If you're a hands-on muscle car enthusiast, you've likely been involved with some aspect of vintage car renovations, and you may have even tackled full-scale restoration projects. We know all too well how these undertakings can get out of hand. Having a bevy of time- and labor-saving tips at your disposal can help to make the .tasks easier, more tolerable and more rewarding once your project is complete.

In an effort to make garage life a little easier for our fellow enthusiasts, we’ve rounded up a few tips, tricks, and wrenching hacks to assist with restoration projects. After all, any time saved means more time to get out and enjoy those classics.

1. Big projects are bound to hit a point where it starts to feel as though completion is a bridge too far. To counter this, you’ll need an extra dose of inspiration and motivation — post a big picture of your dream machine on the wall to help keep things moving forward.

2. It may sound obvious, but you ought to have a factory shop manual for your vehicle on hand as you jump into that next project. Manuals and other literature are invaluable for gaining information and knowledge crucial for your project, and they take out some of the guesswork for particular tasks. You’ll also find them helpful during the disassembly/reassembly process.

3. While certainly not for the purist, a suspension rebuild that includes polyurethane bushings will significantly improve the handling capabilities of your machine, while remaining mostly unnoticed… if they’re black. Performance urethane bushings are often molded in colors like red or yellow, most sources also offer them in black, which helps the new pieces look stock once installed.

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