Preservation and restoration of automobiles

Automobile restoration is the process of repairing all aspects and parts of a car to return it to the exact condition it was in when it was first offered for sale.

A complete restoration includes not only repair of the parts that can be seen – the body, the trim, the chrome, the wheels, the dash board and accessories and the passenger’s compartment – but the parts that are not necessarily visible or otherwise evident, including the engine and the engine compartment, the trunk, the frame, the driveline, and all ancillary parts like the brakes, accessories, engine cooling system, electrical system, etc. Besides repairs done to correct obvious problems, repairs are also done for cosmetic reasons. For example, even if a wheel is covered by a hub cap and not seen, and is structurally sound, it should have the tire unmounted, then any required repairs such as rust removal, straightening, priming and painting.

Restoration is sometimes confused with the term "restomod." A restomod places some portions of the car as they were when the car was first offered for sale, and changes(updates) others. If any part of the car is not as it was first offered for sale, the car has been "restomodded," and not restored. A restoration puts a car in the same condition as when it was first offered for sale.

Dissasembly

A complete auto restoration could include total removal of the body, engine, driveline components and related parts from the car, total disassembly, cleaning and repairing of each of the major parts and its components, replacing broken, damaged or worn parts and complete re-assembly and testing. As part of the restoration, each part must be thoroughly examined, cleaned and repaired, or if repair of the individual part would be too costly, replaced (assuming correct, quality parts are available) as necessary to return the entire automobile to "as first sold" condition.

All of the parts showing wear or damage that were originally painted are typically stripped of old paint, with any rust or rust related damage repaired, dents and ripples removed and then the metal refinished, primed and painted with colors to match the original factory colors. Wooden parts should go through the same meticulous inspection and repair process with reglueing, replacement of rotted or termite-damaged wood, sealing and refinishing to match the factory specifications. Chrome and trim may require stripping and repair/refinishing. Fasteners with tool marks, damaged threads, or corrosion need re-plating or replacement-unless the car was originally sold that way. The frame must be thoroughly cleaned and repaired if necessary. Often sandblasting of the frame is the most expeditious method of cleaning. The frame must be properly coated to match the original.

Interior

The interior of the car should be examined and repaired/replaced to match those that were available from the factory. The seats must be repaired before being re-upholstered and the coil springs repaired, replaced or retied. The instrument panel, or dash board contains a number of gauges, each of which have to be inspected and cleaned/repaired/replaced to be brought back to both operational and cosmetic standards of the car when it was first sold.

Exterior

In a complete restoration, the repair and refinishing of the car's body and frame must again go through the careful inspection and subsequent repair,and recoating as necessary to bring the car to as first sold condition.

As part of the automotive restoration process, repair of the car's frame is important since in serves as the foundation for the entire car. The frame should be inspected for straightness, twisting, alignment, rust damage, and condition of the mounting points for the body, suspension, and other components. Any problems must be repaired, which can be a costly process. For many popular cars, replacement frames can be purchased from parts suppliers specializing in that make of vehicle. This is often a better option than investing money into a severely damaged frame. Depending on the frame construction, mud and water can make their way inside the frame and cause rusting from the inside out, so it can be seriously weakened with little or no external sign. This, and the fact that many replacement chassis/frames are galvanised, provides sound additional reasons to consider a replacement frame.

If rust is present on a body panel, the panel was damaged by a collision, or other damage is present, there are several options for repair: fix the damaged panel (minor damage), replacement (excessively damaged panels), or cutting out and replacing a portion of the panel (moderate damage - for many makes of vintage car, small partial patch panels are available and designed to be welded into place after the damaged portions are cut out). Although, this may seem simple in principle, in practice it is highly skilled work. One of the highest skills in restoration is the use of the English Wheel or Wheeling Machine. Many panels, (especially if from different sources), may be a problem to fit together and need reshaping to fit properly. Variation in panel size and shape and 'fettling' by skilled metalworkers on the factory production line to make panels fit well, used to be common practice, especially with British and Italian sports cars. Even genuine New Old Stock factory panels may require panel beating skills to fit.

