Below are the tips by our experts at Leland West Insurance when you are looking to restore your classic beauty:
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- Go over the car with a flashlight and pad. Write down the areas that need repair and other areas that do not. Take your time and review the car from top to bottom. This is what your auto restoration specialist will do as well. You need to be on the same page with things that need to be done.
- Once this has been done, its time to review the list to see if this car is actually worth restoring. Many cars are an emotional attachment to the owner and common sense must prevail here. Sure it may be your high school hot rod, but is it really worth it to you to restore? Many people do not care about the cause and restore without return on investment in mind. If you are ever looking to profit from the sale of the vehicle this is the step you must focus on. Discuss with your restoration person with list in hand.
- Determine some rough costs as to the restoration. Parts are quite expensive especially NOS (New Old Stock) parts which may not even exist. Look at the car and try to get some basic idea of what parts would be needed and the cost. Many times there are huge issues under parts that appear in bad shape or even in good shape! The idea is to familiarize yourself with pricing as it is not the same as you may think.
- Once a professional restoration person sees your car, you can then determine if it is worth it to do a full restore. Maybe you could do a partial restore or even a restore-mod which is putting newer technology and parts into the car. This may change the price as restoring your classic to exact original is often very costly and time intensive. You may want to opt also to do things in stages. You could keep the outside as is but tackle any mechanical issues to make the car sound. You must determine the type of restore you want to end up with. Will it be a show car, driver, or exact original (concurs) restoration. They money usually goes up with the more original you return it to.
- Communication is one of the biggest tips. Keeping in touch with your auto professional can make the difference in time, money and satisfaction. By keeping close contact with each other, the finer points and costs are always upfront. So many times things end up different once the car is torn down and diagnosed. Having weekly or bi-weekly status updates is a great way to make sure everything is proceeding according to plan.
