Whats wrong with starting with an already disassembled car?

[Unobtanium-inc]

You are always better off buying a complete car (as long as it is not molested)

Having all the pieces of the puzzle is important for the restoration and future resale.

I started with a bare tub as a project and quickly realized that it is hard to build it back with nothing as a reference. (i actually have two of them)
It is time consuming finding correct parts and expensive buying one piece at a time.
I will only consider complete cars in the future as result.

Complete 69-73 911T projects can be had for approx $25k.
Bare tubs can be found for approx $10k. (You can spend $15k in missing items fairly quick and still not have everything a complete car would have had)

Either senario will require to be stripped and media blasted. (Expect to spend $20-30k on metal restoration on no matter what you buy unless you paid big money for a rust free car.)
With a complete car, alot of stuff will need to be replaced or restored, but it gives you a base. Nothing is garbage until you know 100%.
Things like the wheels, glass, door guts, seat belts, steering, suspension, wire harness and brakes can add up when buying individually. Especially when looking for correct dates.

A bare tub start is not for the faint of heart and is not a money saver.

If you want a bare tub with all the metal work complete, I have one for $30k.
It is a soild start, but needs everything. A great donor for a rust bucket or ground up race car/hot rod build.

Buying a bare tub already done and a complete project car makes a lot of sense, you get the best of both worlds. This was a good one to pair with a project, a complete 70T, ironically one owner and matching numbers, but coupled with a perfect body, would make a great car. Then you would still have a 911 body you could sell off after for something. The new car wouldn't be matching like the old tub, but you would have every little bit.

[BrentF]

With a complete car you have the added advantage of KNOWING what works and what doesn't. Not so with a disassembled car.

Chasing down missing parts can be expensive, not to mention time consuming and frustrating.

Go with the complete car.

[mpane7]

Interesting points that partly justify the 'premium' of getting an assembled car.
I am not comparing two specific cars to post them her for reference. The pricing conclusion is based on several cars I have been checking the past year. Just to clarify, I am not talking about bare tubs with no parts.
What Adam is saying about the usual statement of the sellers claiming that the car is complete but in boxes (but its never complete) is very true. The essence of what I am trying to compare, however, is with all things being equal (an assembled and a disassembled car with the exact same parts), what is the value of getting that 'same' car assembled.
I personally don't have the time or knowledge (yet) to work on my cars (maybe some day) due to long office hours. The person I have working on my cars has worked on several cars before so that somehow allows him to be in a position to work on a disassembled car. Taking million of pictures if of course extremely valuable, but, how different will those pictures be form car to car when talking about the same exact model.

[tcsracing1]

Interesting points that partly justify the 'premium' of getting an assembled car.
I am not comparing two specific cars to post them her for reference. The pricing conclusion is based on several cars I have been checking the past year. Just to clarify, I am not talking about bare tubs with no parts.
What Adam is saying about the usual statement of the sellers claiming that the car is complete but in boxes (but its never complete) is very true. The essence of what I am trying to compare, however, is with all things being equal (an assembled and a disassembled car with the exact same parts), what is the value of getting that 'same' car assembled.
I personally don't have the time or knowledge (yet) to work on my cars (maybe some day) due to long office hours. The person I have working on my cars has worked on several cars before so that somehow allows him to be in a position to work on a disassembled car. Taking million of pictures if of course extremely valuable, but, how different will those pictures be form car to car when talking about the same exact model.

An assembled project car and disassembled project car would be worth the same if both same condition, same parts and numbers matching.
The only way a disassembled car would be worth less is if it is missing items. Hence, the lower resale price.

for example, a 1969T complete original project car would be worth approx 25k.
The same car taken apart and all removed items bagged would be worth about the same depending on documentation of car.

Now, if that car was missing wheels, seats or engine etc, then yes, the dissassembled car would be less money to buy... But it is missing items that could be worth something so it is all realitive.

spend more up front or more later. Savings are not really there when comparing the two.
Typically the complete car will save you more in the long run.

[merbesfield]

Always buy the nicest car you can afford. Only those guys in the business or who have done many restorations and are basically retired or do it for a living should consider a disassembled car over a complete car in my opinion. Unless the disassembled car was a screaming deal, I would always prefer a complete car. Though I would not want a rust bucket either way.

[mpane7]

For some, the nicest car they can buy is a good disassembled car (and 'finance' their way during the rest)

It seems to be easier also to come up with the restoration approximate final cost), when you have a tub and boxes with parts.

(rust buckets are out of the question as they are in a different league)

[rdelmendo]

IMHO your goal for the project would affect the decision tremendously. If you are going nut and bolt Concours restoration, I wouldn’t even think of starting with a car in boxes unless it was rare or had very unique provenance. Finding the correct date matched ($$$) part, if that’s your cup of tea, can get very expensive very fast. On the other hand, if you are doing a RS 2.7 Tribute or some such and originality is not a priority, then you’re going to be tossing many parts in favor for all the cool light stuff. In that case, having a tub that has been stripped is great to see how solid a starting point you have.

Another factor is the experience of whoever is doing the assembly of the restoration. You say your guy “has done several cars”. There are so many variations in the early cars that you need to have dozens of restorations under your belt to know what goes where. Again, if your going hot-rod, this doesn’t matter as much as you’ll be adding a different engine and what not.

[tcsracing1]

For some, the nicest car they can buy is a good disassembled car (and 'finance' their way during the rest)

It seems to be easier also to come up with the restoration approximate final cost), when you have a tub and boxes with parts.

(rust buckets are out of the question as they are in a different league)

I actually did that 3 years ago. Bought a roller tub with title. Had little to no parts with it. Price was right, so i tucked it away for another day.

Well, that day came and i started it. Then realised how much more it would cost to buy one part at a time, especially correct parts once i started adding it all up.

Been building it slowly over time which helps cash flow but not the overall budget.
I ended up buying another semi complete car for the parts i required so my budget escalated. It Helped eliminate the fustration of searching for correct parts and answering questions however.

Now I understand why it is best to buy a complete car. Avoid bare tubs or parts in boxes cars if you can.

A bare tub is suitable for a hot rod build, but a fools errand for a correct restoration with hopes of decent resale.

I could have built the bare tub into a jonny cash special (1969, 79, 82, 65, etc) for less money, But im not into building terds.

[BrentF]

Speaking of disassembled 911s, here's one on BaT:

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1972-porsche-911t-13/