What a frame-off restoration actually costs

Published figures for a 1967-69 Camaro and the cars built beside it, stage by stage, with the source named on every line. Tick what your car needs and read a range. Where two sources disagreed, the line says both. Where nothing could be sourced, the stage is listed as a gap rather than given a number.

The short answer

Four sources on what a whole car comes to. They do not agree, and the spread between them is the honest answer.

Whole carFour sources

$100,000 to $200,000

a full frame-off, with the nicer ones climbing past $200,000. When a shop does all of it at the going rate, labour usually runs about three times the cost of the parts.

Fesler USA, June 2026

$20,000 to $50,000 driver, $100,000 and up show, $150,000 to $300,000 concours

a shop's published tiers by finished quality, with restomods and bespoke builds spanning $80,000 to $400,000.

Coastline Classic Car Restorations, updated March 2026

a quarter of a million dollars in labour

a full frame-off with every nut, bolt and finish factory-correct, at around 3,000 hours, before parts and materials.

Eastwood

well past $500,000 in labour

what the labour on a true concours restoration can reach at the top of the trade.

Hagerty, August 2022

The worksheet

Every stage below carries a real published figure. Untick what your car does not need. The low ends add together and the high ends add together, so what comes out is a range and never a quote.

Body3 stages

Media blasting the shell$1,200 to $1,550The body from the firewall back, inside, outside and underneath, with removable panels off and the shell on a rotisserie. Doors, fenders and the hood are priced separately.From a blasting shop's own published price list: $950 to $1,300 for a car shell, plus $250 for the rotisserie setup. Classic Car Blasting, New HampshireSources differ: That price page carries 2019 and 2020 build dates, so read it as several years old. A 2026 industry price guide puts a full body strip at $1,500 to $4,500, and adds $150 to $400 for lead-paint disposal on a pre-1978 car.Rust repair: quarters, wheel wells, drop-offs and trunk pan$7,000 to $10,500Labour only, welds dressed and the repair primed. The panels themselves are extra, and no catalogue price for them survived our sourcing.From a restoration shop owner's own posted hours and rate on a customer's car: just under 140 hours across quarters, drop-offs, outer wheel wells and the trunk pan, at $50 to $75 an hour. Chevy Nova ForumSources differ: A restoration shop's blog puts a single rust repair panel like a rocker at $2,000 to $6,000 on its own, panel and labour together. A trunk pan alone was quoted in the same forum thread at 20 to 30 hours.Bodywork and paint$10,000 to $20,000Block sanding, panel gaps, sealer, colour and clear, materials included. Rust repair is the row above, not this one.From a painter's rule of thumb quoted in a restorers' forum: $10,000 for a driver and $20,000 for a show car. The thread's original poster had been quoted around $18,000 on his own car. AACA ForumsSources differ: That thread is from 2016, so treat both ends as low for 2026. Base colour alone was quoted in it at $500 to $950 a gallon, and a sprayable gallon with hardener, clear and reducer at $1,200 to $1,500. Getting a body straight enough for colour is 40 to 100 hours of block sanding before any paint goes on.

Drivetrain4 stages

Machine work on the small-block$750 to $2,200Bore, hone, deck and short-block assembly at the machine shop. Pistons, rings, bearings, cam, gaskets and the labour to fit the engine in the car are extra.From two owners' paid invoices posted in forum threads: $750 to $800 out the door for a bore and hone quoted at $325, and just under $2,200 for a fuller round of machine work on a 350. Chevy Tri-Five Forum and Hot Rod ForumSources differ: A restoration shop's blog puts an engine rebuild at 20 to 80 labour hours depending on how far it goes, which is the figure that moves this line the most.A crate 383 instead of rebuilding your own block$4,195 to $4,295A turnkey carburetted 383, 355 to 375 horsepower, shipped ready to install. Your original block stays on the floor, so a numbers-matching car stops being one.From the engine builder's own listed prices for the two power levels. Phoenix EngineSources differ: Owners in engine groups report $5,000 to $13,000 for a built 383, and up to $25,000 for the far end. That is a different scope from a base crate engine.Transmission rebuild, TH350 or TH400$600 to $1,050The unit rebuilt on a drop-off basis, plus $150 to $200 to pull it and put it back in the car.From shop quotes reported by owners in two marque forums: $500 to $850 for the unit itself, one of them with a two-year warranty, plus the removal and refit charge. Team Chevelle and Chevy Nova ForumSources differ: A transmission remanufacturer's 2026 price guide says $2,200 to $3,500 for a basic shop rebuild. That figure describes modern automatics and mentions reusing solenoids. A TH350 does not have any, so it is not the same job.Rear axle: 12-bolt rebuild$1,080 to $3,300Bearings, seals, ring and pinion and an install kit at the bottom. The top adds a posi unit and custom-length axles.From owner-reported parts lists and paid totals across three forums: about $1,080 in parts itemised line by line, $2,500 quoted with an Eaton posi added, and $3,300 for a 12-bolt built to hold 750 horsepower. Team Chevelle, Chevy Nova Forum, 67-72chevytrucks

