Any Car Restorers Out There?

[zekest]

I belong to, and am a past club officer, of the largest car club in Oregon, The Mustang Wranglers of Oregon: www.mustang-club.com and have been involved in a few resto jobs and know about many more through club activities and garage open houses.
See the link on the left hand side for the "Wranglers Sunshine Project".
What they all say is true: It will take twice as long as you plan, and three times as much as you initially budget to restore a car. But the pride when you are done is worth it.

 

[dottiewarden]

I love this thread and all the great resto stories.

My first was a '67 Tempest Custom convertible that I picked up for 500 bucks. Twenty thousand dollars and 10 years later she was a gorgeous piece of American history.

My craziest project though was when I took the body off of a '77 Cadillac Coupe de Ville and mounted the body of a '62 International Pick Up. Despite the 10 Gs and 3 years of obsession, it still looked like a stock farm truck. The only difference was that it could pass anything but a gas station.

I still have some other projects on paper, but somehow marriage changes things!

 

[jitterbugdude]

"@jitterbugdude. How come you say to stay away from POR-15? I've heard quite a bit of good about it. "
Because, when I did my first off the frame resto on my truck I used POR-15. I followed the directions to the letter, including buying THEIR acid etch which they claim is superior to regular store bought stuff. I also bought their version of Bondo body putty and cloth. The original resto was a partial frame off but I left the cab on at the time and did not rebuild the engine. A few years later I decided to rebuild the engine. When I took the engine out I noticed the front cab corners were pretty rotted so I took the cab off, then I noticed some rust under the cab and the box, so I took the box off (again). Once it was stripped down to the rails I noticed a lot of rust on the previously treated POR-15 areas. I got my sander out and the stuff started flaking off like paper!. The area in the rear fender where I had used the POR-15 "Bondo" was rusted through the paint. I ended up grinding/sanding everything back down and using "Rust Bullet" as well as another paint (that I cannot remember the name of). For the rusted fender I used regular fiberglass cloth/resin and a Bondo type filler. So far after about 3 years there is no rust.

 

[petes03]

Here are a few pics of the truck as it pretty much looks now.

This is before it was moved to my house.

And here it is taking it's first ride in a long time.

 

[zekest]

That could be a great project. My club holds an "All Fords" car show every year, and I have seen some great examples of restored F-100's. There are plenty of restoration part houses that specialize in the classic Ford trucks.
They really look great when you line the bed with wood planks (for show).
What you are doing to the power plant means you don't plan to haul firewood around in it or off road it over rocks and through mud.

 

[petes03]

Yeah zeke, it ain't gonna be no farm truck, lol!

 

[tinpan]

I've been known to have an affinity for old cars.

I'll let you guess what the manufacturer is but these are what I like. I like to find them in a #3 condition or so and have a mechanical restoration done. This way I can take them out for daily driving duties on not be picky about people touching them. The big thing for me is trying to find these cars with acceptable original interiors or redone interiors and rust free bodies. I worry less about the chrome and paint because nobody really notices a 20 or 40 year old paint job when your are cruising down the road. Plus it's cost prohibitive to dump a bunch of money in this marquees line of cars, they just do not sell for a bunch of money

Luckily for me the Snack Shack is about 5 miles from my house. It makes a nice destination for lunch or diner and it's fun watching folks try to figure out what these cars are.
I also have a 39 that is being restored. As can be expected it is taking twice as long as I thought to finish it and about twice what I thought it would cost to have it done.

 

[unholy1]

Tinpan, them looks like Packards. You rarely see them restored to original, like you said, because you would never recoup the restoration costs. They make great customs.

 

[zekest]

Tinpan, if it was me, I would not even think of selling (unless an offer was presented I could not pass up). I would just invest in some "period correct" clothing for the wife and me, and have a ball crusin' around on a sunny Sunday afternoon, and getting a shake at a local "drive in".
But that's just me...

 

[ejames]

The Packards were great cars until Studebaker got their hands on them-IMO. The biggest insult was the 58 Packard Hawk. They took a Stude K body,stuck a bunch of gaudiness all over it and created the ugliest Hawk ever. The only thing Packard about it was the supercharged 352 Packard Motor.

 

[ssjones]

Those are some beautiful Packards and one sweet looking garage as well!

 

[petes03]

Wow tinpan, great looking setup you have there! Nice cars too!

 

[unholy1]

Love old iron!

 

[petes03]

Yep, they don't make em like they used to!

 

[jitterbugdude]

A suggestion for anyone restoring an older car. Put "Never Seize" on every single bolt and sheet metal screw you have. If you keep the car long enough you will be doing maintenance and it's nice to not have to fight a rusty, old bolt.
One of the things I really like about my old vehicles is that the service manual has procedures for rebuilding EVERYTHING! Not only things like a carb but the power steering or manual pump, transmissions, steering racks etc.

 

[natenice1]

Tinpan NICE! I have a big affinity for unrestored "Barn Finds", I like them original or restored original. Nice Packards there! "Ask The Man That Owns One!" :D

 

[dlgillen]

here is my story of the restoration we did on my granddad's 51 ford