by Zoltan Kubanyi

Created on: April 30, 2007   Last Updated: November 11, 2007

The first thing you should ask yourself is "why do I want to restore an antique vehicle?" The answer to this question should dictate how you go about doing this. If you want to restore a certain model, for example a 1964 Chevy Impala, because it looks cool and is the perfect car to equip with hydraulics, you have a certain amount of freedom as you need not keep the car original and can restore it according to your taste. You can choose between a number of engine options and do the interior as you like, for example, you can opt to ditch the front bench seat and replace it with power adjustable bucket seats. On the other hand, if you are a vintage car enthusiast who thrives on originality and want your car to be as true as possible to the condition in which it rolled off the assembly line, you have to stick to strict parameters. You will find yourself researching factory colors, AM radio decks, and tracking down original clamps, hoses and bias whitewall tires. If you start a restoration with unclear reasons, you may make the job very difficult and find yourself loosing interest after you invested time and money.

Once you are clear about why you want to restore an antique car, the next question you need to ask yourself is "do I have enough time and money for the job?" It is very easy be overtaken by enthusiasm flipping through car magazines or strolling through antique car exhibitions seeing beautifully restored and shiny old cars. However, remember that antique car restoration is not cheap or easy and it is usually people who have plenty of disposable income who can actually pull it off. The enthusiasm can quickly fade once you purchase a car for restoration and you get hit with the reality of how much work needs to be done and how much it will cost. The sight of a rusty old car pales in comparison to what you see in magazines and can take the wind out of your sails. Are you going to leave the work to professionals or will you attempt it yourself?
Most antique enthusiasts will want to do it themselves. This is where the time question is important. A full restoration can easily take over a year even if you spend every weekend and even a few evenings restoring your ride and you will have to have the space to do it in, the tools, knowledge, and skill to do it with. If you are missing any of these things, you will need to have professionals do many of the tasks. For example, body work and painting is often best left to professionals because even a home garage is inadequate to properly paint a car. Body shops have expensive paint booths that filter the air to remove dust and that kind of an environment is really important for a quality paint job, not to mention the knowhow of an experienced painter. Of course, the more work you get done professionally, the more the project will cost. Although Maco offers cheap paint services a quality paint job (even at Maco) will cost in excess of one thousand dollars.
If you are limited on time, money, skill or any of the before mentioned things. You will have much more success purchasing an already restored car. It will cost more initially but you will be able to enjoy it right away, it will cost less than if you would have done the restoration yourself, and you can even get it financed.
Doing it yourself can be rewarding, however you must be clear about what you are undertaking and remember that it is, above all, a challenge and a learning experience.

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