Depreciating or increasing the value?

Do you get more bang for your buck if you try keep the car as original as possible? or is there a better market value out there for a kustom? i.e. i have been going back and forth on pulling the 264/dynaflow and going with a 401/th400 in my buick and swapping the rear end to an open drive line. my neighbor who is an (old timer) bout nearly choked me out and said keep it all original dont do that!! i just dont want to look back on down the road and question my decision.

 

keeping the car original = better.
fix whats in a reasonable price range and , drive/enjoy the car.
the answer you need is in the (your) cars details as each one can be different.

 

if you leave it stock there are ways to compare market value. once you modify it in any way you have to rely on what someone else values it at. then there is no real way to compare it to anything else. if you really like the car and plan to keep for a long time do whatever sounds good to you.

 

it ain't like it's a bugatti or something. probably worth more to someone with that update if it's done properly.

 

If it was me I'd do the swap but keep the 264 stored for down the road if you do sell the car . Hopefully the newer motor/trans go in without cutting anything so that it might go back to stock fairly easily .


T

 

see i thought about doing just that. so far every part ive pulled off the buick ive been tagging it and putting it up in storage....so if i do sell it i can be like, boom! there's your original buick in the trunk!

 

Not ever one time have I ever seen any modification away from stock return the investment in value- not ever !!!

They don't always take value away but the majority of the time they do.

 

Right now the correct answer to your question not easy to answer.

Cars in general are not bringing the kind of money they have in the past.

Part of it is the economy and in my opinion part of it is a lack of interest and I am not sure what is causing it.

It's not just in cars or trucks either it appears to me to be many forms of racing are just suffering from a lack of interest.

Just take a look at how many many performance related companies are hurting for business right now or have already gone out of business over the past few years.

I know for my business 2012 was a much better year then this year.

I find I don't even watch the car auctions because it's in most cases to depressing to watch.

Right now is cheaper to purchase a car then to build one which is crazy but that is just the way I see it right now.

Jimbo

 

I dunno........I've managed to lose money on every car I sell. They're always "rare & expensive" when I buy them, but "run of the mill" when I go to sell. Been that way for the last 55-years............ Go figure.

 

Upgrades are one thing, custom mods are another.

If you add an alternator or an overdrive automatic or power windows or cruise control, those are conveniences that have broad appeal and could make your car more marketable than a stocker.

OTOH, if you insist on painting your car in your school colors, airbrush it with skulls, dragons, and naked warrior chicks, you can bet that the pool of potential buyers is going to be smaller. Not everyone shares the love, you know.....

 

If you have to ask this, you think too much. Old cars are for fun and very seldom are they an investment.

Enjoy what you have and enjoy whatever you want to do to it.

The rest is just speculation and is usually not worth spending any energy thinking about.

 

You'll get different answers here on the HAMB than you'd get on a restoration site.
I agree with 31 Vicky. Any mods from stock are not a good investment.
Do you consider your car an investment, or is having an old car your hobby?

 

Original is worth more. Very well done modified cars sell for more, but not for as much as it cost to get them there.

 

I think I would keep the "old parts" and replace with new stuff that can be added "bolt on" I don't think I would cut up anything...g

I used to be Indecisive but now I don't know...

 

The way I see it,,the Hokey Ass Message Board ain't about restoring cars.

The people that want a original Buick are looking for something nicer than your car,,not knocking yours,but they want perfect this and perfect that.

I don't know how many of the reply's that you received have sold modified cars but I see several say they lost money,,to be perfectly honest the only cars I ever lost money on are the ones I wrecked or screwed up so bad no one would want them.

Modifications to improve the performance,braking and enhance the look of the car will always pay off,,leastwise it has in my case. HRP

 

It depends on the car only in the sense that the ones that are stupid money are worth more as correct originals - say a '59 Impala convertible with a 3x2bbl 348 and 4-speed trans - but if you built the same thing out of a '59 Biscayne 2dr sedan that came originally with a 235 and 3-speed? The modified one is worth more, unless it's a shitty build. Sometimes even then it will sell for more.

Sometimes even the rare cars are worth more modified. When I price researched 49-51 Ford woodies I found you could buy a nice original for $30K-$35K, but the well done rods for sale had prices from $45K-$65K.


In your car's case the upgrades will probably make it worth more because it will be more drivable. I doubt they'd hurt the value at all.

 

Im not in this car thing to make $, but what i can say is do what you want to your car. Listning to nieghbours opinions will only upset your buzz. Ive learned to switch off when people think they should inflict their ideas of how my car should be done.

