Keith-M's "my job is so much better than yours" thread

[Keith M]

Talbot Lago cylinder head at the engine builder. Hemispherical combustion chamber and huge valves.

[Keith M]

Rolls Royce head, piston and valves compared to a m20 piston.

[Todd Black 88]

Thanks for the kind words Jeremy.

Matt- parts are available, however there isn't a single source like Guten to buy them from. The vintage parts business is more of a cottage industry with many small shop specializing in specific parts. Having items rebuilt is same although there are several in the local area for instrument, starter/generator, and engine rebuilding. Body panels and many parts are nla or never were produced in large numbers so they have to be individually made. About the only off the shelf items are spark plugs and oil.

Typical parts costs for a Phantom II:
Replacement wiring $1600
Water pump $4-5k
Radiator re-core $25-40k
Replacement bulbs $10-300 each.

Truth.

Most would be surprised what can be made with the right amount of dollars.
A buissness collegue of mine is a real MG enthusiast, and has a collection of about 30 cars. He purchased a K3 magnette with a very long racing history, still 100% complete in racing trim. .......but he preferred the two seat originality to the single seat fiberglass body.
Since only 33 were ever made, finding a body proved impossible....so for a lot of $$$$$$$$ he had the original dies brought out and sent to a coach builder in the uk, and a complete new body stamped out from the original dies and made for his car.
He took it to pebble beach back around 1992 and finished second to Ralph Lauren's Buggatti.



He.............was.............pissed.
Lol

[TwoJ's]

Speed Six from a couple years ago

Wow, that Bentley is a very, very visually pleasing automobile.

Typical parts costs for a Phantom II:
Replacement wiring $1600
Water pump $4-5k
Radiator re-core $25-40k
Replacement bulbs $10-300 each.

And holy hell... the lengths people go to...


I wasn't aware of what you did. It sounds like you and your brother have built yourselves a nice little business.... and you've done it the right way. How long ago did you start out? And did you guys just have to start small and build your clientele through word of mouth?

I've always been impressed with companies that rely solely on word of mouth to get new business. It speaks volumes about the quality of work that they do whether it is a high end auto restoration business like yours, or the plastic injection molding company that does a bunch of my prototyping and is beginning to do production runs for me. If you're getting people to trust you with their nearly irreplaceable babies and they are spending tens/hundreds of thousands of dollars for you to do your work, then it is obvious you and your brother run a great shop.

Way to go Keith. I am sure it has taken countless hours of hard work and likely some sort of sacrificing on your part, but hopefully it has now paid off for you. I admire the position you are in -- doing something that you love, and doing it on your terms (and successfully too!). Keep it up!

[Keith M]

Todd- I like the early MG's. What you said about Pebble is so true. So many interesting and unique cars are invited every year that one with 32 siblings doesn't really stand a chance. Every year I hear the tale of some spending $3-700k and three years restoring something and it doesnt win anything. Since Pebble is an invite only event and the car is aren't allowed back again, it can be a heartbreaking thing for both the owners and the restoration company.

J- thanks you. The Bently is a one off coachbuilt car. What showed up at the shop was a chassis and part of the body. The fenders and hood were hand built. There is one known picture of the car with the original bodywork and we created what you see from that.

We started with less exotic makes, a 356D, XK 120's ect, and worked our way up. The big break came when were asked to do about $50,000 of work on a 4.5 litre Bentley for $5000.

The biggest thing we are known for, and the most important, is authenticity with the restorations. Everything has to be as close to original as possible. From the correct color of the wires to the horrible welding found on Italian cars.

[Keith M]

Alfa frame.

[Killacortes]

^ Nice. I work at an alfa restoration shop. And I gotta say they're dope little cars

[Keith M]

Pretty cars but poorly built. What years do you work on?

[Killacortes]

50's and 60's. A few lancia's and other cars in there. I'm currently tearing down a 33 packard. Theres some rare cars in the but their really not my cup of tea.

[Todd Black 88]

Todd- I like the early MG's. What you said about Pebble is so true. So many interesting and unique cars are invited every year that one with 32 siblings doesn't really stand a chance. Every year I hear the tale of some spending $3-700k and three years restoring something and it doesnt win anything. Since Pebble is an invite only event and the car is aren't allowed back again, it can be a heartbreaking thing for both the owners and the restoration company.

Yep, Peter spent around $500k on the restoration of the k3, but when he found out The Bugatti had a $2million dollar restoration done on it, he knew he was sunk.
I actually have the road and track magazine when they reviewed Pebble that year and the magazine did a full article on Peters car and it was driven buy Phil Hill.
January 1991 edition.

.........the mag also does a comparison of the sport evo/ MB evo II/ and Audi coupe SII:)

[OldDrunkenSailor]

Anything interesting come in lately?

[Keith M]

I'll take a couple pics later today.

[Keith M]

Phantom I interior


Alfa motor in. The colors and painted with a broom look are correct. It was harder to duplicate than you think.


Talbot motor ready for installation.


New grill pieces.

[ClausE30]

Awesome! Thanks for the cool pictures

[bmwm42]

Droool........awesome stuff