Need a good book for general restoration

[gsalt57tr3]

My Vanguard has only 44,000 miles on it and it is in drivable condition. Mostly, it needs a good bath of wd40 and POR15 for the surface rust. There a a couple dimes size paint blisters, but generally its in good restorable shape.

I don't think I'm going to be able to drive down to borders and find a guidebook for Phase 2 Vanguards, so I need just a general book for the restoration of cars.

Amazon has a copy of Haynes Restoration Manual: Classic Cars : The Complete, Illustrated Step-By-Step Guide, for $23, anyone have anything to say about it?

Any other recommendations?

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/driving.gif on the right side!

 

[Andrew Mace]

Can't help much with any book recommendations, except that "factory" and similar workshop manuals appear on eBay often for the Vanguards. Meanwhile, I will offer this suggestion. "Preserve" the car as much as you can rather than restore it. Understandably that "preservation" might mean a paint job, but maybe you can get by with touch-up or just repainting fenders?

As some say, "it's only 'original' once"! Also, a "complete" restoration is going to cost as much on a Vanguard as it would on just about any other car. Fine, except that it's not likely the Vanguard could ever begin to appreciate to the point that such a restoration is anywhere near cost-effective (whereas one occasionally can get lucky with more popular cars).

The neat thing about "oddball" cars such as Vanguards, Triumph Heralds and the like, is that they seem to attract lots and lots of attention even if not in "show" condition. I know my Herald does, and it gets that attention from hot rodders, Corvette owners, kids, expatriates who remember learning to drive in a Herald back in the "old country", etc., etc.

 

[gsalt57tr3]

My realtor grew up in Canada. He's already told me stories about when he rode in his dad's vanguard. It was a phase 1, and left hand drive.

We aren't looking to do a frame up restoration. Like I said, the best thing for this car would be a bath of wd40. It's only had 15000 miles put on it since it was purchased used in London in 1979, most of that from 1979 to 1992.

Lots of documentation came with this car. It was originally purchased in the Liverpool area (Great Crosby to be exact). 29000 miles on it from 1953 to 1979.

Its in good shape. Preservation is our goal, but there are some things that need replacing. If money were no object, you could turn this car into a concours car, its got tools and shop manuals and everything. But I'm not into that kind of thing, I'd rather drive.

I think what I am looking for is guidelines as to "where to start." Safety and reliability are of course the first issues.

I've never taken on this kind of project before, just looking for guidance.

And if it wasn't an oddball car, I probably wouldn't have bought it. I'm the guy who test drove a '49 Devon this summer because no one else had one.

 

[JamesWilson]

Some general books, with publication details and what I thought of them:

Title: How to Restore Your Collector Car
Publisher: Motorbooks
Author: Tom Brownell
Date: 1999
ISBN: 0 7603 0592 7

This is one of the best books I've found on restoration, although it does not look at British sports cars at all. It covers a multitude of general restoration issues in a comprehensive and reasonably in depth manner. It includes a number of color photos to show the work done, these are very illustrative but are not step-by-step guides to doing the work as may be found in some of the other books.


Title: Car Restorer's Manual
Publisher: Haynes
Author: Lionel Baxter
Date: 2003
ISBN: 1 85960 853 1

This provides a broad introduction to the varied activities involved in restoring an older car. There's a brief introduction covering tools, equipment and preparing for the work. The book then gives a comprehensive over-view of the various sub-systems found in a car and some of the restoration challenges they present. It is a useful introduction but no substitute for a marque- specific manual.


Title: How to Restore British Sports Cars
Publisher: MBI Publishing
Author: Jay Lamm
Date: 1992
ISBN: 0 87938 567 7

A variety of LBCs are treated to various restoration chores within the different chapters- which look at a fairly full range of demands- engines, transmissions, suspension, steering, bodywork, etc. A good overview of what needs doing, and the discussions are widely useful if not immediately and directly applicable to a specific car. I think this is preferable to Baxter's book discussed above.

Title: Restoration Manual, Classic Cars
Publisher: Haynes
Author: Lindsay Porter
Date: 1994
ISBN: 1 85960 890 0

This provides a broad introduction to buying, equipping yourself and restoring an older car. It isn't so broad as Baxter's Manual, and includes more on bodywork and mechanical repairs. It also covers some interior restoration and its section on electrical systems seems more concerned with the improvements that could be made than it is with originality.

I think all of these are currently available, either through a local book seller, Amazon or you could try to get a used one through ABE (www.abe.com) a network of used book shops.

Good luck