Automedia.com - Restoration - Paint/Body Articles

Welding Practice

The wire-feed welders that have started to pop up in the aisle at your local auto parts store or tool house can be an affordable setup for the do-it-yourselfer. Falling prices make picking up a portable or compact welder an even more tempting choice. Before starting to daydream about building a land speed record motorcycle or racecar chassis in the garage, realize that these wire-feed welders have their limitations. Welding of any kind also requires a great deal of attention to safety...

Aluminum Paneling

Aluminum paneling is a great way to dress up the underside of your vehicle's hood and fenders. It also looks good in the trunk or on the firewall. It can be polished for a bright shine, or rubbed with a Scotch pad for a satin finish with a fine grain...

Awesome Anodizing

Anyone who has peered into the engine compartment of a racecar has seen anodized parts gleaming in a variety of colors. Unlike chrome or gold plating, which are used on ferrous metals like steel, anodizing is a plating process for non-ferrous metals such as aluminum and magnesium. Commonly used on hydraulic fittings on racecars and airplanes, it can even be applied to entire aluminum bodies or interior panels. Some of the many aluminum or magnesium parts that can be anodized are wheels, fuel injection stacks, intake manifolds, interior panels, hydraulic fittings, hoods and grilles...

Battery Tray Restoration

Every vehicle has a battery tray of some kind. That heavy power source is usually secured to the tray with bolts, preventing it from shifting or falling over. The inherent problem with these trays is that they rust from water sitting in the bottom or are eaten alive by battery acid. Some trays are so far gone that the only thing holding them in the car is the weight of the battery they are suppose to support...

Blast Cabinet Parts Cleaning

One of the most daunting tasks with any restoration is cleaning parts. Grease, grime, rust and corrosion have taken over your car. Now it's time to reclaim it, making it look showroom fresh again. The best way to do that is by blasting components clean in an abrasive blasting cabinet. There are other options such as chemical dipping and stripping and the old wire wheel and brush method, but nothing seems to prepare a vehicle's various surfaces for refinishing as well as abrasive blasting. And with the price of home workshop blast cabinets and larger compressors becoming more affordable, many restorers either have the equipment or know someone who does...

Car Paint Preparation

Whether amateur or pro, few collector-car restorers paint their own vehicles. Paint is so important to the overall visual impact of the car that it's usually better left to the pros. Here we'll show you the proper way to prepare a collector car for a show-quality paint job, detailing the materials used and providing some hints on how the pros do such a good job...

Chassis Restoration

For certain rare cars, restoring the components exactly to original is essential to preserving the vehicle's value. For most car enthusiasts, however, modernizing a restoration project makes a lot more sense. Called a resto/mod (which also refers to modifying the car), this approach takes advantage of all the improvements in automotive technology. There's no reason you can't have contemporary performance to go with that nostalgic style. It all depends on your style. Though not everybody may want this level of performance, the '62 Corvette shown here is a good example of just how far you can take the process...

Chassis Stiffening

The old truism that appearances can be deceiving is especially true when it comes to restoring an older automobile. That classic car that looks so nice may not be all that nice to drive anymore, even after installing the latest and greatest suspension components. Everything that could be replaced has been replaced, and yet it still just seems to rattle and bounce its noisy way down the road. Time and stress have conspired to weaken the very structure of your ride. Moreover, it may not have had a particularly strong platform to begin with, given the vehicle's older design and engineering. Before digging into how you can rectify these problems on your resto project, we should cover a few basics...

Chrome Job

No resto project is complete without a really righteous chrome job. When done right, it turns a dingy classic into a gleaming triumph. If you hit it wrong, though, the effect can be like a glamorous model with a big zit...

Chrome Plating Basics

Almost every restoration project requires re-plating various parts. Cars and trucks built from the 1950s to the 1970s featured bright, flashy chrome plating on interior and exterior trim, giving these vehicles their distinctive character. But with age, metal finishes get chipped, pitted and scraped until they must be re-plated to look like new. This process can present some special problems, especially when re-plated parts need to visually match older plated parts on the vehicle...

