Navigating a nut-and-bolt restoration.

Mr Tenno

Digital Officer
Staff member
Site Administrator
This is probably a pretty basic question but it's my first full-on restoration so you'll have to cut me a bit of slack :confused:

For those of you going about this yourselves (ie, not paying a company to restore it for you) how on earth do you go about determining what can be repaired / refurbed or replaced? What places / tools are you using for the work?

After looking at the parts lists, I feel like I'm going to end up re-buying 95% of the car from the US at 200% cost! :EXTRAlol:
 

uk66fastback

Club Member
First off, I think you need to make a list of what is restorable. Do you want everything shiny and new - of course you do - nothing looks worse than a lovely repainted engine bay with awful old bits in it, put back in exactly as they were taken out.

Do you want to rebuild and restore things that need a bit of know-how - dizzy etc, or are you replacing everything new? Depends on your budget of course. With my old fastback, everything was new that I could get, because everything is available for Mustangs, and it was a basket case when I got it - with interior parts that just couldn't be reused. You could buy them new and for only a few £ they looked superb.

The Z parts are a fair bit more expensive and there isn't that much available new so you'll end up restoring a fair bit yourself I think - seats, dash, clocks etc. I think you need a Dremel for cleaning up small parts, electrical/circuit tester, small brushes for cleaning the insides of the instruments etc - you'll find something you need to do and then buy the tool to do it mostly. This is why I have drawers full of tiny files, grommets and electrical connectors coming out of my ears ...

I've just bought some Bilt Hamber stuff for cleaning rusty parts and you'll need stuff like that for brackets etc, unless you are getting the whole lot (bolts, nuts etc) replated which I hope you are ...

Loads of youtube on restoring metal parts ... take your time. Rome wasn't built etc ... plan ahead to have something specific to do of an evening/weekend and try to get it done. White board on the garage wall to write lists, and then cross them off when done ...

THIS IS THE ENJOYABLE BIT!
 

Mr Tenno

Digital Officer
Staff member
Site Administrator
So what do people usually do? Inventory everything first and order / refurb it all together?

Try to build some back together and then spot what's broken etc, wait for parts and then move on?

Seems like one is a huge outlay of effort and cost and the other will take forever! Is there a middle ground?

One area of the car at a time, but batching everything within that I guess?
 
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I’m at the same point as you.

I’m going to write a list, then just work through it.

Get all the bits together first, then not move onto then next part till you found and fully completed that list.

Cavity wax

Running gear

Fuel/brake lines

Body loom


*i say this but know I’ll bolt bits in that make me feel better as I go, ie, rear bumper/rear lights/number plate panel are easy wins etc.
 

uk66fastback

Club Member
*i say this but know I’ll bolt bits in that make me feel better as I go, ie, rear bumper/rear lights/number plate panel are easy wins etc.

I think you have to for your own sanity ... if I spend an afternoon rebuilding a small part that you cannot get a new replacement for, the wife'll come into the garage and say, "So what have you been doing, not a lot by the look of it"

Whereas, if I stick a great big bumper on the back of the car, she says: "You've been busy ... "
 

MaximG

Well-Known Forum User
Give us an example of what your looking at.

It also comes down to what skills you have and what your prepared to have a go at. I totally rebuilt my engine bay wiring harness which I really enjoyed mainly because in a previous life I was an Aircraft Electrician, that sort of thing to me comes easy.

Access to the right equipment is another limitation on what you can or can't do over others.

The SS door frames are no longer available new so you either refurbish what you have or get better condition from somewhere else. You then refurbish those.

It's all kind of horses for courses.

