An introduction to car restoration

29 July, 2022 By: Byron Mathioudakis

Wander around a car show and chat to enthusiasts, and you’ll hear variations on the same story again and again.

What is now their pristine pride and joy was a pile of junk when they bought it. In fact, they never would have bought it if they’d understood just how much of a pile of junk it was.

But now, after all the years of effort and the many thousands of dollars – and in some cases hundreds of thousands of dollars – they wouldn’t part with it. Well, maybe they would if the right offer came along.

The reality is a steady stream of people commit to restoring old vehicles in Australia. The reasons are varied and so are the outcomes.

So if you’re new to this restoration lark, we’re here to give you a basic run-through of the perils and positives that you can expect to encounter.

What are some cars that have been popular to restore in the past?

There’s a link between the cars that were on posters on a car-loving kid’s bedroom walls and what they later chose to restore.

Pre-war cars were popular in the 1960s and 1970s, then in the 1990s British post-war sports cars such as MGBs were popular.

American muscle cars have waxed and waned depending on the exchange rate, while the shuttering of the Australian auto manufacturing industry last decade has given the local iron a renewed boost.

Nowadays, the Fast and Furious generation is getting into the restoration scene, which means rarer versions of Japanese performance cars, like the Mazda RX-7 and Subaru WRX – referred to as Japanese Domestic Market (or JDM) models – have been a big growth area.

Is car restoration just a passion, or can it be an investment that may pay off some time in the future?

The primary impediment for many people is they just don’t have the skills to do most of the work required themselves.

In the same way as renovating your home, outsourcing work to expert tradesmen adds a lot of expense.

That means no matter what budget you pre-prepare, you’ll almost certainly blow it, especially if you’re passionate about the project and willing to endure any cost to see it through.

Then you’re almost certainly going to lose money.

“We had cars at our last auction that had up to $400,000 worth of receipts and were worth $80,000,” says Cameron Sabine, the owner of collectors’ cars specialists Donington Auctions.

“It’s an unfortunate reality and we see that somewhat often.”

A classic example of the sort of self-sufficient restorer who can make some money is Melburnian Tony Quinn, who’s been restoring cars for 40 years and has the skills to do most jobs himself.

As a result, he’s made a profit on a lot of the cars he’s restored, even though it’s never been the objective.

“You’ve got to buy cars you want. I don’t buy something to flip,” he says. “It’s a hobby. The main thing is you have to buy wisely, which is something a lot of people don’t do.”

How do you pick a car that will pay off when sold?

If you go into this with the intention of making money, then be prepared to wait a while. A return on investment for a restoration can be a slow burn.

There are certain vehicles that retain a certain level of popularity, explains mechanical engineer and restorer Michael Barber (himself the owner of a 1970 HT Holden Brougham and 1965 Buick Riviera, neither of which he’ll likely ever sell).

“Matching numbers is helpful to value, where the car matches its original build with engine number, transmission type, interior trim colour and material, exterior colour, etc. all being original or a rebuild or restoration of the original components.

“Low-volume models such as a limited production run to enable the manufacturer to campaign that model in some form of racing add value.

“Knowing the history of the vehicle is also helpful to value as it adds colour and emotion to the vehicle’s past.

“No matter the history, it’s worth documenting and recording what you can learn of its past.”

Sometimes you can get a bit lucky. Quinn bought a Mercedes-Benz 220 SE Ponton that he later realised was number 28 of 35 right-hand drive examples ever built.

He paid $65,000, spent another $55,000 restoring it, and sold it for $245,000. He bought the car because he’s a Benz fan, not because he knew he could turn a dollar on it.

For him, the basic rules of making a dollar on a restoration are straightforward.

“You’ve really got to be very careful what you pay for them and be very careful about the quality of what you are buying.

“You should buy the very best car you can afford. Even though you’re going to work on them yourself, I am not into buying a piece of junk and spending hundreds of thousands of hours.”

What cars make good first-time restoration projects?

Choose something pretty simple with lots of parts availability.

The Ford Mustang is a great example of this. There’s a whole parts reproduction industry in the USA that manufactures brand new bits for the iconic Pony Car. You could build a 1960s coupe up from brand new spare parts if you wanted to.

Another is the British MGB sports car. Again, because so many were exported to the USA, there is a thriving industry making parts for them.

