10 tips for the novice restorer to help avoiding some of the pitfalls that can sabotage the best restoration efforts

I have made many mistakes over the years and have paid the price of my folly. There is no need for you to do the same.

Tip 1

Do not take your car all apart at the same time if you are a first time restorer. If you do that, all you will wind up with is a heap of car parts. Your chances of losing your way and losing interest will be very high if you do this. Even a pro would have a hard time making a car out of a pile of parts. And yes, professional shops with an army of experienced pros do often take cars all apart, but they know what they are doing and besides, no one individual has to do all of the work.

Tip 2

Restore a simple, fairly common car for your first effort. Don’t take on that rare and precious 1939 Lagonda V12 until you have a sense of what is involved. I would suggest you begin with, for example, a Morris Minor, a Mini, or mid-’60s Ford Mustang if you can afford one, because parts are plentiful and not terribly expensive for these classics. Also, these cars are easy to work on.

Tip 3

Do your homework. Gather together a shop manual, automotive books and past issues of NZCC that pertain to the vehicle you want to restore, and read them carefully. You will want to know which models are worth the effort and which are not, and you will want to know if there are any models or years you should avoid.

Tip 4

Join the club. Once you have decided you want to do up a certain car, join the club for that marque and go to its meets and shows. You’ll meet people who know how to work on the car you plan to restore, and how it is supposed to be. And you may just find the very car you are looking for in the club’s publications, too.

You will also develop a better idea of what you should pay for a good restoration candidate. And just what is a good candidate, you ask? Well, it’s a car that is basically all there with no major rust through, no major collision damage, and no terminal mechanical problems. In other words, a sound car that needs to be gone through to make it new again.

Tip 5

Everyone knows someone who has pulled a badly rusted, incomplete derelict out of a riverbed and spent several years and thousands of dollars to make it new again. I respect and admire such people because the challenge is daunting. But don’t try it first time out.

The reality of the situation is that doing such a thing with any but the most sought-after classic will cost more than the car is worth in both time and money.

Tip 6

Start with the mechanical work first. You want to do this for a couple of reasons. The first being that you won’t want to be pulling carefully painted bonnets and guards off in order to re-ring a tired engine later, because you will chip the paint and run the risk of damaging carefully restored components if you do.

Secondly, any component left in a weary state will eventually cause you trouble, so you need to go through the whole machine.

Tip 7

Get a cheap digital camera. And while taking things apart for restoration, take pictures so you will have a record of how things are supposed to be. We all think we will remember, but two months later we aren’t sure just how that throttle linkage went or which bolt went where on that water pump.

Store all the fasteners for each component in separate, labelled plastic bags so you know what goes with what. This will save you hours of searching through tins of odd bolts to find the correct ones later.

Tip 8

Get a computer and go online to search for parts and information. I have been buying parts on the internet using my credit card for years, and have never had a problem.

Tip 9

Don’t try to bash out dents in your guards or weld in patches on your prize classic until you know what you are doing. Panel beating requires skill and experience. Get a couple of old, rumpled, discarded panels or hoods from a local scrapper’s yard or panel beater, and learn on them rather than risk damaging your chariot.

Tip 10

If you don’t want to take the time to learn how to do a particular part of your restoration, you can always pay a skilled professional to help. But even if you can do only tackle a few aspects, you will save yourself a fair bit of money — and you will have the feeling of accomplishment that comes with such endeavours.

As you finish each component and make sure it is right you will gain confidence and skill, so the next task becomes a bit easier. Near the end, things seem to happen fast. And when you are finished, you can stand back and say ‘I did that’ with pride. Instead of a shed full of parts and a feeling of despair, you will have a car you can show and enjoy that will be worth many times what you paid for it originally.

More tips for the novice restorer

Mid-’60s Ford Mustangs are great cars for the financially comfortable novice to restore because they are simple, and parts are readily available
Gather as much information on your project car as you can before you begin
You don’t need a full shop like the author’s to begin with, but you do need at least a two-car garage
Do the engine first, make sure it is right, and then work your way back down the driveline
All old cars that have been sitting idle need their brake hydraulic systems overhauled for safety reasons
Get a cheap computer, and search the internet for hard-to-find parts. The world is at your fingertips
Rare E-model Jag is not for the novice. Note that whole side panel is being replaced due to rust
Front clip comes off of most old cars, allowing easy engine and firewall restoration
Your bare hand is a sensitive tool to feel for irregularities and panel alignment problems
Buffing out paint takes technique and patience. Don’t learn the hard way on your classic
Glass is easy to replace, but be careful of new paint when installing it
To win at shows, the engine compartment must be right, including belts, hoses and even decals