Chassis2 stages

Front and rear disc brake conversion$1,100 to $2,332Parts only. Spindles, calipers, rotors and lines at the bottom; the top is a Wilwood kit with tubular A-arms included.From a parts retailer's listed price of $2,332.19 for the full kit, and an owner's reported $1,100 with tax and shipping for a spindle and caliper set. Pirate JackFront coil-over conversion$1,495.50Parts only, front only, for a 1967-69 Camaro or a 1968-74 Nova.From the retailer's listed price for the kit. Johnny Law Motors

Interior1 stages

Full interior$5,000 to $15,000Seat covers, carpet, headliner, door panels and trim, with the labour to fit them.From a restoration shop's stated figure: the interior alone on a nice build commonly runs $5,000 to $15,000. Fesler USASources differ: Upholstery shops quote $200 to $1,500 a seat depending on material and how much of the seat is rebuilt, so a two-seat job with a carpet kit can land well under this range. A restorers' forum thread on a 1940s car put whole-car reupholstery at $8,000 to $15,000.

Wiring and brightwork2 stages

Wiring harness$591.99 to $1,129.99A complete reproduction or aftermarket harness kit. Fitting it is 10 to 40 hours depending on how far the car is already apart.From manufacturers' and retailers' listed prices for 1967-69 Camaro kits: $591.99 for a 24-circuit customisable harness, $916.75 for an American Autowire Classic Update kit, $1,129.99 for a 26-circuit direct fit. Painless Performance and American AutowireSources differ: A restoration shop's blog puts a full wiring setup at $6,000 to $15,000. That describes a hand-built custom harness, 40 to 60 hours on the bench plus 20 to 30 in the car, not a retail kit off a shelf. A marque forum member reported about $1,000 plus shipping for the kit he actually bought.Rechroming two bumpers and the grille$1,050 to $5,500Replating straight parts. Repairs to pitting or dents are billed on top at $60 an hour, and pot metal costs more than steel.From a plating shop's published price list, added up: $350 to $1,500 a bumper and $350 to $2,500 for a grille. The Chrome Shop, Rock Island ILSources differ: Another plating shop lists $275 to $1,500 a part. An owner reported about $1,000 a bumper for actual triple plating. Small brightwork on the same list runs $60 to $350 a piece, so a full car of trim adds up well past the two bumpers and the grille counted here.

Your range10 of 12 stages

$28,371.99 to $62,561.99

This is the sum of the lines you ticked, and it is not the cost of a restoration. It leaves out the gaps listed further down, the parts that go with the labour lines, the labour that goes with the parts lines, freight, and the work nobody quotes for until the car is apart. The whole-car figures at the top of the page are higher than this sum for exactly that reason.

The number that moves everything

Parts prices vary. The shop rate decides the bill. At the difference between $50 and $135 an hour, a 2,000-hour build is $170,000 apart.

Shop labour ratePer hour

$125 an hour, give or take

what most established restoration shops charged nationally in 2024. The author's own shop billed $135. He has talked to shops charging $85, and heard of one at $225.

Eastwood, written by a former restoration shop operator

$75 to $150 an hour

skilled shop rates by shop and region, with most established restoration shops sitting around $125.

Fesler USA, June 2026

$135 an hour

the current rate at one high-end restorer, against $19 an hour at the same shop in 1975. Shop rates have quadrupled since.

Hagerty, quoting Paul Russell and Company, August 2022

$45 to $110 an hour

the spread across smaller regional and one-person shops, posted by their owners and customers. Central Pennsylvania around $50, North Carolina $85, a Corvette specialist $110, Colorado $50 to $125.

AACA Forums and Chevy Nova Forum

HoursWhat the work takes

800 to 1,000 hours

a mild cosmetic refresh on a car that already runs and drives. At $125 an hour that is $100,000 to $125,000 in labour, before parts.

