So here's my dilemma. I have an original engine and car with just under 40,000 original miles on it. All my life, it's been my brother's "little red car". Only the original colour was Old English White, with a red interior. Oh, and I hate red interiors in general. Question to those who may know... how much does going back to original paint and interior spec matter to the value of a numbers-matching car with a Heritage Certificate? If it's a huge difference in value, I'll keep it all stock. But I'd like to know before I start priming/painting the engine bay and underside, and CERTAINLY before I start ordering seat and interior trim. My options:
Engine and drive train will stay pretty much stock, though I may do a muffler or some internals, but only if everything still looks stock. Also considering a spin on oil filter conversion. Thoughts on whether or not that is worth it?
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Sorry.... VERY long post on my car's history. I apologize for the keyboard diarrhea. Short version... my car has its original engine and driveline. For more excruciating detail, read on... OK, so my brother came home for (Canadian) Thanksgiving, and I got to quiz him about some stuff on the car... First, the blue engine. Actually, no. First the history, which (after a while) leads to the blue engine. The (minor) fire and how he got the car When my brother was 14 (in 1969), my parents were driving home, and happened upon a lady with her Austin on the side of the road. There had been a fire in the engine bay, but it was now out. The car was not running, and my folks took her into town. (We live in a rural area) On the way, she was determined that the car would never run again, as it had been on fire. My brother offered up $100 for the car, and said he'd take his chances. She took it and sold him the car. My folks drove him back out (after a visit to the bank), and he took a look. One of the rubber fuel lines at the carburettor had torn, and dripped fuel on the exhaust, which of course ignited. As soon as she saw the smoke, she cut the ignition, which, in turn, shut down the mechanical fuel pump and stopped the flow of gasoline. What little fuel was in the engine bay burned off quickly. The fire was so mild, and extinguished so quickly, that it did not even melt the other rubber line. Nor did it damage the air filters, melt the decals/id plates on the engine valve cover, or even blister the paint. The main remnant was a torn fuel line and a black soot mark on the inside of the hood (see picture.. its still there). Oh, and the sheet metal warped slightly. I'll shrink that back no problem. My folks drove my brother to my uncle's farm, he got a piece of fuel line off of a combine, installed it back on the car, and drove it home with my parents following him in their car. That piece of hose from the combine is still on the engine. The 14-year-old's thought on colour change When my brother got the car, it was already red (which I now am virtually positive is not the original colour -- pretty sure it was Old English White). The interior was likewise red. He didn't like the red-on-red look, so he changed the seats to white (as you can see in earlier pics on this page). He also wanted to paint the car blue. He started, again as seen in earlier pics. The cover on the gear shifter has been painted blue, as had the vinyl on the dash and over the interior rear fenders. The plan was to make the entire car blue, with a white interior. But, since he was a kid, and he had just spent pretty much all of his money to buy the car, this was not going to be a professional job. The pole incident (we're getting to the blue engine, I swear!) My brother was playing around with the car in the back lanes, (and doing slalom between neighbours' "borrowed" garbage cans, I imagine), when his brakes failed. Apparently large puddles can mess with the braking power on these cars. He said he had a choice between hitting the house and hitting the pole in our back yard that was used for hanging laundry. He chose to hit the pole. The pole was set in the ground in concrete. The Austin was not. Subsequent damage to the hood was... substantial. A neighbour agreed to fix the hood in his back yard in his spare time. Budgetary concerns of a broke 14 year old came into play, and the colour change was forestalled, and the repairs were primed red. (This is why the hood is a different shade from the rest of the car) I'm guessing that the budget also had a lot to do with the quality of the repair, as replacement parts were not an option. In fairness, the top of the hood was pounded pretty straight, but the lower apron saw some work hardening and creasing in the metal. I will try to fix it myself, but I think I might just be purchasing a new part or two after my ego is crushed by the stubborn metal. (Pics of the apron and inner support included with this post) The BLUE ENGINE (see, I told you we'd get there) When the hood was being repaired, the engine was also pulled so that they could check the front frame members for straightness. While he could not afford to change the colour on the body (requiring an entire paint job), my brother could not refuse when the mechanic asked if the engine could do with a lick of paint while it was out. My brother said "blue, please" and showed up with a can of Ford engine blue. If you look at the pictures, you can see green paint beneath the blue where the pressure washer has peeled it back. This verifies the story. This engine was originally green, and my brother attests that it is, in fact, the original engine in the car. (As my brother put it... no replacement engine would leak that much oil!) I asked him about the missing number plate, and he remembers pulling it off for the blue paint job, thinking he would replace it afterwards, but it bent and broke when he was prying it off with a screwdriver. The rest of the story Some extra details I also learned or confirmed...
Knowing now that I have an original car with original engine and driveline, I am left with a dilemma. But this post is already long enough... I will deal with the dilemma in my next post. Thanks for reading! If you made it all the way through, I applaud you! (**NOTE -- photos on this blog post are duplicates of some that were posted earlier. I just included them here to demonstrate what I was talking about.) |
AuthorMy name is Ash. Archives
September 2021
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