Frank's Ten Lessons Learned

[Frank D.]

10.

9. Even Arnold

8. really need to do the job right.

7.

6. Accept the fact that there is no one quick, dependable way to bleed Corvette disc brakes.

5. Take your original estimate of how many days it will take to complete your Corvette restoration; and then double the estimate to find your approximate date of completion.

4. Take your original estimate of how many dollars it will take to complete your Corvette restoration; and then double it to find your real cost of the restoration.

3. after you have test driven the car, everything works perfectly and there are no leaks.

2.

1. Never let a relative do your restoration in his garage.

almost


Troy, Virginia

[Charles F.]

Re: Frank's Ten Lessons Learned

11. After the restoration is complete, add another 20% to the cost to "dial-in" the car [that you thought was perfect].

12. Expect the "exact reproductions" to be not so exact.



chuck

[Rob M.]

Re: Frank's Ten Lessons Learned

13. Don't remove your waterpump on a C1 without supporting your engine ;-)

[Richard M.]

Re: Frank's Ten Lessons Learned

14. If you have a 50-50 chance of getting the orientation of a guz-onta bracket or a guz-inta thingy, you will get it wrong after you are all done and have to do it over again.

15. Any little task that you say "I don't need to look it up in the stink'in AIM because I'm smart".........will have to be redone because you forgot to put on the little item in step 2 of 6, and will have to do it all over again anyways.

16. Any "this'll be a 5 minute job" in your mind.......will take ONE HOUR!

Rich
p.s. great list Frank!

[Alan S.]

Re: Frank's Ten Lessons Learned

17. If things seem to be going really well it's only because you don't yet realize something bad is happening.
Regards,
Alan

[Donald T.]

Re: Frank's Ten Lessons Learned

Uttering words "while I'm at it" inevitably leads to a frame off restoration.

[Tony S.]

Re: Frank's Ten Lessons Learned

Uttering words "while I'm at it" inevitably leads to a frame off restoration.

Truer words have never been spoken!

[Ray G.]

Re: Frank's Ten(18) Lessons Learned

18. Make it a labor of love !

[Gene M.]

Re: Frank's Ten Lessons Learned

19. something with always leak or drip........ always

[Frederick W.]

Re: Frank's Ten Lessons Learned

20. If you buy a body-off restored car such that only minimal tweaking will be needed to get it ready for flight judging, a second body-off restoration is in your future.

[Paul J.]

Re: Frank's Ten Lessons Learned

10.

9. Even Arnold

8. really need to do the job right.

7.

6. Accept the fact that there is no one quick, dependable way to bleed Corvette disc brakes.

5. Take your original estimate of how many days it will take to complete your Corvette restoration; and then double the estimate to find your approximate date of completion.

4. Take your original estimate of how many dollars it will take to complete your Corvette restoration; and then double it to find your real cost of the restoration.

3. after you have test driven the car, everything works perfectly and there are no leaks.

2.

1. Never let a relative do your restoration in his garage.

almost


Troy, Virginia

Frank, these are great.

But I have some comments:
10. Remove the ones that will be the most difficult first. Standard rule of thumb in my shop.
8. The Snap On man, Sears, Harbour Freight, Northern Tool. You can never have enough tools.
7. Bubba!
6. It takes two people.
4. Spend some time with the parts catalogs up front, but you're right, it will still cost a lot more.
1. Brother Bubba! Cousin Bubba!

[Jim L.]

Re: Frank's Ten Lessons Learned

3. after you have test driven the car, everything works perfectly and there are no leaks.

I did this once.... by mistake. When I got back home from the first shake down drive, one tie rod end nut was unscrewing itself and the tie rod end was loose in the steering arm.

Now, everything is fully torqued and cotter pinned (and in some cases marked with a dab of paint) before I move on to the next area.

Bottom line, you might want to re-think #3.

Jim

[John H.]

Re: Frank's Ten Lessons Learned

21. When the one last important part you need to finish the job finally comes off the UPS truck, it's either the wrong part, doesn't work, or won't fit.

[Dick W.]

Re: Frank's Ten Lessons Learned

22. Remove all the body mount fasteners before you try to lift the body

23. Parts will fit in the wrong direction, they will not work when installed in the wrong direction

24. Murphy's law:When anything can go wrong, it will, and at the worst possible time

25. Murphy was an optimist

26. Self etching epoxy primer will stick to chrome and glass, and lacquer thinner, paint remover, finger nails, etc will not remove it

[Jean C.]

Re: Frank's Ten Lessons Learned

How do Dickie know about #26?
Best regards,