Restoration Discussion

Comments from Vintage Lamborghini Garage yahoo group - your best bet is to join the group and discuss - these are tech value snips i am using -

8/1/10 - Jacques - I am back working on the Lamborghini 400gt. I just got the manifolds done today see attached photos. other parts finished:
calipers
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m274/maseratisource/lambo4000259/DSC08329DSC08329.jpg
calipers
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m274/maseratisource/lambo4000259/DSC08331DSC08331.jpg
webers before
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m274/maseratisource/lambo4000259/DSC08455DSC08455.jpg
webers after
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m274/maseratisource/lambo4000259/carbs.jpg
Jacques  0259
Hi Jack,  Weber expert Mark Dubovick in Fl did the webers.I did the calipers and intakes. All the metal work is finished and we're now getting the car ready for paint.I hope to have it painted within 3 months.  here are a few photos
http://s106.photobucket.com/albums/m274/maseratisource/lambo4000259/?start=all
work in progress on my mistral
http://s106.photobucket.com/albums/m274/maseratisource/mistral870/?start=all
I'll be at Concorso hosting and judging Maseratis this year.
Jacques
Hi Jack,  I glass bead the parts with very low pressure "50psi" and then I use a fine steel wood with mineral spirit to nurture the aluminum.All my bolts, nuts ,linkeages are threated with manganese to give them a uniform finish.it's all done in house.  No plating that's the beauty!Chemical reaction very much like parkerizing.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkerizing

from - ukhomme 08/26/05
Espada power window motor  -local shop rebuilt mine for $75  They also rebuilt wiper motor, starter, and a Maserati 3500 in-tank fuel pump. They specialize in vintage electric motors & price is very reasonable. Hansen-Asom Auto Electric, 10881 Venice Blvd, W. Los Angeles, CA - 310-558-8372    Speak to Louie, tell him Charles from FX referred you.

Speaking of suppliers:
Rare Parts Inc., , 621 Wilshire Ave, , Stockton, CA 95203, (209)948-6005 - Will rebuild tie rod ends, drag links or any other ball joints. I just had my S3 steering ends copied by them, as they are no longer available from GTCP or anywhere else. They are a perfect fit. I understand that they have duplicated rod ends for 400gt's too. They use steel and fit a grease nipple, so they should last a long time. They are nice guys to boot.

Betts spring will make coil springs (or any other kind) either to yr spec or based on samples. They up in San Leandro CA.

Control Cables in Santa Fe springs will duplicate handbrake cables. (Though you may not get exactly the same fittings on the ends in some cases, but a good substitute is arranged.)

tax issue discussion notes not to be viewed as the truth or helpful - 2007 - not written by anyone associated with this website, simply random comments from car owners.

question - if i bought my car for 100,000 and now i want sell it 10 years later for 500,000, do i have to pay taxes? Glenn

1) If you owned the car less than a year and make a profit on the sale then that profit will be applied to your regular income and may put you in a different tax bracket.If you've owned the car more than a year then the profit is subject to capital gain.You might be able to do a 1031 exchange as long as you don't personaly receive money from the seller and money is transfered into an escrow account. I believe the SCM had an article on that subject a few months back.You may want to contact your CPA for more info. Jack

2) So does the IRS then allow owners to write off long term losses on other cars? You bet! (not) John

3) I did mention earlier in this thread that the IRS *will* allow the write off of losses on an "investment" vehicle. I did a number of years ago and carried a portion of the loss over three years. Dan

4)  I guess my query was to define an "investment" vehicle. When I bought my GT way back in 1972, it was in no way an investment vehicle. It was a daily driver and remained that way for many years. I had a Triumph TR6  that I paid about $5K for that I sold several years later for 2.5K. So was that a capital loss? Again, it too was a daily driver, as was my Austin Healey 3000, my Alfa GTV, my 1967 XKE, etc. So my guess is you have to make some sort of declaration up front that under current tax law, the car you just bought is in fact, an investment. Otherwise, I could see my local IRS agent having a good laugh.   And speaking of the 400, if I decide to sell it some day, do I also get to write off all the capital improvements? Like new interior, rebuilding, paint, wheels, etc.? John

