Project Street Rod

Book excerpt: Project Street Rod is a complete guide to restoring a vintage car, written by auto-restoration guru Larry Lyles, a regular contributor to Auto Restorer magazine. In this detailed 21-chapter volume, Lyles walks the car owner through every step of the modification, from the disassembly of the car and to the finish touches, all with detailed instructions. Lyles transforms a beat-up 1946 Ford into a car the “looks nice, is very dependable, and is decked out with many of the [necessary] modern-day trappings.” The title of each chapter is straightforward and tells the restorer exactly which step Lyles is explaining. The contents includes: beginning the disassembly, exterior and interior, and taking proper measurements of each component; installing the front suspension; installing the engine; shocks, spring and metal lines; floor pan installation, “suicide” doors, chopping the top, completing the top chop, seats, air-conditioning, and brake pedal; first project mock-up; working with body filler; color selection; new parts and fresh primer; ordering critical parts; the final clear coats; buildup; interior trim; headliner and center console; and finishing touches. Each step in every chapter is photographed as the author progresses along, with captions to spell out exactly what has to happen. The book offers helpful advice about choice of tools and tips to make even beginners feel confident about tackling the many steps involved. With nearly forty years experience in repairing, rebuilding, and restoring classic cars (and lots of unclassic ones like this 1946 Ford!), Lyles emphasizes the reader’s need to organize his or her project by determining the course of the project, researching suppliers, making lists of parts and their conditions, creating spreadsheets of estimated and actual costs, and photographing each component as a reference for later in case the restoration goes off track. Each chapter ends with a “notes” page for the reader to record his or her progress, making this manual a practical workbook as well. When the reader gets to the final pages of the book and reads the sections “Starting Up” and “The Walk Around,” there will be a true sense of accomplishment. An appendix of part suppliers and an index complete the book.