Color-Sanding and Buffing

Paint isn't what it used to be, which is both good and bad. The old lacquer type emitted unwanted fumes. Today's two-part urethane is cleaner and healthier, but getting the same level of shine takes a bit more effort. That's where color-sanding, along with some extra clearcoats and buffing, can really bring out the gleam in this gold GTO...

Control-Arm Bushing Replacement

The rear upper and lower control arms on the 1964-72 GM A-body vehicles (Chevelle, GTO, 4-4-2, Buick GS) not only provide suspension travel but also secure the rear end to the vehicle. Each control arm has two pressed-in bushings, one at each end. The bushing is a metal cylinder with a rubber center and a tubular metal core for the mounting bolt to pass through...

Corvette Resto: The Body

For the final installment on the restoration of the '64 Corvette Coupe owned by Milton Lewis, we get into an area that most auto enthusiasts may not be familiar with: fiberglass bodywork. Maybe you know how to grind and pound on sheetmetal, but how about those resin-impregnated fibers? Lack of familiarity with the material is not the only challenge here: back when these cars were built, the fiberglass finish just wasn't as good as the resin-transfer methods used on later-model Vettes. Smoothing out the surface isn't the issue since there are a lot of refinishing products on the market that can make a body look better than new...

Corvette Restoration: The Chassis

In our first installment about the restoration of a classic Corvette, we introduced you to Milton Lewis and his silver-blue '64 Coupe. We covered a bit about the history of the car, the engine, and the painstaking efforts to win the prestigious NCRS Mark of Excellence Duntov award. With the body removed and the engine being freshened, Milton set to work on the chassis with the assistance of Carlos Vivas of C&S Corvette Restoration. Vivas prefers handling the "mid-year" Corvettes ('63-'67). "I can do those blindfolded," he laughs. "But on the earlier cars, nothing was the same."..

Courtesy-Lamp Lens Replacement

In the Fifties and Sixties, GM installed small opaque-white plastic lenses in convertible rear-armrest courtesy lights. These lenses have a tendency to yellow from heat and age, and many times crack as well. Years of internal heat trapped behind the lens causes the plastic to dry out and become brittle, and even the slightest tap from a person entering or exiting the back seat will crack a lens in this condition...

Custom Classic Painting Advice

Ask any rod, custom or show car builder what their toughest decision was during the buildup, and the answer is likely to involve the paint job. Not only are there thousands of colors, there are also hundreds of other options such as types of paint, graphics, flames, pearls, tri-coats and color-change paints. Some builders may decide to paint their cars themselves, while others will rely on a pro...

Dent Repair

If you drive, your car will eventually get a dent. Body damage is one of the most frustrating parts of motoring, because our eyes always seem to lock onto dents...

Easy Metal Cleaning

Internal engine parts that are constantly exposed to hot oil develop a burned-on brown patina during years of use. Trying to clean this coating with solvent is useless—the surface remains hard and dirty brown. But, from America's kitchens comes the solution: spray-on oven cleaner. It works great and is available at almost any market in the country...

Emblem Installation

While the glory days of the American musclecar have come and gone, the legend will live on forever thanks to those who preserve it through the restoration and preservation of classic performance rides. The basic formula of the American musclecar is simple: Stuff the largest possible displacement engine into the smallest possible car, factor in putting the gas pedal to the floor, and add it up to tire smoking fun...

Engine Compartment Detailing

Many times during an engine rebuild the attention is only on the motor and not on where it lives. While the powerplant is on the engine stand, you have a golden opportunity to renovate areas you normally don't have access to. Once that chunk of metal is reinstalled, the detailing process is much harder. Here are a few tips on areas to address and how to breathe new life into old parts that make up your GM engine bay...

