restore car
Take the time to savor the moment then only disassemble what portions of the car need
to be restored and keep that number down to a manageable few, especially if you're
new to restoring collector cars. Take pictures and label the parts as you remove them
and keep everything organized. Use a digital camera to record the disassembly process
and store small parts in labeled Ziploc bags. These two simple tasks could save you
hours of headaches when it comes time to reassemble your collector car.
Digital cameras are relatively inexpensive and unlike using a Polaroid or 35 mm camera
you're not out the expense of film. Digital images can be stored on a laptop computer so
you'll have instant access to them when they are needed. This is especially useful if
your goal is to restore the car to factory-new specifications. Not only will the
photographs be useful in helping you to
reassemble the car, but they can also prove
to be valuable in other ways. Just as there
are a limited number of prize cars, there are
also a limited number of quality photographs
of prized cars as well and maybe you can
sell the images to help finance your next
restoration project after all, stranger things
have happened.
With digital photos you also have the added advantage of being able to blow up the
images on the computer screen and see details you might otherwise miss. Many
collector car restorers will mount photos from the restoration on a poster to display
alongside their car at car shows. It's just one of the ways you can show the work you've
accomplished with your car. Every collector car restoration is a onetime event and they
are all different so use every advantage you can to save yourself time, money and
stress.
So before you start taking the car apart spend some time to do a little advance planning.
Your careful attention to detail will shine through when your collector car restoration is
complete.
Along with storing parts in Ziploc bags and photographing your restoration process don't
forget to label individual parts so that you can keep track of them. And don't be in a rush
to discard old parts that you've removed from your car, you never know when you might
need to refer to that old part to solve a problem with a replacement part, or when a new
part isn't available you may be forced to restore the old part. If you've discarded any of
the old parts then you're faced with having to replace it or have a part fabricated, which
can be expensive.
Back to the importance of having a photographic record of your restoration project,
having a quality digital photo of the old part could be a life saver to your restoration
project. With the Internet and e-mail
you could get advice from experts on
the other side of the globe if such help
were needed.
Once you've organized yourself and
decided how you want to record and
go about disassembling your collector car, then it's time to begin the actual
disassembly. This is the easy part of the restoration process and to some the most
enjoyable, but the frenzy with which you approach the disassembly can led to problems
later on, so one final word of caution to take things slowly. A major problem some
restorers face once the disassembly is complete is they run out of stream and lose the
enthusiasm they had going into the project.
Many times a person will discover at this point that the financial strain on their budgets
is more than they expected. If you've planned your restoration well then you will already
have a good estimate of the expected costs before you've turned the first bolt in the
disassembly process. It's wise to adjust any estimate you've established from research
by a factor of times three.
restore car
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