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This is seeing what persons in the forum think. This is the what I am asking. If you buy a Packard of any year and it needs restoration which would you do first. Have the body work and paint done on the car first. Then go through the mechanicals of the car to see what is ok, then repair or rebuild what you find wrong.

John F. Shireman

Guess it depends on what you're doing with the car. If it starts & stops enough to drive off a trailer and all you want is to show & collect trophies, then body & paint is first. If planning to drive it to the meet & go on tour, then would think it might be important to make sure you don't have to walk part way so that would come first.

First? I would get it legally in my name before I touched it.

I'm all for the mechanicals first as that will have a huge effect on whether the car is fun to drive or not. All of the Attaboys from friends and passersby will mean nothing if you dread driving the thing.

To push the point a little further, I always do the brakes very thoroughly even on decent cars that enter my stable. That means for me that every component that ever touched brake fluid is replaced or carefully rebuilt.

In a couple of Hemmings Classic Car profiles I have read people say they reused their old brake tubing during the restoration because it looked OK. No No No! It rusts from the inside as well as the outside. At the 95 national in Baltimore I replaced a piece of tubing for a fellow after it blew out on a tour. It was the piece that ran under the engine, was shiney silver and oily on the outside and crumbled like tree bark from corrosion on the inside.

Brakes are the cheapest and most important part of the restoration.

Amen Russ, Amen. $400-$600 to do everything on the brakes is cheap compared to collision body work.
I think it is important to do the mechanical stuff first, if done the other way around the body and paint work can be undone somewhat if you have to pull the engine or trans after everything is pretty.
I worked on a lot of "auction action" cars where the body and chrome were good, and that's all.

I would definitely do the mechanicals first beginning with brakes. Depending on what I planned to do with it I would be wary about soaking a lot of money into a total engine rebuild unless absolutelly necessary. Paint and cosmetics would come last.

No sense dropping 1000s of dollars in paint and body work, only to scratch it up while wrestling with the mechanicals. The mechanicals make it go, without the mechanicals, all you have is lawn art.

Brakes, brakes, brakes! I firmly believe that THE most important device on ANYHTING that is powered is the braking system. Can't stress it enough, I've witnessed too many dumb accidents commited by too many dumb people!

Hi

1) Get it running well enough for short local trips, then

2) BRAKES! Rebuild whether they look good or not, especially replacing all the lines! It will save the sheet metal and trim and most importantly your hide while you....

3) Mount Safe Tires, then....

4) Drive the car to find out what you have mechanically and correct as many of those problems as pop-up. Do so enough to truly see what major mechanical work it needs to operate well for touring before you then...

5) Dive into the body/paint/trim work to make it beautiful. Unless the car is a weathered wreak, it can be made acceptable to drive with a clean up, some cheap interior rework, etc...

6) Endure the comments of those who only want to see beautifully restored cars.....knowing you have a car worth investing further resources in......knowing the car will be worth that investment in long term satisfaction.

Steve

John and all,

Great forum question here. Thanks John.
Those of us who are amateur hobbyists ask this question 100s of times annually.

I like every response. I am not trying to be cute, I really do.
BECAUSE each answer given presents an important tension in restoring an old car. After all, this is a metal box that we can drive at dangerous speeds of 30 to 60+ mph and still have a adequate ability to guide, control, and stop safely. (Not even mentioning making it back home without a tow truck.)

Steve, I like your long list. It seems to 'think through' John's question a half a dozen times. It is nice to see in print the thoughts that I've had and each of us have probably had as we figure out what comes next.

Thanks everybody, great stuff here!
Anymore thoughts?
DanL