We've all heard the stories. "I bought this great new restored car and took it in for a minor improvement and it ended up costing me thousands." Or, "this car looked great in the pictures but turned out to be nothing like what was suggested." The following tips mixed with examples from his real-life experiences to help keep the classic enthusiast aware and on the right track. Check body panels to ensure dents have been fixed properly -- magnets don't necessarily work
"One project worked on was a 1967 Pontiac GTO,". "Once the body was stripped down to the bare metal, the quarter panels were filled with literally pounds of body filler. The right quarter had been brazed together (not welded) in two separate sections. This is an example of one of the most common horrors that are found; people just filling dents, instead of working the metal to the original shape and then using the filler as it was originally intended for." But be aware, magnets aren't fool proof. "Another great project we had was on a 1970 Plymouth Superbird," "Purchased by the customer as a restored vehicle, the seller provided three photos of the restoration: One photo in the weeds, one photo in primer and one photo painted. The customer had the car for about six months when he noticed the paint was bubbling in several areas. At this point, he has someone look at the car. You could see the body was absolutely straight and you could not see any evidence of anything wrong." The prep job was not done properly and the paint would need to be stripped and repainted," "When the body was stripped down to bare metal, the results were absolutely horrified. The quarter panels had been rusted and filled with body filler. The body filler had metal shavings mixed in it, so magnets would stick when the buyer checked it. The roof had been filled in the same manner to cover an extensive amount of hail damage. The trunk lid and hood were in the same condition. The trunk floor had been completely rusted out and they had placed cardboard in the holes and then fiberglassed over it. They actually took the time to make all the unique grooves and lines in the floorpan to make it look original. The hood skin had to be removed and a new skin fabricate and welded it back on the hood frame since there was so much hail damage. The hood would not stay open when you originally looked at the car. The thought was that the hood hinges were weak. It turned out the hood would not stay open from the extreme amount of body filler in the hood skin. With the installation of the new skin, the hood stayed open as it was supposed to. The nose cone was made out of aluminum and had been the victim of several impacts throughout its life. They filled the dents with an aluminum-based filler. By the time the car was finished, the customer had spent $50,000 restoring it. This was after he had purchased it for $40,000. Definitely not what the customer had originally planned on." So, when looking at photos, look for images that show the car sanded down to be bare metal. Sellers, when having a vehicle restored, take plenty of photos or have the shop doing the restoration take photos of every stage of the restoration process. The more photos, the better backup and support they provide to your claims.
source: http://www.motortrend.com/auto_news/c12_news060323_classic_car_restoration/
http://www.cooksupholstery.com
No comments:
Post a Comment