Exhaust Hanger Replacement

Most General Motors musclecar exhaust systems are secured to the underside of the vehicle with exhaust hangers. These metal brackets are attached to pieces of rubber, which flex and allow the pipe to move. Like all rubber items, smog, heat, cold, salt and constant movement wear these parts at an alarming rate. With GM's "over the rear axle" exhaust-tubing design, a loose exhaust pipe can contact several undercarriage spots, resulting in an annoying rattle or occasional bang (as experienced after driving over a serious pothole)...

Exhaust Manifold Restoration

For years restorers were at a loss about what to do with cast-iron exhaust manifolds. A few restorers of large, expensive classic cars would send their manifolds out to be coated with porcelain. Although they looked great all smooth and glossy, the porcelain was prone to chipping and, frankly, didn't look factory correct. Many others took the budget approach and simply painted their manifolds with high-temp spray paint. However, the colors never looked natural and the paint didn't last long before the rust started to show through...

Fabricating Curves

Since it is becoming increasingly difficult to find small machine shops that are willing to design and make parts for a single application or resto project, it makes sense to tackle making these parts with the tools that a home machinist can afford. Just about anything can be made with big-dollar, computer-controlled machines, but the processes reviewed here use older (and less costly) technology...

Filler Finder

It's been said that rust never sleeps—unless it's completely removed—rust will continue to eat up good sheetmetal until it's no longer salvageable. Not surprisingly, some repair facilities fix rusted-out areas by simply patching the spot with body filler and paint. The same holds true for damage resulting from a collision. It's a lot quicker to use filler than to take the time to pull the panel and handwork the metal...

Getting the Lead On

Customizing with lead body filler was so popular in the 1950s that it gave us a new term, Lead Sled, to describe a radically customized sedan slathered and smoothed with the soft, pliable metal. Today the advent of high-quality, easily applied plastic (polyester) fillers has reduced the number of experienced lead workers to a minimum, but lead still has benefits other fillers do not. In fact, "lead" doesn't even have to be lead any more!..

GM Gas Tank Replacement

Few of us ever dwell on the fuel we use to power our favorite ride. Except for price fluctuations and an occasional gas shortage, we pump and go. After all, the receptacle that holds that precious fluid is out of sight and out of mind. Over time, age, rust, road damage and other hazards can take a severe toll on this all-important part, and a gasoline leak is highly dangerous. At best, a regular inspection of that venerable old tank is a wise idea—don't wait till it's too late. If you smell gas in the garage, always check your tank for leaks!..

GM Rear-End Rigidity

From 1964-67, GM offered a rear suspension-bracket package (#9777613) for their A-body muscle cars. This kit was specifically designed for cars equipped with the four-speed transmission option, but it will normally fit any of these model years with manual or automatic trans. The rear suspension consists of upper and lower control arms attached to the axle and utilizing coil springs. These brackets were designed to add extra rigidity and improve the load distribution in the frame rear crossmember and lower control-arm area. Obviously the design wizards at GM realized that some of these cars would experience hard acceleration on a regular basis, so these brackets (Part No. 3869875 for the left side and 3869876 for the right side) were made available over the counter for non-four-speed cars. The parts are relatively easy to install, and doing the job on a lift makes it much easier. Normal hand tools are required, and the upgrade shouldn't take more than a couple of hours...

GM Window Glass Decoding

Keeping a collector car as original as possible is very important to many enthusiasts. They search for the correct date-coded parts with the correct casting codes, etc. For the extreme stickler for originality, even the manufacturer's codes on the window glass are important. The codes should match the build date of the vehicle and are as important as any other correct part. But how can you tell if your codes are correct? It's easy—and we'll show you how with this batch of codes from 1963 through 1972. We are using both 1965 and 1969 GM intermediate musclecars as examples...

How To Install Urethane Swaybar Bushings

Restification and Restomod are a couple of popular terms flying around the restoration industry for the past couple of years. These custom word contractions come from melding the terms restoration and modification together. And while they seem to be oxymorons in terms of language, in practice they fit together quite well...

