A Restoration Rant

The car restoration subculture I'm least empathic with is the as-it-came-from-the-factory Detroit Iron sensibility.  (The one I'm most empathetic with is the Brits; more on that later).  Mostly, the people I'm
talking about favor American muscle cars.  But a good example of their sensibility is the judging standards of the Corvette Bloomington Gold folks: As It Left The Line, No Better, No Worse.

When a car restored to these standards goes across the block at Barrett-Jackson, it will be pointed out that all the chalk or grease pencil marks on the firewall or the suspension are "correct."  (Was it an "x" or a check mark or a number code?  Was it blue, green, or pink?  Where exactly was it?)  Not only do cars restored to this standard have the proper foil labels affixed to air cleaners, valve covers, and the radiator support crossmember; they have the proper paper labels on the inside of the trunk lid.  They have the proper subcontractor paper labels on parts like water hoses.  The hoses even have the proper, chintzy, one-use-only clamps.  Care is taken to apply paint overspray to engine parts that originally got it only because it was cheaper to do it that way than to take pains.

This goes beyond "numbers-matching" (which, itself, was once only an indication that the car had not been abused) to obsession.  But what is the point of doing a worse exterior paint job than you can, to replicate 1960's quality?  To be clear: I have no problem with using original paint finishes.  If the part came from the factory in flat black, paint it flat black.  If the restoration is to stock condition, the proper foil decals should appear on an air-cleaner housing painted as it came from the factory.  But if you are going for the mild custom look popular back-in-the-day, and throw a pair of chromed valve covers and a set of "mags" on the car, I'm fine with that too.  If the car will be driven aggressively, why not resto-mod it with rack & pinion steering, big 4-caliper discs, and a modern fuel-injected engine?  And a roll cage.

My problem with the "pink grease pencil crowd" is that they are Automotive Originalists.  They seem to believe that the car came off the line as Received Wisdom.  Perfection.  This would surprise the engineers who designed it to a price point and the line workers who used grease pencil marks as assembly and quality-control aids.  Of course, other marques have this problem too.  Throw a set of Fuchs alloys on a Porsche 356 and you are an Outlaw.  Some Big Healey fans gig Kurt Tanner for spraying a 100-6 in Aston Martin Green, even though the aesthetic result is stunning.

The Brits are famous for keeping old race cars running on a "whatever it takes" basis.  They race iconic cars hard at the Goodwood Revival; sometimes an irreplaceable original aluminum panel has to be replaced.  You don't want to be the guy who put a rod through the side of the last remaining original Connaught engine block, but if you do, try to patch it.  If that doesn't work, go looking for a Coventry Climax engine.  Better to keep the car running and used-as-intended than to stick it in a museum.  (If you own a race car with a 10-year competition history, what is the "correct" restoration specification anyway?)

My own view is that a restoration stands alone, on its own merits.  I myself would hesitate to put Fuchs's on a 356; I wouldn't hesitate to spray a Healey in Aston Martin Green.  Would I put an American small-block V-8 in it?  Probably not.  You have to respect the original, but not slavishly.  Every car buff knows where this line is--for himself.  Killboy recently photographed an old pickup truck painted Pepto-Bismol Pink.  It doesn't work for me, but it works for somebody.  I just wish the Originalists would give the car some room to breathe.  A 100-point Bloomington Gold Corvette is a boring Corvette.  A "survivor" Pontiac GTO is a fascinating car.  A nicely restored Plymouth Road Runner is...a nicely restored Road Runner.  You don't have to make it worse to make it better, and you don't get extra credit for defacing it with a grease pencil.

The right-rear corner of my 2008 Mustang.  This car has seen rain once, for 20 minutes, after this picture was taken.  No, I don't know how Ford got rain on the undercarriage.  (I wiped it down after taking this picture.)  Yes, it came from the factory with an axle housing and stabilizer bar bracket stored outside before assembly.  But note that it has all the correct paper bar-code labels and assembly paint daubs.  If this car is ever restored, I hope the rusty bits are painted the same color as the stabilizer bar and the Panhard Rod, and a full coat of red on the underbody wouldn't bother me either.  Fine by me if the alloys are in pristine condition.  No extra credit for nicking them up to "factory original" condition. 

Manufacturers of mass-market cars are no different from anyone else: they do what you inspect, not what you expect.  The visible fit and finish are fine, and above the standards the "pink grease pencil" school strives to attain.  Completely original?  No.  It has a Tail of the Dragon sticker on the front fender.  No harm, no foul.