Meaningof the word 'restore'

BrianCT

BrianCT

Well-known member
There is a recent post that states someone is starting to restore a Ford.
There question is what open drive rear can they use to replace the torque tube rear. Also on Ebay the word restore is incorrectly used. Restore means bring back to original with correct parts. Anything else is modify not restore.
I am not a purist about cars but let's use the right terms. No rust when they really mean no holes burns me too. Every car that is used is going to have rust.
 
I think all of the Old Car world's defining terms are now hopelessly muddled in popular usage...Think "Classic", "Vintage", "NOS", "Original"...
 
I hate the unibody cars that get described as a 'frame off' restoration...a Mustang does not have a frame you can unbolt from the body.

Also "NORS".....somebody apparently thinks New Old Restored Stock or New Old Reproduction Stock or whatever is supposed to make a part more valuable....isn't it still just an old original part that someone has already restored?
 
NORS used to mean New Old Replacment Stock. These were parts supplied by aftermarket suppliers but not the factory. These could be better, worse or the same as the original part. By todays standards who knows what you end up with.
 
My take on it is this, if you are buying a car or parts, know your stuff, at this point a lot of these parts have been around for a few score of years, they have been passed through a lot of garages, most that are any good end up on a car, any that are not quite cherry end up on the bay, it doesn't really matter to me what a guy says his part is, most people either really don't know what they have or figure they can white lie cause you won't know what your'e looking at either. There's only one way to dispel a little white lie, knowledge. So if you don't know what you are looking at just don't buy it.
 
Well Genmtleman i guess i mis spoke about restoration. I bought it in 1963 with a 55 Buick engine setup and that is what i ran in it. At that time i started buying original parts for it, to replace what had been damaged and actualy cut up. After buying several junk flatheads i have decided to use a 302 with the Ford truck 3 speed and a open drive rearend with disc brakes so it will stop and not lose a wheel when a axle brakes. I was hoping some one on the Fordbarn would no the measurments of the originl rear so i could find a 9" with the proper width. An older Bronco rear is corect for a 47 Ford but it takes a narrower rearend for the 39. Marv
 
I feel the same on the word "restored". It irks me when it's used on a highly modified vehicle that they claim it's restored. Restored is what it was when it left the factory.

Barry

50 F-1
 
I guess it will not be restored but i will be able to drive it anywhere without working on it to get home or get highjacked for antique parts. I will also ride in comfort with air ansd cruise and still be able to stop it. I just needed to know the the width of the rear so i could find one before winter. I will be leaving the original frontend under it, but will be using disc brakes and airplane shocks on it. Marv
 
Perhaps a better explaination would be if the seller expalined
"Restored to What degree and to what type of vehicle as compared to the OEM original."
 
It's easy to get your undies in a bundle on this kind of stuff. The correct meaning of terminology was in decline long before the internet and even worse, text messaging..............it's just faster now.

I'm on the hot rod side of things and it still bugs me. It's not restored....it's refurbished, rebuilt, redone, whatever.....not restored unless it's taken back to stock configuration. (although to be honest I struggle with the notion of a full, authentic redo on a well known vintage rod such as the Spencer Deuce terminology wise) But then I get annoyed when I see a '48 pickup listed as an F-100......and even worse as an F-150. No, an old inline six is not a V6.........that letter V means something!!

But then I get kicks asking people wearing Von Dutch clothing if they know who Von Dutch was......................kinda like Jay Walking! There's a world load of ignorant out there.
 
Uncle Bob said:
It's easy to get your undies in a bundle on this kind of stuff. The correct meaning of terminology was in decline long before the internet and even worse, text messaging..............it's just faster now.

I'm on the hot rod side of things and it still bugs me. It's not restored....it's refurbished, rebuilt, redone, whatever.....not restored unless it's taken back to stock configuration. (although to be honest I struggle with the notion of a full, authentic redo on a well known vintage rod such as the Spencer Deuce terminology wise) But then I get annoyed when I see a '48 pickup listed as an F-100......and even worse as an F-150. No, an old inline six is not a V6.........that letter V means something!!

But then I get kicks asking people wearing Von Dutch clothing if they know who Von Dutch was......................kinda like Jay Walking! There's a world load of ignorant out there.
Click to expand...

Interesting!!! Bob lets take the car in your avatar, and lets say it's now 25 years in the future and your son has it. He wants to make it look like it did in 2010 when his dad had it. Is he restoring it?
 
I think if you can find a rear out of a granada, monarch or an early mustang, comet, maverick, you might find what your looking for. Good luck.
 
picture.php
My car is restored to the fact that i can drive it now.Looks out of the 60s but has,IFS,Mercury Flathead,c4 trans,and 8" granada rearend.What a difference.And now the correct term ,maybe period correct.Thats my way like in the 60s with newer parts.
 