Forgotten by many in the mists of time, the MGB was also built in Australia and as a result there are locally built cars and parts to be found here.

But don’t fall for the trap of thinking Australian-built cars are necessarily all a good choice. A lot of models were small runs and parts can be scarce.

Quinn is currently helping a mate restore a 1969 VF Valiant Hardtop and it’s proving hellishly difficult to find some bits and pieces.

Sabine has seen and heard of some pretty extreme examples of the lengths people have to go to – and are willing to go to more importantly – to obtain a part for their project car.

“We’ve got clients who will fly around the world looking for genuine parts,” he says. “They’ll fly to Italy to view and buy an instrument cluster for $10,000.”

From a cosmetic-only restoration through to a full rebuild - what skill levels are required for each?

Do what you are capable of. The more, the better.

A cosmetic restoration is a polish-up and basic mechanical skills are what’s required there. But it can get more complicated than that.

You might buy a car with the intention of doing only a minor restoration only to discover the car needs far more work than you envisaged.

There’s a lesson in that. If you’re just starting out, try not to buy a car sight unseen and make sure you take an expert with you to an inspection. Even then stuff might go unseen that only becomes apparent back in the workshop.

“The further you dig and dismantle, the more things you will likely find that may want attention,” warns Barber.

A full rebuild means the removal of every single component that can be removed so the body can be media blasted to remove all paint and body deadener, exposing all the rust in the process, replacing the rusted panels or sections by welding in reproduction or handmade sections.

This takes a long time and requires a very methodical approach with lots of labels and pictures of components as each is removed so that you can reverse the process when it’s time to reassemble.

Quinn admits, even with his 40 years of experience, he’s not about to attempt an entire rebuild himself. There are some areas such as woodwork, trimming and paint where the professionals are required.

“I wouldn’t do paint myself,” he said. “It’s not just a case of the skills, it’s the equipment and you can’t paint a car without a booth.”

Some of the basic tools you’ll need and the type of workspace

This sounds a bit obvious, but we’ll say it anyway. You need a space that’s large enough to do the job. A garage or workshop where you can lock up and secure your pride and joy is a great start to a restoration.

If you do have enough space a hoist is a great asset. They are not as expensive as they used to be and are great for not only working on the underside of the car but also the side of the car at eye level.

A crane could be required if you need to remove the engine, while a spit – or rotisserie - is helpful so you can rotate the body to access different areas.

If you want to rebuild engines, then you are going to need specialised tools like spring compressors and torque wrenches.

Don’t forget even spanners will vary depending on where your car hails from. You might have to use British Standard Whitworth, SAE, or Metric.

“I work on the basis that you can’t have too many tools,” says Quinn.

How to budget

As previously mentioned, a large part of this is your labour versus paid labour.

If you provide the bulk of the labour, then it’s not too difficult to price the components you think you will need. Even pricing a paint job can be done by talking to your chosen body shop. If you are paying for the labour, then you can safely expect the final price tag to be much higher than what you first imagined or wanted.

Barber says it’s important to keep some money in the budget for that final integration and calibration of all those parts you’ve so painstakingly reinstalled.

“The finicky business of tuning engine spark timing and fuelling or balance of springs, anti-roll bars, shock absorbers and tyres is beyond the skill set of the hobbyist,” he warns.

Where you can gain knowledge

There are myriad ways to learn more about car restoration. Car clubs are great cross-pollinators of knowledge and car shows are an excellent way to get up close with vehicles that have already gone through the restoration process.

The internet has dramatically changed the process of restoration over the last 20 years, both for better and worse.

There are some brilliant explainers online that really help the learning process, but there is also a lot of misinformation out there as well.

“There are a lot of people on there who talk just to hear themselves speak,” warns Quinn. “Some of it can be absolute rubbish.

“You have to be very careful.”

One area many people fail to spend enough time developing is basic electric skills, says Quinn. He urges everyone to do their best to develop these skills because of the difference it makes to the finished product.

“I know many people who have stuffed cars up because they don’t have basic electric skills and car electrics are basic,” he said.

“I have seen shocking electric work. It looks untidy, it’s messy. It happens all the time.”

One of the most important things, of course, is making sure it’s roadworthy if you intend to register it to drive on the road. And why wouldn’t you. After all that work, you want to be able to show it off.

Last updated February 2025