ALT-1 Automotive Restoration Digital Photography Tools
Add a computer and digital camera to your toolbox. We've all done it during a restoration or just to make repairs. We tear things down with little thought of how it all has to go back together again. After all we have a good service manual that should tell us how to reassemble things. However, like most projects, it takes longer to complete. In the case of complete restoration, the interval between disassembly and reassembly is often measured in years, sometimes decades. Over this period you forgot exactly how that wiring harness is routed through the engine compartment or which wires go to which terminals. Maybe, a starter has to be twisted in a certain way to remove it or a structural member has to be removed to get to the driveshaft. Months or years later, you forget about the twisting or the order of parts reassembly.
Many old cars enthusiasts add a notebook and a camera to their toolbox, then take copious notes and many "before" photos as they progress through a teardown. Today, a better solution is a computer and a digital camera. Indeed, you might want install a computer right in your workshop. Since an old PC with is all that is needed, you can find one cheaply at garage sales. A laptop is even more convenient, Or maybe even find one free, since disposing of these obsolete computers is becoming a national problem. If you use the computer with greasy fingers, get a plastic cover for the keyboard like ones used in parts stores. Digital cameras are better than film cameras or even Polaroid cameras. You can keep taking pictures until you get the best shot with the right lighting and view images before saving the photo.
Periodically, review and edit your computer entries adding the images taken with the digital camera. If have access to a scanner, add any sketches and diagrams you made to trigger your memory at reassembly time. Also scan illustrations and instructions from service manuals and add these to the computer files. Don't forget to make backup files and store them on another computer, travel drive, CD ROM or other storage device. Better yet, also print out a hard copy and store in a safe location.
This might seen like a lot of time consuming work, but then again you might spend hours trying to get a carburetor or transmission assembled correctly without details as to all the pieces go back together and in what order. Detailed information and photos is especially important if you are doing a concours restoration where authenticity requires knowing how things looked originally.
