OK, I'll. Deal with it! I have always found
it interesting how many people want their questions kept out
of the public veiw. Every week, I get letters and E-mail that
goes something like this: "I think you should answer questions
like, blah, blah, blah, but don't use me when you do write about
it." Or, " I think you should explain the difference between
blah, blah and blah, blah but don't relate it to anything I
have talked about."???????????????? In the last couple of months
I have got a lot of mail etc suggesting that I explain EXACTLY
what a Restored vehicle is. (I guess lots of people spend the
summer months trying to track down some sort of DREAM VEHICLE
and I know what a lot of them mean.) I see ads for vehicles
for sale and shown as completely "RESTORED". As a matter of
fact, just for curiosity I have phoned some of these ads and
been sold by the seller that: "Oh yea, she's been COMPLETELY
RESTORED." But when one goes to look at these vehicles, the
"COMPLETE RESTORATION turns out to be a nice shiny paint job
over BODY FILLED panels and an engine from a wrecking yard that
was spray bomb painted before it went into the vehicle. Up until
the time my shop burnt and I lost everything that I had worked
a lifetime for, I used to have pictures all over showing RESTORATIONS
in different stages. If I still had some of those, I would put
them up here so you could see what I am talking about. Short
of that, you will have to look in a dictionary and see what
the DEFINITION of Restoration is.
One Dictionary shows the following: RESTORE;
to bring back to an ORIGINAL condition, or to make AS NEW. This
means just like it says, if you want to restore a vehicle, it
means that you will have to TOTALLY dis-assemble the vehicle
and repair, rebuild or redo EVERYTHING back to a condition as
it was when it was BRAND NEW AND NEVER USED. I used to have
pictures of my Wife's Mustang that is on the front page of my
web site, when we were restoring it. We TOTALLY stripped the
car and every part, right down to BARE METAL. I even had a picture
of the main body TUB, mounted on two turnable mounts and there
was not even any primer on it, just bright shiny metal. EVERY
PART WAS REMADE TO BE JUST LIKE IT WAS IN 1969. (Or better.
For example, the entire floor area of the car was all replaced
with NEW parts and then covered with 400 sq. yards of Fiberglass,
done in layers.) EVERY WIRE IN THE CAR WAS REPLACED. (I spent
six days just making the wiring harnesses.) The Factory had
originally routed most of the accessory power through the ignition
switch and this created problems with burning up the switch.
I redid the wiring to run all MAJOR amperage draw items, through
circuit breakers. EVERY PART IN THE CAR was either replaced
or REBUILT to a BETTER than New condition. Even after I put
the body all back together, it took 200 hours just to get it
READY for painting and the paint job itself took another 55
hours and then I had to start putting it all back together.
(Just like the Factory had done in 1969.) Every piece of trim
and weather-strip was redone or replaced. Every nut and bolt
was cleaned, painted or replaced. Every little thing that had
been done CHEAP at the Factory, (To keep the initial price down.)
was redone. For example, the way the upper control arms mounted
on the sub-frame, was always a weak spot, and these were all
redone and REINFORCED. The upper fender areas where the spring
pockets are, were also reinforced and cross supported. All I
will tell you about the drive train is that we spent over $16,000.00
US dollars, on parts and machine work alone. (In 1987dollars.)
And no, I will NOT sell this car for the same price as a Mustang
that has just been Painted and had a rebuilt engine, transmission
and new (EL CHEAPO) tires put on it. Just so you know: In many
areas, if you advertise a item as being RESTORED and all you
have done is a few repairs and a Paint job, you could be charged
with Mis-Representation and or FRAUD. If you want to restore
a vehicle, RESTORE IT. The end value of the vehicle is DIRECTLY
RELATED TO HOW MUCH MONEY YOU CAN PROVE YOU SPENT ON IT. Nobody
can buy a vehicle for $1,500, spend $3000 on it and sell it
as a RESTORED vehicle. JUST LIKE ANYTHINK ELSE, YOU GET WHAT
YOU PAY FOR!
"TOOT" Rick "The Wrench" - August 22nd,1999
Copyright of Rick The Wrench, 1999