I believe that it is irrelevant whether the car has 100% correct parts or even if the parts are "original", "repop", "remanufactured" or just functional "replacement" as long as this old "Henry Iron" is saved and back on the road being utilized and not sent to the crusher.
I guess that I have a bigger problem with the proud owner standing there saying that he built his car when, in fact it is a "Checkbook" restoration and the owner is trying to take credit for other's efforts.
Now, I have no problem with people buying their restorations, I am just a little bothered when they say "I built it"!
 
I agree that "Restoration" means to bring something back to original status, or, to "Renew" the original parts and equipment. I also know that words mean different things to different people and you'll never get everyone to stick to your interpreted meaning.

If I bought a "Barn-Find" Gasser, stripped it down and refinished/repaired/repainted/rebuilt everything until it was as fresh as it was in 1969, I'd be tempted to say I Restored it, but I'd know that it was a restored Gasser, not a restored original car.

I got into a heated discussion on the HAMB over the term "Survivor". Imagine that.

According to Pennsylvania DMV an "Antique Automobile" is more than 25 years old and substantially original. A "Collectible Car" is more than 25 years old and substantially modified. Depending on how you define "substance" I've found that most 25+ year old cars are somewhere in between.
 
Uncle Bob said:
It's easy to get your undies in a bundle on this kind of stuff. The correct meaning of terminology was in decline long before the internet and even worse, text messaging..............it's just faster now.

I'm on the hot rod side of things and it still bugs me. It's not restored....it's refurbished, rebuilt, redone, whatever.....not restored unless it's taken back to stock configuration. (although to be honest I struggle with the notion of a full, authentic redo on a well known vintage rod such as the Spencer Deuce terminology wise) But then I get annoyed when I see a '48 pickup listed as an F-100......and even worse as an F-150. No, an old inline six is not a V6.........that letter V means something!!

But then I get kicks asking people wearing Von Dutch clothing if they know who Von Dutch was......................kinda like Jay Walking! There's a world load of ignorant out there.
Click to expand...
Uncle Bob,
VERY WELL SAID!
I've had guys argue with me in regard to what type of '40 Ford coupe they have. One guy owned his for decades and INSISTED it was an opera coupe. That's after I showed him factory literature that disproved what he said.
Your notion that the decline in the proper usage of the English language was perhaps aided by texting, etc. no doubt has some merit.
My thought on this? - many folks simply don't want to bother learning. Call it lazy, call it ignorance... I call it a mixture of both.
And these same folks wonder why America is struggling...
 
Last edited:
Mike V. Florida said:
Interesting!!! Bob lets take the car in your avatar, and lets say it's now 25 years in the future and your son has it. He wants to make it look like it did in 2010 when his dad had it. Is he restoring it?
Click to expand...

Yes Mike, as I said, I struggle with that situation somewhat.

The whole point of language is agreeing on what words mean so we can communicate effectively, and hopefully with a minimum of explanation in most cases. As this kind of thread demonstrates, some people hold less to that notion than others. Often it's situational. If it's something important to them, they're wound up about it. If it's low on their importance scale, they treat it lightly.

Eons ago the CCCA enshrined a definition for a "Classic Car"................boy.....THAT one's been shot a long time ago in a BIG way. You can have all sorts of weird discussions about Street Rod, Hot Rod, and so on, even though the term Street Rod was coined by the NSRA and pretty rigidly defined.

What does "rust free" mean? To me it's become a regional/interpretive thing. To the desert Southwest guy it means there's no rust through anywhere on the car. To the upper Midwest guy it means he's throwing the rust in for free. It's all about context.;)


Us OCD types would like to have order and tightly understood/defined useage......reality is "it ain't gonna happen".
 
Last edited:
Marv said:
Well Genmtleman i guess i mis spoke about restoration. I bought it in 1963 with a 55 Buick engine setup and that is what i ran in it. At that time i started buying original parts for it, to replace what had been damaged and actualy cut up. After buying several junk flatheads i have decided to use a 302 with the Ford truck 3 speed and a open drive rearend with disc brakes so it will stop and not lose a wheel when a axle brakes. I was hoping some one on the Fordbarn would no the measurments of the originl rear so i could find a 9" with the proper width. An older Bronco rear is corect for a 47 Ford but it takes a narrower rearend for the 39. Marv
Click to expand...
-
I run a 75 Maverick rear in my 32 with wheel adapters so I can run the early Ford wheels. No problems in 20+ years and 100K + miles. Don't trust aluminum? Don't get in an airplane!
 
To me, "restore" means to return it to the condition it's SUPPOSED to be in.
Say I buy 2 cars, a stock model A, and the Stone, Woods, Cook Willys.
I can restore both cars, the A to original, and the Willys back to as it was raced by SWC.
Both are, to me, restored.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top