If your pet project is to restore a classic automobile, Reynolds-Alberta Museum is offering a series of workshops that will help you out.
The museum’s professional restoration staff have developed workshops covering five restoration topic areas. If you choose to take the three-day option running from Nov. 16 to 19, it includes surface preparation, paints and finishes; vehicle interiors, trim and exterior detailing; and metal finish repair on automobile bodies.
The five-day option, Nov. 19 to 23, also includes the vehicle restoration process, and mechanical inspection and assessment.
Or you can choose to just enrol in any of the one-day sessions that appeal to you.
Workshops for both beginner and experienced restorers
Cynthia Blackmore, head of the museum’s marketing and communications team, says the workshops are suitable for beginners and experienced restorers. The instructors routinely restore vehicles of historic significance. These full-body-off-frame restorations restore to factory new, so hobbyists can learn how these museum-quality restorations are both the same, and different, from what they are doing.
“We’ve had people come from commercial restoration shops to take our courses and people who are very new to restoration, so there’s a wide range of knowledge in the course,” she said. “Really it’s a place to be with like-minded people, and maybe make some new friends and have a group of people that you can talk to in future.”
The classes are limited to 20 people, and offer limited hands-on opportunities if you choose to try some of the techniques presented. Attendees will also learn about some of the tools the museum staff use and why.
“A lot of people like to come here because they like to talk with our staff who are actually working on the projects and pick their brains,” Blackmore said.
“The workshops are presented in our restoration shop, so you get to be in our daily work environment and see the projects we’re working on.”
Cost for the five-day program is $775.95, and the three-day program is $496.95. A one-day sessions costs $189.95. In addition to the instruction, participants get a 48-page full-colour manual, lunch and refreshments, exposure to museum-quality restoration techniques, and admission to the Reynolds-Alberta Museum and Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame.
More information is available at reynoldsmuseum.ca, at booking.reynolds@gov.ab.ca, or by calling 780-312-2071 or 1-800-661-4726.
