[406Special]

Claude, interesting that the rate you suggest is about £24 an hour,
say £25 for ease of calculation Allowing for say an equivalent
number of hours whether here (UK) or there, one needs to factor the
cost of shipping to and from NZ to adjust the final cost. I reckon
on about £4k minimum to and from, or around 160 hours labour. As
long as the actual restoration is large enough to swallow this
overhead, then it is worth considering, but I'd also factor in
another £4k spent on travelling to keep an eye on things say at least
2 trips or more, making the overhead about £8k, might be somewhat
less, but a keen owner will want to see it a few times me thinks.

To keep things in perspective, I am paying £35 an hour in
Oxfordshire, UK, with many hours unaccounted because of development
and my involvement (minimal). My budget is a total of £35k for body
and cosmetics and £10k for mechanical - engine through suspension,
brakes, etc. which is all being done at £25 an hour! At 40% extra
cost on the car body and cosmetics, lets say the NZ approach would
save before overhead about £10k or not much more than the overhead I
must assume during the build if in NZ. Therefore my extra cost to
have the convenience and closeness of local restoration is a few
thousand pounds. It needs to be a sizeable restoration, like Claude
has suggested - like sending it back to BCL with an open chequebook
to justify outsourcing to NZ or similar. Canny careful selection
here in UK can produce pretty good results. But don't be fooled, it
will never be worth as much I am investing! I am doing it for me.

Clyde