Restoration Tips

Is your car squeaking at every stop sign? Could your paint use some touching up? Old Cars Weekly presents tips and techniques for restoring classic cars and parts. Browse our collection of articles from restoring brakes to preparing your car for auto shows. We are your comprehensive resource for antique auto restoration.

Tunable Tension: An ol’ fashioned fitment fix

raustin | May 13, 2013
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Gappin’ doesn’t just happen. When a body on a rotisserie must become reacquainted with the frame rails to which it belongs, or when new mounting pads and a box full of shims aren’t enough to square things up, you’ll likely twist panels and cut parts to get a good gap. Here’s how you can fix it. More »

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Tips and tricks to make your next door assembly easier

raustin | April 16, 2013
The door dolly is used to lift the door to the correct height and roll the door into place so it can be mounted on the two hinges that have also been removed and painted. “You’re eliminating another guy’s labor and now you can raise it, lower it, move it in and out by yourself. When it’s in raw steel (not painted yet), this thing is really handy. You don’t have to worry about the door banging off the cowl and scratching anything because it’s all just raw metal. But it is a time-saver, for a shop anyway. This dolly is really a nice thing to have for a shop,” said Ken’s Klassics shop foreman T.J. Krueger. “Then you can’t blame your buddy for helping you put a door on and chipping something.”

Mounting door hinges and hanging doors is one of those restoration steps that professionals — such as the guys at Ken’s Klassics in Muscoda, Wis. — make look easy. But as many novices can attest, it can be a frustrating job, especially for first-timers, and frought with trial-and-error learning. More »

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Fitting Fenders: Saved by shims

raustin | March 11, 2013
In the beginning, it was business as usual. With the car’s weight on its suspension and even tire inflation, a bottle jack was positioned under the sagging passenger’s side frame horn. Then a long level was laid across the shanks of the upper bumper studs.

What started out as a standard, straight-forward procedure in our ’31 Cadillac project took a surprising twist in the form of a twisted front fender. More »

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Patch panels made easy: Rust busting on a ’37 Chevy school bus

raustin | December 12, 2012
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When Fast Freddie’s Rod Shop got a chance to renovate and customize a 1937 Chevrolet school bus, shop owner Fred Kappus Jr. knew it could be one of the more fun projects his shop had ever taken on. He also knew it could be one of the most challenging. More »

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Here’s the Rub: How to stop wire and hose chafing

raustin | November 12, 2012
Wires or hoses that are not controlled are prone to chafe. Follow this “Modified Work Order” to avoid failure as a result of worn-through wiring and plumbing.

Sometimes, the various hose lines and electrical harnesses of vintage vehicles begin rubbing on each other and chafing against other components. The best way to prevent problems in wires and hoses is to evaluate, emancipate and eliminate or, at least reduce, the effects of rubbing and chafing of the lines by protecting, securing and rerouting them. Here’s how… More »

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Fending for yourself: Attaching fender skirts

raustin | October 12, 2012
A rubber gasket on the skirt is required to seal it against the wheel opening. On a Pontiac such as this 1966, the wheel opening trim will be removed and the NOS skirts will be drilled for bright metal moldings that continue the body line.

Fender skirts are a fad that comes and goes. When vehicle documentation shows that a car had fender skirts when it left the factory, some owners want them reinstalled, regardless of the current fashion. This usually requires a lot more work than it did to glue fender skirts to the model car they built as a kid. More »

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Do-it-yourself patch panels

raustin | September 5, 2012
Schrock cuts the sheet metal with the power shears.

Even on the West Coast and in Texas, it’s getting more difficult to find a 30-year-old or older project car without a case of the tin worm. Chances are, a project car is going to require some metal replacement, and when that metal isn’t available from a reproduction part producer or a parts car, there is but one alternative — make the part yourself. More »

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Tip-top floor pans

raustin | August 13, 2012
On top of the floor, where carpets will cover the very solid repair the waterproof fiberglass filler can be left unsanded if you want only a basic repair.

Many unit-body cars need floor panel repair or replacement. Whether it’s best to fix an isolated rust hole in the existing floor or cut it out completely and install an entire floor pan depends on the size of the hole and your preference. The floor pan is an important structural part of a unit-body car, so large rust holes or widely dispersed pinholes mean a new floor pan is in order. However, if the rust is isolated, new patch panels can be installed, thus saving some of the original sheet metal and money in your wallet. More »

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Exterior resto tips for classy chrome

raustin | July 10, 2012
Parts that have been treated with copper are buffed and polished before they are ready for final chroming. A variety of metals can be chromed, including cast iron, steel, pot metal, brass and bronz. This piece had surfaces that needed to be hit with both hand tools (above) and a large buffing wheel (below).

Plating expert Terry Meetz knows there’s nothing easy about getting that prefect shine. Meetz has clearly ascended to the top of his profession, and he’s done it the old-fashioned way — by spending thousands of hours toiling in the family shop and slowly winning over customers one at a time around the globe. His business, Custom Plating Specialists, began 30 years ago. More »

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Tip-top convertible roof installation

raustin | June 13, 2012
Upholstery professional D. Chase begins removing the convertible top of a 1984 Buick Riviera, noting how the top was originally installed in order to reinstall it in the same manner. The location of holes, staples, studs and glue are all noted and photographed.

Not all cars are equal, nor are their convertible tops. No-frills cars are likely to have relatively simple tops, but luxury cars often have more complicated tops, such as the roof covering on the featured 1984 Buick Riviera convertible. Installing one of these tops is no easy task, so replacement of this top was trusted to a professional, D. Chase of Chasin’ Perfection. More »

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