Team-BHP - Vintage & Classic Cars Restorations

I suggest that we start a new thread on Restorers of Vintage & Classic cars in India.Basically this should cover the name of the restorer, his company,location & if they specialise on certain marques or not.As we go by, we may include a 5 point assessment to rate the restorers. The 5 points could be Originality, Quality, Price, dependability, facilities.Rating can be on a 10 point scale.1 being best & 10 being poorest.Will this go well with the members?

I would personally not recommend this on the following grounds

Owners may not want the details of the cars to be listed
Restorers may have limited say they would be constrained by the owners requirements
Restorers may not want their charges to be known as large part of this business is still in the un-organized sector
There is lot of subjectivity on orginality as we do not have a standard system of judging across the country
5. Owners and Restorers do not take criticism well:D

IMHO details of the many be restorations done by TEAMCSA will inspire more people to raise the bar on restoration. The thread must focus on the cases where you have brought back as close to originality as possible. Secondly how solutions were found as resources are limited in India

Cheers

KPS

Quote:

Originally Posted by KPS (Post 2525022)

I would personally not recommend this on the following grounds

Owners may not want the details of the cars to be listed
Restorers may have limited say they would be constrained by the owners requirements
Restorers may not want their charges to be known as large part of this business is still in the un-organized sector
There is lot of subjectivity on orginality as we do not have a standard system of judging across the country
5. Owners and Restorers do not take criticism well:D

I fully agree with all the above especially the 5th one:D.
also most professional restorers will tend to exagerate the costs spent by the owner,lest the owner cannot quote an Unrealistic price!!!

I think that my posting has not been understood correctly.The evaluation will have
1} Name of restorer
2) Location
3} Does he take up all makes or restricted to only certain makes? Yes/No.
4) Price -Reasonable, high (No need to mention numbers)
5} Level of restoration- Almost/fully Original/Plain restoration
6} Punctuality- less than a year/1-2 yrs/ more than 2 yrs
7} Will you recommend him-Yes/might not/definitely no

We can start with these basic info. We will not be adding any critical comments on this.Basically it will be serve as a database.
Many owners can afford only a low/medium budget restoration. Consequently, originality might be compromised.But nevertheless, the work can be tidy.

Quote:

Originally Posted by C.S.ANANTH (Post 2536448)

I think that my posting has not been understood correctly.The evaluation will have
1} Name of restorer
2) Location
3} Does he take up all makes or restricted to only certain makes? Yes/No.
4) Price -Reasonable, high (No need to mention numbers)
5} Level of restoration- Almost/fully Original/Plain restoration
6} Punctuality- less than a year/1-2 yrs/ more than 2 yrs
7} Will you recommend him-Yes/might not/definitely no

We can start with these basic info. We will not be adding any critical comments on this.Basically it will be serve as a database.
Many owners can afford only a low/medium budget restoration. Consequently, originality might be compromised.But nevertheless, the work can be tidy.

Correct me if I am wrong.There seems to be some vested interest in this,if there should be no critical comments what is the use of such a thread?.It will serve only as an advertisement for the professional restorer/ group.There are enough avenues for such an advertisement already in the web,media,news papers etc

I am pained to hear when members talk about vested interests. Iwas suggesting we create a database of restorers in the country. To repeat, most owners are looking for reliable,reasonably priced restorers. I thought this data base will help. I have no vested interest.I do not need any publicity as I only take cars owned by a few friends of mine.to me it is a passion & part time profession.

I feel having a database will help people looking at getting their cars restored close to their place of stay.

Also feel that critical parameters can lead to a bit of a witch hunt, yet no purpose will be served if there are no -ve comments permitted.

So would suggest that -ve comments be permitted but limited to the person who owns the car, others though they may be experts in their own right should not comment directly about the -ves of the restoration. Though them could rate cars on the orginality or on a specific parameter like the smoothness of the Engine compared to when it is new, or help rendered in locating orginal spares and fixtures.

Quote:

Originally Posted by C.S.ANANTH (Post 2538487)

I was suggesting we create a database of restorers in the country. To repeat, most owners are looking for reliable,reasonably priced restorers. I thought this data base will help

Quote:

Originally Posted by ACM (Post 2538523)

Creating a data base is a good idea but will still serve a limited purpose as very few have the expertise to repair all kinds of cars. There are very few people who can actually repair vintage cars and I would rate Mr. Ananth high on this ability.

The other key thing is the owners budget for the restoration. Very few would actually spend to restore it back to "as in showroom condition" by replacement and not repair/modification of parts. The owners budget plays a very important roll for crediting/discrediting the restorer. Sometimes the restorer/owner get stuck due to the parts suppliers not supplying on time.

On the flip side we have seen so called restorers go over board and get the gullible owners spend more than the value of the cars. Sadly the owners loose interest when they realize that the cars will not recover the restoration cost let alone the price paid for the car originally.

IMHO there is just too much subjectivity in this topic and I would like to believe that there will far more negative comments than positive comments.

Cheers

KPS

KPS I actually totally agree on the earlier post by you where you mentioned

1) That owners and restorers may not take feedback well - That is the hard truth.
2) All owners may not want to go all the way - Yet I feel that this can be clarified for specific restorations.

Still some info even if not totally accurate would be better than no Info.

For example I am looking for a decent restorer for my 1956 Fiat 1100 (It is due now) who can do things the way I want it with absolute trust. I have a very good mechanic who will make the car run but not the best body restorer nor a guy to get me the right parts from the right places. Then on top of it since I wish to watch the change want a guy from Bombay close to Chembur or Thane.

A person I contacted from the data available on TBHP presently quoted me Rs. 5L for this car on the phone based on the condition that I described. ??? Possible but what I don't want to go the whole whole way and yet focus on the things that are important to me. Some times it is just the emotional attachement that gets some people to get going on their cars and it is not all about total originality.

Partial info database will atleast result in people like me who have been out of the loop for long having a easy reference point of options to go to and check out and then take a call based on own gut feel.

In this mad hurried world any info is a blessing in disguise.

I typically for all my cars (after a few botched up jobs) now choose to not get any work done since am not sure of the credentials and capability of the person handling my vehicles. A restorer needs to be informed of the history and past of the vehicles while a guy working on a new car needs to be innovating and yet have a good taste. And none of these can deliver without the ability to source well.

Quote:

Originally Posted by karlosdeville (Post 2540404)

Guys, we do have a directory section for just these kinds of details. Please do add to it.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/team-bhp-directory/

Hi Karl, I did check the directory.But that is classified city wise & not subject wise.I am suggesting a database of Car Restorers in India. With increasing collectors, I personally feel that such a data base will be very helpful.If my recommendation is agreeable to BHPians, perhaps I can begin with some names.
I had suggested a grading system too. But owing to objections raised I am willing to drop this. Hence only restorers names & city will feature in this thread.Therefore the subject will be :"Database of Restorers". This thread may be renamed so.