Restoring a Classic Car's Body and Paint: Where to Start

Inspect

Look at rocker panels, wheel arches and floors.

Budget

Scope grows once panels come off. Plan a cushion.

Rust

Cut out rust-through and replace metal.

Bodywork

Straighten panels and use filler sparingly.

Paint

Choose original color or a change and decide on finish quality.

Know what you own before you quote anything

Before you ask for an estimate, collect what you know about the car: the year and model, whether panels are original, any past accident history and where it has been stored. A car that lived in a dry garage is a different project from one that sat outside near the coast. Photographs of the underside, the rocker panels and the inside of the trunk floor tell a shop more than a phone description does.

Write down your goal in a sentence: a clean daily driver, a weekend cruiser, or a show car. That sentence sets the budget more than any line item.

Sequence matters

Restoration work follows a fixed order because each step covers the one before it. Metalwork and rust repair come first, then body filler and shaping, then primer and blocking, then color and clear coat. Doing paint before the metal is right means paying twice.

If the budget is limited, spread the project across stages rather than skimping on any one. A car with sound metal and an honest repaint will outlast one with a glossy finish over rust. We tell you plainly where a project needs a specialist beyond a body and paint shop.