Before lifting the first spanner, heck, before even popping the hood, one has to be prepared to invest a minimum of 1 000 hours to even the most straightforward restoration job, says Jackson Reed, an authority on the subject. Roughly 2 000 hours should be set aside by first timers hoping to refurbish vintage car. Which equates to 90 minutes daily for a solid year. And you must know it: everything will start from street rod chassis kits.
Firstly, make peace with the job never reaching completion. It requires a massive commitment of time and resources and has to be treated more like a hobby or a labor of love than a clearly defined project with a set deadline in mind. And despite the sizable investment of capital required to get the project off the ground, be realistic in realizing that s only the beginning. Even seasoned restorers regularly encounter issues they d never anticipated. So, unless there s a lot of love involved, one s feelings are bound to turn to hate.
And after the small fortune put into getting the job done, consider yourself lucky if you see returns on even a quarter of that amount once you put the car back on the market. Unless the vehicle had previously had a celebrity owner, or is considered otherwise highly desirable by collectors, the odds of actually turning a profit in the business of vintage car restoration are slim to none.
Having decided to proceed with the project in spite of it not promising any real financial rewards, you then decide which components to take home to your workshop, and which parts to leave in the garage. Bearing in mind it s going to be a long term project, having the option of working from home when weather conditions aren t conducive to working outdoors ensures the work doesn t become stalled by factors outside one s control.
A good place to begin is externally by removing the car s more obvious fixings and ornaments. The bumpers are usually only held in place by bolts and nuts, making them easy to remove. The smaller fixings and trimmings are typically fastened in place by clips or screws, sometimes both. Restoring damaged or missing trimmings is an unsought for expenditure of money, time and energy, best avoided if possible.
Special attention should be paid when bundling and tagging the various trims. Most of them are almost identical in appearance and can be easily mistaken for each other, so taking pictures also aids in this endeavor. Remove the window trims can be amongst the most challenging to do. Naturally, one should start by removing the overlapping sections first. Also check for trim occasionally found under the door s weatherstrip.
Removing all the glass is what comes next. The fragile nature of glass makes it the most breakable aspect of vehicle disassembly. And while the windshields are usually easily replaceable, it s the side and vent windows that are more vehicle specific and harder to come by. Side windows are typically held in place by channel strips inside the doors that get lowered and raised by the window s opening mechanism.
The process detailed so far should give you a rough idea on how to get started with your planned refurbishment. The rear window is removed similar to the windshield. After that there s the side windows, vent windows, vehicle interior trimmings, the dash, and the drivetrain which would require some specialized tools especially for lifting out the engine, and so forth. Hopefully by now you realize your vintage car refurbishment won t get done overnight, so while its good to focus on the end result, for the time being, learn to enjoy the ride and it ll be a smoother and more enjoyable one for years to come.
Firstly, make peace with the job never reaching completion. It requires a massive commitment of time and resources and has to be treated more like a hobby or a labor of love than a clearly defined project with a set deadline in mind. And despite the sizable investment of capital required to get the project off the ground, be realistic in realizing that s only the beginning. Even seasoned restorers regularly encounter issues they d never anticipated. So, unless there s a lot of love involved, one s feelings are bound to turn to hate.
And after the small fortune put into getting the job done, consider yourself lucky if you see returns on even a quarter of that amount once you put the car back on the market. Unless the vehicle had previously had a celebrity owner, or is considered otherwise highly desirable by collectors, the odds of actually turning a profit in the business of vintage car restoration are slim to none.
Having decided to proceed with the project in spite of it not promising any real financial rewards, you then decide which components to take home to your workshop, and which parts to leave in the garage. Bearing in mind it s going to be a long term project, having the option of working from home when weather conditions aren t conducive to working outdoors ensures the work doesn t become stalled by factors outside one s control.
A good place to begin is externally by removing the car s more obvious fixings and ornaments. The bumpers are usually only held in place by bolts and nuts, making them easy to remove. The smaller fixings and trimmings are typically fastened in place by clips or screws, sometimes both. Restoring damaged or missing trimmings is an unsought for expenditure of money, time and energy, best avoided if possible.
Special attention should be paid when bundling and tagging the various trims. Most of them are almost identical in appearance and can be easily mistaken for each other, so taking pictures also aids in this endeavor. Remove the window trims can be amongst the most challenging to do. Naturally, one should start by removing the overlapping sections first. Also check for trim occasionally found under the door s weatherstrip.
Removing all the glass is what comes next. The fragile nature of glass makes it the most breakable aspect of vehicle disassembly. And while the windshields are usually easily replaceable, it s the side and vent windows that are more vehicle specific and harder to come by. Side windows are typically held in place by channel strips inside the doors that get lowered and raised by the window s opening mechanism.
The process detailed so far should give you a rough idea on how to get started with your planned refurbishment. The rear window is removed similar to the windshield. After that there s the side windows, vent windows, vehicle interior trimmings, the dash, and the drivetrain which would require some specialized tools especially for lifting out the engine, and so forth. Hopefully by now you realize your vintage car refurbishment won t get done overnight, so while its good to focus on the end result, for the time being, learn to enjoy the ride and it ll be a smoother and more enjoyable one for years to come.
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