restore or original

[rollingsculpture]

as weve seen this is a hot button topic , i am still in the stage before "restore "and can keep my truck "original "but i am a bit stumped on that point of when it goes from repair to restore. for instance i have cowl panels that are well rusted out on at the bottoms but still look good up top , do i cut them and re-weld patches to just those spots that are rusted out or ?? same goes for the back of the cab. almost completely rusted out , same for the floor panel below the seat and the back sub-rail i have the panels but haven't had the time to install them yet which will require the riveting etc. how about the frame do i sandblast and repaint to stop the iron oxide coating? what about all the repainting of the cab parts should i just paint only the new stuff to try to match the original blue and what about the black paint that was put on over the blue in some places? what about the rear cross member that the farmer tore off pulling something than re-welded to the frame rail and added a home made hitch that looks crude but functional do i take it off and repair ? if i repaint the entire frame is that maintenance or restoration ? what of the fenders which have cracked wire in the front and a triangle of patch in a place where it got mashed do i rework it and try to make it whole again and if i replace the fender out right with an original steel one than does that still count as original since its not original to the truck / the seat springs are all that left of the seats so i will need to restore them so what of that ? it starts to put the truck on the restoration track and of course there are the many parts i had to buy that were missing so those are not original to the truck but ARE original parts the list is long and the question is thorny and complicated , i see both sides of the coin and there is the possibility of faking out the repairs to take on an original appearance but the reality is that it is a repair that is new and not original , so should i just do what i please and choose a color that i like like the 1934 roadster in the pic
i know that that color is not original but frankly it is the only color i like so far in all the vehicles ive seen and the original truck colors were very limited and rock moss green is on just about every darn AA ive seen restored or.... just leave old "Cowboy" alone (yes a Mans title as a truck this size sure aint a girl) and make him look like the old farm truck he is. such are the personal decisions we are all confronted with, and the fact is we will all come to our own legitimate conclusions and build what we want because after all it is our own chance to touch history and make the truck we want to drive

[Drew Mashburn]

rollingsculpture:

I like your reasoning. I see you reside in Maryland. My wife will be flying there in a couple of days. If your AA is for sale, I'll take it. I'll have my wife drive it back to southern California. Please charge the battery and check the oil and water.

Sincerely,
-- Drew

[bgj1956]

Nice truck, its yours, just working on it and preserving it is great, do what makes it a pleasure to drive, they all turn heads when you have them out, wish you the best, Hey, are you keeping the platform bed? good luck Bruce

[Rosenkranswa]

Personally, I'm in the "its your truck, you paid for it, you'll be investing the time and money, do what you want" category here. Having said that, I really hate to see a good original anything cut up to be turned into something else. Watching one of the hot-rod programs cut up a pristine Model T to chop and drop for a rod just seemed like an abuse of history of the worst order. On the other hand, I can really appreciate the workmanship on a nice hot rod where the starting point was a beater body from the back of the field mated to some conflagration of chassis, engine and transmission. Good workmanship is good workmanship.

At the other end of the spectrum are the folks that seem to want original air in the tires, plate glass in the windows (dangerous, even deadly, but original), and mineral oil in the sump. Next to them are the folks that over restore way past factory original. I dislike having somebody tell me that I should replace the period Bosch distributor ignition in my Model T with the old buzz coils. Nothing wrong with buzz coils, but somebody probably back in the '30s replaced them with the Bosch unit and its now part of the car in my opinion. I even got a lecture at a show one year about how we had an incorrect cab on our AA (Its a Feb '30 AA with the '29 cab which is actually "correct"). Our AA also has its stakes cut down a bit to make a nice parade truck (Cub Scouts can see over the rails but not fall out), and I've mounted a neat set of emergency flare pots to the front rack and a toolbox on the running board holding some rope and other riggers tools.

The reenactor folks have a term they use - creating the "impression." I think that's really what this is all about. We all have in our minds eye an impression we are trying to create with our vehicles.

[Chris Haynes]

Fix what needs fixin'. Oil the rusty spots. And drive it proud as it will be the center of attention wherever it goes.

[Shorthaul]

Rolling,

I'm glad you asked this question as I have a AA that needs something. After reading Chris Haynes reply I thing I may save myself loads of work and do what I was doing before parking it back in 83.