Just looking for ideas on this board. I have finally decided to start dismantling my 69 coupe. This is my first car that I have owned as well as tried to restore. I have own it since high school years 1984. Lots of fun memories in this car. Obviously this car will be worth more to me then anyone else. It took second place at a major local car show the year I bought it. Then I got married bought a house had kids. The car fell on the priority list. This will be a frame off resto. The car is in rough shape needing floor, trunk, quarters and more. I realize that this will not be an investment. I will never recoup the money put into this project. That being said I would like to do as much work as I can do myself. I will more then likely leave most of the body work to a professional. What Id like to do is remove as much as I can before bringing the car in for those repairs. I have the interior out and most chrome removed. My question is what books or web sites do you recommend on the whole restoration process. What is the progression order from here? I have heard that the front bumper assembly is tricky. Any advice would be appreciated.

Chris

One thing body shops hate is when you show up with a car shell and a bunch of coffee cans full of nuts and bolts and say heres the stuff put it back together. If you want some basic steps check out a couple youtube channels. http://www.youtube.com/user/swrnc
http://www.youtube.com/user/diyautoschool
http://www.youtube.com/user/jamesfreddys

If you do want to do as much work as you can, find and talk to your body shop first, whether it is the local collision shop, a high end classic car paint shop, or your local high school/college auto body shop. Figure out who you will be working with, then follow their process as you disassemble. In the meantime it is hard to go wrong with ziplock bags, labelled with Sharpie markers, with just the bolts from each piece removed. Number the bags and mark an illustration of the car with them as well. Once you have 1,000 bolts laying around, it's amazing how some of them look similar to others.

Take photos...a lot of photos...even ones that you don't think are significant.

Vikki, great advice. My current project was picked up completely in pieces, excluding the engine. The guy I purchased it from had put everything in well labeled boxes and ziplock bags. Each box and bag was specific to a certain section of the car. Plus, he had filled out a notebook that documented each part he had removed and what day he did the work. He had went as far as drawing diagrams as he dismantled the car. I loaded the car on a trailer and filled the inside completely with the boxes, and also had enough to fill the back of the truck hauling the car.

It seemed like a lot of work to move and unload, but I am thankful for the organization of the parts during the restoration process.

Pictures-pictures-pictures, bag and tag and start a journal.
You'll probably replace a good bit of what you bag and tag, but it still helps seeing all the original parts together.

I have to admit I let my journal lapse and bounced from one car to another toward the end, but the idea might help you.

http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/journal....5&reverse=1

Looks like Im on the right track. Thank God for digital cameras right!!! Thanks for the response. I will update how the project goes but it will be slooow. At least for the next year anyway. Thanks again.

A year is not slow compared to my project. My current project started in 2007, still not done.

Good luck with you project.

My Firebird came apart in early 1998. While it is running now, it needs bodywork, paint and the interior installed. I make that 13 years and counting.

Ok, I am not even close to competing with you on that one. I hope to get mine done way before that time. The key word is HOPE to get it done before that period of time.

Oily parts in bags need more than a marker as I have found out. Lucky to have had it only with a couple of bags of bolts where it was obvious what the content was.

The guy that dismantled my car used some good old masking tape and a permanent marker.

I agree with the advise above. Zip Lock bags in 3 sizes for fasteners and small parts marked with a Sharpie, a notebook for making sketches of how things went together and LOTS of photos.

Plus important reference materials like the correct year Factory Assembly Manual and the Pontiac Parts Illustrations like those found on the First Gen Site.

One of the best investments i made was to buy a complete body bolt kit. Tossed all the old crap, nothing personal but, its mind boggling to me that everybody takes all the time and care to be meticulous with everything, only to put it back together with crappy old fasteners. i think a whole kit labeled and bagged was 200.00. I did the same with the interior set , like 65 bucks and CORRECT , too boot it benefits disabled veterans. I sorted them by area and as i got there just went and grabbed the appropriate bags. Wouldn’t you be upset to buy a 2012 car only to pop the hood and see old rusty nuts and bolts? A good restoration is in the DETAILS!

I don't entirely agree, I sandblasted and refinished a lot of original bolts. I bought a kit as well and still have most of it as they were not correct. The ones I did use will be replaced as I acquire the correct ones.

A bag with a sharpie marker will come off in oil. trust me I know. Do the tape on the bag as insurance.

If anyone is getting rid of old original fasteners, please give them to me.

Get a media tumbler and black oxide kit. I soak parts in part phosphoric acid part water till clean, then dry and tumble. Parts look great...then plate in black oxide. Cheaper than a complete correct appearing fastener kit. I paid $170 for everything and the bolts look great AND whenever I need to replate, I have plenty of product left over to do many complete sets.

As stated...its all in the details...a correct restoration is the details.

If anyone wants theirs done, PM me and give me a few weeks.

I like running mesh bags of bolts through the dishwasher before the acid dip. It helps remove the grease and grime from the threads and gives a better prep. Sanitize wash with powdered Cascade works great.

i compared pretty much every bolt and nut , looked very original to me.
Plus my car was a misc. hodge poge of mis-matched screws and bolts . some were metric.

After looking at many "kits" the one i bought ,to me, looked perfect and they were all correctly labeled.
And you cant tumble away stripped nuts and bolts. but to each their own.

I had to show this to my wife!!
She is always “politely” informing me that the house appliances are off limits.

It won't hurt the dishwasher, it's no worse than running a dirty roasting or fry pan. Grease is grease, and detergent breaks it down.

For gasoline or kerosene tainted parts, clean those in a detergent wash before the dishwasher, or the aroma will linger.

Question for Banshee, what Black oxide it are you using, the one from Eastwood?

I might add that if i was doing a concourse restoration, yes i would probably use as many original parts and fasteners possible.
With that said you still cant beat the kit i purchased. If doing a "nice" cruiser for driving and enjoying, not concerned about every nut and bolt "looking exactly as original" .

I dont mean any disrespect to anyone performing that kind of restoration. More power to you, i certainly do enjoy seeing a fully correct example of a restored classic.

But i loved the ability to just walk over to my bolt bin and grab the correct bag of fasteners and proceed with my assembly. I dont regret for 1 second the kit i bought. Like i said it looks very correct and it helped handicapped vetrans.

Bob