I buy THIS CAR, instead of wasting time and money on THAT car?”
I have finally reached the conclusion that my cars are secondary to the chase to find and buy them. Thus, about 200 notches on the axe handle, and I am down to about ten at this point. Two are in the wings, ready to be grabbed! Do I need help?
As a professional restorer for 42 years I would estimate a Concours restoration at $150k-$200k. We have restored a 150 OTS as well as a Mark VII. Wish I could afford to restore my own 140 DHC.
No golfer expects to get back what he has spent in time and money in the pursuit.
Hobbies and pastimes typically cost and all we can do is choose well so what we give brings us joy, contentment, sense of accomplishment or whatever it is we seek.
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For me the pleasure is in the cutting, welding and problem solving. Don’t understand shipping it to a company to have a reproduction body fitted - but that’s just personal preference.
Bankruptcy…
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