Armed with this knowledge, you will be able to tell whether a vehicle is in your budget and if there are adequate parts available to complete your restoration. This information also helps a great deal when looking to buy. You will be able to better judge a vehicles condition by know which parts are missing and the cost of replacing those parts. If you see a missing part and you know its not available in reproduction, that could be a deal breaker or a bargaining chip. You can then use this information to leverage the seller into adjusting his or her price.
Information is powerful, so learn and save.
More on this subjest in Part 3, when we look at actually buying a vehicle for restoration. Which vehicles are good choices for first-timers and which to avoid.