If you are willing to take on  a project vehicle it will become clear that the way you restore this unit will determine availability of parts, labor and money.  The days of finding rare vehicles which might benefit from a restoration to make the car as original as possible are slowly coming to an end.  You have heard of numbers matching vehicles and have likely seen these vehicles being sold in famous auction services like Barrett Jackson and Mecum for a tidy sum.  Most vehicles on the road today that have been restored in my opinion would not have benefited from being numbers matching so don’t place too much emphasis on this.  Find a vehicle that you like and remember you don’t have to pick a Cuda or a Mustang or a Challenger etc.  These vehicles are bringing high dollars in an unrestored form. The parts for these collectibles are also getting out of hand concerning price or the parts are made overseas and suffer from quality issues.  If your goal is to drive this vehicle and enjoy it as a roadworthy entity, do not worry about keeping everything original.  You choose the engine, the wheels, the paint color, the interior quality, etc.  Your goal is to take something not so nice and tired and make it something you enjoy driving.  Your goal is to save this vehicle from being put out to pasture for good!

My Econoline had many coats of paint on it with the last coat being applied by brush.  It may have been house paint but it all had to come off in order to assess what body work would be needed.  I used a gas powered heated pressure washer that sprays at 2500 psi and hot enough to melt the ‘O’ rings in the wand coupler.  This took time but worked well.  Once it was pressure washed some rusty components were measured for the new replacement panely and cut out.  We took the floors out of the van parts vehicle I had purchased because these were in really good condition having been inside the van and out of the weather.  It was a lot of spot welds that had to be removed in order for the floors to be removed.  These would be installed over the warped floors that are a cronic problem of these pick up trucks being so old and used for likely too heavy loads causing the metal to stretch and fatigue.  We will soon prepare the floor of the truck bed to have the new piece cut to fit and welded in good as new.