How to Make Trim Pieces

In restoring an older project car, one of the most maddening obstacles is replacing a worn-out piece of body trim. If you try to buy a replacement part, you'll probably find it's been out of production since the days of hand-crank engines, and all the salvage yards are picked clean of any used remnants. Which leaves you with only one option: fabricating it from scratch...

Installing Window Weather Stripping

Weather stripping is what keeps you warm, cool and quiet while cruisin' in your ride. On the assembly line, the factory sealed the side windows of most vehicles with two types of insulation. The outside is usually sealed with rubber against the glass, and the inside is sealed with what's commonly called "fuzzies." These pieces are similar to short hairbrushes that also rub against the glass as it goes up and down. The fuzzies mainly function as dust insulation and a support for the glass to keep it from rubbing on the metal door. Here's a quick overview of how to install these critical pieces on a 1964-72 GM A-body...

Mounting Pre-painted Fenders

When it comes to bringing an old classic car back from years of wear and tear there is nothing more satisfying than laying down fresh paint. A glass-smooth layer of deep, candy red, metal-flake blue, mirror-finish triple black, or even good ol' white paint seals up all the hard work and brings the project that much closer to fruition. In the ideal world of automobile restoration, the entire body would be assembled and lined up perfectly before any paint was applied. In the real world of automobile restoration, things seldom—if ever—work out exactly as planned...

Mustang Chassis Upgrade

Owners of late-'60s and early-'70s Mustangs know all too well both the bright spots and blemishes of these highly popular sports cars. They're strong on styling, speed and affordability. However, their suspension, steering and braking weren't particularly noteworthy. Engineering has come a long way in the last few decades, and the automotive aftermarket has developed a wide range of upgrades and retrofits for the Mustang's antiquated chassis design. If you own or are thinking of buying a vintage Mustang (or other related Ford models such as the Cougar, Comet, Fairlane, Falcon, Maverick, and so forth), here's a brief rundown of suspension changes you can make to modernize your pony car. Many of these are from Total Control Products, a company that built the stunt cars for the movie "Gone in 60 Seconds" (particularly Eleanor, the flying Shelby GT500)...

Paint Chip Repair

Despite the technological advances in paint over the last hundred years, an automobile's exterior comes under heavy assault the instant the car rolls off the production line. Door dings, bird droppings, corrosive rain, winter road salt and ocean fog all take their toll on that thin layer of color that protects your vehicle's steel body from the elements. Rock chips are especially damaging, as unlike contaminants that slowly eat away at the paint, rock chips cut all the way down to bare metal without prior warning. That allows moist air immediate access and surface rust soon follows. Worse yet, the rust can spread like a cancer beneath previously undamaged paint, so it's best to fix the damage and seal the hole as quickly as possible...

Paint Secrets

Doing your own pre-paint body prep is a big job, but that effort pales in comparison to what you'll go through if you have problems with the shop that sprays your final color. In the "Paint Prep" article on this channel, we started from scratch prepping a 1970 GTO convertible for a complete repaint. Correct surface preparation and the use of quality materials are key to arriving at a stunning finished product. The boulevard bomber was taken down to its bare metal, its slight body damage was repaired and the whole car was brought to the final stages of sanding and primer. We did everything just prior to spraying the color. Shown here are steps on how to find a good body shop, the application of paint, sanding and polishing and some after-paint care. Best of all, a professional body man provides some excellent suggestions about what you can do yourself and what yout you should leave to the pros...

Paint Stripping Refined

Paint jobs have become one of the largest expenses of restoring a car. A quality total repaint, including jambs and all the areas necessary for a color change, starts at $5,000—and goes up from there. If you're making that kind of investment, you want the new paint to last for at least 10 years, if not more. To ensure a lasting paint job you need to strip the vehicle down to bare metal and apply the best paint/primer sealers available. The downfall of most paint jobs is the build-up of old paint, primer and body filler that is painted over. These old materials deteriorate with age and are sometimes incompatible with new paint materials. Deep cracks called "checking" and shrinkage around repaired areas are common problems...

