Why You Should Use Subcontractors On Your Classic Car

When making a decision to perform restoration on a car, many hobbyists ask themselves whether they should do all of the restoration and repair work themselves or whether they should farm it out to subcontractors. The benefits of restoring a vehicle by yourself is attractive for many reasons. From a financial standpoint, you will save a lot of money by doing the work yourself. Ego enters into the decision also. You will be able to point with pride to your restored auto and take the entire credit for rebuilding it. Doing the work yourself also lets you do the work exactly the way you want it done. You know that you won't be taking any shortcuts to get the work done and can be assured that the work quality will be of the highest caliber.

But, realistically, the great majority of us do not possess all of the skills necessary to perform each restoration task that may be required on a restoration job. How many of us can perform with expert skill the upholstery, welding, painting, or mechanical work that needs to be done? At some point most restorations will require an expert's touch that is beyond your level of expertise.

So what do you do? What most amateur restorers do, more than will admit, is to outsource some of the more specialty work to a subcontractor. And if you do it correctly, it's an investment and tradeoff well worth making.

There are certain guidelines you should use in selecting a subcontractor if you want to get the best work possible from them.

If at all possible, avoid hiring a subcontractor out of his area of expertise. If you need an expert on 1940 Ford engines, don't hire a general mechanic who dabbles in engines. Instead, look for a subcontractor that is an expert in working with Ford engines from that general era. Can't find one? Then look for a subcontractor in Ford engines overall. The bottom line is try to find a subcontractor who is used to working with components on the specific classic car that you own.

If you have not previously worked with a subcontractor, you will want to see actual examples of his work. Photographic can be doctored and are therefore not reliable. If you're not satisfied with the quality, continue your search.

Get 5 or more references from satisfied customers. Call them and talk to them. Ask about the timeliness and quality of the work they received and any other concerns that you may have.

Once you find and decide upon a subcontractor, ask him for a written detailed work, price, and time estimate of the work that you are asking to be done. If he is not willing to give you a "written" estimate, you should probably pass on having him do the work.

Be sure to ask about warranties on their work. You may or may not be able to get a warranty on parts. But a confident subcontractor will have no problem guaranteeing his level of work.

Don't look at subcontractors as a necessary evil. Instead look at them as partners. Subcontractors can be a great asset to you and potentially save you loads of time. And in many cases the use of subcontractors may be the only way you can get your auto restoration finished.

Carl Phllips writes car restorations articles such as classic car pricing and classic car value. Please visit his site for additional contributions.