# 78 Van Restoration **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Tags:** van\ **Created:** [July 11, 2011, 6:40pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/78-van-restoration/66164 "2011-07-11T18:40:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![reuter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c4cdca/32.png) [@reuter](https://community.cartalk.com/u/reuter)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 6:40pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/78-van-restoration/66164/1 "2011-07-11T18:40:55Z")
I’m looking for a good car restoration guy/shop. I have a bit of an odd project, Its a 1978 Chevrolet Shorti Van. Its been sitting in a back yard for 10 plus years, It has some rust and rot and plenty of work to be done to get it back to new. I’m looking for a local “Boston, preferably Somerville” shop/guy to come have a look and tell me what the cost of the restoration would be or if it’s worth it. Any suggestions? ---
**Author:** ![shadowfax](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/shadowfax/32/13026_2.png) [@shadowfax](https://community.cartalk.com/u/shadowfax)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 6:43pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/78-van-restoration/66164/2 "2011-07-11T18:43:58Z")
Worth it from what perspective? If you’re thinking of restoring it and making money by selling it once you’re done, I can tell you without looking at it that it’s not worth it. ---
**Author:** ![texases](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/texases/32/862_2.png) [@texases](https://community.cartalk.com/u/texases)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 6:46pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/78-van-restoration/66164/3 "2011-07-11T18:46:21Z")
What do you mean by ‘worth it’? Any time body work’s involved you’re be spending more than you’ll get back. Not trying to discourage you, just know what you’re dealing with. And what’s a Shorti Van? ---
**Author:** ![reuter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c4cdca/32.png) [@reuter](https://community.cartalk.com/u/reuter)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 6:52pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/78-van-restoration/66164/4 "2011-07-11T18:52:46Z")
Its not about making money or selling it – I want to get an estimate as to how much it will cost, that’s all. It’s a bit of an art project, part van, part documentary, part star wars. In the process of finding the original artist and possibly having him recreate his original artwork on van. But need to have someone who knows about it to tell me if it’s too far gone or not. ---
**Author:** ![texases](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/texases/32/862_2.png) [@texases](https://community.cartalk.com/u/texases)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 6:56pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/78-van-restoration/66164/5 "2011-07-11T18:56:53Z")
OK, got it. I don’t have a shop to recommend, but I bet if you took lots of pictures and dropped by some body shops they’d be able to get you started on an estimate. Was it running OK when parked? ---
**Author:** ![reuter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c4cdca/32.png) [@reuter](https://community.cartalk.com/u/reuter)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 7:05pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/78-van-restoration/66164/6 "2011-07-11T19:05:23Z")
It was.