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.
And despite the time and money put into doing the work, there s still the very real prospect of the job not being finished on time, or even finished at all. Numerous compromises will need to be made. One has to either dig deeper into their piggie bank than initially envisioned, or they ll have to skimp on parts and service quality. There are never any pleasant surprises, says Keith Martin, publisher of Sports Car Market.
Even then, you might end up putting $100 000 into a vehicle that would only net you around $25 000 once you sell it. Rare is the car enthusiast who doesn t overspend on their restoration budget. Unless the automobile has a documented service history, or is especially rare and highly prized, it will always cost more to restore than it s actually worth.
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.
Next comes the glass removal. It goes without saying that glass is the most delicate of all a vehicle s components and should be treated with due respect. By this point, the windshield requires only the removal of its interior trim for the window s rubber molding to be eased out of its frame. After evenly prying all around the interior, the window should be gently pushed out from the inside, not pulled from outside.
In some vehicles the channel can be detached from the opening mechanism while its still attached to the door. In other cases, the entire mechanism will have to be removed from the door frame first. And that s only the beginning. Remember, vehicle refurbishing is a years long process. It s likely you ll learn a lot, and maybe even perform several creative U turns before the project reaches its conclusion. So, there s no point speeding, instead treat it like a Sunday drive.
And despite the time and money put into doing the work, there s still the very real prospect of the job not being finished on time, or even finished at all. Numerous compromises will need to be made. One has to either dig deeper into their piggie bank than initially envisioned, or they ll have to skimp on parts and service quality. There are never any pleasant surprises, says Keith Martin, publisher of Sports Car Market.
Even then, you might end up putting $100 000 into a vehicle that would only net you around $25 000 once you sell it. Rare is the car enthusiast who doesn t overspend on their restoration budget. Unless the automobile has a documented service history, or is especially rare and highly prized, it will always cost more to restore than it s actually worth.
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.
Next comes the glass removal. It goes without saying that glass is the most delicate of all a vehicle s components and should be treated with due respect. By this point, the windshield requires only the removal of its interior trim for the window s rubber molding to be eased out of its frame. After evenly prying all around the interior, the window should be gently pushed out from the inside, not pulled from outside.
In some vehicles the channel can be detached from the opening mechanism while its still attached to the door. In other cases, the entire mechanism will have to be removed from the door frame first. And that s only the beginning. Remember, vehicle refurbishing is a years long process. It s likely you ll learn a lot, and maybe even perform several creative U turns before the project reaches its conclusion. So, there s no point speeding, instead treat it like a Sunday drive.
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