|
In 1965 my father
bought a 1956 Thunderbird for my mom as a wedding gift. The car cost
about $900, and it was a sporty-looking two-seater convertible. A couple
of kids later those two seats weren’t enough, so into the garage
the car went because my father just could not bring himself to sell
it.
Flash forward to the
mid-1970’s. My dad moved his business to Long Island from New
York City and found he had some time at night for a project. Well, the
project involved peeling the tarp off that T-bird and rebuilding it
one piece at a time-—first the engine, then the electric seats,
then upholstery, windshield, trim, and tires. He even stripped the body
down to metal, faired it, and painted the car in the original black.
This was not a project for the faint of heart (it took nearly a decade
to finish), and there was a lot of consulting with experts along the
way, like when it was time to bore out the block. In the end, my father’s
beloved T-bird returned to her former glory, and when that four-barrel
carburetor opened up, she took off like a rocket ship.
The same way my father
felt about that car, yacht owners feel about their vessels. Sometimes
the option to sell old and buy new doesn’t have the same appeal
as fixing up something you already have. And when the time comes for
more accommodations, a larger cockpit, and the like, the preferred option
is a refit. But before you sign a contract for any project, make sure
you go in with eyes wide open. To aid in your decision, I talked to
two refit experts who offered some invaluable pointers on what to look
for and what to avoid for your next project.
When does a repair become
a refit? The term has mixed definitions, according to Skip Robinson, vice
president and general manager for refit shipyard Palmer Johnson Savannah.
Robinson says that a refit can vary from “exterior paint refinishing
to a total rebuild/remodel, often including hull and/or deck molds.”
He adds that at Palmer Johnson, refit “with a capital R” refers
to the more intense rebuild projects, which “most often have a duration
of greater than six months, frequently 12 to 18 months, with the costs
in the millions of dollars.” That’s some serious cash to fix
what you already have, but when you’re looking at total replacement
cost, it often runs less than buying new.
Next page >
Fit or Refit?, Part 2 > Page 1, 2,
3
|