suggestions please!

L

larry harding

Senior Member
i was at a friends house today and he offered to sell me a 30/31 roadster. it is no show piece, but would make a decent driver. the engine has been rebuilt by a local guy with a good reputation. the main drawback is no top (frame and hardware iare there) and the door panels and upholstry need replacing. i did a pickup a few years ago and got the interior kit from le baron bonny... now defunct. what i've seen on this forum over the years doesn't give me a good taste for cartouche. before i make a deal on the roadster i would like to get an idea what a top kit and upholstry kit would run, and who is doing a goode job on supplying them. whatever is needed in the mechanical and electrical i can handle if the car is worth the price. thanks
 
I’m in central NC and I have a roadster top from an estate that might work for you. It’s tan. PM me if you want pictures.
 
Classtique is the only US company that offers kits for model As. Mike tries to keep his quality at a high mark. They have been trying hard to keep up with orders and I've heard they are doing fairly well in that respect. Check the website for details.
 
I ordered a complete Roadster interior from Mike at Classtique. He said he does not carry complete kits in stock, but makes them to order. If I remember correctly the wait time then was about 12 weeks, and it did arrive as promised. I haven’t installed it yet.
 
would like to get some ideas on prices to decide if the car is going to be worth what it will take to get it driveable. what he wants ain't cheap needing top and upholstry , maybe seat covers. i've seen so so roadsters for less than 10.000, but needing engine work
 
I recently sold a ‘30 roadster with a seized engjne, poor condition seats, and rusty brightwork for $11k. Had a good top though.
 
Hello, I think average condition 1930-31 Roadsters are going for around $20,000 to $25,000 on EBay.With purchase price and what I have in my 31 Deluxe it might be worth that, but the fun is driving it.Also have a MGB that is a fun driver, most of the people I know probably have as much in their cars as they are worth, but that’s not the point,cars are not good investments if looking at it that way. I understand though you would like to get out of it and at least break even.Good luck.
 
Buy the car and drive it without a top for a while. A roadster is fun with the top down or taken off. The great part is you can take the top off or put it on depending on your mood. Honestly, I never take my roadster top off, but it is a quick job if I wanted to.
 
Prices depend on a lot of things. The Roadsters have always been popular so prices commensurate. The soft parts are generally always a replacement on cars with a lower price. The key is if a car is complete with most items in decent condition. To expect much more than that isn't in the realistic category.

I've never made money working on antique machinery. I pay the lowest price I can and go from there. I enjoy the parts hunting and restoration process as much as the driving of the end product. Since I do it myself, the savings are on the labor end and I stretch it as I can afford it time wise. I don't plan on selling until I have no other choice. The only ones I've ever sold were the ones that were just too complicated to keep operational. I had old Thunderbirds and Lincolns but finding all the electrical and vacuum equipment was just too much. That old Roadster is as simple as they get and that's something I wouldn't sell. The only problem with some of the roadsters is that they aren't really made for big boys but they are still a lot of fun.
 
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i already have a 31 pu, a speedster that i built and a king midget, but would like a roadster. i looked at clastique's website and nearly fell over at the cost of tops, interior material et. i would be heading towards $20.000 and no paint job. a friend bought an older restoration which had been sitting for 10 years needed some work
for $8000 last year, even a little rough around the edges . that was probably still a bargain. i'm going to think this over before making any comitment.
 
You will always pay top dollar for a commercially made kit. That's how commerce works. If you want to really save, buy the materials and make it yourself. If you don't know how to do that or don't have a decent commercial heavy duty sewing machine, look at paying someone who does but then, you are back to paying someone else, just like buying the kit.
 
larry harding said:
i already have a 31 pu, a speedster that i built and a king midget, but would like a roadster. i looked at clastique's website and nearly fell over at the cost of tops, interior material et. i would be heading towards $20.000 and no paint job. a friend bought an older restoration which had been sitting for 10 years needed some work
for $8000 last year, even a little rough around the edges . that was probably still a bargain. i'm going to think this over before making any comitment.
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Larry, your perspective on this is similar to your recent Universal Joint price comments and a couple of others. Costs for service work in about all industries in this Country on average has risen over 30% ...and as much as 100% in many trades. Costs for products & material in this Country have seen as much as a 300% increase too. Model-As are about the last item that has not seen their prices rise comparatively. Their day is coming though. Mark my words. ;)

My advice to you is to think about why you are in this hobby. Are you actually doing this hobby to make money (-i.e.: investment) off of your collector cars? If so, your motivation is greatly skewed in the wrong direction IMHO. The second generation Ford Model-A should not be considered an investment, or something you will ever see a ROI. You already own two Model-As and the King Midget. If you are struggling with potential costs of owning this new Roadster, then why not just be content with what you have.
 
Complaining about how much parts and services cost has been so common for so long that I would respectfully submit that it is a traditional part of the hobby. Indeed, can you really be a true Model A hobbyist if you're not kvetching about the price of upholstery?
 
I enjoy doing the upholstery myself. Not so much because of the cost but because I like doing the work and take pride in the results. I have a heavy-duty sewing machine from www.sailrite.com. I have been doing my own upholstery, sails, and canvas work for more than 25 years. It takes some experience but the learning curve is steep so it doesn't take long to get up to speed. And mistakes are fixable.
 
alexiskai said:
Complaining about how much parts and services cost has been so common for so long that I would respectfully submit that it is a traditional part of the hobby. Indeed, can you really be a true Model A hobbyist if you're not kvetching about the price of upholstery?
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Colin, maybe as a kid I was just focused different things back then, but in the 1960s & 70s, I really don't remember Dad & others complaining about what parts and/or services cost for Model-A stuff. Dad was a family man who was raising 4 kids and still restoring his cars, so I do remember him saying he wished he had the money to buy a certain car that was for sale or that he was saving money to have an engine rebuilt soon or he was saving to have some chrome work done.

I do remember hobbyists back then complaining about aftermarket or reproduction 'krap' that didn't fit or didn't work. I truly believe the "tradition" of complaining started when hobbyists quit 'restoring' parts. Dad and other Model-Aers would replace certain components with better original parts, but generally they all tried to stay away from replacing with the JC Whitney parts. Services back then were generally covered by talented friends in the local Model-A club that had home shops. Most of that work was traded / bartered for by swapping for extra parts or labor.
 
Hello, I think average condition 1930-31 Roadsters are going for around $20,000 to $25,000 on EBay.With purchase price and what I have in my 31 Deluxe it might be worth that,


how I wish that were true. have a few nice older restorations Ill sell in the 13k range. not perfect by any means, but 20-25k buys you a super nice car today.


of course- my opinion. Ive followed ebay for close to 30 yrs now religously. follow the sales, not the auctions.
 
Classtique. I purchased an interior kit and and top kit for my coupe and the service and quality was good. Very help when I needed a few wooden ribs for the top of the car. I’d use them again without hesitation.
 
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