Restoring a classic car can be a scary subject for some people. There are many different types of work that go into restoring a classic car and most people are not trained in all of them. When you break down the process into the types of repairs that go into your classic car restoration, it’s easier to understand what you can and can’t really do yourself.
A count of your skills can help you decide how much work you can do yourself and how much of the restoration work should be done by a professional.
Restoring your classic car can be broken down into a few repair categories.
- Knowing your car
- mechanical repairs
- Electrical repairs
- Interior design or upholstery work
- Sheet metal or rust repair
- Surface preparation and finishing
- Body and paint
- Molding or trim repair and refinishing
Some of these categories are self explanatory. Let me clarify the ones that are not so obvious.
knowing your car
Cars have always been available with options like sports equipment packages, air conditioning, V8, 6-cylinder or 4-cylinder engines, and the list goes on. As the car ages, some of these options are removed from the vehicle, replaced with something substandard, or never replaced. Option codes and shop manuals are generally available for most American classic cars detailing this information.
mechanical repairs
This covers much of what makes up a car and would be most of the moving parts. You’ll find that the engine and transmission will need rebuilding, as well as all the regular maintenance repairs like brakes and suspension, and rebuilding of component parts like starter motors, water pumps, and generators. Other components that are rarely considered are parts under the dash, such as heating or ventilation controls, window parts inside the doors, hinges, and latches. I’m just touching on the subject, but you get the idea.
Electrical repairs
Electricity can be the scariest of all. In an older vehicle, the wiring sheathing can be rotten, cracked, and brittle, creating the risk of an electrical short. Switches wear out and even fall apart. On some vehicles where these parts are impossible to find, you will need to be creative and improvise using parts from another make of vehicle.
Interior design or upholstery work
Fabric, vinyl, leather, threads, and padding or padding materials dry out and rot over time and need to be replaced. The colors fade very badly too.
Sheet metal or rust repair
Any metal made with iron will rust, even aluminum will rust and even disintegrate under the right conditions. The body sheet will need to be replaced or repaired. This means knowing how to work with sheet metal, how to weld, and even how to shape metal.
Surface preparation and finishing
In addition to the exterior of the car body, there are a large number of sheet metal surfaces that will need to be stripped of old paint and surface rust, then prepped for no further rust, and then repainted. This includes the car’s frame, suspension parts, differential, fasteners, and more.
Body and paint
In addition to the sheet metal work, the exterior of the car body will need to be smoothed and painted. This is a huge amount of work, which is why it can be so expensive.
Molding or trim repair and refinishing
Classic car trim and moldings were made primarily of metals. They are made of chromed steel, chrome pot, aluminium, stainless steel and even brass or copper. until recently some parts cannot be fixed and replated, pan metal is one of them. In extreme cases, you will need to weld new metal onto your trim or molding, grind and sand it, polish it, and prepare it for re-plating.
That’s a lot to know how to do.
Fortunately, there are some really good instructional DVDs available that cover all of these topics. Still, you may want to specialize in just 2 or 3 of these skills and hire a professional to take care of the others.
Learning how to do something like that can be fun. Even if you don’t plan on doing some of this work yourself, you’ll want to know how the work is done so you can recognize a job well done.