The perfect project/restoration car

if i were able to find a 80s camaro would that be much of a rust bucket compared to really old ones or about the same? and on the mustangs id probably find a 60s no matter how much ust. its just so many cars to choose from

All project cars have their pros and cons. Obtain a copy of Hemmings classic car from a couple of months ago. The Nash Metropolitan or a Hudson Metropolitan is suppose to be a very easy car to restore. These were cars made in England but I forgot the maker, imported by Nash/Hudson. Very small but nice if you can appreciate the styling of older cars. It’s a 2 seater and we were a family of 5 in this car. But then again were were a family of 5 then 6 and we had more cars than Carter had pills.

Now I remember, Austin made them.

Those 1960s Mustangs were really death traps. In a rear end collision, the fuel tank will spill gasoline all over the driver and passengers. Of course a lot of the other cars recommended here are death traps too. They would make good project cars, but after the restoration, you should sell your project car to a collector and use the profits for your next project.

I had a 55 Chevy when I was 20. My 2 cents…

Find the type of car you like, then research on the net for availability of parts and support network for what you are considering… Be realistic on your goals, budget, and abilities. A group of friends that are smarter than you is more vauble than anything else! A good place to work and a project that keeps your interest and patients goes a long way.

We all have our wish list. Me, someday I will do a 60s British sports car…

I never did finish that 55 Chevy but it created a sound foundation as a gearhead and I learned a lot from my mechanic buddies. Treat this project as a learning experience, and I think you will win no matter the outcome.

I like my 82 1/2 ton chevrolet pickup. It has a 6.2 diesel a 700r4 automatic and dual fuel tanks. I was lucky and inherited from my grandfather. It is a little finicky but its pretty reliable and gets good fuel mileage. Its the Scottsdale package which is no options pretty much. I would recommend something similar, their cheap, plentiful and easy to work on diesel or gas, 2 or 4 wheel drive

racersteve has a good idea,find a project car that someone else started but cant finish. You can get hot rod parts for pennys on the dollar. You will be taking advantage of someone elses bad luck or poor planning but it would be a great way to start a project.

What I think it is an old Audi. You can get it with the nicely running 4.2 V8. Mine unfortunately is not, check out this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STDSDeV6N3k&feature=channel_page

If you’re serious about your education you will concentrate on school and forget about restoring a car. You can do that later. Restoring an old car takes TONS of time and money.

You’re going to be in school; you won’t have tons of time and money (unless you’re filthy rich). Are you filthy rich? I doubt it. If you were you wouldn’t be going to diesel mechanic’s school.

What you need now is a cheap, reliable car you can drive on a daily basis. Learn how to keep it running, and don’t worry about restoring it. You can restore something after you graduate and have a job.

Devote your attention to learning your trade. Pay attention in class, study, and do the best you can. Defer your dream for later. If you try to restore a car now it will interfere with your studies. You can’t afford that.

Do something different…A friend of mine built a street-legal replica of a USAC Sprint car. He built the frame from steel tubing on a frame jig bolted to his garage floor. The finished car is a show stopper and he DRIVES IT to the shows!!

Think outside the box!

do you think ebay and craigs list would have some?

now that sounds alot like me. i want either a muscle or a truck and now im leaning alot more toward a truck

Qoute: “If you’re serious about your education you will concentrate on school and forget about restoring a car. You can do that later. Restoring an old car takes TONS of time and money.”

McParidise has the best advice here.

A year or 2 to wait to do a something like a car project seems like a lifetime to somebody your age…yes I was once (loooong ago) your age. “Restoring” a car means different things to different people. Cleaning up an older car for everyday use is one thing, committing to a full on restoration is another. Commit most of your time to learning the trade first and foremost. Unless you can make it a school project…

schools already taken care of and its not like ill be there for years and a benefit of getting a project car now is 1. use of the shops to work on it. 2. i get 40% discount on all parts. 3. everything i do at the school is free except the parts but i get a good discount so ya thats why i am looking for one now

my definition of restore is find a car/truck. thats not a complete rust bucket or missing motor or trrans and just make it suitable for everyday driving or maybe if i can do it into a racer. i really to tryy and find an old diesel truck(early 80s through early ninety’s) or muscle car.

schools already taken care of and its not like ill be there for years and a benefit of getting a project car now is 1. use of the shops to work on it. 2. i get 40% discount on all parts. 3. everything i do at the school is free except the parts but i get a good discount so ya thats why i am looking for one now

Sounds like you got a handle on things. An older diesel could be nice. I work with a guy that just bought a clean used early 90’s F250 from AZ. Short money and just needs freshening up. If a race car is in the future of your project, it might be harder to find something clean or cheap enough. Any local “Cruize Nights” in your area? Good place to scout out possible cars for sale. Used track (not pure race) cars can be had for a lot less that the cost of their parts. But, be careful about the build quality.

