By Paul Duchene / Originally Published April 26, 2016 / Hagerty / Restoration do’s and don’ts from the experts Interest in Preservation Class cars continues to…{"id":8792,"date":"2016-06-14T10:38:58","date_gmt":"2016-06-14T17:38:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/?p=8792"},"modified":"2016-06-21T10:25:48","modified_gmt":"2016-06-21T17:25:48","slug":"words-from-the-wise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/2016\/06\/14\/words-from-the-wise\/","title":{"rendered":"Words from the wise"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Paul Duchene\u00a0\/ Originally Published April 26, 2016 \/ Hagerty \/<\/h5>\n
Restoration do\u2019s and don\u2019ts from the experts<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n
Interest in Preservation Class cars continues to increase, and collectors face difficult choices in deciding whether to restore classic cars. The issues are complex and investment significant, so we asked a panel of experts how to proceed.<\/span><\/p>\n
David Burroughs<\/strong> was the driving force behind the Bloomington Gold Corvette<\/strong><\/a> annual gathering for 25 years. His judging program encouraged owners to achieve Gold Standard for their cars via ongoing advice, and he precisely defined \u201csurvivor\u201d cars.<\/span><\/p>\n
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Appreciate that your options are broader than just preserving or restoring a car, and include conservation, rehabilitation, and repair. Understand that preserved vehicles have superior mechanical integrity over restored cars.<\/span><\/li>\n
Photographically document your vehicle where you find it, during sequential disassembly and reassembly. Don\u2019t get a pre-purchase inspectionafter<\/em> you bought the car.<\/span><\/li>\n
Learn the difference between historic and hobby vehicles. You can\u2019t compare a 1955 4-door Plymouth with no motor to a Mario Andretti Indy winner with replaced front suspension, faded paint, and its race engine. That deserves preservation and conservation.<\/span><\/li>\n
Don\u2019t restore a car to please the judges or the crowd. Also, it isn\u2019t about you. Pebble Beach shiny would erase the historic connection between Andretti and his Indy winner. It would become a replica. Restoration should be a form of preservation. Many cars are actually historical artifacts \u2013 they just look like cars.<\/span><\/li>\n
Examine individual parts and do point-by-point replacement. Each car has a different story. It\u2019s a historical document you could destroy. Don\u2019t ask a restorer if a car should be restored, get multiple opinions before making any decisions.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Miles Collier<\/strong> is a lifelong automotive historian who has conducted a series of symposia on preservation technique and theory since 2000. He founded The Revs Institute<\/strong><\/a> in 2009 to study the impact the automobile has on society.<\/span><\/p>\n
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Don\u2019t underestimate the magnitude of any project in terms of time, money or aggravation.<\/span><\/li>\n
Don\u2019t view all restoration shops as interchangeable. Understand there are \u201chorses for courses.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n
Realize that getting a project from 90 percent to 95 percent makes the difference between a wonderful car, and garbage. The last 5 percent will take 20-25 percent of the effort.<\/span><\/li>\n
Don\u2019t customize the car with a color change, \u201cbetter\u201d motor or transmission. That\u2019s OK if you\u2019re never going to sell it, but otherwise \u201coriginal\u201d is what creates the demand.<\/span><\/li>\n
Buy the best example you can find; don\u2019t start with junk because it was cheaper. Pay what you need to pay. Restoring a nice original car that is complete and presentable is a sixth \u2013 and very big \u2013 mistake.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Kevin Mackay<\/strong> is a nationally known, outspoken Corvette expert, who founded Corvette Repair Inc.<\/strong><\/a> in New York in 1985. He is a Bloomington Gold Judge, and NCRS Master Judge, and has advice for owners and restorers.<\/span><\/p>\n
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Do the research before you put money into a car. Check the documentation, VIN and trim tags, and look for a good clean title. Is the drive train original? Don\u2019t spend $100,000 on a car with reproduction or replacement tags, as a stolen recovery.<\/span><\/li>\n
Jerry Seinfeld\u2019s Volkswagen just brought $120,000 because he’s a celebrity, but if you have a base motor VW worth $10-15K it doesn\u2019t pay to spend more than that on a restoration. Make sure your car warrants a frame-up restoration \u2013 which can take 2,000-3,000 hours \u2013 before you spend the money.<\/span><\/li>\n
