11714 Saint Charles Rock Rd
St. Louis, MO 63044
Exotic & Classic Car Restoration Processes
JUST ONE MILE WEST OF THE ST. LOUIS AIRPORT
Process Guidelines for Starting and
Completing a Car Restoration Project
We are asked all the time for a step-by-step guide to
perform a car restoration. The process of completing a
restoration can be intimidating but will help you, our clients
understand and appreciate our efforts better. I have put
together a chronological outline of the process that helps
keep our projects on course.
•
Clear a space and position the car carefully. It will be
there a long time, so think about which way it faces,
access around it, etc.
•
Remove the battery and empty the gas tank. If the fuel
is relatively fresh put it in your other cars. If not,
dispose of it according to your municipal regulations
•
Take lots of pictures!
•
Remove the bumpers, then all chrome and stainless
trim pieces including windshield and window moldings.
Create a hanging rack on your shop rafters for these
long, fragile pieces, separating them according to
whether they need re-plating, polishing or replacement.
Start listing everything on a clipboard sheet. If possible
record whether you need to replace or repair a part.
Put a ? if it's not obvious.
•
Remove the glass and store carefully.
•
Take pictures!
•
Remove the seats, front and rear.
•
Remove door trim, interior trim, headliner, carpet
•
Take pictures!
•
Mark wire locations on dash instruments. If entire dash
can be removed, do so with instruments mounted. If
not, remove each instrument and place in boxes for
cleanup, rebuild, etc.
•
Take pictures! Pictures are invaluable to you when
putting your car restoration project back together, and
also if you decide to sell your restored car, you have
documentation to show your prospective buyer that the
work was actually done. You get the idea, so this is the
last time we're going to mention this...
•
Remove hood and trunk lid, then doors. Before
removing any of these, scribe around edges of hinges to
help remount them later. Store everything carefully.
•
Remove engine and transmission, after draining fluids.
Separate them and position for rebuild or send them
out to machine shops.
•
Remove body, if car has full frame. If not, remove rear
axle and position body on jack stands.
•
Remove front and rear suspensions, marking
orientation.
Depending upon how adept with tools you are, all of the
above will have taken roughly 40 hours to accomplish.
Nothing has been restored or repaired yet, just
disassembled. Now, on to the actual car restoration...
There is no hard-and-fast procedure for doing all the
individual tasks involved, but you can separate the overall
project into four parts: mechanical, electrical, body and
upholstery. It is best to work on electrical and upholstery
projects in your basement/home workshop and
mechanical and body projects in your garage. If you only
have one work space, try to set up two separate areas. That
way, you can work on two different things at the same
time. When weather or parts availability stops progress on
one, switch to the other. Eventually, everything will be
finished and you can reassemble the car in reverse of
above.
The Car Restoration
•
Send parts off to be re-chromed
•
Send engine/transmission to machine shop if you're not
rebuilding them yourself
•
Using your clipboard notes, order all replacement parts
in one complete package to optimize discounts from
suppliers.
•
Strip, clean, repair and paint the frame (omit if unibody
car, for obvious reasons)
•
Replace or rebuild front and rear suspension on frame
(this will be done later on unibody cars. You want to
paint the body first and then rebuild/reinstall the front
and rear suspensions on the subframes.)
•
Start to strip paint off body, top and bottom
•
Weld in new metal, prepare body for painting.
Depending on the body work done, you may want to
test-fit the part while it's still in primer. If a professional
shop is doing all this work, send body off to them.
•
When engine/transmission are rebuilt, install in frame
(or put on home-made test stand) and run them several
times to work out the bugs.
•
Rebuild the rear axle and install on frame (later if
unibody car).
•
Reupholster the seats
•
Rebuild/repaint/replace the instruments, radio, heater
box, etc.
Reassembly
With the body freshly painted and everything ready to
reinstall, start with the mechanical parts. If the car has a
frame, everything is pretty much installed already.
Otherwise, put in the engine, transmission, drive shaft,
accessories, cooling system, etc. Test everything out before
putting on the hood. A good order in which to proceed is as
follows:
•
Install wiring harness
•
Replace the dash and all instruments and attach wiring.
Test as much as possible with voltage source (battery,
charger, etc.)
•
Fit out interior trim, carpet, headliner, accent pieces, etc.
•
Install front and rear glass
•
Re-hang doors
•
Install door glass, then trim panels and handles
•
Install seats
•
Fit out trunk area
•
Install bumpers and exterior trim
This should give you a general outline of the car restoration
process. There are variations, of course, and you will come
upon problems and opportunities that will cause you to
alter this checklist. The important thing is to carefully think
through your approach to each step of this process.