Plastic Grille Repair

During the late Sixties, most domestic car manufacturers started using ABS plastic for many body parts. There were several reasons for this, the most blatant of which was cost. Why are you not surprised? Reducing vehicle weight was the second major reason, and plastic seemed the logical way to do it...

Plastic Taillight Lens Repair

Classic and collector-car light lenses are often damaged over the years by rocks or other road debris. Small holes or chips can be easily repaired instead of having to replace the entire lens. In some cases, replacement lenses are non-existent or extremely costly. Most auto parts suppliers carry a variety of kits for repairing plastic lenses at home...

Polishing Chrome

Chrome never goes out of style. Although it was less popular a few years ago when the trend was toward the "Euro" habit of painting all aspects of the car body, chrome is making a comeback. After all, it'd be a fashion felony to sport all that bling-bling around the neck and on the fingers with no light-bursts emanating from your ride...

Polishing Stainless Steel Trim

Ragtop Restoration

There's nothing, I repeat, nothing cooler than cruisin' in a convertible coupe—top down, wind blowing your hair, sun burning your nose, and sippin' a cold soda. Ah, the memories!..

Rekindling Side Marker Lights

While the restoration parts industry is booming for Chevy parts, the other three GM brands (Buick, Olds and Pontiac) sometimes suffer due to the small number of vehicles originally manufactured. Tooling to make repro parts is expensive, and if the sales numbers don't justify the expense, owners of these vehicles are simply out of luck for replacements. These side marker lights from a 1969 Buick GS convertible are original and in salvageable condition. The bare metal retaining brackets are covered in surface rust, but after light sandblasting, they'll be as good as new. The plastic lenses are mildly cracked and will polish out with a little elbow grease. The biggest problem is the surround bezels on the plastic lenses. Sometime in the dim past, probably during a repaint, some cretin with a sanding block scuffed the metal trim pieces. We'll attempt to restore all these items—no replacements are available from the restoration aftermarket. While we are dealing here with Buick lights, the basic resto techniques will work for most manufacturers...

Repainting an Old Musclecar

Pontiac's GTO is enjoying a resurgence in interest of late, in part due to a cameo appearance as actor Vin Diesel's hot ride in the action movie "Triple X." Of course, musclecar enthusiasts have long admired the "Goat," as it's affectionately nicknamed. Larry Weiner of Performance West Group, a noted builder of late-model show vehicles, is no exception...

Repainting an Old Musclecar

In our first story about restoring a 1965 Pontiac GTO, we told about the project in general and then looked at the suspension upgrades and body prep. In this second article, we'll focus on the actual application of the paint. For some hands-on tips about how to achieve a flawless finish, we spoke with Mike Face of Mike Face Custom Paint in San Bernardino, who has done dozens of show cars for the owner of this GTO, Larry Weiner...

Replacing Coil Springs

Just as gravity makes the human body sag over time, it can also cause our cars to droop. More specifically, routine wear and tear causes metal parts to fatigue; and, suspension components eventually tire of absorbing road impact while also supporting the weight of the car's body. New springs can restore the vehicle to its original height and ride quality. The focus of this story is how to replace old coil springs on vehicles that have independent A-arm suspensions...

Restoration Tires

Reproduction tires might be required for a concours restoration, but there is a price to pay for originality. The tire technology of the Fifties and Sixties leaves a lot to be desired when compared to today's high-speed radial designs and rubber compounds. But, when restoring a Sixties musclecar for show, adding the correct redline or small white letter tires is virtually mandatory...

Restoring Your Original Bumper Jack

Like most restoration endeavors, addressing the little details makes a huge difference in the finished product. The bumper jack supplied with your GM car is usually an overlooked item in an otherwise-pristine trunk area. Many resto enthusiasts look at a beat-up bumper jack and can't figure how to restore it—the ratchet assembly isn't removable. The process is relatively simple and can be accomplished in a few hours in the garage...

