Most people that take on a classic car restoration project, to reach their goals, restorers have to take advantage of any help they can get- among them the ability to access a comprehensive glossary of techincal terminology that will help them to understand the most obscure funtion or part of specialist tool that they might need to complete the restoration.
Among the classic car restoration community there are quite a few who are highly skilled and experienced professionals, who have learned a trade and spent their career in one of the specialised branches in vehicle repair and renewal - either bodybuilding, panel beating, spray painting or any of the other services- and have been waiting for the opportunity to test their restoration skills on a vehicle of their own.
Out of these specialist skills, it is most likely that most people instigating a restoration project will have been involved in auto mechanics. They may have been trained and worked on engines, gearboxes and all other aspects of powering a vehicle.
It is testament to the abilities of the UK and European engineering in the car industry that the engines and gearboxes produced during the Fifties and Sixties generally remained physically intact. The factor of wear and tear on the many moving parts, gradually meant that there was no financial justification in keeping them running which meant that the car was either scrapped or put into storage.
Experienced mechanics setting off to review a Fifties or Sixties classic car for restoration, do so in the knowledge that the engine has not been turned over for decades and may well be unsavable and needs to be replaced.
If truth be told, most experienced restorers prefer to find an engine in a salvageable condition that they can restore or even improve its performance using modern technology.
While the engine is the heart of any vehicle, the gearbox plays no less of an important role. Most UK and European cars of the Fifties and Sixties were fitted with manual transmission, with automatic gearboxes being rare.
Driving some of the larger saloons, especially of the early Fifties fitted with a manual gearbox could be a challenge.
Many restorers will take the opportunity and remove the sluggish and overworked manual gearbox replacing it with a modern automatic. This can mean a considerable investment although one that will mean an immensely more pleasurable driving experience.
If the decision has been made to replace the gearbox but to give it a major upgrade, the first step is to arrange a completed and proper analysis of its state of repair.
In the hope that that the gearbox is repairable, and the neccessary skills and tools are available in-house, then this is always the preferable option.
If not , then the next choice is to scource a suitable aftermarket or reconditioned unit, with reassembling the drivetrain and reinstalling it in thecar- always an exciting moment!
The third and no less critical component to be scrutinised is the clutch. As stated, most Fifties UK and European cars came fitted with a manual transmission as standard meaning that a clutch was a necessity.
The clutch is the least complicated component of the drivetrain, and therefore the easiest to repair and, if need be, to replace.
The role of the clutch is to disconnect the engine from the transmission, allowing the vehicle to change gears either upwards,downwards of in to reverse.
Once the gearchange has been smoothly completed, the clutch then allows the engine and transmission to resume contact and turn together at a new speed.
From the mid-Thirties till the end of the Sixties single plate coil spring clutch were fitted to most popular cars produced in the UK and Europe, usually produced by industry giants Borg and Beck.
Since then, most clutches are diaphragm operated.
While the engine, gearbox and clutch play a major role in powering a motor car. There are a large number of major components of the mechanical system that play their part in ensuring that the mechanical system will peerform to the maximum. These include the camshaft,carburettor,cooling System, cylinder head,driveshaft, exhaust system, air and oil filters, fuel systems and the vehicle's pistons. All of the se parts and functions will need to be restored to allow a classic car’s mechanical systems to perform to their maximum capabilities. The aspirations of any classic car restorer, from the rawest beginner to the most experienced, should always be to return their classic car’s mechanics at least to the standard it was when it rolled off the production line – while most aspire to use modern technology to improve on it.
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