After you spend a moment admiring the beauty of it all, your thoughts inevitably turn to protecting the investment you have made. I believe this is the origin of “Trailer Queen” restorations -the investment is so high that the owner will not risk even ordinary wear and tear on the car by driving it on the street. At the other end of the spectrum, no one in his right mind takes a freshly restored classic and parks it outside to be battered by sun, rain, and temperature. If you’re committed to driving your car, the best answer for the protection and maintenance of your investment lies somewhere between those extremes.

Obviously, storage is a big deal, and there’s an entire article and interview devoted to that topic. But proper maintenance of your bodywork, paint and trim are also big part of protecting your investment. Get this right and combine good maintenance with good storage and your restoration will still look new in a year, three years, or even five years hence.

From the time you take delivery of your restored classic, you need to follow a rigorous maintenance program. And the first few months are absolutely critical in the life of your paint job. Above all else, you need to follow the instructions of your paint professional. Each formulation that is used comes with instructions for care. It takes several months for paint to completely cure and harden. There are still volatiles evaporating out of your finish throughout that time. Therefore, if your painter says not to put a car cover on it, not to wax it, and to wash it with simple products, you must follow those instructions exactly.

Once that curing period is over, use products recommended by professional detailers or your painter. Again, follow all the instructions on your selected products for best results. The way our fathers used to do it and the products they used were the best of their time, but products and techniques are different today and require us to learn new ways.

One variable you can research is your water hardness. Hardness is a measure of the dissolved mineral content in your water. If you have hard water (with lots of minerals) and you let that water evaporate on your paint, the minerals are left behind in the form of water spots. Those minerals crystallize on your paint and are difficult to remove without scratching your finish. A quick test is to boil some water away until the pan is dry. Did the water leave a mineral residue? That’s hardness. In general, if you’re using well water it’s likely to be hard, and if you’re using city water it’s likely to have been softened for you.

But even soft water can leave spots. Your best defense is to have a good supply of high-quality soft terry cloth or microfiber towels handy when you wash and wax your car. Never wash your car in direct, hard summer sunshine. Water will evaporate faster than you can dry the car. Wash your car in a shady place, or even indoors if possible, and dry it off as fast as you can.

So, water spots are one thing, but what about the nightmare scenario? I took my classic on the highway one day--headed to a Concours D’Elegance early in the morning. As I motored along the road, the car in front of me wandered onto the shoulder and tossed back a spray of gravel. I swerved to the next lane but it was too late -the front of my car was peppered with rocks, taking several small chips out of the paint. I was distraught, but at least the judges said they wouldn’t deduct points for the damage under those circumstances. But I was still left with a double-handful of rock chips to repair!

The best bet for paint repair is to take the car back to the original painter. With any luck, you were given a can of spare paint at the time the car was painted. That spare can was the exact mixture used to paint your car, so you know the match should be close to perfect. Take that can back to the painter and have him assess the damage and decide to reshoot or touch up the area. Often, they’ll be able to wet-sand the touch up and bring your paint back to perfect condition.

If money’s a problem or you can’t take your car to a pro, then get in there and touch it up as carefully as you can. Without extensive experience in paint and bodywork, you can’t really mask and reshoot your car at home. Feathering in the new paint, dealing with clearcoat and getting fresh paint to adhere is generally beyond the amateur restorer’s capability in a garage. However, you can usually wet-sand your touch-up to a pretty good finish -but use only 2000 grit dripping wet soapy sandpaper, and sand only the touch-up, not the surrounding paint. Follow the sanding with a clear touch-up, then use a good paint polish to shine up the repair.

For trim, the basic rule is to keep it clean, attack rust before it starts, and at all costs, don’t fuss over it too much. You can do more damage than good if you start worrying about tiny flaws. Take it to a pro if there’s something that really bothers you.

Body, paint, and trim maintenance is easy -just always treat your car with as much care as you did on that first day the restoration was finished.