Restore or not to restore
- Thread starter oldredford
- Start date
Ron Pilger
Senior Member
Might be a dumb idea. Might not work in your state or country. Might not work for you. "Up here", in Canada, we get a fairly generous tax receipt for a donation to charity or a museum. I don't know how serious the loss is on this purchase but the car looks fairly decent from the photo and may be something a car museum or similar beneficiary would want to have around. Could this work to offset the hit? Ron
Charlie ny
BANNED
Red,
What does the 4 door have going for it.........good frame, quiet /strong motor.
runs without boiling over, decent interior. Before doing a hari kari look at the positives. Doors close nicely, windows go up and down.....If many things are good do a neat pop rivet and sheet metal fix on the floor, forget the tool tray and just keep it
covered over.
Like the man says.....DRIVE IT......with a for sale sign in the window.
Charlie ny
What does the 4 door have going for it.........good frame, quiet /strong motor.
runs without boiling over, decent interior. Before doing a hari kari look at the positives. Doors close nicely, windows go up and down.....If many things are good do a neat pop rivet and sheet metal fix on the floor, forget the tool tray and just keep it
covered over.
Like the man says.....DRIVE IT......with a for sale sign in the window.
Charlie ny
Shu47
Senior Member
It really depends on why you bought this car in the first place. If you bought it as an investment then go for one of the first 2 options. If you bought it because you wanted this particular model then drive it and enjoy it while you maybe try to sell it for what you have in it or as close as you can get. If you just enjoy restoring old cars then spend the money on a restore. Everyone has a different motivation.
mercman from oz
Well-known member
As different people are saying, it doesn't look half bad in this photo. Drive it as is and enjoy it. You may be pleasantly surprised how much you enjoy driving it, even if it is not perfect.
Kube
Super Moderator
How can "rust free" mean anything but "free of rust"?
I've dealt with guys that have told me absolutely "no rust" only to go look and find it has a lot of rust / rot. Then what have I heard? "What do you expect? - the car is 75+ years old".
What I expect is the truth.
Age has NOTHING to do with condition.
When a guy tells me "rust free" I expect "rust free". Anything else is deception or just plain ignorance - perhaps both...
Kube
Super Moderator
...
Talkwrench
Well-known member
Amen to that...
RalphG
Well-known member
That old Ford looks just fine to me and I'd drive it as is for as long as I could. My 52 Merc has far more rust than that. I've done just enough to make it safe (and legal) and I enjoy driving it every chance I get. It will never be worth what it would cost to restore, not that I'm planning that any time soon. So I'll enjoy it as is.
As different people are saying, it doesn't look half bad in this photo. Drive it as is and enjoy it. You may be pleasantly surprised how much you enjoy driving it, even if it is not perfect.
J Franklin
Well-known member
Do you have any corroboration he said "rust free"? Maybe it might work in small claims court.
fortyfords
Senior Member
Digger said it right, along with others, drive it and believe me, you will enjoy driving it. Forty Fords are a super driving car and if you have to lose some money; look at it as money spent on a nice vacation. I have lost money on cars and its not as painful when you look at it as a real nice and enjoyable time.
Mart
Well-known member
Well, you must have wanted a 4 door 40 to have wanted to buy it in the first place. Ok, it's not as nice as you expected, but enjoy it for what it is. Drive it and soak up the old car experience. Don't worry about restoring it, don't spend any money or time on it. Just enjoy it for what it is and think about all the money, time and effort that you have saved by leaving it alone.
Mart.
Mart.
Capt Kirk
Well-known member
I figured that statement would raise an eyebrow. I drive a 2016 truck for work...has less than 20k miles on it and I guarantee that I can find rust on it. Might be a spot on the threads of a bolt, a paint chip on a shock starting to rust...etc. Truly "rust free" is a pretty tall order to fill...especially with these old cars. One person's perception of "rust free" may mean absolutely 0 oxidation anywhere, another person may think that some insignificant surface rust below a floor mat is still rust free. I agree with what you're saying and I believe the term "rust free" is being used too loosely when describing a car. The condition of a car should be described in deeper detail and a person should verify before forking over some cash.
