Mike is correct. I would call what I'm doing is a series of refreshes.. Ignition, MFI, Head/valves/cam on the engine. Then suspension/handling - bushings, shocks, springs, wheels and tires.. goal is to recover lost performance from age and wear and maybe add a few via modern tech and learning.
I started with a car that was not drivable and pretty much ready for the crusher in 1999. I knew very little about the car and very little about the marque at that time. I can honestly say that during the restoration process (which never really ends) I have never received bad advice. Not from vendors, not from friends, not from fellow owners.
Some of the earliest and perhaps best advice I received is that which guided me during the initial restoration. It was from somebody who had had their car restored from the guy I chose to do mine. They had theirs done in two phases. Their first phase was making the car look pretty— paint and bodywork. Second phase was underneath— suspension and mechanicals. They strongly advised me that they made a mistake as they were so anxious to get the car back. They said start from the inside out: do the things you cannot see. Their name is Long lost.
At the time of the initial restoration, the universe of parts suppliers was very different. The Classic Center did not exist. Vintage Euro did not exist. Authentic Classics did not exist. Pelican Parts and Autohaus AZ and FCP Euro did not exist. There were a number of others out there and today they are gone. this forum did not exist yet either. My best call was when I spoke with Mike Ochoa at Miller’s… he guided me through several very large parts purchases, telling me what I would need to do the tasks that I wanted. He often said if you need this, you are also going to need that and while you’re at it, you should do this as well. All of the advice was from someone who knew exactly what he was talking about. Mike is still at Miller’s by the way… and Miller’s is a survivor.
Some decisions for me were a no-brainer. I was not interested in any long drawn process trying to clean up instrumentation. I had no idea what worked and what didn’t. So the best solution was pack it all in a box and send it out to Palo Alto Speedometer Service.
Having been through muffler issues prior on older cars, the consideration of a stock muffler was never thought about for one second. Welding a system in place seemed beyond ridiculous. So stainless steel it was. Timevalve was the one that popped up as the supplier.
And on and on it went like this with every system and subsystem in the car. It was the restorer who first suggested Metric Motors for a rebuild of the engine, and nobody disputed that that would be a good idea. I was warned about the fuel system early on so without even thinking much the injection pump was sent out to H&R. Again, no idea of the condition other than it’s sat for at least 13 years without use, which every restorer warned me was trouble
A refresh of everything was really the goal… going back to that first recommendation. Work from the inside out. Don’t even think much about it; change all the wear parts. Anything made of rubber needed to be replaced.
Nobody suggested anything about making the car faster… or handling better or anything of the sort. Just bring it back to stock— that would be the biggest improvement.
