Classic car restoration in Edmonton

Frame-off means the body comes off the chassis. Everything gets separated, stripped, repaired and rebuilt on a bare frame, then assembled once. It is the only honest way to fix a car that is rotten underneath, and it is the expensive way.

A rolling restoration keeps the car together and works it in phases — brakes and drivetrain this winter, bodywork the next, interior after. You drive it in between and pay as you go. Slower on paper, easier on a real budget.

Nobody can quote a restoration off photos alone. We tear down far enough to see structure — floors lifted, rockers probed, frame checked, panel gaps measured — and then write a scope against what is actually there rather than what the seller said.

Surprises get a phone call and a photo. A restoration where the customer finds out at the end is a restoration done wrong.

Structure before cosmetics, every time. Rot comes out, panels get replaced or fabricated, and gaps get set with the doors hung and the shell braced. A car that gets paint before its metal is right will telegraph every shortcut inside two winters.

On a frame-off, the engine, transmission, rear end, brake lines, fuel lines and harness all come out anyway. Sixty-year-old wiring is a fire waiting for a reason — we replace it rather than chase it.

Rebuilt to stock or upgraded is your call, and it is one of the biggest levers on the final number. Upgrades usually route through our engine swap and restomod work.

The last ten percent takes the longest: fitting trim, chasing rattles, bleeding brakes, setting timing, aligning glass, driving it, then fixing what shows up. Cars leave here running and sorted, not trailered out with a list attached.

Projects arrive in boxes. We inventory what is there, list what is missing, and tell you honestly whether finishing it beats starting over with a better car. Sometimes that answer costs us the job. We say it anyway.