New S3 Chassis

[Tony Warner]

Hi everyone,

My first post so I hope you will forgive me if I am a little of beam.

I have found a S3 which is for sale in Australia, it has been in a garage for 20 years, the current owner was going to restore and has fitted a new chassis and had the engine overhauled by a professional engine re-conditioner with the large valve head "conversion"

My question is what would a new chassis cost these days?? I have to factor this in to my offering price, I can work out the value of the engine overhaul but not the chassis.

Anyone care to guess what one is worth today (the chassis was bought some ten years ago)

Thanks in anticipation.

Tony Warner

[rgh0]

Tony

A new chassis delivered in Australia is around A$4000 to A$5000. An engine rebuild if a complete job and done properly is about A$5000 labor plus parts. Assuming normal components require replacing in the rebuild eg pistons & rings, bearings, valves, seats, guides, water pump, gaskets, seals maybe around A$3000 in parts.

I would never trust any claim of an "engine rebuild" without the detailed build sheets and labor hours spent from a reputable engine builder who i could check directly with and details of new parts supplied, I have seen to many engine rebuilds that consisted of not much more than an oil change and a coat of paint.

The more valid question is how much to be spent to turn it into a good running car. A basket case requiring a total rebuild is something less than A$20000 to buy. Spend about A$20000 plus a lot of your time and you will have a A$35000 car at best, so you dont do a restoration to make money !

A basket case with a new chassis and engine rebuild may be worth A$25000 at best IMHO.

Rohan

[gjz30075]

<!--QuoteBegin-Tony Warner+Oct 20 2004, 07:46 AM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Tony Warner @ Oct 20 2004, 07:46 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->

Anyone care to guess what one is worth today (the chassis was bought some ten years ago)

[/quote]
Are you saying that the owner won't sell the car with a chassis he bought ten years ago?? Guess I'm not understanding why you have to price a chassis.

Greg Z
'72 Sprint

[sk178ta]

It seems things must be a bit expensive down under. I`ve just checked the currency convertor and at roughly 2.5A$ to ?1, 25,000A$ is around ?10,000......... for a basket case??!!
Here in the UK you could get a drophead in nice running condition for that. A fixed head would be maybe 20% less. I would guess an uncompleted resto. as you describe, wouldn`t be, realistically, more than, say, ?5000, or A$12500.
Have a nice holiday, a container, and save some cash.
Jim

[Tony Warner]

Folk's,

Thanks for your very prompt responses, I may not have made myself clear, the new chassis is part of the deal, I was just wondering about the cost in order to make up a valuation in my head.

The point is taken regarding the engine re-build, I am less concerned with this being an ex wrench puller myself.

Valuations are interesting!! seems the best value is in the UK, thought about a holiday and buying an Elan there, the US market seems to be higher than the UK and prices seem to be all over the place in Australia, thought I saw a 71 at a Shannons auction for 24K in really good condition.

My aim was to get an Elan to restore/rebuild done with motorcycles!! I am not trying to make some money just trying to extend my youth, still trying to decide what to do when I grow up.

Seriously, as a mechanic back in the 60's I assembled a few Elans for other people and always lusted after one, the time is right.

Thanks for your reply's

Tony Warner

[rgh0]

Prices in Australia are certainly higher than the UK but they reflect a number of issues.

1. The cars are usually in much better condition than their UK equivalent even the basket cases. Due to lack of corrosion you dont have to rebuild or replace things like totally corroded brake calipers.

2. The cars are rarer and to some degree the price reflects the cost of buying and importing a similar car from the UK. Freight and duty and other import costs are not insignificant.


However theA$25000 price I estimated was a maximum and included a new chassis and a engine rebuild and an other complete car but requiring a rebuild. A running car in good conditon is around A$30000 a concours car around $40000 and a complete car that requires a rebuild and repaint but no major body damage around $15000. These prices are maybe 20% above their UK equivalents. However if you import and try to sell a well used cheap UK car people look under it, see the rust and take 20% off so you make no money !

Not much opportunity for arbitrage between UK and Australia unfortunately.

regards
Rohan