Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Restoration tip: Playing the detective game

When restoring a car it is important to bring everything back as close as possible to the way it left the factory. The colours of nuts, bolts, and other hardware is often hidden under layers of dirt. This dirt will often affect the original colour making it difficult to be sure of what goes what.  Also the cleaning process will often strip away old platings and finishes making the identifying task harder.When taking a component apart, you should always look in areas that are the most protected from the elements to determine what the original finish may have been. As such the backside of washers, bottom of nuts, and hidden areas of hardware will often give the best clues.

Below are some photos of this process. A jewlers loupe can be a big help and the most important thing is to document EVERYTHING. These notes will be invaluable when putting things back together and the time invested in making notes will be more than made up with a savings in assembly time. In the end we will have almost every part of the Dino documented with its correct finish; a valuable resource to future restorers, that is to be made available on Dino246.com when complete.


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