You are what you drive. Contrary to the cliché, ‘You are what you eat’, the type of car also says a lot about its driver. I’m not only talking about the aesthetic aspects of the car but how it’s maintained, engine-wise, considering the wear-and-tear factors, says a lot about the owners and the connection they have with their car. Take classic cars, for example, these cars usually don’t stay for the long haul but with a car owner’s love and expertise, alongside great resourcefulness for obsolete car parts, classic cars may live up to the next generation in the family (or someone else’s)!
Owning a classic car can be a daunting affair in the world of automobiles. It can cost you all your time and money to keep the gears in check on a regular basis. And I don’t mean a small sum of money, but classic car parts take up a huge chunk of your budget. But it doesn’t have to be petrifying, doing a lot of research, knowing where to look and a lot of socializing might just teach you how to choose the right classic car parts.
REPLACEMENT OR ORIGINAL PARTS?
The first step to finding the right car parts is to figure out the specific make, model and year. Next, is to decide whether you want replacements parts or original parts. Replacements parts may be more scarce than the original ones, but original classic car parts are a great way to make your classic cars as authentic as possible.
RACE OR STREET ENGINES?
You need to determine if you want to drive your collector like Schumacher or just take trips down to memory lane and cruise to modern drive-in theaters. Knowing if you want a race engine for the former or a street engine for the latter will help you choose the right classic car engine. And make sure to choose torque next to horsepower!
BODY AND INTERIORS
Your classic car will seem naked without the matching body and interiors. This is an archaic art form which is sometimes not overseen by the modern eye. So you can either purchase them from restoration parts specialists or have them custom made.
TIRES AND RIMS
A classic car’s tires are as essential as a person’s shoes. If you don’t pick the right one, the car won’t be able to run like clockwork. Initially, selecting the right tires always depends on size and tread. A person can get bruises wearing the wrong-sized shoes. Same with cars, wrong-sized tires will harm your car’s efficiency. Also, when choosing tires for your classic cars, it’s best to take into consideration the climate factors you’re constantly driving in.
JUNKYARDS, FORUMS, CLUBS AND SWAP MEETS
For the rest of the classic car parts that you just can’t seem to get your hands on, it’s always a good idea to look for other sources outside your area or online. This is useful especially when you lack the expertise in maintaining or restoring a classic car. Since you’re not the only classic car enthusiast in the entire universe, getting information from the experts might do you good. This is a good time to make use of the internet, join online classic car forums or search for parts from online classic car shops. It’s also a perfect time to join clubs and swap meets because these people probably also joined for the same reason, how to choose the right classic car parts. Or if you have all the time in your hands, you can search high and low for those classic car parts, may it be in brick-and-mortar car shops or junkyards, wherever it is, I’m sure another man’s trash could be the treasure you’re looking for!
