Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[admin]

Following on from a post of UJs in another thread, it raises the question of how best to approach a restoration.

Do you pull a car to pieces in one go, and repair the parts as they go back on the car?

Or do you pull off a piece at a time, refurb it, replace, and repeat the procedure, so as not to be overwhelmed?

Or do you get the car running enough to get some use out of it 'as is', to fully understand what will be needed when the resto starts for proper?

Or do you buy an up-and-running car in the first place, and never buy something thats either in pieces already, or seized solid through years of standing idle?

Interested to hear your approach(es)

Rick

[PACresta]

In hindsite i would research the car more first before stripping it down. I have never untertook a restoration before my present project and i would say my knowledge is limited in that field. I have no engineering background other than carrying out mechanical repairs (and minor body repairs) over the years.

I attacked the car (1960 PA Cresta) and stripped it down totally, i did get chance of some drives out in it beforehand. I had decided that mechanically the car was prety good having been able to speak with previous owners from new and feeling how it drove.

Once stripped down i got to work on cleaning all bits and cleaning the bodywork. Before the resto i had decided that the welding and painting would be left to someone better qualified than me. Yes it has obviously cost me more but during this time i was able to work overtime at work instead of working on the car so things wern't too bad, and at least i was able to go give them a hand so i could see first hand on the progress being made.

Now that the car is all welded up and sprayed it is back to me to assemble. Thankfully i had marked parts up so its not been too bad. Again in hindsite i would have been more thorough marking parts up. One thing i have found very useful is to take photographs at every touch and turn, just jogs the old grey matter when its needed

Whether any of you guys have experienced the same thing? I did go through a period when i just didn't want to touch the car, went on for about ten months Then all my enthusiasm came back and away i went again. I think if you get to feel like this it is best staying away as mistakes gets made if you don't feel right.

As for buying a car that has already been restored, mmm. My own experience i felt i needed a car that i could say i knew what had been done to it. I did buy a car that had been restored but always kept wondering how such and such had been repaired etc etc. At least when you do it all yourself (or in my case, help the welder & Sprayer) you know exactly what has been done. Also if i did buy another fully restored car i would want to see detailed photograhic evidence. Like with the PA Cresta the chassis runs through the sill. On my PA skin sills had been fitted, thankfully i decided to remove them. The inner pannels / strenthening panels were well rotted. All that would be hiden from a potential buyer.

[Uncle Joe]

Over the years, I’ve seen a lot of people restore, or try to restore vehicles. The way that I’ve always found to be the most successful – and usually the cheapest – is this. From experience!

First, choose your vehicle carefully. Do your research first. Make sure that you know exactly which model you are looking for. If it’s a basket case or an unfinished restoration – walk away! There are always better ones out there! Leave the rarities to the experts who have the connections to find or make that elusive part!

When the car (or whatever ) is home make it safe and dependable. Have a good look at it. In detail! Find out as much as you can that is wrong. Take care of the bad brakes, and so on. Then deal with the bad starter or fuel pump, carburettor, and everything else that you can find. In other words, get it roadworthy! Then drive it about for a while. You will learn more about the car now than you thought possible. At this time, if you are going to do any changes, disc brakes, Stereo, anything that is non standard, do these things now before stripping it down, and moving on to the body and paint.

The first order of the body and paint stage is to kill all the rampant rust. This means cutting out the rusty areas and welding in new metal. This is the only way to do it. Forget the newer ‘high tech’ solutions! Use tried and tested methods. They are cheaper, and are at least known to work. On another topic, I’ve seen something about a dipping process which is considered to be new. This process was first used in 1965 or so. How many cars in 1965 were known for their rust protection? In other words: THEY DO NOT WORK, and are a waste of money. Repair rust in any other way, and it will come back to haunt you, bubbling up through that new paint. And when you are doing the bodywork don’t use filler! Use body solder instead. Lead filled seams and welds were probably what the factory used, and that´s good enough for me! Filler has too many disadvantages.

Finally. Yes, I already know that I have just wasted a bit of my time posting this. Why? Because the majority will not take a blind bit of notice!

UJ

[buzzy bee]

Hi

Well I have bought this pickup, partially in pieces, and partially restored by other people! I like to do what I am doing at the moment and semi strip everything, clean it all and protect from further rust, rebuild it fairly quicky to get some use out of it, and then when I get bored or a certain part needs sorting, I will sort it out! Rolling restoration seems like a good aproach to me!

I supose I am lucky as I have all of the experts to consult on this forum!

Cheers

Dave

[admin]

Whenever anyone asks me, I suggest the sensible options to them, then go ahead and do completely the opposite when I go to buy something new

R

[UKdave2002]

[Uncle Joe]

I dont want to drift off the subject too much, but I did a bit of research myself into this dipping, and came up with the fact that a product called Granodine (made by Henkel) is used.

I may be wrong, but it was applied in exactly the same way at Fords Wixom plant in 1965, +/- a year. As proof of this, if its readable, check out the photo.



Do you understand the reason for my doubts? Both of these cars had Unit (monocoque) bodies.

By the way, UK, I appreciate the discussion!

UJ

[Old-Nail]

Due to a number of factors which are mainly;

A. My total inability to keep my cool when doing 'fiddly' (read most ) jobs, and...

B: Never yet having possessed a decent garage or lock-up in which to work without having to watch the skies I would always go for option 4 buy the best available for the money you have.

What I seem to have done thus far is buy condition 2 cars and run them around for a while, fixing little bits while I familiarise myself with them.

This is the part where something strange occurs with me, I get to like the old car so much I begin to think "I'd love one of these in first class condition". I then go on to buy one in said condition - I then become scared to use it too often in case I 'spoil' it and end up realising that the old condition 2 car in daily use was much more fun after all!

[Charles]

[Uncle Joe]

In one respect, I must agree with you Charles. There has been a vast improvement in rustproofing cars over the last few years.

However, anyone who has restored a car will say that there is a vast difference between rustproofing new and old. Which is part of the reason that I have misgivings about this treatment.

Then there is another reason as well. Can SPL guarantee that hidden sufaces are completely clean? If you think about it, I dont think that they can.

UJ

[Uncle Joe]

Another point about approaching a restoration. Before you start, make sure that you have enough money to finish it. I know that this sounds obvious, but there are a lot of people out there that overlook this.

Its not easy to estimate the total cost, but its always more than expected.

UJ

[Charles]

[Uncle Joe]

Hi Charles, yes, SPL is a company. If you look under the topic 'Zinc Phosphate Coatings' you will find a link to them.

UJ