There’s nothing like restoring a classic car to a smoothly-running machine. But sometimes, things don’t go as planned – restoration work takes longer than expected, parts are hard to find, or you can’t seem to overcome a mechanical challenge. You may even find your progress has ground to a halt. There are solutions for many of these problems, but it’s better to avoid as many as you can with careful outlining before you start.
Many car restoration difficulties can be traced to a lack of planning. There are multiple things you need to figure out before you begin restoring a classic car, including asking yourself the following questions:
- What’s your budget? People who regret what they spent or feel they were taken advantage of by suppliers often admit that they didn’t set a budget before starting. Look over the car, make a list of what you need, including parts and labor, and research average prices. After adding these up, tack on a few hundred extra for unexpected repairs that sometimes happen during restoration. If the budget isn’t doable right now, you may want to do a smaller project first and try running the budget for this one again in a year or two.
- Who is going to do the work? Do you plan to do it all yourself or will you have help with some jobs? We know how exciting it is to experience rebuilding an engine or fully restoring a car yourself. But if there are some aspects you don’t have much experience with, you might want to consider having professional help.
- What’s your deadline? Failing to set a completion date, even an approximate one, is another cause of stress for classic car restorers. Think realistically about how much time you can devote to the project each week and compare that to your list of what needs to be done, then set an estimated deadline.
- Where is your workspace? Some people struggle with having a place to keep and work on the car, especially if their garage is full or occupied with another project. You may want to ask a friend to rent their garage or barn so you have a stable workplace and storage area.
- Do you have a roadmap for your project? Another common issue is not knowing all the steps of restoring a classic car, especially if it’s your first project. However, even some pros may hit a snag if they take on a more complicated project than they’ve done before. It’s important to go back to your list again and plan what order you’ll do things in. If there are steps you aren’t as familiar with, ask advice from an expert or look up the steps. That way you won’t get stuck halfway through your project because you don’t know what to do next or how to finish a step.
Once you’ve answered these questions and thoroughly planned your restoration project, you’re ready to get started. Having a blueprint or roadmap will help reduce unexpected issues, but if you do run into problems, don’t hesitate to ask for help. Many car restorers realize too late that they could have saved time and money if they’d sought assistance with a tricky repair sooner.
