Project management: Let’s get this restoration started

(Editor’s note: Jake Mayne is a professional and certified project manager who also has restored more than a dozen collector vehicles. This is the third in a 4-part series — to be published each Friday in March — in which he shares how to apply project managing techniques to save time and money when doing your own restoration. This week’s subject: executing  your build.)

Time to rock and roll. Take-a-part starts. Bag and box. Get your long-lead items, such as re-chroming, to the vendor so they can begin work.
Body and paint is another long-lead item. Get your car to the shop.

Managing the body and paint vendor will most likely be your biggest job. The supply and demand of skilled tradesmen are not in your favor here. Decent body and paint people are in short supply.

Go through your parts list and determine availability. A parts list can grow and change. Determine what you will buy online, or at a local parts store, and what you will need to find used.

Managing changes: The largest risk to keeping any project plan on time and on budget is the car owner. Subcontractors salivate when the change orders arrive. Change orders often are priced much differently than original orders.

But realize that unforeseen changes are expected, for example, you may not know how bad things are until old paint is removed. Expect an additional charge for materials and labor. This is where the 10-20 percent budget project reserve comes in handy.

Next, in Part 4: Assembly and finishing

Read more:

• Part 1: Questions to ask before starting your build
• Part 2: How to plan your car restoration
• Part 4: Let’s finish this restoration already!