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Restoring a car requires time and money... but it mostly requires money. If you don't have a good cash flow then it will sit around for years.

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and thats even if you can do all the work yourself
or get the work done for nothing.

parts are expensive and add up very fast
i'm afraid to look at my pile of receipts
i'm in too deep anyway, there is no looking back for me

one thing for you to do to start is

make sure you REALLY want it first
and then brace yourself and
be prepared to be digging deep into the wallet...

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Very first step is to find ALL of the rust. I would take a ball pein hammer and lots of light and go under the car. When you crawl out from under it be absolutely confident that the frame rails are solid and straight and know whether the floor has to be replaced and if the inner fenders and wheel houses need replacing or fixing.
When you have that established you can price out the parts needed, consult your friend to see if he really is going to help you until the end. Then you have to decide what you want for a finished product.
It's not necessary for every car to be painted and detailed underneath but if that's what you want the approach is much different than if you want a driver that you will be out in the rain with.
So anyway:
1) Find all rust.
2) Price and obtain necessary sheetmetal.
3) Either disassemble complete car or only whats
necessary (depending on results wanted).
4) Repair rust.
5) Finish bodywork and paint car.
6) Repair/refinish trim.
7) refinish interior.

When you do a budget quote, double or triple it and you'll be close.

Sheldon

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Don't let others stomp your idea into the ground. Keep a positive attitude and look at the car as individual goals, not one big one. This way you will not get overwhelmed. I would do this: keep the car as a driver so you can enjoy it while you work on it, don't go crazy. Like some of the others have said, start with one part of the car: usually the worst rusted part. Then keep going. If you cover your new metal with rust proofing paint (rust bullet for example), you can leave it for a while and not have to worry about 2 steps forward, one back. Your project will slowly get done while you can drive it and then you will have something in the end to be proud of while learning how to do it. Have your friend teach you the bodywork as he/she does it! Cleanup, paint, and fix as much of the original pieces you can, that will keep costs down. If you start getting discouraged, stop for a while then come back to it. It will be a great learning and fun experience if you don't have to have the car as your daily driver too. Good luck and post pics for everyone to see!
Mark

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I tore down my road runner to completely restore it in 94. The car is still apart, wish I would have done it sections at a time. The small parts add up fast when you do a complete disassembly.

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Don't let others stomp your idea into the ground. Keep a positive attitude and look at the car as individual goals, not one big one. This way you will not get overwhelmed. I would do this: keep the car as a driver so you can enjoy it while you work on it, don't go crazy. Like some of the others have said, start with one part of the car: usually the worst rusted part. Then keep going. If you cover your new metal with rust proofing paint (rust bullet for example), you can leave it for a while and not have to worry about 2 steps forward, one back. Your project will slowly get done while you can drive it and then you will have something in the end to be proud of while learning how to do it. Have your friend teach you the bodywork as he/she does it! Cleanup, paint, and fix as much of the original pieces you can, that will keep costs down. If you start getting discouraged, stop for a while then come back to it. It will be a great learning and fun experience if you don't have to have the car as your daily driver too. Good luck and post pics for everyone to see!
Mark

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