Frame up restoration cost

[astronull]

Hey guys,

2g Eclipse has been my dream car since I was a kid. Finally in a financial position now to own one and do it right!
Just picked up a 95' GSX out of Colorado in decent condition, no rust, but very molested.

I was just wondering ballpark cost on frame up restoration if I plan to do 80% of the work myself. I budgeted out about $30k in my head, just wondering if that's reasonable or how off the mark I am. I am a perfectionist and really want it done right, and I plan to outsource all body/paint work because I just don't think I can do it right and don't have the time to learn.

I plan to resto every part of the car, and after market upgrade wherever possible and would love to making around 500hp RELIABLY.


Also being completely transparent, this is my first restoration. I've owned and worked on tuners before and mechanically understand how cars work fairly well but nothing close to the extent of this project. I very well may end up in a situation or have a problem I just need to ask for external assistance on, so take that into account with the $30k...

 

[92AWDHX40]

No way to tell you, youll have to take it to a shop i never saw a break down in cost way to many variables there. These are 30 year old cars with parts hard to come by to restore i do the best myself , . This is a platform unlike corvettes, toyotas or hondas. Cost is best to do it yourself, then you can save headaches down the road ,and money.

 

[pauleyman]

I agree. There is no way to cost this out. 30k is probably a good start. Keep in mind you could have 100k and some parts just aren't available at any price.

 

[Canadian_CD9A]

Body work and paint are your biggest variables, and a bare-shell job that paints every surface is likely going to be at least $10,000 for a good, proper job.
A reliable 500hp is going to be another $10,000 or more (engine build, turbo setup, exhaust, intercooler, fuel system, clutch, built transmission, ECU & tuning, etc). Wheels & tires are another couple thousand. Suspension modifications depend on what you want. Exterior trim and interior bits are going to eat away at you, and they're often the parts that are obviously worn out, sometimes with no replacements available. Fixing someone else's hacks are typically some of the most expensive problems you'll face. You can budget $30,000 for this but ultimately you won't know until you do it, and projects like this almost always come in WAY over budget.

It's almost always cheaper to buy a really nice car to start with, and do what needs to be done. Word from a person who is very sentimental about the cars he owns: buy the best car that you can, don't waste time and money on something that will cost you immensely to make perfect.

 

[CKOPOCT]

FWIW I am doing something similar to you. I think $30K is reasonable depending on how deep you want to go. I bought a 97 GST Spyder and performing a frame-on resto to bring it back from the dead. I have around $12K in it and most of that is the engine rebuild. I am not doing paint at this point due to expense; vinyl wrap instead. My engine will be built to put out around 550hp but I will tune it to only push around 350-400 because my understanding is beyond that things after the crank begin to break. If you want to put 500 through it, or 500 to the wheels, you'd better consider extra cash to strengthen the bits that will get that power to the tires.

If you know your way with a wrench then most of the work will be easier than you expect. This site is your gold mine inlaid with diamonds ... anything and everything you will need to know is a search bar and a few clicks away. LOTS of reading, but the folks on here have done everything to these cars except for possibly using a JATO to power it (but I wouldn't be surprised if someone on here has attempted it).

 

[Mech Addict]

Sounds crazy for me to say, but you might be low with your estimate. It does depend on how perfect you want it. A 1g went on Bring a trailer for $46k a few months back. It was a fanatical resto mod , with body very nice but essentially stock-ish, nothing too wild. I believe it had reported 350hp. So that’s one data point. I have to agree with the philosophy of buy the best car you can find to start with. Properly built engine, trans, and turbo could go over $15 to make the power you mentioned, and last for more than 10k miles. Full paint and all the trim and whatnot would go that high as well, depending on how much is reusable. Any rust to repair would drive that higher. Thats before you get to interior, axles, prop, xfer, diff, suspension, wheels, tires. That level of power takes a lot of reinforcement, and probably a brake upgrade too. I’m just trying to get my car back to good oem, haven’t really touched the long block, and I’m probably 16~18k into it by now.
They sure are special cars, though.

 

[DogWhistle]

If a member here wants to make other members smile, they say, "I'm done with my build."

Restoration is never 'done'. More like 'paused'. Repairing or replacing one item will lead you to discovering more items that need attention. And then there's the upgrades.

$30k will get you a long way in your project, but expect that there will always be 'another' thing that you'll want to address.

Hopefully, you will do this project. We all love to see DSMs restored right and tastefully personalized.