Go Into a Classic Car Purchase with Your Eyes Open
February 5th, 2010
Your mind is made up: Restoring a classic car is a hobby you really want to get into. You have your eye on a muscle car that is for sale down the street and you are pretty sure that it will soon sit in your garage instead of the neighbor’s.
What exactly do you need to know before you dive in to the purchase?
If you have never restored a classic before and want a better handle of what to expect from the process, there are some things you will want to do prior to making the purchase. First, if you have not done so already, carefully inspect the car. You really want a good idea of what to expect under the hood. You will also want to take a visual inventory of the things that might need to be replaced to restore aesthetics.
It is also a good idea to consider doing these things before making the purchase outright:
Let a mechanic inspect it – Getting an opinion from someone who fully understands what it takes to restore a car is a very good idea. Try to find a mechanic that specializes in the make, model and year you are looking at. A good, all-around mechanic, at the very least, can tell you if the vehicle is in road ready operable condition. If it’s not, you may still want to buy it, but at least you will not go into the prospect blind.
Check out the pricing and availability on parts – Do a little research to see just how difficult a project you are getting yourself into. Consider listing out the obvious parts you will need to restore the vehicle and seeing if you can find them and check their prices against what you intended to spend on the restoration.
Unless you are an expert mechanic, it is a good idea to step back and do a little studying before jumping on a purchase. Restorations can take time, money and patience. The more you know about what you are getting into, the better. While the work is half the fun, you do not want to bite off more than you can realistically chew the first time out.
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