Hi everyone,
I have a philosophical question. Not looking for an answer, as there probably isn't one. But it would be interesting to hear how other people feel about the subject.
The topic is "Compromises". I'm fairly obsessive-compulsive when it comes to preserving things and keeping them original. Not just cars, but lots of various objects that I end up with that have real or perceived "historical value". My dream when I started working on my Mustang 30 years ago was that it would be put back as absoutely perfectly close to the way it rolled off the assembly line as humanly possible. That included decals, paint codes, date codes, you name it. I even wonder about what type of brush was used to put the door codes on the driveshaft and springs. I don't care about judging, this is a personal quest to preserve a piece of history. Given that this is a concours forum dedicated to restoration, I suspect I'm not alone in my OCD, I see other people shooting for the same goals that I am. And that's intended as a complement.
As the years have gone by and not much has been done on my car (except for accumulating I'd say the majority of the driveline pieces I need), reality has set in to a certain degree. I'm not going to be able to achieve the level of perfection I dreamt of, which I can live with. But there's another aspect: what level SHOULD I try to achieve?
When I got my Mustang as a graduation gift 30 years ago, it had a perfectly good 200 CID six cylinder in it. It was (to me) a moderately nice-looking fastback, with a crummy red paint job and a damaged front fender and bumper. I planned to replace the broken parts, add a sunroof (I didn't!!!!!!) and drive it. However, having seen "Christine" I envisioned bringing the car up to a nicer quality level with nothing but elbow grease and some junkyard parts. Hopefully it wouldn't turn evil and start killing people, but that wasn't the highest priority on my list...
As I started learning more about the car, I found out that it was originally built with a 390, which the previous owner had sold. Dad and I tried tracking it down, but the trail had gone cold So we started looking for parts to piece one together. That led to many years of junkyard trips, swap meets, and shelves full of reasearch materials. All of which was very enjoyable.
So that gets me to thinking. I don't have, and never will have, the exact original engine and transmission and associated pieces that were priginally in the car. I've got exact duplicates, including correct date codes for some pieces. But they're not the same pieces that came off the line together in San Jose. I've got a number of other pieces, such a grille (well, five grilles...) that are in good original condition, but the original one is somewhat smashed. And some things like carpet, upholstery, and most of the rubber pieces, by necessity will have to be reproductions. Because of all of that, my viewpoint is changing a bit. Do I want a "perfect" car with all new shiny reproduction trim, etc, or would I be more satisfied with refurbished, i.e. replayed trim? Or is even that deviating from original? Should I find good, but flawed original pieces? Would going from "needs a lot of work" to essentially a car restored to survivor condition (how's that for a concept?) be more faithful? I still have to figure these things out.
That makes me start pondering other aspects. I like the original orange peel of factory paint, so I will likely try to go that route. But for some of the other pieces, especially driveline and suspension, what is more important - originality, or preservation? What I mean by that is, I don't have a temperature and humidity controlled storage facility. When my car is done, it will be driven. Only in the summer, of course, and maybe never in the rain if I can avoid it. But it will be driven. So parts that were originally bare metal, I don't want to leave bare metal because they will rust. I'd like to use clear coat or paints that simulate bare metal, which were not used by the factory and may appear slightly different, but as a tradeoff will be preserving the pieces better that they were originally protected. Same thing with coatings. I've been reading the forums to determine which engine paint(s) most closely resemble the original, but I also wonder if powder coating (or epoxy paint, etc.) might be a better choice for protection against wear from storage and occasional use. And while I was once thining of dipping the unibody to remove all traces of original paint, I'm now leaning towards paint removal on the exterior only, and leave all of the original factory paint & overspray & crayon markings and other sundries under the carpet and behind interior panels. They'll be preserved like they were when they rolled off the line, or more accurately the point to which they weathered by 1984.
That's the jumbled mess that's going on in my head right now. It's not a judgement of how anyone else approches their project, and I'm certainly not trying to start any arguments. Just trying to see if I'm the only one who's pondered these things
One last item: while taking her apart, I immediately discovered why there was no paint code on the door plate: the paint was a special order color. Red fastbacks are pretty sweet, but I simply cannot bring myself to use anything but the original color.
