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Restoration,gonna do something I've never done

R

rrlund

Well-known Member
I've always done my own painting and body work on these things,even though I'll never claim to be good at it. If sheet metal or fenders were bad,I'd just buy new aftermarket or better used stuff.
The fenders are bad on this Oliver 500 and new ones are expensive and the quality is questionable. Good used ones just don't exist. The grille was smashed in when I got it. I've got it straightened half way decent,but far from perfect. I talked to a guy today who runs a body shop about him fixing the fenders and grille,and painting them and the hood. He came and looked at it just before supper. He said paint and all,probably looking at $1000-1200.
I guess for that price,as rare as that tractor is,I'm going to have him do it. It might as well be right.
 
I do most all of my own paint and body work but sometimes it's best to let a pro do it and pay the price. When I was restoring our very early 39 Ford 9N I took the hood to a friend of mine who owns a body shop to do the work on it because I didn't think that I had the skills to get it where it needed to be to look right. In hindsight I wish I had let him do the fenders to as I never have been happy with the way they turned out. The price he quoted you is not out of line. Body work is time consuming and good quality paint is not cheap. Just my opinion
 
No bondo. That's the problem,there are places that he'll have to cut out and replace with new metal. If it wasn't for that,I'd attempt it myself.
 
I hope so. This one is as rare as hens teeth. I don't know if that makes it valuable though. I ordered some parts for it from England this morning. The guy who sells the parts said he bought a rare model 600 in Georgia and had it sent back over to England,so it might be more valuable over there.
I guess as long as I like it,that's all that counts.
 
A little body filler, correctly applied, won't crack even on a 2cyl. JD let alone your Oliver. You made a good choice and the value added will exceed the investment in this case.
 
rrlund,Oliver 500,Is that the smaller Oliver made in England by David Bradley?The one that is about the same as the David Brown 850?I've seen one in Illinois years ago.Can't be many around,you have a rare duck there,and a good one.
 

I got way too much time into the fenders on my 901 Ford, I should have gotten repops. Now I'm cutting out rust and butt welding new metal on my old Datsun roadster. That takes serious time.
 
Ya,they were a David Brown 850. The large majority were diesels. Mine's a rare gas version. Very few of those to begin with,even more rare now. I know of 4 others in the world that run. None of the DB 850s were gas as far as I know. The 500 Oliver gassers were all there were of them.
 
Rare and valuable are not always tied together. Look at the JD4020 and the Chevy's from 55,56,57 These machines were sold in record numbers and still command VERY HIGH prices !

If your not planning on reselling it ( maybe you are ? ) what it's worth doesn't really matter anyhow. Sometimes you just bite the bullet and do it right just because.
 
That's what I told my son when he said I should go full blown restoration no matter what it costs. Unless something changes,they aren't all that valuable. Like I said,they seem to be more collectable to DB collectors right now. That's not to say it won't change,but either way,I don't plan to sell it. It's just a rare little conversation piece.
 
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