20 replies to this topic

[Neildanks]

After doing 4 Refurbs on minis and paying roughly £500 for the main project, and all labour my own, i have found it impossible to complete one to a decent std for under £2200.

Or is it that i am setting my stds to high.

I do not use herritage panels and buy second hand components 75% of the time.

When people think £3000 is a Lot of money for a restored mini they should see the labour and graft that goes into one.

Has anyone managed to do a full nut and bolt restore for any less.

[Mini Mad Drakeley]

i reckon minis turn people into magpies, you try set a tight budget and then while looking for a panel/part you see something shiny and think you can stretch the budget a wee bit

this keeps happening and of course a budget of £500 can easily turn into £2000

i originally set out to spend around £800 and im fairly sure ive easily quadrupled that

Edited by Mini Mad Drakeley, 04 April 2012 - 07:38 PM.

[Neildanks]

Everyone now working out how much they have spent so far. Dont do it its daunting.

[Neildanks]

i reckon minis turn people into magpies, you try set a tight budget and then while looking for a panel/part you see something shiny and think you can stretch the budget a wee bit

this keeps happening and of course a budget of £500 can easily turn into £2000

Mine dont really include much shiny else they would cost more like £3500

[gwatkins15]

Dont you need one of them special wallets? The ones that dont have a bottom to them.... Endless money!

[Neildanks]

no you just go to the tree at the end of the garden and pick a few notes of it

[AndyMiniMad.]

The numbers you are talkink about seem quite large...And then I remembered that I spent that on the engine!! Thought I could do it for "X" turns out I needed the rest of the alphabet as well..

[Neildanks]

The numbers you are talkink about seem quite large...And then I remembered that I spent that on the engine!! Thought I could do it for "X" turns out I needed the rest of the alphabet as well..

Lol you are joking about engine of course just in case the other half is reading this

[86mayfair]

How long is a piece of string? You will always come up with a well worked through budget and spec sheet on Excel or something then when you come to make your orders "Ooooh that looks nice, I'll get the nicer, more expensive one, one thing can't hurt, can it?"

[AndyMiniMad.]

Nope, not joking!! The whole project was around £8k...But that was two years ago when I stopped counting...I hope the clubman turns out a bit cheeper!!

[Neildanks]

LOL My stretched mini was estimated to cost £8000 to build, after we hit £12k we stop adding the receipts to the pile and there are still jobs I want to do to it.

As a rule you can estimate how much it will cost you............... then triple it and you might just be near to what you will spend

So from what im hearing sounds like im running on tight budgets or had better leave the holes in the floor and leave the engines out.
I thought the holes were rusted through but people might have got wise and used them for foot powered minis to save money on restoration.

[sonikk4]

There's a resto then there's a full resto like every nut bolt component etc. Project Erm stands us for over £16k but that does include my welding time that took the best part of two years and figuratively speaking that came to nearly £10k. £3k in paint not including my 45 hrs of prep time. Then everything else is just climbing and climbing, engine and gearbox stands Scott at least £1.2k but there is still cam, exhaust, rockers etc. No interior at all. At least the suspension and wheels is completed but that is another £1k.

Stopped counting now as its really scary.

If you can pick up a shell that need next to no welding and is straight then that is a big chunk of our spend saved.

[Shifty]

£2-£2.5k is about right, both mine owe me that and they still look like nails!!

I could spend £200 on paint for Stinky and he'd look like a £2.5k car, but nahhhh!!

Poo will need about £2k spending on him to get him back on the road.

[mini-luke]

Mine probably comes out at £2500 inc paint, but I've still got some engine work to be getting on with.

[Neildanks]

£2-£2.5k is about right, both mine owe me that and they still look like nails!!

I could spend £200 on paint for Stinky and he'd look like a £2.5k car, but nahhhh!!

Poo will need about £2k spending on him to get him back on the road.

I think i might as well buy a mini next time around november will save thousands