I was going to call
this page the Project '57 "Budget", but even I have to admit that there
is NO budget for this project. I don't mean to sound like I have more money
than I know what to do with, but I can truly say that there is nothing
I didn't do for expense reasons. I may fall short of perfection for experience
or ability reasons, but writing a check or reading off a credit
card number on the phone is not something I'm going to fail at.
I have been telling people, and myself, that I am only doing this level of restoration once. And as best I can tell, I will only do it once, but a golden rule of mine is to never say never. It is a way of containing disappointment in my life. But even more certain is the fact that have NO plans of parting with this car. One of the things that you quickly realize when do a restoration of this level, and you see the prevailing market values for restoreds, is that you'd be better off just going down to the horse track with your money than thinking that you are going to make money restoring and selling VWs. You do it because you love it, because you want to. And doing it for those reasons pretty much insures that you won't ever let it go either. Unless some guy offers to trade me a mostly complete '51 split with only slightly rotted heater channels for it. Below is a "HTML'ized" Microsoft Excel table that I use to keep track of the costs of the project. I was pretty good at keeping it updated and accurate until I got near the end. I think I might have left off some stuff. But I truly believe that I put about $12,000 into the car when it was all said and done (plus a "few hours" of my time). Would I sell it? Well, read this, if you must ask.
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Date | Description | Parts | Supplies/Servcies | Source |
Oct 1, 91 | 1957 VW | $2,000.00 | ||
Bumpers & Misc Sheet Metal | $120.00 | JC Whitney | ||
1992 | Left Front Quarter | $160.00 | Wolfsburg West | |
Spare Rim | $5.00 | |||
Box of NOS parts | $100.00 | |||
Mar 94 | Corroless & Chassis Black | $44.00 | Eastwood Company | |
Paint Supplies, MEK | $25.00 | Building 19 1/5 | ||
Trans gaskets, & misc chasis seals | $165.00 | Wolfsburg West | ||
Mar 94 | Scotchbrite pads | $16.00 | Eastern Auto Paint | |
Apr 7, 94 | Brake Shoes, Hub cap clips, seals | $87.33 | Wolfsburg West | |
Apr 11, 94 | Variprime, Dulux Blk, Laquer thinner | $66.38 | Eastern Auto Paint | |
May 22, 95 | BFY; misc HW and rubber | $35.00 | BFY | |
Jun 95 | Rear wheel cyl, King & Link Pin set | $100.00 | Wolfsburg West | |
Jun 95 | Chassis blk paint,spot weld tool, trim pnt | $43.00 | Eastwood Company | |
Jul 95 | Corroless, undercoating | $22.00 | Eastwood Company | |
Jul 95 | Sandblast front beam and rims | $100.00 | Lightning Bug Farm | |
Jul 95 | Mics replacement metric HW | $10.00 | local | |
Jun 97 | Front Clip | $85.00 | Chuck Weber | |
Nov 21, 97 | Sandblast clip | $30.00 | Prep Rite | |
Nov 21, 97 | Primer, prep sol | Whitings | ||
July 1998 | Hood seal reatiner strips | $15.00 | Wolfsburg West | |
Aug 21, 1998 | Clutch cable, bosy to pan rubber, gas tank screen | $55.95 | Wolfsburg West | |
Aug 28, 1998 | Sandblasting, 4 fenders, 2 doors, decklid, gas tank, hood | $315.00 | Prep Rite | |
Nov 12, 1998 | Sandblasting, Body Shell, small parts | $330.00 | Prep Rite | |
Nov 12, 1998 | Engine Bay seals, headlight conduit, pan to body bolts | $49.00 | Wolfsburg West | |
Nov 12, 1998 | Carpet Retainer strips (actually had 3 pr. made) | $15.00 | Astro Crane | |
January 1, 1998 | 4 Wide whitewall Firestone 15x5.60 (slightly used) | $385.00 | Tom Mann | |
April 10, 1998 | Body work and paint | $3,116.00 | Whiting's Autobody | |
April 5, 1999 | Wolfsburg West "big" order {note 1} | $1,150.04 | Wolfsburg West | |
May 3, 1999 | Sandblasting 10 rims and 5 lisence plates | $65.00 | Prep Rite | |
June 7, 1999 | 5th whitewall tire (spare) | $108.00 | Coker Tire | |
May 26, 1999 | Interior clips and L75 Biege paint | $41.44 | Wolfsburg West | |
May 28, 1999 | Spies HS and Red-Brown primer, Black paint | $152.00 | Finishmaster | |
June 8, 1999 | Door Handle, TL trim chrome, decklid handle | $95.00 | NE Classic swap meet | |
July ?? | Body work and paint, fenders door and rims | $1400.00 | Whiting's Autobody | |
Totals | $4,781.76 | $5,724.38 | ||
Total Parts and Supplies: | $10,506.14 |