Why Classic Car Restoration is a Big Project

A car restoration can be a fun project for your family and friends to join in on, but don't under estimate the scope of the project, the body work is only about 10% of the project, you have the mechanical, and electrical, not to mention all of the other systems on the car to think about.

A classic car restoration is a huge undertaking, I don't want to drive anybody away from doing a restoration project on their cars, but you need to think about what it is you want the car to be when it's all done, this is one of the things that needs to be done before you begin the restoration project.

Once you have a concept of what you want the car to be, you can delve in to the planning the parts that you'll need to make your vision a reality, this is where a lot of people lose their way, and the project get's put to the side never to be finished.

You need to know if the car is going to be restored to factory specs, or if you want to make a resto-mod out of it, I am by no means a purest when it comes to this, I have seen to many people unhappy with their cars after the job was done, only to sell them later.

When you do a car restoration I say that the car should be what you want, and by no means what some person at a shop tells you that it should be, I hate to see people unhappy with their cars after they get them done, and I really hate to see people sell their cars.

I myself like to update the old and add the new braking systems, suspension systems, and even the modern engine and transmission setups, there is a reason why I think this way, the old cars had what was considered good braking systems for the time.

But they really had a hard time bringing the car to a stop, especially if you added a high performance engine to the mix, the modern braking systems can handle anything that you can throw at them, and the modern engines are machined to much higher standards.

It never hurts to get the best of both worlds, the modern engines last a lot longer on average then the old ones did, and their a lot easier to get power out of, but their are some draw backs to using them, the first being that you'll be forced to add a computer control system.

But the computer is what makes it easier to develop the power also, you need to think about what it is that you really want, and how much money it will take to make your dreams come true, plan it as good as you can, this will be the difference between getting it done, and not getting it done.

You obviously can't plan it down to the last dollar, there will always be things that will come up as the project progresses, a car restoration is never simple and straight forward, there are always bumps in the road, but you can lean from the bumps in the road.

If you choose to do a resto-mod then I would suggest that you keep all of the original parts from the car, this way if you ever want to return it to factory original you can, one of the hardest things that you'll deal with during the process is usually finding the parts.

This does of course depend on the car that you decide to restore, if it's a rare hard to find car, then the parts will be the same, rare and hard to find, but careful planning can solve all of these problems, and usually does, so take it slow and easy, don't get in a hurry, and you should have fun resorting your car.

The process of car restoration is supposed to be fun, and not be a constant pain in the butt, it's supposed to show progress as you go, and not take one step forward, and two steps back, rather your doing a factory stock restoration, or making a hot rod, it should be a fun project. Car Restoration