Restoration training

Re issue 211 and the editorial and news items relating to specialist training needs for vehicle restoration.

Spending most of my life in motor vehicle repair, as a mechanic, service manager, then tutor and eventually training manual author, I noted the comments of the guiding bodies e.g. IMI ( I reached, from student graduate to Fellow level in the IMI until I retired 12 years ago.

The problem is too much emphasis can be put on quickly acquiring ‘ticked’ off credits to NVQs (or whatever has overtaken them now?). Real ability in crafts can only come from in-depth activities… regularly wheeling the steel, welding the aluminium, load the lead, fitting the bearings etc, and sadly, making mistakes… great learning tool, mistakes! I should know, I’ve made a few in the garage, still do, but they now come from old, tired brain cells. Unfortunately the hourly rate paid for skilled technicians/ artisans is grossly enhanced by business overheads, to make the cost to the customer seem out of proportion to the work done.

And if that work is of poor quality, then another disillusioned classic car owner uses the get out of jail Ebay advertisement to recoup some of their loss and that’s one less enthusiast in the pool. And so magazine such as CM provide valuable guidance and encouragement to tackle a range of repairs on everyday classics – repairs uneconomic to farm out. It’s a sad fact that most restoration projects do not even realise the money put into the job… but then some people spend small fortunes learning how to whack a little white ball into an equally small hole hundreds of yards away! You pays your money and takes your choice.

Ted Bemand

GS: See the news story on page 8, Ted. I'm delighted a worthy qualification for vehicle restoration is now being devised by the FBHVC and IMI.