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| Authors note: Please be aware that what follows is just my opinion based on my experiences in this subject. All matters relating to motoring law, or any other legal/official matters should be pursued with the relevant authorities. I cannot accept any liability for loss/damage/divorce/grey hair or any other misfortune based on any of the following advice, given as it is in good faith only. Ta. |
How to get your classic car restored
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If you run a classic car for long enough, sooner or later you will need to call upon the services of a vintage or classic car restoration service. For any given part found on a motorcar of advancing years, there will be a specialist somewhere that can fix, bend, repair or straighten it. Do you have an old wireless that no longer works? then there are specialists around who can restore your old set to as new condition, or better still, incorporate modern features into an old looking unit. Does your speedometer weave all over the place, or under read following a change of tyres/wheel diameter? if so, there are companies out there that can take gauges that look like they've spent the last millenium submerged in a peat bog, strip them down to their component parts, clean and re-work anything as required, and return it to you in tip-top condition. As with these examples of car component, there are restorers out there who can handle the most derelict of interior trim, woodwork, engine, brake component or bodywork and breathe new life into it. It all depends how far you want to go in restoring your chosen vehicle - these services don't come cheap, usually being a very specialised art in themselves, so the cost of farming out work to specialists must always be borne in mind, especially when new parts are available for perhaps less money than refurbishing a grotty old part. For the rest of this article I'll focus on the delicate art of bodywork restoration, although most of what I ramble on about will apply to most areas of old car renovation and repair. How far do you want to go with it? In many cases, the renovation of a crumbling old bodyshell will be the deciding factor in assessing how viable it really is to farm out the work to a professional restoration company. Despite being a fairly cheap car, the Mini for example actually has quite a complicated structure, so unless it is historically significant, or being subject to a cost-no-object restoration, tread very carefully before committing to a professional restoration. A compromise can often be reached whereby the owner do as much prep work as possible to keep the final costs down to reasonable levels, so its worth having a chat with the bodyshop first. Spending £3000 having a Mk2 Jaguar shell renovated may make some sense, as the finished article in good order could be anywhere between £10-20k when finished, but spending that much on a Mini (or any other cheaper car, say a Hillman Imp or an old Escort) may be less of a good choice. Much will depend on quite how far you want to go, and this will determine how grand a restoration outfit you engage to fettle up your cars bodywork. Drivers of fine pedigree motorcars will be targeting specialist restoration outfits, who often have facilities on-site to roll their own new body panels as required, employing skilled craftsmen such as panel beaters and lead loading aces. Such emporiums are a pleasure to walk around as true engineering is often on display, but the cost of employing these fine craftsmen rules out taking more modest machines to them, unless as already stated condition is all and your budget is large. Most restoration shops pitch at owners of more widely available cars, such as MGs, Triumphs, Austin Healeys and so on, where the finished article may well be worth £10-15k and upwards, and therefore worth spending a few bob on. The advantage with the more popular marques of classic car is that body panels can often be acquired from specialist suppliers, saving money in the long run as there is no need to call upon bespoke builders of bodywork panels, with the time and cost involved that having one-off panels made will bring. However if you just want a car restoring to solid usable condition, you'll find many regular garages either have a guy in there handy with a Mig welder, or know someone who is. This was exactly how I approached the resurrection of my old Farina shaped Wolseley in 2004 - I wanted it to be brought back to a nice solid condition, with all the grot chopped out and neat repair panels fitted as appropriate, however it wasn't worth spending thousands on it as the car was never going to be worth too much, and was bought to be an interesting runaround, as opposed to a Pebble Beach entrant. I managed to find some sill sections on ebay, and I bought some new front chassis outriggers from a specialist over the phone. I saved money by cutting out all the rot myself and prepping the area for the new metalwork. I hate working upside down with a welder (its bad enough being the right way up!) so arranged that the local garage would do the final welding, if I did the prep work. More money was saved by agreeing that they'd fit in the work around other jobs, as I wasn't in any great hurry, before putting it throught its MOT. At the bottom of the scale are the outfits, often one-man bands working from the back of a Mk3 Escort van, that will patch up your classic for the price of a cup of tea, and some beer money. The final finish will be left to the owner, but with repairs that are fairly workmanlike with little finesse or care, the end result will always be a compromise and should only really be called upon when money is tight, or a car is a cheap old shed thats being tarted up to keep it running for a few more months, before ending its days propping up a crusty Hyundai in the breakers yard. Budgeting for a Restoration Project As already mentioned, your budget is key to how far to go employing professionals to fettle up your car. Whereas compromises cannot really be taken with safety issues, such as the brakes and suspension, the renovation of the bodyshell and interior really comes down to how mad you want to go, and what you plan to do with the car once finished. If the car is a family heirloom, or being restored for keeps with no view to re-sale in the near future, then throwing a good pile of ££ at it is probably a good way to ensure its future health (so long as it is maintained properly afterwards!). However most people do not have a bottomless pit of dosh to throw at their hobby car, so as always a balance has to be found. The more you can do yourself the better, as not only will you save money (hopefully), but you'll learn a lot more about the vehicle than had you just dumped it at the door of a restoration shop, without seeing it again til it rumbles into your garage, glistening and restored. Once you've decided to have work done on your car, how do you find a trustworthy company to restore your classic? With tales around of old cars being left with restoration shops, only for the company to go bump and bailiffs re-possess everything, including your dismembered car, it is well worth taking time to identify a suitable business or individual to deal with. Recommendations can be found in classic car magazines and by word of mouth, which is probably one of the best ways to go. Get talking to people at local car shows, and see what local companies get recommended by owners who have used them before. Try to find a company that is well established, and looks like it has invested in good premises and has a reputation to protect - they are far less likely to mess you about than someone who can only be contacted on a mobile, and who works out of a unit rented weekly. Thats not to say that all coachwork restorers who have a mobile number only are sharks, but its one of several things to bear in mind should the worst happen, and you find yourself trying to contact the owner quickly. With the car in the restoration shop, keep close contact with progress and ask to be contacted should anything unforeseen come along, that will require extra funding to fix. After all you may want to reconsider the rebuild of your Ford Pop if it turns out the chassis is terminally corroded and will cost 3 grand to renovate (find a better chassis instead!). Before work commences it might also be worth drawing up a schedule of the work you want doing, and getting the garage owner to agree to it and sign the papers too - this will also help if you need to reclaim anything that's rightfully yours should the company go belly up. Employing a professional to restore your car, or parts of it, may even save you money in the long run. Not all of us are dexterous enough to successfully recondition a rare dashboard clock for example, and our cackhanded attempts at renovation may ruin a perfectly restorable timepiece in the hands of a trained person. If the car is very unusual, and very old, a high brow restoration will maximise its value at the end of the day, but always remember that with any rebuild, the chances are high that the cost will easily outweigh the final value, so do it for the fun of it, not to make a quick buck at the end of it, and you'll probably not go far wrong. |
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