Car restoration or automotive restoration simply refers to the process of repairing and renovating an old automobile and returning it into the authentic condition.
While most restoration involve preserving the original parts and components several vehicle owners take the liberty of replacing and adding several components and features which further enhances the car’s overall look and performance. To restore a degraded automobile, one must first disassemble it and rebuild and reassemble it from the ground up replacing its damaged or obsolete components and interiors. Automobile restoration is a popular activity among most classic car owners and there are several important factors that must be taken care of to avoid dissatisfaction and loss of money and time.
1. Finding A Car That Runs
To avoid wasting precious cash and time on restoration of a car it is important for car builders to buy a car that at least starts. Considering the restoration of a car that is non-functional can bulk the list of components that you need to replace. While replacing a battery, starter or fuel pump can be easy tasks, a run down and damaged engine might need immense levels of restoration and might need rebuilding and unless you’re Chip Foose, rebuilding an engine is something that you should avoid.
2. Buying A Car With Easily Available Parts
It is a common mistake when people focus on restoring the rare and scarcely available automobiles. When choosing a car for restoration it is often advisable to choose cars whose parts and components are easily available. Finding wreckers for a limited production vehicle can be a tough job and can cost you addition sums of money. Even if the parts are available, it is a highly likely scenario that they would be expensive. One must carefully choose the car make/model to stay well within the confines of your restoration budget or to avoid any frustrations later on.
3. Beware of Rusty Cars
Rust damage depending on the degree of corrosion, can be really expensive to repair. As rust affects the metal body parts, it often requires re-fabrication of steel parts and cutting down the parts that cannot be repaired. All this can put extra burden on your pocket as metal parts can be really expensive to purchase and in case the parts are unavailable might have to be fabricated from sheet metal.
4. Don’t Invest On A Car That Holds No Value After Restoration
One can often find a large number of old cars that are available for sale and restoration. However, one must be wary of cars that are virtually obsolete and were never iconic to begin with. Choosing a car that will retain its original value after restoration is as important as the restoration itself. Doing proper research on the available models that retain their value after restoration is the best way to avoid a project failure during the later stages of restoration.
5. Taking The Help Of A Restoration Expert
Car building and restoration is not an everyday school project and requires years of experience and technical knowhow of how an automobile functions. It is always recommended to take the advice of a friend or colleague who knows about automobile restoration. Amateur car builders often make mistakes while choosing the car for restoration and experience problems down the line. The expert’s advice can often help you determine the condition of the car and provide you with the exact details of the amount of work required to restore the vehicle. Planning a budget for restoration becomes much easier with the help of an expert as they can pinpoint the problematic areas of the car.
Restoring cars can bring an unlikely sense of accomplishment and help you achieve of owning an iconic automobile. Keeping the above tips in mind before you plan on starting a restoration process can help you from wasting precious time and money in the future. If you have been dreaming of a particular car it is always best to never rush the project and approach with proper planning and caution. By Luke Peters
An avid automobile enthusiast and has written several articles related to cars and automobiles across the internet. He is also the contributor for Searchallwreckers.com which is the best place to visit if you’re looking for Commodore wreckers.
