My father-in-law and my wife restored a '42 Ford GPW in the late '70s
through early '80s. It was a complete rebuild, and is very original.
Since the restoration, it has been stored in plastic in his garage. It has
probably been driven less than 200 miles since the restoration. The
original body was restored without the use of body filler. They took great
care in locating original Ford parts (with the script F) and so forth.
My father-in-law is retired now, and has decided he would like to sell the
vehicle and his collection of spare parts.
We've all been Jeep nuts for many years now. I know my way around Jeeps
mechanically (I just finished overhauling my clutch, transmission, and
transfer case on my '82 CJ5), but I can't tell the difference between MB
and GPW parts (except by looking for the "F"). He can tell the difference,
though, and he assures me this Jeep is all original. It wasn't restored
for the purpose of sale. It was restored for his daughter (my wife). As
such, it's hard for me to see it sold, but it's just not practical for us
to keep it.
There are only a few things I can think of that aren't quite right with
this vehicle:
(1) The wire looms are of the wrong material. I think they were supposed
to be cloth. I think he used braided stainless steel. I don't remember if
he painted it to look like the original cloth type afterwards or not.
(2) The wipers are vacuum type rather than the original hand-cranked type.
(He was planning to drive the vehicle occasionally when he did this part.)
(3) The fuel pump is the wrong type. He's acquired an original fuel pump,
though, and expects to be installing it soon.
(4) The top isn't finished. He has the bows and the canvas, but hasn't
stitched it together yet.
(5) The engine serial number doesn't match the frame serial number.
I've been trying to find a way to objectively determine the value of this
vehicle and the parts, so that I can help him sell this at a fair price.
Can anyone offer any suggestions as to how to set a value on this vehicle?
Thanks,
Lee