Re-installation of the repaired and repainted panels require that the panels be installed and then aligned so the gaps between panels are correct, the doors, hood, and trunk open and close properly, and there is no interference or rubbing. Once the panels have been repaired, they should be primed and painted a correct historical color for the vehicle (although this is debatable - the owner might want to have the car painted to look like a particular specialty vehicle such as a police car, or a delivery van painted to look like it would have in grandfather's company colors, etc.) Individual painting of the panels is generally the correct approach, as this will result in all parts of the panel being painted as opposed to partially re-assembling and then painting, leaving parts of the assembly that are touching or "blind" unpainted. The separate painting approach should also result in no overspray on other parts of the since they will not be on the car at that point.

Colors and treatments applied to the panels, from the factory should be considered. A car's owner may wish to have a panel or portion of the car entirely painted when in fact it may have come from the factory with undercoating or other coating applied to one side, which may be less attractive than a smoothly finished and painted panel. In other cases, the owner might paint or plate a collection of small parts to look similar for a better appearance, when the factory might have installed these as many different colors since the factory's prime concern was function and not appearance. This makes the car a "Restomod", and not a restoration.

Engine

The entire engine and all related systems are inspected and what ever is necessary to get them into original presale condition is done. The engine and all of the ancillary components – starter, generator/alternator, radiator, distributor, carburetor and all others – must be inspected and corrected to factory specifications. The engine itself, plus the transmission, clutch, overdrive unit and even the driveshaft must be meticulously inspected, cleaned and measured for wear. This will show up as deviation from original factory specifications. All of the parts – block, crankcase, head, transmission housing, etc. – should be inspected for cracks or other damage. All moving parts – pistons, crankshaft, camshaft, oil pump, bearing and bushings, flywheel, water pump and all others – must be cleaned and measured against factory specifications and, if necessary, machined or re-manufactured to bring them within specifications. The same goes for the transmission, clutch, differential and all other moving parts of the power line and drive line. All of the electrical system has to be inspected and, if it shows wear or damage, replaced. Then the entire engine/driveline will have to be reassembled, replacing all worn bearing and bushings, seals, gaskets, belts and gears.

Reassembly

Finally, the engine/driveline has to be re-installed in the frame, the brakes, wheels and other parts re-installed, the body fitted to the frame and the entire car rechecked and tested.

Restoration of a car is a daunting task, not one to be undertaken lightly, or by the inexperienced. A full restoration can take many years and can cost tens of thousands of dollars; often, and generally, well in excess of what the finished value of the car will be. Many jobs will have to be farmed out to specialty shops; those with the special knowledge and equipment to do the job. Often a restoration once started is left unfinished and the car and parts can be purchased for a fraction of their worth. But if a person buys an unfinished project, it is imperative to be sure that all of the parts are there. Finding parts for an orphan or rare car can be near impossible.

There are different levels of automotive repair. The highest quality level, generally unobtainable for the amateur restorer, is the Concours d'Elegance level; these are cars that are frequently restomoded to a degree often beyond the quality that they were when they left the factory. There are virtually no deficiencies in the quality of the parts that were actually restored. Those parts that did not come on the car as it was first sold must have the highest level of fit and finish, and appear to have been original parts. Many Concours d'Elegance cars are not driven except for the short distances from their trailers to the show field.

Only when a car is completely placed back into the condition it was first sold in is it considered to be restored. Various aspect of a car may be repaired without the car being restored. A car that does not run can be repaired to running condition, but that simply means it will now run and does not mean that any part of the car has been restored. Automotive Restoration means that the car was put back into the condition it was first sold as. Anything else is either repair, or restomod. Between these two extremes are the vast bulk of cars that are seen as drivers, neighborhood show cars, 20-footers (they look great from 20 feet away). Many value guides offer six levels of quality, from a ‘parts-only’ car to a Number 1- absolutely perfect in every way.

For the amateur, or even experienced restorer, there are a great number of help sources, books and magazines (Skinned Knuckles or Practical Classics in the UK, for example) to assist with restoration of an entire car or specific parts. There are also enthusiast websites that can offer help advice and contacts for vehicle restoration.

Gallery

1969 Shelby Mustang GT350
1958 Chevrolet Corvette roadster
Ford Model T
Interior of a 1949 VW Bug

External links

Tips & Tricks from the Pros at MetalShapers.Org The History of Automotive Aluminum by Kent White