Читать книгу Project Mustang - Larry Lyles - Страница 5

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Introduction

For more than thirty years, I have been repairing, restoring, and rebuilding cars of all types. For the past ten years, I have shared much of that hard-won knowledge with the readers of Auto Restorer magazine and through the publication of two books, Project Charger and Revive Your Ride. If you have read any of my published articles or purchased either of my two books, you already know I use a detailed, hands-on approach to explaining the methods I use to repair and restore old cars. I don’t just grab a handful of tools and dive in expecting you to follow along. I try to keep you, the reader, right there with me as I work.

I feel it isn’t enough to tell you what I did. Anyone can do that. I want you to understand how I did what I did and why I did it that way. But don’t think I am about to bore you with technical jargon or mundane details about the restoration process. Even I can’t stay focused for very long under those conditions. I try to be light but informative, so in the end I believe you not only will have enjoyed what you have read but also will have learned a little more about the fascinating world of automotive restoration.

This book, Project Mustang, follows that same light-but-informative format. I don’t claim to know everything there is to know about restoring a vintage Mustang. For that you will need a whole library of books on the Ford Mustang and perhaps the unlisted phone number for Lee Iacocca. But what I will give you is a solid, systematic course to lead you through the perils and busted knuckles of a total ground-up restoration of one of the world’s most popular muscle cars.

If I could offer one useful piece of advice to anyone beginning the restoration of a vehicle, it would have to be organization. Of course, organization begins by determining where you are going with the project and how you’re going to get there. That means doing a little research, seeking out a few good suppliers, and analyzing the vehicle itself. It also means spending a little time making a list or two and taking a lot of photographs as the project progresses.

If it is part of the car, it gets photographed. If it gets photographed, it gets listed. Over the course of a restoration, I take hundreds of photographs and make several lists. If I somehow become lost in the process or can’t recall how or where a particular part should mount, I then have plenty of reference material to put me back on track. This is why lists are made and why photographs are taken.

I do try to keep the lists simple. Computers make this task even easier. Spreadsheets can be built that list every part of the car, the estimated cost for replacing the parts, and the actual amount of time and money spent purchasing and installing the part.

To that end, I start with a master list that documents the condition of every part removed from the vehicle in the order the parts are removed. If nothing else, this list will serve as a reconstruction blueprint to make sure every part is put back on the vehicle in the reverse order the parts were removed. From the master list, I compile two other lists: a new parts list denoting every part that must be replaced, and a repair and overhaul list that contains the parts that I can repair, refinish, overhaul, and return to the vehicle. The final list, which is nothing more than two columns added to the master list, is a ledger of time and money spent. For example, I spent 1,051 hours restoring Project Charger. I know this fact because I made a list.

For photographic purposes, I use a 35mm film camera. Film is cheap, and I take as many shots as possible. Digital is fine, but you just can’t beat having an actual photograph to keep in the toolbox as reference when needed. Besides, laptops don’t like dust, and restoration shops are full of the stuff.


Project Mustang

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