 

reading this kind of brought be down a couple levels...its sad but true

 

The problem with trying to assess the value of an old car whether stock or modified is....a car is only worth what someone else is willing to pay for it. In stock trim your Buick would be more valuable to a die-hard Buick purist. In modified trim your car will be worth more to the hot rod crowd...and these two crowds very rarely mix. Telling you that leaving your car all original will make it more valuable only holds true in some cases. Let's say you do swap the motor out and years later decide to sell it, the purist will simply pass over it, but the hot rodder will come in and scoop it up real quick. I get lots of customers asking me what their car is worth, and I just tell them it's worth what someone will give you for it. Too often I see older cars that are not rare or special with a gigantic price tag on it because they saw one like it sell on Barret-Jackson etc...except the one on Barret-Jackson was a 67 Hemi GTX Super Track Pack 4 Speed car, and theirs is a 67 satellite 4 door with a wheezy 318. Keep it stock and enjoy it as is, or drop in the big motor and really enjoy it...with the ability to return it to stock later on should you so desire. My .02

 

I don't build them to sell, I build them to run like a scalded cat. Most of the factory stuff can be improved for go, turn, stop.

Who cares what it does to the value? I don't and people who do miss the best part of having a car. We'd all be driving around looking like dorks without speed parts and custom stuff.

 

For years we, myself included, have been telling people not to modify anything that couldn't be changed back to stock. Why? I know of no one ever changing a modified car back to a stock car, maybe some muscle car people do that, but a mid fifties Buick, or a Model A?. Pull that old slow, heavy, ill handling, bad stopping junk outta there and make it a fast, fun car. Mid fifties stuff was like driving a boat on land, they took a long time to get up to speed, wallowed around, and you had to plan your stops well in advance. Make it fun, if you want to make it valuable restore it stock, don't drive it and sell it before it gets dusty!

 

there are not too many original cars i would rather have NOT modified. so for me they will always be worth more customized.

 

Perception will make a car built by the owner worth less than a car built with a checkbook. If a cars value overpowers your desire to "build "it, it may be the wrong car, or your motives may be wrong.
I have come to regret certain things I have done to my cars in the past, mostly cutting things on them, or modifying them in ways that are hard to return back to how they were.
My tastes have changed over time, I like stock more and more. Except stock means no power, and crappy trannies. I don't like that.
Bolt in your 401/400 combo, store the stocker as long as possible. You can make a 401 look stock enough to fool most people. You will most likely never see the need to put the stock engine back in, and sell it or scrap it down the road.
Mild modifications tend to appeal to the largest crowd.

 

I was looking to buy a model A last year. V8 powered As seemed to be worth more, in the same relative condition, than stockers.

 

I kept every part I took off my car and even went out of my way to not drill any extra holes under the dash or hood to mount newer componets.
I got to the point I needed room for a bigger radiator. Cutting the core support was very liberating, as now the car is never going back to stock under my ownership.
The only regret I have is that I wasted a bunch of time saving parts and making brackets to use exisiting holes to mount gauges etc.

 

An engine swap in a mid 50's Buick involves changing out the entire driveline and the rear suspension. Once it's done, it's never going back to stock. It's way, way far from a bolt in type operation.

If you actually finish it and make it roadworthy, I would say that version of the car would be worth more than a stocker, or at least, you would not have damaged it's value. But more often than not, the stock engine comes out, some good intentions get shuffled around and those cars get parted out or sold unfinished by people who have no idea how much effort it takes to do the work.

If that is you, then don't touch it. If you know for sure you've got what it takes to actually do it, then go for it.

 

The other thing to consider is if you really care whether it hurts the car or not. A lot of guys don't. They have no intention of selling the car, so it doesn't much matter.

Honestly in this current age I can see where it's a valid concern, it's hard to know if you'll have a job tomorrow or next month or year, so if you have to part with it you want to get the most you can.


The only problem is the most you can get right now ain't what it used to be. It's probably going to be at least 2016 before much changes, and then only if we're lucky.

 

It really depends on the car. Like Squawblow said, a 55 Buick has issues that make it difficult to modify. On the other hand, it is almost impossible to reduce the value of a 32 Ford or a 55 Chevy with modifications. Havving had a 55 Buick I recommend you leave that one alone unless you have a lot of time and money.

 

youll get opinions either way. me ive never worried about it, I do what I want because I own it. ill worry about selling it later. theres an ass for every seat.

 

I agree with Dane .... if you are worried about devaluing a car because you are building it the way you want then maybe you should buy one exactly the way you want it .... good luck with that! LOL