How to Preserve a Vintage Rig : Denwerks Edition
Many of you have seen what are vehicles look like once we've preserved them and prepared them for your eyes, but we haven't shown a full transformation of a Denwerks vehicle. That's right; the cars we get are usually not in top notch shape when we get them. We spend time detailing each one and try to keep each one as original as possible. From rebuilding brake systems to replacing fuel pumps; we make sure our vehicles meet the Denwerks standard! We dont try to restore a rig, but preserve the rig for what it is.
The best place to start is to see the potential in your vintage vehicle. Most of the vintage rigs we find are barn finds or forgotten vehicles buried in the garage to never see light again. The paint isn't always in the best condition or so it seems. For instance check out this 1966 Galaxie before and after Polishing and Waxing.
On the left you can see the unpolished unbuffed version of this car. On the right you can see what the car looks like after some elbow grease and a nice polish! quite a difference.
Another good comparison is this 1940 Chevrolet pickup. The paint wasn't perfect and you can see the flaws, all faded out, splotchy, but a nice overall cleaning does wonders to your vehicle. I honestly think I like it better with the paint flaws than I would a full repaint. it gives the car character and a nice patina; just like a car should be for being 78 years old!
The biggest improvement was the wheels and tires, it has reversed rusty chrome wheels on it with old Grand Am tires on it, we brought it back to more original, we polished out the old paint and it just looked awesome, no paint work on the outside except for a few touch ups on the the fenders. But check out the Preservation!
If your truly looking to preserve a car and not restore a car its best to make preserving choices and not restoring choices. They're very distinctive but people tend to not know the difference. a good preserving choice for this truck was to know there was no way to preserve this old wood. The wood was cracking, had water rotting in it, and just overall didn't have a good way to preserve it.
Replacing the wood was a way to preserve the truck. You can now use the truck bed without having fear of the entire bed falling apart. The rails however we were able to preserve and believe it or not the rails above and below are the same ones! The more you keep it original, the more you are preserving!
Details Details Details!!! This was the motor before detailing. We did not replace any parts here shown.
After a little TLC, tuning, gaskets, rebuilding of some of the mechanical systems, and throw on some original looking paint and decals, you got a detailed engine compartment just as it would have looked in the 1940's from the factory!
Was this helpful? What did you think of how the truck turned out? Send us a message and let us know what you think! Interested in having your vehicle Preserved by Denwerks? Contact us Here.
