Essay --

Picture the ultimate dream car. Is it a brand new Mustang right off the show room floor? Maybe it is a SUV with heated leather seats. Or it might by something fast and imported, like a Ferrari, Lamborghini, or Porsche. For some people, dream cars don't come from the present or the future, but the past. But getting that dream car from the past isn’t always easy. A lot of the times it is rusting away in some old barn or out in a field with weeds growing through the floorboard. When someone finds that dream car in those conditions they can do a couple different things they can build it into a rat rod. A rat rod is where the outside of the car is left rusty and in the shape it was found in, and has a big powerful motor and a good strong transmission. Or the other choice is to restore the car to its former glory. When someone restore a car to its former glory there are four main categories or steps that they need to do; body work, paint, interior, and engine/transmission. The first step in body work is to take the car apart so that it is easier to get rid of all the dents, paint, and rust. Then take out all of the interior, and take off the mirrors, hood, fenders, and all of the extra parts that will make it easier to get off the paint. Paint stripping methods usually fall into two main categories: abrasive and chemical. In abrasive paint striping there is media blasting, and good old fashion sanding. The way media blasting works is the process of blasting an item with small particles of various abrasive substances at an extremely high velocity in order to remove paint and rust off a vehicle. There are many materials used to media blast cars like walnut shell, plastic beads, baking soda, and different types of sand. D... ...ne have less power. If the original transmission is being used then it as well should be gone through and cleaned. If someone doesn’t want to take the time to take the engine apart and clean every little part and then try to remember where every little piece went then just replacing both the engine and transmission might be the way to go. Buying a brand new engine and transmission has its advantages and its disadvantages. An advantage of buying them new is that they have all new parts and are less likely to break and can take less time than taking apart the engine. A disadvantage is that it can be more expensive than just using the old motor. By completing these steps an old rusted out car can be turned into the ultimate dream car. Whether it is turned in to a rat rod or in to the restored classic car, it is worth all that hard work to get that ultimate dream car.