Taking Your Time: Avoid the Easy Way Out

Taking your time. Many guys that I know that are wanting to restore a bug want to jump into a car real fast. They want to find it, strip it down, buy the necessary parts, slap some paint on the car and off they go. They rush to get the car done for the upcoming show season. I will tell you, I fell victim to this plenty of times. And what happens? Pardon the french, but you half ass it. You quickly put in a headliner and you get wrinkles. You quickly put on the chrome moldings and your hands bend the strips, you break glass, you tear the seat upholstery, and so on. If you are in a rush, then hand your car off to a good mechanic or a good cosmetic guy, you will have to pay more, but that’s the breaks. If you are all about saving, then you better take your time.

I usually figure when I get the car back from the body shop and it is all painted and ready to be put back together, it takes me a few weeks to get ready for shows. But I like to over estimate, so I will say to myself, I will give it a month or two to finish the car. I usually get done earlier, and by then you feel like you beat your schedule.

Moral of this short tip is, take your time when restoring your car, don’t half ass it, forget the easy way out. If you need to get your car done fast, hire someone, but be prepared to pay. You are putting your hard earned money into this resto, depending how intense you are going, it could take months maybe even years to complete your pride and joy. By rushing the job, you run the risk of making mistakes and down the line losing money when you want to sell it.

If you get stuck on how to do something, there are many DVD “How Tos” out there to learn, and of course GoOgLe! You can go to my shop and learn section on this site to get your hands on some of the best resources out there.

Last Updated: August 12th, 2011