Daryl wrote,
> -----Equation-----
>
> Used original body
> + replacement panels, homemade or repro
> + labor cost (or labor of love)
> IS LESS THAN OR EQUAL TO
> repro body
> + shipping
> + labor to correct or complete missing details
Now, you're starting to get it. Until someone accurately reproduces Jeep
bodies that is the *only* way to restore a Jeep.
You said in an off-line post to me:
Great philosophy but in the real world many bodies are so far gone the
only way to make a Jeep out of them again is with a complete repro body.
I recently did a GPW that had a V-8 in it and put about $1000 more in the
body than a repro body costs. I've still got a pile of bare frames and
bodies rusted away to where only the cowl is left. In the future it's
going to be repro or nothing for lots of the remaining unrestored,
undiscovered MB/GPWs.
First of all, not *every* Jeep is destined to be accurately restored but
if they were, you certainly don't "make a Jeep out of it again" with a
repro body. Folks who do this should stop saying they are "restoring" a
Jeep. We should agree on what to call this phenomenon. I propose
"customizing Jeep shaped vehicles" or "sprucing up a vehicle many people
would mistake for a Jeep". I encourage others to submit their ideas.
You can always tell the folks who are up to this stuff without ever meeting
them or seeing their vehicle(s). Their patter is usually something like,
"Right now, I'm restoring a GPW. I started last night after the demolition
derby. I'm gonna make a few parts tomorrow at work and I'll have it
wrapped up in time to attend the opera tonite with Weezer. Then, I'm gonna
start on the M-38. The engine is seized, so that one may take the whole
weekend before it's perfect. But if all goes well, I may get in a few hours
on the M-37 and the M715. Oh yeah, did I tell you? I'm also restoring a
wooden canoe... just put the first coat of fiberglass on today. And I'm
restoring George Washington's axe, too. Yup, bought a new head at Home
Depot and a new handle at True Value. Have that done in the morning."
And that's part of the problem. Instead of having one, nice, correct,
accurate
vehicle many insist on having a fleet of junk and that's when they
have to start cutting corners and worrying about how much it costs to bring
an original body into spec.
With that said, however, let me say that I don't purport to tell others how
or what to do with their vehicles. (I am, however, aware of a club where
they fight over who's more pure... The guys with the "combat restorations"
or the guys who simply build Jeeps out of every repro part they can find...
a choice between sh*t and manure, in my opinion). I don't really care
much what folks do with *their* Jeeps. I was responding to a posting by
someone *specifically asking for other people's opinion. So, as requested,
I gave mine. I was not trying to convert anyone to my opinion, just
express it. I don't feel every Jeep should be restored accurately and that
to do otherwise is sacrilege. In fact, part of the appeal of Jeeps
*is* that they are a vehicle for the masses. Nearly everyone can afford
one and should enjoy it in any manner they see fit.
I have a nearly perfect early (tool slot) 2A body (am using it to restore
the 12th CJ2A built) that I got from someone who replaced it with a repro
body. It has a dent in the cowl that looks like someone dropped a bowling
ball on it. The driver's side floors are rusted and it has a wrinkle where
the spare bolts on. That's it. I wish more people would replace these
kind of bodies.
I, personally, have no objection to repro panels if they are, or can be
made, undetectable from the originals and I would use them. But presently,
I think the easiest, cheapest and only way to find correct panels is to use
sections of original bodies. If it takes 3 or 5 tubs to put together
an original body, well so be it.
Plenty of very high dollar cars like Deusenbergs, Ferraris and vintage race
cars, etc. get rebodied and it, not only, doesn't hurt their value... it
enhances
it. But they do it *accurately*. The problem, I see, with repro bodies is
that I *see* they are repro bodies. It's not that they *are* repro bodies,
it's that you can *tell* that they are repro bodies. It's not a matter of
principle or purity, it's a matter of accuracy and quality.
Where I feel the line should be drawn is: Can you tell it from the
original? I disagree with those who think you should work with the very
parts that came on a particular vehicle. If an NOS part or one off another
vehicle is *identical* and in better shape, therefore, easier and cheaper
to restore and results in a better project, then I would use that. But by
identical, I mean *absolutely* identical. Not only appearance and function
but casting number, casting
date, assembly dates, etc
If you look at a Jeep and the body is so totally original looking that you
can not tell it from original and the owner has to tell you that he made
the made the body himself, that's good.
If you can tell him that he made it, that's bad. And that applies to every
part of the vehicle. It's that simple for me.
Hope you take this in the manner I intend ;-)
Regards and Keep those Third World bodies comin',
Jeff
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