Reviving Old Paint with Wheel Polish

The car-care industry offers products that are formulated for almost every conceivable cleaning/polishing scenario: Modern waxes contain chemicals that are tailored to the specific paint styles (base/clearcoat, for example), and other compounds are designed for varying automotive surfaces, such as plastics and leather...

Reviving Original Emblems

If you're into parts originality for your restoration, then saving vintage badges and emblems is important to you. Many suppliers are now manufacturing reproduction items, but most don't carry those original part numbers so precious to many resto enthusiasts. New old stock (NOS) emblems are becoming scarce and expensive, so save those originals!..

Rod Talk

You're hanging out at your favorite speed shop or resto barn, and you hear the staff bandy about an expression such as, "chopped and channeled, shaved and decked." You can't find this sort of slang in most dictionaries, and for those who are new to the resto hobby, it may be hard to decipher this lingo. Knowing it is valuable, though, because it can keep you from being misunderstood by dealers and repair shops, plus keep you from being taken advantage of. Also, it's fun to be an "insider" who understands the secret language of hot rodders and car restorers. Here is a glossary of some common terms you may hear:..

Rust Never Sleeps

It starts with a benign-looking bubble and grows, like the malignancy it is, into a metallic carnivore with the potential to consume a Hummer and then go looking for dessert. It's rust, the bane of anything metal and one of the greatest challenges for auto restorers...

Rust Prevention

Just as Lex Luthor was Superman's archrival, rust is the main thorn-in-the-side to anyone who owns an older vehicle. As Neil Young reminded us, once rust starts, it never sleeps...

Rust Repair and Restoration

Considering just how popular the '32 Ford is for various resto and hot rod projects, it's no surprise that original tin, if you can find it, usually needs a lot of rust repair. Due to the puddling of water that mixes with road salt, the bottom areas of the doors are particularly vulnerable (which is true of many older cars, so these repair tips apply to a wide range of vehicles). For a collectible car, a repair with body filler is not the way to go. You've got to cut out the old rust and weld in a new patch...

Sandpaper Tech

Selecting the correct sandpaper grit for the job not only makes the work go easier, it produces a better finished product. Sandpaper has a literally a million uses, but we're concentrating here on automotive use, specifically body and parts finishing...

Stripped Bolt and Screw Repair

Ever try to tighten up a bolt and it just won't? Or maybe you are putting the final torque on one and suddenly it gives way to being loose again. Whatever the situation, it is almost always accompanied by a sinking feeling in your stomach. Now what do you do?..

Stripping Your Frame

When restoring an older car, you may find the frame has a nasty coating of rust and peeling paint. Sandblasting can strip bare corroded metal for less than the cost of chemical dipping, and with less complications. Another advantage of sandblasting is that it cleans off the surface so thoroughly, a more accurate assessment of frame condition can be made...

Suspension Installation 2

Our subject '67 Verdoro Green Firebird is a numbers-matching 400 car with 83,000 original miles. The car was cosmetically restored in the early '90s and retains its original interior and drivetrain. The car needs a mechanical update, and an improved suspension is critical to building a strong foundation for future upgrades...

Taillight Housing Resto

Safety should always be the primary concern while driving your car, particularly at night. Bright, functional turn signals and taillights play a key role in that safety. Especially with older muscle cars, the taillights don't shine as brightly as when new. Here is some illuminating information that every car restorer should know...

Thread Repairs 101

With all of the reproduction parts available, vehicle restoration has become an R&R (remove and replace) operation. By contrast, old-time restorers of rare and early vehicles have always restored vehicles by refinishing the worn, tattered and crumpled parts that came on the vehicle. While most modern day restoration enthusiasts don't have the equipment and the skills to renew everything, repairing a part with stripped or crossed threads or a part with a broken bolt is a fairly easy. And although new reproduction parts may look inviting, the more original parts you have on your car, the more desirable it is...

