Classic car restoration in Dubai at Royal Prince Auto Care, DIP 2. We bring rust, leaks and brakes up to the RTA classic standard.
Tell us your car, what it needs and how to reach you. A service advisor will call you back to talk through the work.
The work this service covers at our Dubai Investment Park workshop. Open the full details below.
A classic car is due for restoration once 1 of 6 signs appears. The 6 are a hard start, rust under the paint, fluid under the engine, uneven brakes or lamps, faded paint and cracked tyres. Each sign leads back to a part that age or storage has worn out.
Porsche states that a classic left standing for long periods can fail to start, can jolt and can stop firing on all cylinders. We clean the carburettor or injectors and the electric fuel pump, and replace the fuel parts that have corroded.
Blisters and brown stains on the sills, wheel arches or floor edges show rust working under the paint. We cut the corroded steel back to sound metal and weld in a new section.
Drops of fuel, oil or coolant under a parked classic come from a seal, gasket or hose that has aged. We follow each leak back to the part that weeps and fit a new seal, gasket or hose.
A car that pulls to one side under braking, or a headlamp dimmer than its partner, has one side worn or mismatched. We overhaul the brakes on the left and right of the axle and fit a matching pair of lamps.
Paint that has lost its gloss, changed colour or started to crack has broken down in sunlight. We sand the failed layers back to a sound coat, then repaint the panel.
Tyres left outside and unused for a month or more dry out, and surface cracks can appear on them. We fit new tyres in the size the car was built to carry.
Our classic car work covers the body, the running gear and the RTA classic standard:
We take classic car repair in Dubai from a single worn seal to a full restoration of the body and the running gear. Seats and trim go through our car upholstery service.
A classic car wears out in Dubai through 6 causes, and each targets its own part of the car. They are salt air on steel, sunlight on paint, ageing fuel, acid in standing oil, water in brake fluid and unleaded petrol on valve seats.
A classic kept in Dubai stands in heat and humidity. August averages a daily high of 41.9 °C at Dubai International Airport. Mean relative humidity there runs from 50 to 66 per cent across the months.
We read the cause from the car itself, from the rust pattern to the state of the oil, and repair the system at fault.
We carry out classic car restoration in Dubai, and the owner gets the results below.
Porsche specifies 20W-50 for every 356 and 914, and for every 911 of 2.7 litres or less. That grade suits the cork gaskets and lead bearing shells of these engines, while a 911 of 3.0 litres or more runs on 10W-60.
Fresh brake fluid keeps its boiling point. With old, water-laden fluid, the pedal can in the worst case drop right down to the floor.
The RTA fails a car whose tyres are more than 60 months past their production date, seriously worn or cut. New tyres clear that test item.
Porsche Classic looks after over 80,000 parts and has brought original-quality fabrics back into supply. A Porsche interior can then be restored in its authentic materials.
Porsche makes a fuel additive for its classics that stays effective for up to 7 months of standing.
Dubai classic plates carry the words Dubai and Classic in Arabic and English on a yellow background, with the number on white. A car earns them through its age and its technical testing.
The RTA checks 6 items before a car in Dubai counts as a classic:
The owner brings the car to an RTA classical inspection, pays the fee and receives the Technical Inspection Certificate by email before licensing. The Tasjeel centres at Barsha, Al Warsan, Al Qusais, Al Aweer, Motor City and Discovery Gardens carry out these inspections.
We work through each of the 6 items before the inspection and repair the ones the car fails.
Our restoration follows 6 steps, starting with a record of the car and ending with a road test.
We note the chassis number, the engine number and the paint code, and photograph each panel. That record takes every later step back to the original specification.
We check the floor, sills, chassis rails, brake lines and fuel lines from below. Every leak, crack and patch of rust goes on the job list.
We prime bare metal as soon as it is exposed. Each welded seam is sealed before paint goes on.
We drain the engine oil and coolant, then refill both with the grades the maker lists for that engine.
The paint is mixed from the recorded code, and we refinish the repaired panels to match the rest of the car.
We drive the car on the road, then recheck the underside for fresh leaks and the brakes for an even pull.
Book a classic car inspection through a call or a WhatsApp message.
The cost of classic car restoration in Dubai turns on 5 factors. They are the spread of rust, the number of systems needing work, the supply of parts, the originality target and any approval a change needs. Rust in a floor or chassis rail sits in the structure, while a bolt-on panel comes off whole.
Parts supply differs by maker. Porsche offers its own restoration consultation for models out of standard production for a decade or more. Its restoration work draws on original special tools, bodyshell gauges and the historical archive.
We work system by system, so a sound engine stays untouched while the body is repaired.
Our classic work keeps the car close to the way it left its maker.
We repair and refit each original part that still does its job. A replacement goes in where the original has failed or rusted through.
For a Porsche, we fit tyres from the lists Porsche publishes for vintage cars and recent classics. Porsche builds those lists by testing more than 150 tyre sets on the original cars.
We keep the original wiring loom where its insulation is sound. The sections that have cracked or burnt are replaced.
Bodywork, paint, engine, brakes and electrics on the same car are handled in our DIP 2 workshop.
We treat the inside of sills and box sections with cavity wax after welding. Those closed sections cannot be reached by paint from outside.
We read the boiling point of the brake fluid with a tester and renew the fluid once the reading drops under 180 °C.
Owners keep a Dubai restoration sound with 4 habits. The habits cover fresh engine oil, a charged battery, shade for the body and indoor storage for tyres. We check the oil, the battery and the tyres on every restored classic we service, and replace a battery or tyre that has aged.
Porsche Classic recommends an engine oil change every 12 months, whatever the distance driven. Porsche also advises fresh oil before a long lay-up, with the engine warmed up again before it is switched off.
The self-discharge of a lead-acid battery rises about twofold for every 10 °C the temperature climbs. The mean daily temperature in Dubai reaches 35.9 °C in August. Connect a battery charger while the car stands.
Aston Martin states that sunlight and humidity can raise the temperature of a parked Vanquish and damage its interior and trim. For that car, Aston Martin recommends a solar reflecting cover.
Store tyres indoors in a clean, dry and ventilated place, out of direct sunlight. Keep them away from ozone sources such as electric motors, transformers and welding sets.
Tell us the make, model and what the car is doing, and we book it in at our Dubai Investment Park 2 workshop. Free pickup and drop-off by our driver comes with a service contract. Every service comes with a free car wash.
Regular servicing keeps small faults from turning into big repairs. Both packages are carried out by certified technicians using genuine or quality parts.
Each package is quoted for your car. Call +971 50 216 0864 with the make and model for an estimate.
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Yes. The colour of a licensed car changes after the owner obtains a permit from the General Department of Criminal Investigation of Dubai Police. The owner applies in person or through the Dubai Police smart app. We repaint a car in a new colour once the owner holds that permit.
Yes. UAE traffic law bars any change to a vehicle's structure or engine without prior approval from the licensing body. The modified car is inspected before use. We restore a classic to its original engine and structure, and we change either one after the owner has that approval.
Yes. Every classic now runs on unleaded petrol, because leaded petrol ended worldwide when Algeria stopped selling it in July 2021. An engine built for leaded fuel loses the lead film that protected its exhaust valve seats. We measure the valve clearances and recut or replace worn valve seats.
A car qualifies for classic plates in Dubai at over 3 decades old, and it must also meet the technical testing requirements. The RTA announced the yellow and white classic plate design in September 2020, for issue to interested owners from November 2020. We prepare the car for that testing.
Call or send a WhatsApp message with the make, model and year and what the car is doing, and book it in at our Dubai Investment Park 2 workshop.