Mike
 
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Ped

Club Member
Haynes do a couple of car restoration manuals which may have ideas for structuring the process.
 

toopy

Club Member
I think the priority at this point is getting together any bits that can't be easily replaced or bought new, like interior plastic trim etc, make a list of what's needed and get cracking!
You'll be kicking yourself at a later date, if most of the car is built up and then you realise when you get the rear quarter plastic trims out of a box, they are actually a bit shite! :confused:
 

pmac

Well-Known Forum User
After you have bought the bible ...read it before starting
Decide in your family/household how much time you can allocate each week to the project.
Most working people cant do more than 10 hours a week on a regular basis.
Neither can they do it 52 weeks a year.
10 hours per week for 40 weeks in a year is 400 hours.
Thats realistic but difficult to attain.
400 hours WONT complete the restoration for a self declared newbie due to on the job learning.
So you will be well over a year on it.
Probably nearer two.
If you think you can hack that then a list of essential tools is the next step.
 

johnymd

Club Member
I'm not efficient enough to plan too far ahead so I just pick a section and see how it goes. I think there is a general order of what things to do first though and i'd agree with Jason's list above.

If you can get good access to most areas of the car then cavity wax is probably your first job and worth getting out of the way. Then followed by brake and fuel lines and probably the handbrake mech and cables. I'd then be putting all the suspension and brakes on. Next for me would be pedal box, master cylinders and column. Fuel tank and hoses. Wiring next along with lights and indicators plus wipers, heater and blower. Build up the doors, side glass. Then interior and dash. Front and rear screens at some point..........This should all keep you going for a few weeks.

I have made the assumption that the shell had doors and wings fitted. If you have a rottisory then maybe do the headlining early on. I would get all the parts and nuts/bolts plated before you start and refurb the rest as you go. You will need quite a few parts but don't need to buy them all at once. Parts I would always replace with new include: Both master cylinder and clutch slave, rear wheel cylinders, ball joints, track rod ends, maybe all wheel bearings, full bush kit, weather seal kit, BC coilovers (if your going that route).

I think the hardest thing is making a start. Once you get going it all feels a bit easier.
 

SacCyclone

Club Member
I think we need to see a pic of what your starting with to answer some of the questions. Having to buy 95% of the car from the states sounds like your starting with a wreck and I'm sure it's not that way. If you want a museum piece at the end it will be very costly for sure, but a very presentable car will cost much less. Again, what are you starting with?

If you need tons of parts and some sheet metal, think about buying a complete zed from the states and loading it with parts. Between the parts that are on the car and the new parts inside, should take you a long way to the finish line. Later, sell off what you didn't use to recoup some of your money.

And have a good time with it while becoming somewhat of an expert.
 

supermik

Well-Known Forum User
Apart from the obvious tools and things that you will need, make sure you have a good supply of sealable plastic freezer type bags and a few good Sharpie pens so you can bag up and label all the little screws, bolts and fiddly things that are easily lost.
 

uk66fastback

Club Member
Mr Tenno has a painted shell in 918 on a frame with castors from memory ...

You need space to lay stuff out, big stuff, while you’re doing it. Interior trim, carpets, dash etc. Either that or a large kitchen table and an understanding Mrs Tenno ...
 

johnymd

Club Member
It’s a bit late for that Mike, but good advice. His car has been stripped for a long while and is painted. It’s now assembly time.
 
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I think there's loads of parts that won't need refurb or replacement.

you can build suspension parts up(hubs/bearings etc).

I think the worse part will be missing nuts and bolts/brackets.

Have you had all of your original nuts/bolts/brackets cleaned?
 

Rob Gaskin

Treasurer
Staff member
Site Administrator
Matt (Mr Tenno) where is this resto taking part?

My biggest problem has been lack of space so I can never attempt a complete strip-down. I have had to do replacement floor, repair chassis legs/inner wings, spray engine bay, repair/modify gearboxes, strip engine etc etc in a single garage or on the drive! If you have space then storing all parts neatly on shelves, labelling and photographing would be fantastic.

When I have done resto jobs the important thing is to decide your level of detail/perfection and stick to it. A really top quality job would tire me out and frustrate me, I'm amazed how good some of the cars on here get restored e.g. Dan's 240.

Next bit of advice is to keep going at a steady pace so that you don't lose momentum or interest. To see results every fortnight is rewarding, to stop for 2 months will make it hard to restart.
 
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