In the background

[RHClarke]

Originally posted by Phil Waterman
That’s a great answer in inspections, "Sir that vehicle is not damage it has a disruptive panel treatment to improve its camouflage characteristics”

Also handy explanation for judging at MVPA events where some of the judges don’t understand if the paint is not uneven and it doesn’t have runs in frame paint then it is not authentic.

Phil, It is called character. I remember setting up a new army unit on an airbase where we had to quarantine all of our tactical vehicles. The base Transportation Officer condemned all of our trucks. He grilled me over their condition stating that the army trucks were in "horrid" shape when compared to the ground fleet of the local tactical air squadron. I stated that the difference was due to the fact that our tactical vehicles were actually used off-road. Not satisfied, he asked me why there were so many mangled fenders and bumpers. He damned near had a kitten when I told him that we drove the vehicles at night with the lights off and reversed them into woodlines without ground guides!

If you are going to restore a factory fresh CMP, then you can expect some level of perfection, but it must be remembered that even the factory took liberities with the quality program. If you are going to restore a truck to an "operational" level then it is no holds barred in my opinion. Army wrench benders made do using materials at hand, which did not always meet OEM specs.

It is my practice to respond to the critical "purists" by indicating that they are most welcomed to contribute authentic parts or fund a full restoration. All have declined so far. The funny thing is that the purists are not really pure - they use modern fuel and oil...

Love them dents!