I would like to restore classic cars and sell them as a business, how realistic is this and how would i start?

Question

I have very little knowledge about cars and body work! Just curious because i would really enjoy doing this if i could make a decent living and could make it happen in like four years or so.

Answer 1

It has a lot to do with money. Get a dealers license and get in the used car business. You can start with one car if you are good at reinvesting your money. In a few years the car lot will be making you money and you will be able to hire a mechanic and and auto body man . The restoration business will be a complementary business to the one you have established and your pool of employees will be an asset to both. Plan on ten years plus.

Answer 2

Not to burst your bubble but it will take you more than four years to learn the basics of body repair and paint. I would suggest trying to talk a local body shop into letting you intern with them if your schedule allows. I was a professional body tech for over ten years, my father was before me and his father before him. The fact is restoration is just plain HARD. It looks easy on American Hot Rod but keep in mind these guys have a team of highly trained techs, a huge shop with even larger resources and money. The difference in a first-rate resto and an amateur resto is that one is a high-dollar business and the other is a hobby. The hobby restos sell for less than half than high dollar restos do, so you may as well learn to do them right. If you already have a garage you might want to purchase an older vehicle, (say a '70's Mustang or Camaro) that needs some TLC. This era of cars are still plentiful, cheap, you can buy almost every part aftermarket and they are usually simple in design. If you survive six months of tinkering with a fussy carberated engine, leaking cooling system, mushy steering and brakes and misaligned body panels you probably have the right stuff. Believe me, there is NO way you can screw-up a $2,500.00 vehicle enough to break you and it will be invaluable for the knowledge you gain by hands-on learning. Best of luck.

Answer 3

Go to school become a lawyer or a doctor or hey anything unrelated to auto field unless u are positive u will enjoy the lack of money and long hours u will be working. Keep in mind that later in life when u are married and full of mortgages and kids and car payments and bills u will need the higher income stuff. Oh but repairing cars is very rewarding as long as u don't require a big living. Or if u just won the 40 million dollar lottery and can do it just for the fun of it.

Answer 4

Anything is possible but you need a solid foundation, a technical school is the place to start with a course in automotive technology you will learn the basics there engine, transmisions, etc... you will also want to take some courses in business management check your local community college for their offerings.
Body work is a bit tougher welding,metal fabrication, painting, prepwork etc these are tricky to master and if classic cars are your intention you will have to be good,very good body panels will need to be straight, paintwork will need to be flawless etc...
Unless you are wealthy to start out you will need a solid business plan and collateral to secure a loan to help you start your shop, will you build a shop or try to find one for sale? for a quality set of tools to work on the cars , vehicle lifts , alignment rack
paint booth, filtration system, welding equipment, painting equipment, air compressors, your probably looking in the $50,000 to $100,000 range maybe a bit more depending on where you live and local laws and licensing and such.
It'll be a bit longer than 4 years as technically the learning never stops.

Answer 5

first save a lot of money
go to school for body shop
take a auto repair course
that way you will know how to fix the old cars and do the body work to restore them
old cars are not cheep to buy and restore

Answer 6

With the business equipment how that is, and with the market flooded with lately restored muscle autos, now's a foul time to enter the fix organization. human beings basically at the on the spot are not spending massive money on classic autos until eventually they are proper or well worth a lot of money. in case you want to artwork on autos, artwork on accepted stuff. those days human beings are fixing up their previous autos extremely of shopping for a clean one. sales of motor vehicle elements are increasing nationwide. not anybody knows a thanks to do upkeep like replacing oil or fixing user-friendly complications. furnish your amenities as a personal mechanic and also you may artwork on autos all day.

Answer 7

alot of money, not only for thousands of dollars of tools needed, but equipment and a shop and helpers and so on

is a serious investment, if you are in good with a bank then you could do it, if you live in an area where alot of older cars are still around and if you can hook up with restoration parts suppliers, and if you know alot about older vehicles and factory specs and are very mechnically inclined and so on



good luck

Answer 8

have a steady job and start doing it on the side,you can learn alot by doing it,buy the tools you need for whatever phase your in.Realistically you will make more money doing the work for somebody else who wants to restore one and they buy the parts.Get a job someplace that does restoring to learn or a body shop, then learn the mechanic part.

Answer 9

i would suggest dirve a few by buying a driving experience from http://www.totalgiftsonline.com/