[davepl]

A couple of other points:

I chromed the mirrors. I didn't skimp, I chromed -each- little piece, wave-lock-washer, everything. Remember that chrome shops have a minimum fee per piece ($50 at some!). Now you've got mirrors with 30 parts. That adds up. But you could paint them.

I rebuilt the transmission. It ran just fine in the last car it was in, I could have just stuffed it in. Same with the rear end. If I didn't have it torn down, I wouldn't have known one bearing race was turning and needed to be machined and sleeved (all of which costs money).

Have you ever seen a brand new frame? They're smooth, not pitted. Do you really bodywork the frame? Only if you want it smooth like new before you powdercoat it. But you could just pressure wash and POR-15 it.

Do you need new side glass? Depends if you're OK with 40 years of winding up and down scratches and weather. You can save money by re-using your old glass. I reused my back glass.

I mentioned we dyno'd the motor, on an engine dyno, before installing it. Now I know authoritatively how it runs at every load/RPM combination we could come up with. This revealed that with today's gas it needed more initial timing. But then you need to lock out some of the mechanical. So you need a guy with an old Sun distributor machine and the knowledge of how to use it and how to lock out some mechanical advance. I sure don't have a distributor machine, let alone a dyno, so that all costs money.

But you could just set the timing to where it doesn't ping and the mixtures to where it idles nice and be close. And you could just drive it with two feet until it warms up.

I didn't just put in a relay for the headlights, I installed a multiple-relay, multiple-ballast, full 4-beam HID system. But you could run Sylvania headlights.

I have an original body FM radio upgraded with contemporary electronics. But you could run a Custom Autosound. And so on...

So for every element of the restoration, if you ask yourself "What would I genuinely need to do to make this part or system as close to or better than new", things add up. But if your "good enough" level is lower, it saves a ton of money.

The perfect is the enemy of the good. And I'm still going to drive it like a truck. But the only think I'll haul will be babies in cloth diapers (no pins) and pillow top mattresses (upside down only). In a year or two I'll get a little more casual with it, but I want to enjoy the fleeting "new truck" smell and feel for a while.