Insight on restoring classic cars.

[Huie83]

Originally Posted By: CrAlt
Ive done a few resto's before and some advise I could offer is get the most complete car you can afford. Ive taken over failed projects before and its 2x the work trying to put together a car you didn't take apart. Nothings organized and you dont know what parts your missing.

Also get a car you are both actually interested in. The biggest challenge (besides MONEY) is motivation. If the car isn't what your into then it will be hard to get rolling on it every day.

My teenage project was a Plymouth Scamp I put a 440 in to. Car was a total disaster but it was fun and I learned tons doing it.



Good points, I have been into cars since I was little and have always wanted to restore a classic, I've just been waiting for the right time. I'm in my mid 30's now and figure since my son has shown some interest ( which is hard to get with a 11 year old) now is as good as any. If he lost interest I'd have no issues working on it alone or with my 2 other boys if they show interest when they are a little older. This will be a long term project, i'm thinking 5-10 years, hopefully driving it in between fixing stuff.

Scamp's are cool cars, I really like late 60's Plymouth Fury's too.

 

[supton]

1970, wouldn't that have a Buick motor and not the Chevy? I don't think that will have a huge impact on replacement/repair parts, but probably means more $$$ for any hop-up parts.

 

[Huie83]

Originally Posted By: supton
1970, wouldn't that have a Buick motor and not the Chevy? I don't think that will have a huge impact on replacement/repair parts, but probably means more $$$ for any hop-up parts.


Good catch, you are correct, it doesn't share really anything with the Chevy 350. I'll have to do some more reading to see if any parts are readily available.

 

[wander2039]

Stuck on cars? How about trucks? In our case it dad's 86 F150 regular cab (302 auto) setting down on the farm that I need to bring up eventually fix it up and I know my oldest will love to work on it. Is it classic no but there's plenty of 70's trucks on craiglist!

 

[Huie83]

Originally Posted By: Eric Smith
Stuck on cars? How about trucks? In our case it dad's 86 F150 regular cab (302 auto) setting down on the farm that I need to bring up eventually fix it up and I know my oldest will love to work on it. Is it classic no but there's plenty of 70's trucks on craiglist!


Good question. I have also been looking at late 60's f-100's and Chevy c/10's (would love a 67!). Dodge D-100's are pretty scarce up here. They are definitely in our price range and being a home owner it could serve dual purpose for runs to the home improvement store or brush dump site etc.

The only down side to a truck is the whole family can't fit to cruise up to the drive in or car show. I'll have to think more about that piece.

 

[Rhymingmechanic]

I think what you want to do with your son is a great idea. There's a lot of good advice above--especially the suggestion of taking your time instead of jumping on the first car available. A running and driving car will also give you a better idea of where you're starting.

What do you mean by "restore"? It sounds more like you want to "fix up" an old car rather than build a show car that looks exactly like it did at the end of the assembly line in 19-whatever. (A perfectly-restored brown 2-barrel Skylark is still a brown 2-barrel Skylark, after all.) Maybe "resto-mod" is a better term?

To use the Skylark as an example, that could be a cool car if you fixed it up, painted it, and swapped in a 455. If the 350 is salvageable, that would be an alternative if you're more interested in cruising than going fast.

The Year One Skylark/GS catalog will give you an idea of what reproduction parts are available: https://www.yearone.com/Home/ViewCatalogs/

A quick check at Summit Racing or Jeg's will show what aftermarket engine parts you can get for a Buick V8.

 

[Huie83]

Originally Posted By: Rhymingmechanic
I think what you want to do with your son is a great idea. There's a lot of good advice above--especially the suggestion of taking your time instead of jumping on the first car available. A running and driving car will also give you a better idea of where you're starting.

What do you mean by "restore"? It sounds more like you want to "fix up" an old car rather than build a show car that looks exactly like it did at the end of the assembly line in 19-whatever. (A perfectly-restored brown 2-barrel Skylark is still a brown 2-barrel Skylark, after all.) Maybe "resto-mod" is a better term?

To use the Skylark as an example, that could be a cool car if you fixed it up, painted it, and swapped in a 455. If the 350 is salvageable, that would be an alternative if you're more interested in cruising than going fast.

The Year One Skylark/GS catalog will give you an idea of what reproduction parts are available: https://www.yearone.com/Home/ViewCatalogs/

A quick check at Summit Racing or Jeg's will show what aftermarket engine parts you can get for a Buick V8.



You're right, It would be more of a restomod, something we can tinker with and improve over time, nothing too nice. I'm not looking to do a 100% factory correct restore on a valuable car. It'll just be a toy to fix up, teach with and enjoy with my kids, also for me to expand my skills on. I've done head gaskets, timing belts, clutches, some Bondo and paint etc. I've never cut and welded body panels/patches, painted a car or rebuilt a engine. I'd like to get deeper into that and this would be a good chance, I really enjoy working on cars.

 

[DuckRyder]

IMO 69GTX is on point is you are talking about seriously "restoring" or "Restomodding" a car. It'll cost just as much if not more to restore something undesirable as a more desirable car, start with something that will be worth something when you finish even if it stretches the budget to start with.

For example that Skylark will cost more to restore than a Chevelle and will never approach the desirability of a Chevelle. Some cars you can help by making a "Clone" but even a Clone GS isn't going to be worth what a similar quality Chevelle.

Parts market for the 67-72 Ford and Chevy trucks is good... but still you have the issue of cost versus value and a nice short bed starting point for either one is going to blow your budget.

 

[Silverado12]

I'm doing a 1998 Mustang GT at the moment. It's still in the body shop because I'm too lazy to do body work anymore. You can get a late model Mustang/Camaro for cheap and it has the modern safety systems already on it. Don't start over your head with an old car that needs an engine or a whole lot of major stuff wrong with it or he will probably lose interest.

 

[69GTX]

Originally Posted By: Silverado12
I'm doing a 1998 Mustang GT at the moment. It's still in the body shop because I'm too lazy to do body work anymore. You can get a late model Mustang/Camaro for cheap and it has the modern safety systems already on it. Don't start over your head with an old car that needs an engine or a whole lot of major stuff wrong with it or he will probably lose interest.


I agree. You can buy the 1993-2002 performance cars (275-350 hp) dirt cheap if they have nothing more than lots of miles on them. I see a number of threads over on LS1Tech.com on members who pick up cars for $3K and get another 50K miles out of them without spending a fortune. And you can upgrade/beautify them to whatever level you like. I got into the classic 1960's and early 1970's muscle cars in 1992, because at the time, they were the best bang for the buck in the market. A new Firebird TransAm was $22K in 1993. You could buy a 1969 RR with the same power or more for $3K (and I did). Unfortunately, that has been totally reversed over the past 20 years.

The classic and worthwhile muscle cars seem to have a $15K-$20K entry point for anything even close to decent...and $25K+ for showable examples. So now I stay with the best bang for the buck, the 12-25 year old muscle cars. I bought my '99 Camaro SS with 12K miles back in 2012 for $12K. A comparable, original paint, low mileage 1969 383 roadrunner would be in the range of $30K to $50K today.