Trunk Compartment Restoration

Your car trunk is like a basement—it's a place to throw stuff! Mostly stuff you don't care to see again for a while. That is unless you have a flat and have to unload all that stuff to change your tire. Not fun, even on a sunny day! A restored trunk on a collector car becomes a thing of beauty to help in winning another car-show trophy. It's a simple process provided the trunk floor is sound and no metal replacement is required—and it's the same for almost any trunk compartment. Simply research what color the sheetmetal was painted and whether or not you need a trunk mat. Our subject here is a Sixties GM A-body (Chevelle, Skylark, Cutlass or LeMans/GTO) that has a sound trunk, except that somewhere along the line a carpet was glued to the floor. Not good! We'll begin by removing the goo and glue left from that unrighteous redecoration...

Trunk Latch Replacement

On resto projects, it's the little things that can make a big difference. For instance, by paying close attention to the details, a custom trunk latch and license plate frame can really set off a custom car or hot rod. Trunk latch kits and lighted license plate holders are available at most hot rod parts houses. If you want to save a few dollars, there are two other good sources for trunk latches at a big discount: automobile recycle yards (look for Triumph and MG sports cars), or use a Stanley garage door opener handle, available at any hardware store...

Trunk Weather Sealing

Have you ever opened your trunk and smelled a musty odor? Does the stench remain even after that gym bag is removed? Lifting up the carpet or mat might reveal mildewed carpet and rusted sheetmetal. There may even be small holes in the trunk floor...

Vinyl Graphics Pinstriping

If you think of your unadorned vehicle as an empty canvas, then this is the article for you. Even though pinstriping and car graphics rose to new heights with hot rods, customs and lowriders, the concept dates much farther back than even the automobile. Ever since man has ridden on wheels, he's added his own distinctive touch to the conveyance, starting with wagons and even extending to horses if you consider American Indian art...

Weather Strip Replacement

A 100-year storm rages, yet you're cruising down the highway in relative calm, sealed tightly in your vehicle from the whistling wind and sheets of rain. Your comfort is courtesy of yards of weather stripping around the doors, windows, hood and trunk—one of those innocuous automotive systems, backed by years of technology, which we all take for granted. When those gaskets start to go, though, you'll need to give them some attention...

What's Your Angle?

In another article on fabrication, we studied the benefits of manufacturing parts for vehicles that could not be obtained, did not fit our purpose or were easier to make than to track down and buy. Next we will go into some of the finer details of manufacturing these parts...

Wheel Restoration

Clean wheels are one detail that separates the real automotive enthusiasts from the wannabe crowd. When restoring an older muscle car, the factory-correct stylized steel wheels can be brought back to a concours showroom condition in an afternoon with little more invested than some elbow grease and a few rattle-cans of spray paint...

Window Installation

To correctly paint your vehicle, the window glass should be removed. Unfortunately removal can sometimes be a lot easier than reinstallation. Here's a quick overview of the glass installation procedure, but the final adjustments against the weatherstripping, etc. will be a trial-and-error procedure on your part...

Windshield Wiper and Motor Install

As street rods and other project cars have improved in quality, they are now being used as daily drivers or for long-distance travel, instead of simply for sunny-day shows, club events, parades or Sunday drives. This means that less-glamorous items such as windshield wipers are especially needed. Not only that, in order to meet state registration requirements, more and more handcrafted automobiles have to be fitted with functional windshield wipers...

Wiring Harness Resto

Most older domestic cars have two wiring harnesses: one for the headlights, taillights, and interior and another for the engine compartment. Over the years the wiring becomes dry and brittle due to extreme temperature changes and old age. Broken or split wires are a fire hazard and should be changed during a restoration, or just as a safety precaution. Several restoration suppliers carry replacement harnesses, and the kits that have correct factory connectors are the easiest to install...