When you want a “proper” restoration on your car, when do you expect the restoration to be finished? One big factor that you should consider when wanting a “proper” restoration at Graveyard Run Restorations is the time frame. At Graveyard Run Restorations, an average build typically takes about 1 to 2 years, or longer is some cases.
With every frame-off restoration, we begin by reversing the factory’s assembly process. During the disassembling process we label every single part all the way down to how many screws, nuts, bolts, etc. were removed from that part. Also, with each part, we have to determine things such as: is this part salvageable? How rare is this part? Was the part that was taken off correct for the vehicle’s era? If the part is determined not to be correct or needs to be repaired, then that is a whole other process that has to be researched separate from the tear down. During the research process, we will in most case speak with one “old guy” who then sends you to another “old guy” who then send you to another “old guy” and so on. With one person referring you to another person, that can sometimes take over a week to actually speak to a person who knows about the particular part you are inquiring about. If parts are required to be sent out for repair, we sometimes run into a long waiting period, such as 6 months or longer, before they can repair the parts for us. Once the vehicle has been disassembled and all parts have been labeled, tagged, and bagged, then someone has to look over the frame to make sure there is not any damage that can come back to haunt you in the future.
The disassembling process that we use on a frame-off restoration at GYR normally takes us about 2 weeks to 1 month. This ensures that everything is documented in detail to make it easy for GYR to put a vehicle back together correctly at the end. This only happens if the car comes to us fully intact. If a vehicle shows up with parts in boxes and has had some other work done on it, that can make our process take longer. We then have to figure out where the parts belong on the car (because we didn’t take them off) before bagging, tagging, and labeling them. As you can see, tearing a vehicle down can take some time and even more so if it is delivered to us in boxes. Check back in 2 weeks for Frame-Off Restorations Process (Part 2 – Bodywork and more)
Rachel Richardson and the GYR gang