When I bought mine in late '85, I had planned on building a sleeper...bone stock on the outside...but all power and handling. But, then one of my buddies was killed street racing and I wised up. My plans changed.

I began building a car with the factory options I wanted. Somewhere along the way, that plan fell by the wayside. Then I parked it for 12 years. Now I am building a hybrid (no, not electric/gas) of sorts. Part GT, part Shelby, part custom, part plain-jane.

 

What is the coolest statement you could make about yourself? What should the world know about you?

IMO,
There needs to be something that is really you, and that overall sense doesn't leave you. Find that "something" that really gets you deep inside. Don't even think about the car until you've found that special something. It needs to be more important than the car itself (unless you've just always had to restore that specific car to concours winning condition). See that vision of what really drives you personally. Then make the plan for your car to fit that vision.

All my projects start pretty much like slick66stang. I'll have the car for a while. Maybe it's a driver, maybe not. But it's something I want to build. I'll research the car, then look for as many of the same model and year body style as I can find, I note the similarities and the differences between these cars.
In the mean time I am thinking of an overall message I want to get across, and any subthemes that pull the overall together. At that point, I know what to do to make the car stand out.
Once the overall theme is in place, I may deviate on little things, but the overall plan is pretty set in stone.

the first one is the most dificult. That is why (IMO) it needs to be more about you than the car, if you really want it to be sucessful, without wasting a lot of energy. After you've done a few it gets pretty easy.

Hope this helps,

 

make a huge list of everything you want to do to the car....just keep going through and crossing things off of the list as they are less and less important to your restoration...starting with things that are really out of the park then eventually you will be down to things you need..keep doing that until you can afford the resto...eventually you will be done, then you can tinker for a few years until the car is what you really wanted.

 

oh man i wanted my car to be totally orginal in looks. then i started seeing pictures of modded ones and since im only 23 i wanted that look because it is a bit more over the top and flashy. thats how i do everything though, over the top.

 

Once I got the car, which had been sitting awhile, I first got it running. Then, made it safe. new brakes, shocks, all the little things. Cables, wheel cyl, shock bumpers, everything functional. Then I started removing paint and crud in various spots to evaluate. I knew I was taking mine to bare metal. The only way to go. Before I strip the whole thing I needed to know what I was in for. I then resorted to the interior. Floor pans, window hardware, yada yada yada. After the interior is done, with rust encapsulent and seam sealer, on to the trunk for the same. Then to the body work. Get the area around cleaned off and complete an area one at a time no looking back. After it is all done, prep for paint. Get it painted and begin interior assembly. Trim it out and drive it like its a million bucks. Cuz I got that many hours in it!

Good luck and most important...MOST IMPORTANT, do not get discouraged and HAVE FUN! I always say..."If you can't have fun, don't go!"

 

Thanks for all this help. That link was great. Scott H I dont know why but I've always said that a car was a way of expressing one's self but never asked myself that question. Thanks for all the advice

 

well, here's my plan. spend every cent i make till the day i die. i am going all out on my project. every thing i want i will have, 351 stroked to 408, T5, modded front end, coilover suspension. roughly 50K+.

 

Create a Vision Statement
Then create goals that further your vision. When you are planning a goal if it is not inline with your vision then you need to rethink your goal.

Vision: I want an aggressive restomod with great drivability/reliability.

I look at a given area that I am going to be working on then plan complimentary mods around it. While the engine was being redone I am switching over to a T-5. While converting to rack and pinion with tilt column I converted to power brakes. Just be careful of the snowball effect. There comes a point that you have to cut it off because it can be too much to realistically do. While converting to EFI I opted to not install the centrifigul blower. Adding the blower in and of itself is not a big deal, when stacked up with the entire job it extended it longer than the potential FUBAR factor would allow to get it back on the road.

Never have your car torn down for more than 3-4 weeks (if you are a weekend warrior)

 

well, the biggest question here is, is this a DD? if you have a DD, you can have the car torn down as long as you need to.

the next thing to look at is, what is my budget? how much do you have/want to spend on your project? do you wanna make it a 1/4 killer, a DD or a show stopper. you gonna keep it all numbers matching?

once you figure these things out, you can move on to the next step, planning your mods and what the best order for them (and you) is. is you are looking at a 1/4 killer, dont worry about interior, paint, creature comforts. focus your time and money on your frame, drive train, engine, trans, DS, rear and gearing. you want a DD, FRAME, FRAME, FRAME! make sure your frame is good and clean. get the motor running in good shape, take the trans and get it taken care of. make sure the brakes work GOOD and if you want/can, upgrade at least the fronts to disc. than worry about the interior/exterior. show car, well, lets not go there unless you've got BIG bux laying around.

if i remember correctly, you don't have a license yet, so you are in good shape, but, at the same time, you may also run into the problem i had before i had my license. lack of funds.

 

I took in all of your advice, did a vision statement, and have been looking at other peoples cars for quite some time now. I'm trying to make a DD restomod without cutting anything in case the next owner or I want to go back to concuors. What do you guys think of what I came up with?

Modification Items: All Black Paint with '05 Rims, Decal Delete (Fill holes), Tinted Glass, Halogen Lights, Power Windows, New Black Bucket Seats, Digital Gauges, Flowmaster exhaust, and Disc Brakes.

Resto Items: Restore Engine to close to originial condition but replace a few simple parts (valve covers, hoses, air cleaner, export brace, etc) with better materials.

Once all this is done I'll do a few more things for some more power but I'm really not too interested in that just because of insurance for a 16 year old.