Classic Car Blog

Short Answer Classic truck restoration follows the same core principles as car restoration, with a few truck-specific priorities: frame and bed integrity, suspension geometry, and cab corner rust. Auto Art Restoration handles rust repair and metalwork at 100 to 300 hours of labor for most fabrication-heavy truck projects. Owners across Kentucky, Nashville, and Louisville drive […]

Short Answer: A full, complete restoration at Auto Art typically runs 500 to 1,000+ hours of labor at a flat $100 an hour. That puts most complete projects in the $50,000 to $100,000+ range, with parts billed separately at cost. The exact number depends mainly on how much rust and fabrication the car needs. It […]

Short Answer A show quality frame off restoration separates the body from the chassis completely. Every part gets removed, catalogued, and either restored or rebuilt to factory correctness. Auto Art Restoration treats concours-level work as our most demanding tier, requiring perfect panel gaps and period-correct materials throughout. Done right, a full frame off restoration typically […]

Short Answer Yes — parts availability is one of the biggest cost drivers on a vintage BMW restoration. Auto Art Restoration bills labor at a flat $100/hour and parts separately, at cost. When a part still exists in the aftermarket, it’s cheap. When it doesn’t, someone has to fabricate it by hand, and that pushes […]

Short Answer A BMW paint restoration typically costs $8,000 to $20,000 in labor. That range covers 80 to 200 hours of work at a flat $100/hour rate. Auto Art Restoration bills parts separately, at cost. Your final number depends on how much bodywork the panels need before paint, and how close to concours you want […]

Short Answer: A show quality fiberglass kit car build depends on several things. First, proper gel coat and panel prep. Second, reinforcing known stress points before they crack, and using the right filler and paint system for a material that flexes differently than steel. Finally, getting panel fitment right before finishing work begins. Skipping any […]

Short Answer: A show quality car paint job depends on what happens before the color ever goes on — full metal prep, correct primer and sealer, and a clean, controlled spray environment — followed by multiple thin coats, proper block sanding between stages, and enough cure time before wet sanding and buffing. Skip any one […]

Short Answer: A proper vintage BMW restoration takes a car from hidden corrosion, tired mechanicals, and years of deferred repair to a body that’s structurally sound, correctly finished, and mechanically sorted — but the “after” photo only shows the surface. The real difference between a proper restoration and a cosmetic refresh happens in the metalwork, […]

Short Answer: Correcting seam rust on a classic car means cutting out every trace of the corroded metal, welding in a properly formed replacement panel, and rebuilding the seam using the method the factory actually used. This could be lead (body solder) on cars that were leaded from the factory, or weld-through primer and seam […]

Short Answer: Most owners underestimate how much the classic car restoration process reveals once the vehicle actually comes apart. The five surprises that show up most often are: hidden rust in places no one checked, parts that simply don’t exist anymore and have to be fabricated, old “repairs” that have to be undone before new […]