When to Restore a Car??
 

The original plans for my 89 AZ DPS were to completely gut it and then restore it from the bottom up with NOS parts as I've done with my other cars. The problem is that the car still wears the original paint ( even still has the T-114 marker marking visible behind the rear plate from when it was put in service ). Even though it had numerous dents and scratches ( especially where the decals were scraped off on the doors and the light bar was mounted ), I compounded and waxed it last weekend and then spent 5 hours touching up the stone chips and scratches. The car actually looks really good from 10 ft. My question is, does the car look better original with battle scars or should I restore it to new condition. Opinions welcome!:headscratch:

My vote is that you gotta do what makes you happy. You have done some pretty kick-ass restorations (not just paint jobs) before, so you know what that involves, v/s just a detail and leaving it as-is.

I plan on going the full resto route with the Colorado car, which is still in original paint and doesn't look horrible. The bottom of that car is going to have to be done, though, so I'm going to try and take the whole thing back to the way it was.

i am in the same boat with my nebraska car. mostly original paint looks great even up close.
has stone chips on the hood that were touched up with the wrong color white. bugs the hell out of me.
decided if i keep it, i am going to just drive and enjoy it for now and repaint later.
everyone whose seen it tells me the chips are like battle scars and give it character!

I have another opinion I suppose. The cars I "restore" are basically for two purposes and that is to take to car shows, and keep for investment purposes 20 years from now. I personally do not like driving my SSP cars, (especially a fully marked unit) on the roadway. When I "restore" a marked car I put permanent decals on if that is the way it was equipped when in service. I try to make the car look as close to brand new as possible and I want the paint to be as good or better than when it was new. I always try to put the CORRECT equipment in my SSP cars as correctness is one of my most important goals. I guess my SSP cars are all enclosed trailer queens.......... I restore the cars to pay tribute to the job the cars performed in service, not to try and impress other people with my pretty lights.

There are many that will disagree with the driving aspect and will say that if you can't drive it why have it, but for me I have other "civilian" cars to drive and have fun with. So for me I paint them all.....and none are "drivers". Just my humble opinion and to each their own. You got to do what makes you happy !!

I'm going to leave the car " as is " for this year and restore it next winter once I have all the parts. I just can't live with all the battle scars! Thanks for the opinions.

Gary

Seeing your previous work, I say restore it. Like previously mentioned, your attention to detail means a full restoration, not just cosmetic.

I can be on the fence with this, though. A car is only original paint once. White hides a lot of abuse, but it is up to you. For me, the ones to keep unrestored are the SSP that still retain their post-service auction markings, like the FHP's. It makes the car timeless. There can be many restored and the larger agencies will have many that basically look the same, but none more special than the just out of service look.

That's one of the reasons why I haven't painted my '93 FHP. I wouldn't do a complete resto on it anyway, since it's so clean underneath, but I haven't been able to bring myself to do anything with the paint (yet).

The Colorado car is very much the same; you can still see the outlines where the door numbers were. One good wax job and those are gone. However, due to the surface rust forming on the underside of the car, I'm going to end up doing the whole thing. The funny part is that none of "new" rust was there prior to the car being in FL.

It really deserves the full treatment anyway, so I have no reason to complain.

Mike if the car is sitting on Black Top that is were the rust is coming from.

Tom

why would blacktop create rust?

No, Florida. My 70 Colorado car never had a lock of rust until I moved to Florida and then it blew up with it. The humidity eats metal alive.

I was waiting for Tom's explanation but it never showed. :)

I think you might be right. I mean...even the little rock chips on the hood started getting rust in them. I took care of it, but I was amazed. The car had been sitting in a barn untouched for over 10 years and those nicks/scratches had been there for a long time without rust.

I like them both but survivors are more interesting to me. Why, well, years down the road, when it goes through several hands, survivor cars will show everything, where as restored units could have had major problems hidden. Just my thought on it. A survivor Muscle car normally brings more money than a repaint. Just my opinion though.

There's your answer then. If it is something that will constantly bother you about the car, then you need to fix it when the time is right.

Personally, I love both kinds of SSP's - restored (to in-service condition or as an unmarked) and survivor cars. But my preference is for survivor cars. They have the most character IMO (I love the FHP cars in their post-auction paint scheme). A car is only original once, even if it is showing battle scars. But that sentiment cannot be applied to all SSP's. Some deserve to be restored to their in-service condition, and others NEED to be restored before their condition deteriorates further (as was the case with my CHP #8395, which required work to keep it functional).

It's all a matter of personal preference. We are the caretakers of these cars while we own them, so enjoy them how you best see fit.

Your '93 was exactly the car that I was thinking of. I would never paint it. Look at all the attention the unrestored Hertz Shelby got at Barber. It was in everyone's pictures.

Original gets my vote, but who doesn't like a quality resto? I personally like seeing what time has done to a car....unless time includes re-paints, collisions, rust, etc. My funds are dictating what my car is going to look like for the time being, but I really do love my old, faded, original B/W paint. I scare everyone in the neighborhood when I drive it around. What did the Hertz at Barber look like?

I assume this is it.
http://www.efi-street.com/IMAGES/mus...s/image54.html
http://www.efi-street.com/IMAGES/mus...s/image55.html
http://www.efi-street.com/IMAGES/mustang45th/