Restoring a car may seem easy on paper. You take an old, rusting car and you paint it, add a new interior, some new wheels and boom, you have a brand new (old) car. However, restoring a car is a lot more difficult than that. A large amount of thinking, planning and labour go into restoring a car. So how exactly do you restore a classic?
The first step in any restoration project is an inspection. This can help you assess the overall condition of the car. A lot of the times, an inspection can help uncover hidden issues like rust early in the process rather than later. The inspection will also help the restorer make a list of all the parts that are missing or broken.
The next step would be to work on the exterior bodywork. This is likely to be the area that requires the most effort. Most of the time, panels can be repaired, with issues such as dents and scratches fixed by bodywork experts. Rust, which is a major issue in any restoration, can usually be removed with some special tools. However, sometimes the issues with a certain panel may be too severe, and at those times the panel must be replaced completely. After this process is complete, the body can be primed and then painted. It is also important to pay attention to parts like door handles and mirrors as these can often be subject to wear and tear and hence may need to be primed and polished.
The interior of the vehicle is just as important as the exterior. It’s no good having a beautiful looking car if it is bad on the inside. More often than nought, old cars will have interiors that have been weathered over time. As such, it is likely that most of the seats, armrests and the dashboard will need to reupholstered or completely replaced. A lot of the wiring may also need to be replaced. Once again, attention to detail is of the utmost importance as many clients tend to notice small imperfections, which could affect their overall experience with the restoration.
Finally, we focus on another one of the vehicle’s important features, the powertrain. To begin with, the engine is opened up and all of its components are inspected. It is often likely that many of the components in the engine may need to be replaced. While not always, it is sometimes likely that if you many of the engine’s components are damaged, you may need a completely new engine. The gearbox must receive a similar treatment, but is likely to need to be replaced.
Obviously, this article doesn’t do justice to the amount of work that goes into the restoration of a car. Here, we only get a small overview of the processes involved. The restoration process is laborious and intense, but that simply
contributes to the sense of pride that the restorer feels at the end of a successful project.
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