A few years ago, I was asked to assist a friend who was restoring a 1967 Mustang Fastback that his father had left to him. Prior to spending months on that Mustang, I had never really worked on a car. I learned a lot about the process of restoring vintage cars from a friend, so these days, this is what I do in my free time. As a matter of fact, I’ve already made a nice profit off the sales of two of my finished projects, which has me wondering if I might be able to expand this side hustle into a legitimate company.
But I’d need to track down some reliable sources of vintage car parts if I wanted to make a business out of it. I’m specifically looking for stores or dealerships that carry a wide enough selection of products so that I can be reasonably certain that I’ll be able to find what I need regardless of the type of vehicle I’m working on.
In addition to having a large selection of classic car parts for all makes and models, I would like these merchants to have affordable prices. The biggest outlay for an automobile restoration is the need to purchase components like brake discs, clutch kits, water pumps, oil filters, headers, and quarter panels. I’d need my classic car parts dealer to have the lowest prices available because I’d be buying these things fairly frequently and would be a devoted customer.
To find the vintage car parts I needed for my previous projects, I had to travel more than 75 miles. That’s not exactly a short distance, and making those trips repeatedly wouldn’t be practical. I’m now inclined to buy all of my classic car parts online because of this. By doing this, I could have everything delivered to my door within a week, or in an emergency, I could pay for overnight shipping. Instead of commuting back and forth between stores, I would then have more time to work on the cars themselves.
Additionally, since location wouldn’t be a factor at all, it would be simpler to find vintage car parts online. I would have access to much more stock and could place orders from stores in southern California or northern Maine. Additionally, I am aware that online merchants always provide the best prices, which is obviously fantastic from a business perspective.
I’ll be able to decide better once I have a better understanding of some of these online classic car parts retailers, but for the time being, I believe I’ve convinced myself to take the risk and start my own restoration business.
