Classic Auto Restoration

Restoration or Original?

Auto Restoration - the process of repairing all aspects of the vehicle to return it to an authentic condition.

The restoration of classic, vintage or antique automobiles is often misunderstood and practically always misquoted.

Remember - anything is only original once! Even the best, quality 'original authentic refurbishment' will not make it original, it will still be a refurbishment.

Keeping the vehicle 'original' is the top priority of many people. I would agree providing the overall paintwork and external parts are in good condition. This, of course, is very rare - but dry-stored, barn-finds still turn up!

Some of you may think pages on Classic Auto Restoration are a strange addition to a Vintage Adverts website! Not so! It is a wonderful addition to your collection of automobilia to have an advert of the actual vehicle to display when you show it. Or to have a poster of the advert proudly displayed on your wall, or even in the garage.

Restoration or Restomod?

The correct interpretation of "restoration" is to return it to an authentic condition without updating or upgrading it, returned it to how it would have appeared when first sold. Having said that, it will probably be impossible to obtain many of the original vintage parts, therefore remanufactured or substitute items may have to be used. The important thing to remember is it should be restored to an overall authentic appearance. A complete auto restoration must also include the parts not necessarily seen. The only way to achieve this is a complete strip-down, removing every nut, bolt, cable, pipe and panel. Much research of original hand-books, service manuals, sales literature, photographs and even old adverts will possibly be needed to obtain the final overall authentic look.

Most auto restorations end up with some form of upgrades along the way. They may be small, like replacing nuts and bolts with stainless steel or tungsten light bulbs with halogen; or they could be larger changes like engine upgrades and electronic ignition.

Taking this to the next level - the 'restoration' ends up being a complete customisation, with tuned engines and special paint jobs!

Easy?

Obviously this is not the right place for comprehensive instructions on how to restore your classic or vintage car, motorcycle, scooter or other automobile. There are many excellent books, websites and forums covering your make or model. What I can offer, through many years of 'hand-on' experience, is a few general guide-lines, pointers and comments.

Any auto restoration can be an intimidating task and not to be undertaken lightly by the faint-hearted or inexperienced. A full restoration can take many years and will, in most cases, cost well in excess of what the finished value of the vehicle will be.

Unless you are an expert in all aspects of the restoration and have the use of a fully equipment workshop, with welding and plating facilities, spray booth and much more, many of the jobs will have to be outsourced to those with both the knowledge and the equipment.

Whether a restoration is easy or hard is impossible to say, but there are certainly easier ways to go about it. If time is taken to do each job step by step, then a restoration can be rewarding, with a great sense of achievement when it is finally finished. If it is rushed and attention to detail ignored, the project will prove to be frustrating and the end result disappointing.

What sort of Restoration?

There are several ways of approaching an auto restoration:

• Obtain a complete vehicle in good, working condition - this is the 'easiest' way, as all the parts are present and mechanically functioning.
• Obtain a complete but non-running vehicle - not so good as you are not sure of the mechanical integrity.
• Obtain an unfinished project - here it is vital that you can recognise if all the parts are there. Finding missing (or incorrect) parts can be, at least, frustrating.
• Obtain 'a wreck' - definitely one for the expert. Depending on the rarity of the vehicle, this could involve sourcing the difficult to find parts or possibly making the impossible to find.
• Or the ultimate challenge is to build from scratch, often starting by obtaining a chassis or frame.

But please do not be the person who proudly turns up in a totally restored vintage car (scooter/motorcycle) accepting all the praise about how good the workmanship is and explaining how hard the restoration was, when you have paid a specialist company to do all the work! There is nothing wrong with getting someone else to bring your dream into existence, but please give them the credit they deserve.

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If you have any questions please Contact Me.