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What's New

1932 Ford

Where is the Collector Car Market going? Learn where to find trend data for your car. Also, an insider’s view of the current market.


1961 Porsche

Award-winning motorsports journalist Jerry F. Boone has contributed a dozen new feature stories to PopularRestorations.com and more are on the way.

bill_and_wendy_jabs_shop

The Bill and Wendy Jabs Automobile Collection includes Model As, early Ford V8s, Corvairs, Full Classics, and more. Included are four in-depth interviews featuring their award winning cars.

The Popular Restorations Project Car
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Where Does the Time and Money Go?

Take a look at the Popular Restorations project car, a
1946 Packard Custom Super 8 Seven Passenger Sedan.
Have you ever heard that a complete restoration can take 1000 to 2000 hours to complete or cost more than a new luxury car? This project car will serve as an educational example so you can see precisely where the time and money goes.

Time Click the calendar graphic to see an itemization of the time spent on the Popular Restorations project car. The restoration was done over a two year period and took a little over 1300 hours to complete.
Money Click the money graphic to see an itemization of the money spent on the Popular Restorations project car.

Each article in the Restoration Topics section includes more information on the project car restoration.

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Car Shop Tours


1940 Ford Coca Cola sedan Delivery

Take a video Tour of a Restoration Shop featuring Custom Automotive Restoration in Portland, Oregon.


Check out this Illustrated Tour of Portland Engine Rebuilders. See what you might miss by doing the work yourself.

engine_rebuild_tour


Also, over 100 articles and interviews on every imaginable aspect of car restoration (Restoration Topics) and dozens of Featured Cars and Trucks!

Recommendations
Click on any item below for more details at Amazon.com

Tom Benford
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Restoring Collector Cars
Alpha, Paperback, 2004-08-03
The first 150 pages of this book are dedicated to the process of finding and deciding upon a restoration project and determining your restoration strategy. This part is covered in detail, and covered very well. The last 50 pages or so cover what to do with your car after the restoration is done, which leaves just over 100 pages to cover the actual work. For example, the chapter on engines assumes that the basic mill is in good shape, and simply covers tuning, carb adjustment, and freshening the engine bay. This is not a step by step mechanical manual - but it offers some of the best coverage on every other aspect of restoration.

Matt Joseph
Collector Car Restoration Bible: Practical Techniques for Professional Results
Krause Publications, Paperback, 2005-10-14

This book covers it all, from buying a restorable car to the finishing touches. And in between, it touches on every part of the car, from sheet metal repair to engine internals. If you were to have just one book as a guide, this would be that book. The book is photo-rich and provides both procedural details and collected wisdom from experienced restorers.


Kevin Clemens
Motor Oil for a Car Guy's Soul
River's Bend Pess, Perfect Paperback, 2004-12
This book won the prestigious 2005 Ken Purdy Award for Excellence in Automotive Journalism. A compilation of the author’s columns that first appeared in European Car magazine, it received critical acclaim and struck a chord with several generations of automotive enthusiasts.

Kevin Clemens
Motor Oil For a Car Guy's Soul Volume II
Demontreville Press, Inc., Paperback, 2006-12-15
Motor Oil For a Car Guy’s Soul Volume II picks up from the first book, entertaining car guys of either gender with a mixture of additional insights, observations, and tall tales.
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