Eastwood

2,000 to 3,000 hours

a complete build. A body-off job with every seam opened and inspected is 600 to 1,200 hours on the body alone.

Fesler USA

4,000 to 5,000 hours

a nut-and-bolt concours restoration at a high-end shop today, against 2,500 hours for the same class of work in 1975. The rule of thumb for a 1960s muscle car used to be 1,000 hours plus rust repair; standards have doubled it.

Hagerty, quoting Paul Russell and Company

What we could not source

A line only goes in the worksheet when a shop, a retailer or an owner published a figure we could point at. These are the stages that did not clear that bar, with what is actually known about each.

Gaps

Weatherstripping and body rubber

One restorers' forum puts the rubber on a repainted car at a couple of thousand dollars: door seals, vent window rubber, trunk rubber. A documented 1931 Cadillac restoration in the same thread came to $3,018 in rubber parts, but that is a different car and a different era. No 1967-69 Camaro kit price was found.

Glass

Nothing citable. Reproduction windshields for some cars are out of production entirely, which is a sourcing problem before it is a price.

Wheels and tires

A period-correct tire and wheel retailer shows packages around $2,460 and $2,770, but the fetch could not confirm which bundle each price belongs to. Modern-style muscle wheels list at $262 to $379 a wheel, which is not a correct restoration part.

Front subframe rebuild labour

Parts kits are priced above. No shop's hours or price for stripping, repairing and refinishing a subframe was found.

Rust repair panels, parts only

The labour figures above are solid; the panel prices behind them are not. No parts catalogue line price for a reproduction quarter panel, floor pan or trunk pan was captured.

How much documentation adds to the sale price

Every source found says a documented restoration draws stronger offers than an equally good car with no paper trail. Not one of them attaches a percentage or a dollar figure to it. So this page does not either.

The figures nobody publishes are your own

Everything above is somebody else’s car. What the machine shop charged you, what the quarter panels cost, which vendor sent the wrong water pump, the date the block was decked: those numbers only exist if you write them down while the receipt is still in your hand. Thermal receipts fade blank in a few years, and a buyer asking what the paint cost is asking for paper.

A Build Book is where they go. Photograph a receipt and it is read into vendor, date, price and part numbers. Cost to date adds itself up. Every source found for this page says a documented restoration draws stronger offers than the same car with no paper trail behind it, and not one of them puts a number on that, so neither do we.

Start the recordFree

Checked againstSeptember 17, 2026

https://www.shopfesler.com/blogs/news/what-a-frame-off-restoration-really-costs
A restoration and parts shop on frame-off totals, hours, labour-to-parts ratio, interior and wiring. Published June 16, 2026.
https://www.eastwood.com/garage/the-true-cost-of-a-professional-restoration/
A former restoration shop operator on shop rates, tech wages and the hours a refresh and a full frame-off actually take.
https://www.hagerty.com/media/buying-and-selling/before-you-dive-into-a-restoration-read-this/
Hagerty, quoting a high-end restorer on hours and shop rates in 1975 against today, and on concours labour. August 2, 2022.
https://coastlinerestorations.com/classic-car-restoration-costs/
A shop's published cost tiers by finished quality. A marketing post that cites other secondary sources, so read it as directional.
https://forums.aaca.org/topic/278120-hourly-rate-for-restoration-shops/
Shop owners and customers posting real rates, paint quotes, material prices and body rubber costs. From 2016, so the dollar figures are stale.
https://www.stevesnovasite.com/threads/in-over-my-head-how-much-would-a-shop-charge-to-install-this-pan-and-braces.439058/
A shop owner's own hours and rate for a trunk pan and a full set of rust panels.
http://www.classiccarblasting.com/pricing.html
A blasting shop's published price list, shell and panel by panel. Page dates put it around 2019 to 2020.
https://www.thechromeshop.com/automotive-price-list/
A plating shop's published price list, part by part, plus its repair rate.
https://painlessperformance.com/general-motors-harnesses/
Harness kit prices for 1967-69 Camaro by circuit count.
https://www.motorious.com/articles/features-3/documenting-your-own-restoration-for-future-resale-value/
On documentation and resale: a well-documented restoration consistently commands stronger offers. Makes the claim, attaches no number to it.

Working out what you already have? The Camaro cowl tag decoder reads paint, interior trim, plant and build date, the block casting number lookup and the cylinder head lookup say what the engine is, and the RPO option code lookup reads a whole column off a build sheet at once. Hold an invoice that says something different from a figure above? Write to buildbook@nanocorp.app and the line gets corrected with the source named.