Your restoration Philosophy....

[Jim Burrill]

A follow up to a discussion among some collectors...

1) When you clean the rust off an original piece, do you fill the rust pits with , say, bondo?
2) do you leave the pits but put fresh paint over it? If so, why not make the metal look only six months old, instead of 60+?
3) WHen you do a display and tie equipment on, do you display your wartime items or do you refurbish the tins and crates with fresh paint and stencels?

I guess what I am getting at, is how many people take their vehicles and stowed gear back to " as issued a few months ago" verses a rolling display of " WW2 Militaria in the condition I found it"

DO you "stabilize" the vehicle so it doesn't deteriorate any further, or do you "renue" whatever parts are bad so that it is a runner?

If you can't get a rotor cap and condensor that is a direct replacement, if faced with it never running again, would you swap for modern parts? (ie. a electronic ignition hidden in an original distributor?

[Bob McNeill]

For me it,s about originality, the items which we,ve collected are mostly of the 39-45 period [ as used by dad. ]some require remarking or painting, but the search is always on for one in better condition if possible. In most cases the one on display is not the best in collection [stored so not damaged ]. vehicle wise, my trucks are used, as many bits as possible are original, rebuilt, refurbished where possible back to original, eg just had a 216 engine rebuilt to original specs and remetaled brgs and reshimmed, only mod is a alloy camshaft gear. all safety items, tyres, brake lines, linings are modern to comply with current standards for rego. Maybe I,m lucky to have a supply of spares on hand, but with carefull maintaince hopefully no major problems occur.

[Shane]

Hi all.

I think money, access to parts, knowledge, and time plays a huge roll in what type of condition your truck will end up in. I like the look that the truck has been in service, so even though I have had the truck painted I have left some panels with dents and one panel still has a hole in it that should not be there. However some I guess would like to have the truck looking the same as it was on the production line, but that’s what makes this hobby so much fun(I can say this because this is my first) so many variants and opinions.