Use the right materials. Fixing a crack in a fiberglass car involves grinding it out and using fiberglass and resin to repair it. Bondo will last 30-60 days before it cracks again. With metal you must cut out the panel. Applying bondo over rust is a big mistake; rust will return and haunt you later.<\/span><\/li>\n
To find the right restorer, check his reputation and referrals and consult well-known car clubs. Go to the right specialist. I\u2019m a Corvette specialist. I don\u2019t work on Ferraris or Panteras and I wouldn\u2019t take a Corvette to somebody who does.<\/span><\/li>\n
When you get an engine rebuilt, always dyno it \u2013 if it\u2019s going to blow up, have it happen on the machine, before you\u2019ve spent 200 hours installing it and detailing it. Have a professional adjust the engine and break it in properly.<\/span><\/li>\n
Make sure the body parts fit: hoods, moldings, taillights, door handles, headlight doors, bumpers BEFORE you paint the car. Test fit things two or three times. The quality of the paint job depends on the bodywork.<\/span><\/li>\n
Find out the car\u2019s provenance. Ideally, you want a one-owner, low-mileage survivor, with documents. But we had one car that had 23 owners, which is possible if a car is older and the owners only kept it a couple of years each. It was important, so we hired a private eye to trace it.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Diane Brandon<\/strong> is a Rolls-Royce expert, and the only woman judge at Pebble Beach. She served on the board of the RROC and represented the Bentley Driver\u2019s Club<\/strong><\/a> in the U.S.<\/span><\/p>\n
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Research the car you\u2019re interested in, buy the books, join the single marque club and go to shows to find something that makes your heart sing.<\/span><\/li>\n
Avoid cars which are not original, have stories (especially from dealers) or no documentation. Don\u2019t buy a car with so much damage you\u2019ll be underwater when you\u2019re finished, or a car that\u2019s so over-restored you\u2019ll have to start over to make it right.<\/span><\/li>\n
Don\u2019t buy a right-hand drive car if you drive on the right. Don\u2019t buy a car whose basic equipment doesn\u2019t work properly. Avoid \u201cquickie\u201d paint jobs (too shiny, overspray, orange peel), or with an incorrect interior.<\/span><\/li>\n
Do you want to drive your car or show it? If you want to drive it, find the best original example you can, with thorough provenance. Repair it mechanically, but let its appearance show evidence of the passage of time, without appearing neglected.<\/span><\/li>\n
If you plan to show your car, choose your restorer by reputation and referral. Choose appropriate paint colors (preferably original), and correct interior materials. Repair when possible, replace only what *must<\/em> be replaced. Gather appropriate documents; avoid non-original accessories. Drive it so you\u2019re familiar with it.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n**This article has been reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder, Hagerty. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Click here for more\u00a0<\/i><\/span>classic car stories<\/i><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0from Hagerty, or here for more information on<\/span>* the next Pomona Swap Meet & Classic Car Show<\/strong><\/a>.<\/span><\/i><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":null,"protected":false},"author":98,"featured_media":8793,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"cos_headline_score":0,"cos_seo_score":0,"cos_headline_text":"","cos_headline_has_been_analyzed":false,"cos_last_analyzed_headline":[],"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[805],"tags":[3056,4693,4688,4680,1741,4692,4677,2805,3160,3161,4698,4687,4679,4695,4675,4690,4681,593,885,4684,4685,4696,4689,4686,4683,2622,4674,3255,4676,4691,2114,4678,1918,4694,4682,4697],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Restoration-5.jpg?fit=1152%2C766&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9nnZN-2hO","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8792"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/98"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8792"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8792\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8874,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8792\/revisions\/8874"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8793"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}