Money
Where the money goes in a restoration
Estimates are built from what can be seen. The final figure is decided by what is underneath, and that is unknown when the quote is written.
Published 11 June 2026 · Updated 11 September 2026
Labour is the budget
On almost any project, hours cost more than parts. A workshop rate multiplied by a realistic number of hours is the number that matters.
Parts feel expensive because they arrive as single invoices. Labour arrives gradually and is easier to underestimate.
Ask for the quote split into labour and materials. A workshop that will not do this is telling you something.
Bodywork and paint
Body and paint routinely account for half of a restoration budget and sometimes more.
The reason is that rot is discovered rather than predicted. A sill that looked like a repair section becomes a floor, an inner wing and a chassis leg.
Any quote for bodywork on an unstripped car is an opening position, not a price.
Mechanical work
Engines, gearboxes and axles are the most predictable part of a project because they can be assessed before they are opened, and because rebuild costs are well known.
Specialists exist for most common units and are usually cheaper than a general workshop attempting it.
Do this after bodywork, not before. A rebuilt engine sitting in a corner for two years is money doing nothing.
Trim, chrome and glass
The quiet destroyer of budgets. Individually small, collectively large, and frequently on long lead times from a handful of suppliers.
Rechroming is expensive and slow. Sourcing good used brightwork is often better value than replating poor items.
Get quotes for trim early even if the work is two years away, because the numbers change what you can afford elsewhere.
The contingency nobody keeps
A sensible contingency is a quarter of the estimate, held back and not spent on upgrades.
The most common failure is spending the contingency on improvements in year one and having nothing left when the rot appears in year two.
If the project cannot survive a twenty-five per cent overrun, it is not funded.
Reading a quotation
Look for what is excluded. Exclusions are where the surprises live.
Check whether the quote assumes the car is stripped, and by whom.
Agree in writing how variations are approved. A phone call is not a record.
Doing it in stages
Stage the work so the car is usable at the end of each stage where possible.
This keeps momentum, spreads cost and means that if the project stops, it stops with a car rather than a pile of boxes.
Structure first, mechanicals second, cosmetics last is the usual order and there are good reasons for it.
General information only. Every car is different; work on a specific vehicle should be discussed with the person who can see it.