bro me too. im 15 and just a couple days ago got a 1972 pontiac firebird formula 400. of course it needs a bunch of work but the entire thing is completely rust free. its amazing
19 years old, tracked down my fathers first vehicles, 1967 f100 and 1965 international scout. Both trying to complete a restoration to have fun with and enjoy it! He passed about 4 years ago and always wanted to see them fixed up.
I’m in a similar boat, I inherited a 1969 Z28. My dream car, always was obsessed with it as a kid but never worked on cars with my dad before. He passed back in October. I’m excited to see where that project takes me.
I bought a very rough 70’ dodge charger some years back. It’s been a process between tear down, buying all the specialty tools, saving money for parts, waiting for them to finally get delivered during Covid. And now with kids finding time to work on the body. It’s a labor of love, but progress is always being made. Can’t wait to get it running and driving.
Once you have restored a car renovating a house is easy! It teaches you some serious skills to use in all forms of construction I reckon. Thanks for the video mate.
My father and I picked up a 70 gto with a 455 in it, we were planning to start to do the car up together this year and he passed in the beginning of January.. so having listened to your video has really helped me with getting on track with what will be involved in this particular build. I cant wait to see this car come together, i know he will be proud as ever to see it done.
A 70 GTO with a 455 was my first car about 25 years ago. The interior was completely gutted but the body, aside from the paint, was in pretty good shape. I was 18 and I was just happy it ran. Good luck on yours.
The biggest tip I have is get a car that is extremely popular in the restoration community. It will make getting parts for cheap easy. Second biggest tip is to get something that runs and drives if you are brand new. With these older mustangs its not hard to find one that runs and drives for a decent price especially the coupes.
I was rebuilding a motor for my 1998 Chevy Silverado. It was gonna be my first project so I can learn more about cars. Everything was going well just had low compression and when I put it into drive it would lose all the power and run weak. I messed with the rocker arms and the compression was good. I drove it around the block and then it started on fire.
Appreciate the insight. I’ve decided to get into the classic car arena and your video has verified the advice I’ve been given from people who’ve been there and done it multiple times. Best of luck with whatever else you have planned for your Mustang!
Best advice is to find someone who has actually restored the same make/model you are looking for. They will know the common rust spots and exactly how difficult it would be to fix them. They can evaluate on your behalf; the skill level required, how much work it would take and what value the vehicle has to the person looking to buy it.
Hi I have been searching for straight forward comments about restoring a classic and I must say you have convinced me to take that leap. I have been looking for years but now I am all in thanks for the honesty look forward to starting my restoring project car. Chris
I got my first proper classic car at 41 years old after wanting one my whole life. Very tidy body from California imported to U.K. and runs and drives when I got it. As you say, once you start using it, things will start to show up that are broken or will break. Things like bushings, ball joints, tie rods, U joints, alternators, radiators, upholstery, etc. If a car is that old and in decent condition then it’s probably not had much use so stuff has just aged and is not ready for regular use. However, starting out with a car that doesn’t need work just to get it roadworthy is a huge bonus and then it’s a matter of keeping it on the road and improving a little at a time. Also I got a car with plentiful parts available. In my opinion you don’t want a super rare car where if the back window gets broken you have zero chance of getting a replacement and have to get something custom made.
This is absolutely true. Got a 64 tbird and getting to a trust worthy state was a big deal. 390 FE with all drum brakes was a huge learning curve. Ripped those right the hell out.
It’s so cool on what everyone is restoring wish I had a place to do a restoration project but sadly I live in a apartment and a bad neighborhood but one day I want to either buy a third gen Camaro or a 1932-1934 ford coupe and restore it maybe one day my dream will come true
Looking to restore my 1981 Datsun 280zx I regret not keeping it running, but it’s not far from being a daily driver. I’d really want to get it look good as there is rust and some fender damage but a solid car that I got for $600
Thanks for all of the good info. I just got a 1988 Cadillac. Not sure if it is considered a classic but I plan to restore it, and lot of this information will be useful.
I’m 33, bought a 76 Cadillac eldorado , has the 8.2 500 cubic inch engine convertible only 14,000 ever made, I paid $2700 for it here in Tampa Florida last year, so far I’m $6,000 grand vested in it with labor and parts, intake manifold was $1600 for it, new gaskets (every one!) $260 , fuel pump, power steering pump, control arms, carburetor, fluid flush, hoses , brake hydro booster and master cylinder was $1700, so all together I’m about $9500 in total, but I called my classic car insurance, they value my car at $22,000 grand , so I’m still in the profit, I’m gonna do interior and paint next , as long as I know I’m atleast gonna break even or close to , that’s even better
I just got my oldest car project. It's a 79 chevy g10 van. All the rust and body work has already been taken care of and a 350 crate with low miles is in and runs great. All i have to do now is paint it and assemble the inside. I was looking at many projects but I chose this one since it had most of the hard/expensive work done already.
My thinking is you also need to determine your needs vs wants. Is this gonna be a show car only driven at shows or on weekends? Or is it something you plan on driving regularly and still want to enjoy it? Im planning to budget restore my old truck. Its not a show truck as I still plan to use it as a truck so from that perspective I plan on goin the safety first route. -brake system(can it stop reliably) -suspension -full engine tune up -make sure the trannys good Once its mechaniclly safe/reliable then ill look at interior, take it to macco for a 1500$ paint job. I want it budget restored because I still plan on using it an i dont want to worry if it still gets a scratch here or there..
im from the philippines, got my first classic car, a 66 2 door post, deluxe dodge coronet with a 273, nothing impressive or powerful, but its all original and im going to slowly build it properly and daily it probably. thanks for the tips!
