Restoration: Does it Make Sense Anymore?

[bharathbigb]

Hello Bharath,
Wishing you all the Best in your dream of going in for Restoration work.

There is no point in going for a car like Padmini or Maruti ss80, where you may find it difficult to get the spare parts.

SB 308 could be ok as you can get the parts from most of the Maruti spare parts dealers. With your Budget of Rupees One lac, a well maintained car could be available for about Rs 45000-50000. There are many such cars available in the state of Kerala. Many youngsters do lot of modifications in old cars and finally sell it off when they are happy with what they have done n learnt.
But remember not to go for a car that was abused or having more mileage run like over one lac kms because you will end up with spending on more spare parts without peace of mind. Since Ucal manufacturing unit is in Chennai, you can get the spares for Carburetor easily and the old Auto Mechanics in Chennai are expert in handling the old Maruti cars.

Good Luck o you.
Take care.

Thanks a lot sir.Past few days,I have enquired a lot of Mechanics,both young ones and old ones who have been through a lot of Restoration work.Almost all of them said that Padmini Parts are plentily available at Pudupet (Chor Bazaar of South) and ordering them can take just a matter of hours to arrive.They arent Original obviously but the Quality of them is pretty good.The story is entirely different for the SS80 though.Only 2 Mechanics of more than 10 whom I paid a visit,even knew about this car.The others had literally no idea and were surprised to know that Maruti made it.So yeah,This is proof that SS80 would be a pain to restore and maintain.

But as you (and many others) say,SB308 makes most sense here.Parts are much more easier to get (Really hope I can get the M800 Type 1 grill),The car itself is easy to maintain and is quite rare nowadays.I cannot find a well maintained one though.It's all abused and available for 30K.That's the point of a Restoration,to bring it back like how it rolled out from the Production line.Can't get a good one,polish it and call that a 'Restoration',Can I ? Lol And yeah,UCAL was in Chennai so stuff related to the Carburettor wouldn't be that hard to work with,I hope.

 

[Ambylovers]

Hi Bharat,
I saw your initial post on this thread. I could not able to go through the entire thread. Following were some of my inputs.

Restoration is not a very easy task. If you come across any good technicians (Mechanics/Tinkers/Painters/Electricians etc) then your job is very easy.

Based on your age, kindly take help from any elders to deal with everyone including buying a new car/bike.

Whatever automotive you choose, the Engine, Gearbox need to be in good condition. Try maximum for such cars/Bikes. In case you cant make it, then before getting a half conditioned car get some reference of good mechanics and check whether its possible to succeed in rebuilding engines. Normally the gear box if not maintained in good manner, the humming sound will be present.

At last if you need to fulfill your dreams at any cause, then go ahead. There will some sort of happiness and peace which cant be expressed in words.

 

[fiat6244]

Hello Bharath, how have you been?.
which car did you decide upon, is the restoration done?