5) A good point. The IRS (fortunately) doesn't have a definition of an investment vehicle, but like pornography, they'll know it when they see it.
Basically, if it passes a number of tests, it qualifies:   If it is not used for every day transportation; if it is recognized in the marketplace as a "collectible" vehicle; you have documentation of its use in shows, events or museum display.   In 1972, your GT would not have qualified. If the TR6 met the qualifications above, it would have entitled you to take the loss; as a daily driver, it wouldn't.  When you do sell your GT (which will, of course never happen!), having established that it is an investment vehicle you can indeed write off the cost of the improvements as well as maintenance done in order to keep it in top "investment" condition. Dan

6) Wouldn’t those be items, like new interior and paint, you’d use as part of your basis to offset your (major) capital gains liability?   Speaking of this, I understand that you can implement a like-kind exchange (i.e., a 1031 exchange).  I’ve done this for real estate and I understand that one can do likewise for autos.  If one elected to take cash out and pay capital gains, I hear that it’s not at the 15% federal rate but much higher.  Surely there must be some well-versed CPAs on the list (not to mention the wealth of knowledge from our broker/dealers on “discreet sales”!).  This is a quite interesting topic that, to my knowledge, has never been shared on the list. Gerry

7) OK, I'm not a CPA but I do have a bit of background in the tax area. As Oscar and someone else mentioned, you can dclare a car as an investment vehicle(pun intended). Or a plane, or boat, or any other 'collectable' asset. There are several tests that you must pass to determine the class of investment asset. You must also determine, and keep track of the cost basis, and as you restore, or maintain it the capital improvements made. Now, you can't use it for regular service, and you can't declare a car that doesn't have some collectable cachet to it. for example, a 1967 Ford Fairlane could be either a piece of junk or something quite collectable, depending on condition. Things that would go a long way to determining that a car is a collector asset: Vintage plates from your state; Insurance from Hagertys; Special garage for storage; etc.
Once the basis is fixed, which is generally the cost of the car(pub 550), you can start keeping track of the cost adjustment in repairs, improvements, etc. Be careful, repairs are not the same as captial improvements. For example, if you repair a faulty clutch, that is a repair, and is just deductible from the basis. Now, if you renew the paint, that would be a capital improvement, and has to be depreciated over time(straight line, or accelerated, depending on what the life of a paint job is).
Now, we've come to the day you want to sell the car, and deal with the capital gains/loss. You have to do your capital gains worksheet, and then account for the capital improvements, deductions, and depreciation. There shouldn't be any depreciation of a collector car asset because your intent from the beginning was to make money on it.
You must declare any gains you made from the sale of your asset(car), or any losses you suffered if you lost money. Be careful here, if you go too wild, you'll have to answer some probing questions about the FMV, or fair market value of the asset when sold. If your sale was well below the FMV without reasonble explanation, you'll be hit up for the tax owed on the liquidation at the FMV regardless of how low you sold it.
I considered doing this after I bought my third collector vehicle. However, the avoided tax I would save turned out to be around $300 or a bit more. However, once I sold a vehicle I would be liable for any gains I made which would offset any savings over the years. Besides, I'd surely pull my hair out each year doing the extra hours on my cars.
Hope some of this helps. I just keep things easy and call it a hobby. I've made some money here, lost some there, but not enough to make a dent in the national debt.  Don

8)I think you might be able to sell your car to a Charitable Remainder Trust drafted by your lawyer. You can list you and your spouse as a beneficiary, and take income from the trust.  Not sure about this next one, but perhaps there is a way to drive the car into a telephone pole and wreck it. The insurance payout related to injury should be tax free, but I think that the payout related to the value of the car is taxable.  On the downside, I think if you torch your car the insurance payout is taxable.  I should write a book with these helpful tips and tricks. :^) Terry

9)