So I titled this entry as “Nuts and Bolts” because building a vehicle will involve all sorts of bolts, clips, nuts and the like.  From the many years I have spent working on classic vehicles a couple of suggestions come to mind.  First, it is is better to find a project that is complete and not torn down into baskets, boxes, and bags.  Unless you are experienced at throwing tools and swearing creatively don’t tackle a torn down project to be resurrected.  The internet market place ads and Kijiji for example I have noticed are getting plugged with projects that have been started years ago and torn down to further than needed to be.  Some people go as far as marking each zip lock bag with a short description of the contents of said bag.  That is great for the person who tore the vehicle apart, but for the newcomer it is not as simple.  Even with experience from past projects it becomes a jigsaw puzzle finding what length and style of bolt went where and why do I have a bunch of parts left over?  Yes, alot of projects come with accumulated parts from other cars that the selling owner has included in the sale.  This may have just compounded the problem of assembly.  Second, don’t follow You Tube experts who believe that tearing a car down to its base components is the way to properly resurrect a vehicle.  This is where I see many enthusiasts stray and take every nut and bolt possible apart.  If your goal was to enter your vehicle in a concours restoration  show well go ahead with the tear down.  I will say good luck finding all the correct date code pieces that a high end build require.  I will also say glad you had a couple hundred thousand dollars for the build to end up with a vehicle that is so costly that driving it for pleasure is not possible due to fear of chips and scratches. These vehicles are great for the rich Biff and Muffy buyers who show up at Barrett Jackson or Mecum auctions to purchase  or sell high priced trophys that will spend their time resting in climate controlled garages to be shown to friends but never driven.  Not my cup of tea…….and not my class of friends The pinnacle of building a vehicle is not to make it exactly as it was leaving the manufacturer with all the paint markings and tags that may have been removed at the selling dealership when new anyways.  This is just one form of building a vehicle.  It is not the  Be All End All way to enjoy this hobby…..rather it is just one way to do it.  I guess a person could dip their project into a large bat of melted gold and brag that he or she has a gold plated vehicle.  The next guy who sees this will likely say “Wow…but mine will be dipped in melted platinum!”  Do what gets you on the road with your skill level and amount of funds available.  I have seen several people building ‘Rat Rods’ and not painting the outside of the vehicle or others leaving the paint original with rust and worn out areas leaving it as a patina vehicle.  There isn’t a way of building that is right, just a way that is right for you.

So back to more nuts and bolts.  With some past builds I have purchased a kit of nuts and bolts for the exact vehicle I am working on.  These kits are 90 % correct and come bagged with descriptions of what the contents are for.  It is always nice working with new hardware.  AMK is a company who sell such kits (photo below).  They cost a few hundred dollars, or at least that was the price a couple of years ago. Who knows, maybe they went up with the price of beef and now demand $1000 per kit.  Most of the projects that I am completing now are not sought out vehicles for the high end buying crowd.  If I actually was building a rare vehicle that commands more money at time of sale I might splurge and buy a bolt kit.  I am trying to keep the price as reasonable as I can so I use the original bolts and nuts. I clean the threads and outer metal with a high speed grinder fixed with a wire wheel.  This way I am not depriving myself of taking skin off my fingers, dodging hardware that binds in the wheel and fires out at light speed, either at me or somewhere landing in the garage.  Oh you may hear where it fell but it is unlikely you will ever find it until you finish your project.  Even with the wire wheel challenges I still recommend learning how to command such a talent.  I use clear coat to cover the bolts to protect them from the elements which will lead to rust coating again on bare metal parts.  Since I build my project vehicles and paint as I go I usually have partial cans of clear coat that works well for these bolts.  The clearcoat I use has a hardener in it.  It will last for a couple of weeks after being activated if you keep it in a fridge or cooler.  I wouldn’t use this clear on a body panel after four days from activating the hardener into the can, but for bolt and nuts it is fine.

To end this segment off I want to go back to my comments concerning the many ways to build a vehicle.  I think many people have found out that finding tradesmen to do certain jobs needed for the build are in short supply.  For example, body shops used to take on old vehicles as a filler job when times are slow.  Now there are few shops that will get involved with a project car.  I get it.  Unless you do a vehicle paint and body work yourself will you understand the amount of time, work, and supplies needed to complete a project.  Years ago I relied on body shops to paint my project vehicles.  I tore them apart and re assembled them once painted so the shop did not have to worry about that aspect. But over time the shops were busy with insurance work and did not want to do it.  The cost of supplies have tripled since I built most of my projects thirty years ago. This is why I have begun to learn this trade to best of my ability using my shop and painting without a spray booth.  You can get decent results in your garage concerning the paint job.  Yes it takes practice and a bit of research but You Tube has many channels strictly showing how to paint either with aerosol cans or with a HVLP gun that can be purchsased from a store like Princess Auto.  I choose aerosol cans mixed at the same time at the automotive paint shop.   It requires me to guess how many cans are going to be needed so I always buy extra.  In the future I will have the exact color in case I have to do a touch up and blend.  The results are good.  No I am not going to win the “Best of Paint” at some car show, but the majority of people cannot tell the difference between a high priced job and the job that I do.  Judges can tell the difference which doesn’t matter to me because I am not at those car shows anyway.  I am too busy driving my ride.