Good luck!

I’d suggest an old Chevy C-10 from the early '70s. They’re relatively simple, easy to work on, and you can probably find one in running condition for dirt cheap. There is also a surprisingly large aftermarket for parts of all kinds–both restoration and performance.

Early C-10 I like the idea.
But finding one is not so easily around this part of the country…I never see any around Suburban Boston. They rusted away.

But a early short bed could be a nice project , cheaper parts, and double as a drag strip runner.

This question cannot be answered without the most fundamental question being addressed; what is your budget?

The next most important question(s) have to do with; what do you want to do with the vehicle when you’re done? Be realistic. You’re not going to build a 10 second strip car and drive it to school/work every day for example. Don’t base your answers on other people’s dreams and aspirations unless you’re planning to sell the result to them.

Then start looking around. I’ve found over the years that it makes the most sense to let someone else foot the bill as much as possible. I’ve done many frame off restorations and they costed me small fortunes. I found out I could save a ton of money by buying someone else’s project car as someone has already pointed out. But you have to be smart about it and not buy someone else’s headache either. Get a car that’s already driveable and fundamentally sound for your first project. You’ll tire quickly if you assume a major restoration for your first project and it drags on for years. Get something that drives and dink around fixing various sections. You can buy some decent restified cars where the guy has already sunk $15k into parts and you swoop in and get the thing off his hands for $8k as an example. Your miles ahead of the game then. I’ve done this dozens of times over the years.

Good luck in your decision. If you post back on the answer to the first two questions, perhaps people can suggest good project cars for you to start on.

Mac is right…FORGET starting something like this now… To expensive and too big a distraction. This sounds like DAD wants to restore a car…Go for it dad but let your son study and learn first…

A good suggestion for a project car?

So, not married, huh?

Kidding of course, but once I was married it became really tough to justify keeping my own little project, but fortunately it was almost finished by the time we tied the knot so she couldn’t really say anything about it. Perhaps that’s a little advice right there; since you know she would rather have a house/furniture/you name it. If marriage prospects are in your semi-near future, hope she understands about the real time and money that go into these things!

As for your more recent school related prospects, if you can get cheap labor and supplies through school and do most of the work yourself, I say go for it! However, I would suggest starting with something complete that is drivable so you can work on it slowly and still use it for transportation. Insuring a daily driver and a project can be really expensive if you are under 25 years old.

For a suggested project, I would lean towards older American cars or trucks, or really any car where there are tons of parts both original and aftermarket available.

Personally, I have two vehicles that I use that could fall into your category. The first, a 1990 Chevy Blazer full size, generally comes with the dime-a-dozen Chevy 350. The body style didn’t really change from 1976 to 1991 and it’s based directly on the Chevy Truck 1500 short bed platform, so parts of all kinds can be found easily and cheaply pretty much anywhere. The retro look and feel of these means you could pick up a newer example with fuel injection and ABS and still feel like you’re driving something much older. No airbags though, even in my 1990. I see these on Craigslist all the time for good examples in the late 80’s between $2,000 and $4,000, complete and running. Besides, the half cab design means you can take off the back half of the roof and kind of use it like a truck if you want. They also generally come with 4 wheel drive, and some had 6.2 liter diesels and (mine has a) 3 speed manual shift! Very cool.

I might suggest something like my other vehicle (project), a 1968 Cutlass, but I have reservations doing so. While a GM A body, I didn’t really consider that this was the first year of that body style and some items, such as the hood hinges, brakes, as well as many exterior items, are very hard to find one-year items. Trips to Desert Valley (an awesome auto recycling yard in AZ) was an excellent resource, so I was lucky to find most of what I needed, but my complete and running project still needed many replacement parts to get her looking like new again.

In short, I would look for a car or truck that didn’t update its platform for many years or otherwise had high production numbers (my Blazer with its 15 year run and a1965 Mustang with its production numbers in the millions are good examples of these) so that parts will be cheap and available. I would also look at websites like EBay and Year One to see if the year and model car you are considering has a good following and large amounts of available parts.

However, if you like odd cars and sparse parts availability, then by all means, buy an AMC Javelin or AMX!