Up, Up and Away

[cultural infidel]

I've got a "pile" of sheet metal here. No C-K stuff, but all of some worth to someone looking for various pieces. A fair amount of mechanical stuff too - again, nothing that would generate BIG bucks, but Stude parts nonetheless. Like BP, I'm trying to pare down for reasons of age and agility. Some of my sheet metal is primo, some of it needs minor work ("minor" as opposed to rust belt metal).
So - besides listing it on the Swap Page - what do I do to get it gone??? Gone while getting something for the prepping, packing and shipping of it - never mind any recompense for saving it from a lesser fate all these years.

besides listing it on the Swap Meet Page... why not take a few pictures and post them up asking if anyone sees something they need? I know that you have quite a bit stockpiled, but it may help some get an idea of what you may have that you are willing to part ways with. Just my $0.02

[hausdok]

I get what you are saying. And maybe down the line, my answer would be a yes to that. Would you take tub requests?

If you get this going, I would love to drop by your shop as you are only about 20 min away from me.

Well, I think if I were to do it I'd probably find and buy several of each popular model, strip them down, cut out all of the rot, weld them up, work out any heavy dents, fill with lead where needed, do the rough finish and then work a deal with a local body shop to turn them over to them to do the final fine finish shell work, primer them and then lightly paint them with a flash coat to seal them. Once I had several of each all set to go, I'd start selling them and would take in old tubs as cores.

The other parts taken off I'd either sell outright or blast, paint and rebuild before selling. It seems like if there'd be a market for body tubs that are ready to go, there might also be a market for completely rebuilt and rolling chassis.

Or maybe not.

[Bob Andrews]

Mike, I like your idea. But honestly, I think if you want to make a go of it, your real opportunity is doing Big Three tubs. Much larger customer base and more profitable. Remember, Studebaker owners are the only ones I've known that brag about being cheapskates (CASO)<GG>

If you were to just do Studebakers because that's where your passion is, that's great; nothing wrong with that at all. But strictly from a business standpoint, I bet it would be a tough way to make any consistent money.

[hausdok]

Mike, I like your idea. But honestly, I think if you want to make a go of it, your real opportunity is doing Big Three tubs. Much larger customer base and more profitable. Remember, Studebaker owners are the only ones I've known that brag about being cheapskates (CASO)<GG>

If you were to just do Studebakers because that's where your passion is, that's great; nothing wrong with that at all. But strictly from a business standpoint, I bet it would be a tough way to make any consistent money.

Yeah,

I certainly see your point; a lot more big 3 hulks out there to find, too.

[dnevin]

Just my opinion and not worth much, but I'd think you'd be in over your head (financially, not ability-wise) on even a c/k tub. What would it take to get a typical west coast c/k that only needs some minor patching and cleanup? You'd have the original purchase price--or core price, cost of materials to patch (more if you brought pre-formed panels if you couldn't form your own) and then whatever you'd have to pay to the body shop. What is a c/k worth when complete? A really nice 53 will bring, what, say 25K? If you were rebuilding one would you spend $10k on a body shell? Then there's storage, advertising expenses, arranging for shipping, etc.

It'd be a noble venture but I'd be afraid that you'd have difficulty making a living doing so.

When I first moved here from the midwest, I had the idea (that probably every car guy did who made the same move) that I could buy project cars out here, do nothing to them but load them up on a trailer (multiple car of course) and haul them back east to sell. After a particularly rough day at work, I sat down and did the math. Even if I could sell everyone at a certain % of profit (based on what I was finding things for sale on craigslist, etc., then comparing them to what things sold on ebay, book values, etc.) it would end up being so slim that not selling one car from a trip would put me into the red. And this was when gas was under $2 a gallon. Incidentals would kill as well.