Good video, I grew up working on cars but am about to start on my first project....a 63 Impala SS. It needs everything except the engine was recently overhauled. I'm really looking forward to the journey ahead...
I just picked up a 1956 Packard 400. Plan to take it down to the body shell. Work on the body, maybe get the motor running while in phase one of the project
I'm planning on getting a 60s VW bus/van to turn it into a camper for trips. I always wanted to fix up old cars and drive them. Wish me luck this would be my first fixer!
'Restoring' a car has a lot of different meanings. and it begins long before you buy it and bring it home. Which car to buy? Early Mustangs, Camaros, 55-57 Chevys, and a few other cars.. EVERYTHING is available, entire bodies even, So shop for parts of a car you "THINK" you want to restore. When you find you can't easily find parts for it... Just walk away before even buying. Saves you lots of headaches. 2. Have a 'finish line' in mind. What you want the car to be, and how much you're willing to spend. I am ALWAYS looking at the exit, when Im restoring a car. What can I get out of this car $$$ shows me how much I can spend, before going upside down. Losing money.
36 years old. Dad is handing me his Porsche ‘88. It’s mostly sat in a garage for much of the time. I’m worried it will be more of a burden. Thank you for the video
i’m 17 and my grandpa just passed away and gifted me my first car, his vintage 1968 triumph tr250 and it needs work, but it’s a convertible and absolutely beautiful!! i know nothing about cars but i’m excited!!
This is great advice thank you my friend. I live on the east coast and I litterly saved my pennies to buy a 63 Chevy Nova very cheap but it was expensive for me to safe and now my husband is on his 15 cancers since 2008 and I have a mortage so I don’t have money but I would buy things for my car when I saved a little n the side . I’ve bought a few things like a starter gas tank sending unit for my car and floor pans and I cut them out myself and primered everything ready . My husbands cancers have went to his pancreas now I can’t weld my car sits since last year up on blocks .Who was I kidding I had a dream but now it’s a nightmare and my husbands dieing life sucks . Why can’t my husband be healthy and we have money to just buy an old restored car 😩
I'm 27 and restoring a '49 Chevrolet Sedan 235, like, from the ground up. It has no brakes, no engine, no clutch, no transmission and no upholstery (thanks to generations of ground squirrels). But at least all the body work was done lmao
23 right now, my dad will turn 64 this year. He still has his 1967 Mustang Coupe in factory Lime Gold with original stickers from the lot. All original. It’s been in our garage for my whole life. I’m starting on it this week. Amen! GOD BLESS AMERICA! 🇺🇸 thanks for the video!
Excellent advice Brian. I will share this playlist with my friend who owns the 65 Fastback. I am quite confident he will appreciate your input and take on the subject. Drive It Like You Stole It Bitches!
Working on restoring a 65 4dr HT Ford galaxie LTD. Body is straight and not a lot of body rust. However the frame is gone from it sitting. Car runs and drives. Paid 800$ for the car and got it running. Learned to weld in high-school. So hopefully I can do it!
He is so right, my 63 impala had a SBC and the guy before had no idea what he was doing. I had to replace most of the parts because he bought cheap stuff vs quality.
I am 57 and have a 1986 Trans Am that I have had since 1990. The original 305 has 145,000 on it, but I do not know how to work on a car & am not physically capable.But I like the car and if I sold it, I would only want something else and older. So I am basically stuck going to a mechanic, I would like to get a crate engine to replace the old 305. But they are very expensive & if they not there not reliable.
“It’s going to fail” That brings me back to when I was younger and my Father would say the same thing. He was talking about me and not car parts which is fine
Gonna try and take on my dad's '70 impala. It's been sitting for a decade or two, but I'm hoping to get it running at least to try and get it one last run before thinking about wanting to put my heart and soul into it.
Thanks im fixing up my dad old car a FIAT1500 1966 it have been standing out side for almost 20 years It take a long more work ,time, money than i thought it would
19 just got a 64 1/2 mustang body and interior are solid besides obviously the leather on the seats being cracked it was sitting in a grain silo since 85 in 2013 the guy I bought it from found it and put it in a shop and never had time to restore it only change I’m making from factory is I’m going to put disks all the way around it I think it might be around 10 to 15k on the high side when I’m done with it
I bought an old Nova for my first car back when I was 15, I definitely bit off a lot more than I can chew & ended up selling it but it did teach me a lot. Nice video!
I’m getting ready to start restoring a 1952 Plymouth Cranbrook. Needs paint complete interior chrome needs refinishing tires and rims. The car needs a different rear as well any recommendations for a rear and swap. Brakes have been done new engine and transmission
Just bought me a Land Rover series 3 (original motor and chassis) that’s been sitting for a month and over now. Starting with complete wiring next month
im 16 (soon 17) and im restoring a early 80s VW Golf MK2 my dad got it for me as a car to learn on how to fix cars i have upgraded radio in it from Tape Deck to Pioneer Bluetooth head unit recently Distributor went out and i need to replace it advantage is that car is hella popular where i live so parts are cheap as hell to find and OEM too just go to junkyard
@@nickvalentine3582 I cant show the pictures of my actual car but this is what it is supposed to look like: www.flickr.com/photos/paddyspig/49073131658
I have an 83 ford mustang my grandpa gave to me. I really hope to have it up and running before he passes away. I want to take him for a ride. Hopefully I’m able to do so
There’s a 1968 Chevy nova close to me that I really want, I just don’t know what I’m doing. It’s rusty, it’s old, and I really want it to be mine. But I don’t know how to do much more than replace standard parts. Ain’t no way to learn other than to do it, but there’s just so much to get into when you start looking at the mechanical stuff
