I've got it. I don't know what to call it. I suspect that people who have
shipwright's disease are more susecptable to it.
Symptoms:
This usually strikes during the reassembly phase of a rebuild. I started off
with the best intentions of putting together a completely stock TR3A with period
suspension and engine mods. And I am very careful to try to make sure the
correct thing goes into the right place. Restoration,was my goal, and I
snickered at those who over restored their cars.
This disease starts slowly. You go to put a servicable used part back onto your
newly painted car, and it doesn't look right. It looked fine by itself, but
next to a perfect newly painted body, it looks.. well shabby... And after all
the work of getting the body perfect the part needs to match the dream (we can
get into Plato here very easily). So the part ether gets replaced, or cleaned
up to look like new. This is the first stage of the disease. Some people never
get beyond the first stage.
The next stage is when you are cleaning something up, like a chrome grill with
aluminum bars, you think that it would look a little nicer if the bars were as
shiney as the chrome rim, and out comes the polishing equipment. It is bearly
noticable when it starts, but once you have taken that first part beyond stock
finish, it gets easier to do it again. For instance, having had to bail out of
a car with bad brakes just before it went over a clif, I tend to pay attention
to brake systems. I replaced the old brake lines on the TR3 because they were
starting to show some signs of oxidation (My Land Rover once found itself on top
of a hill in a rain storm without brakes becaise of a rust pinhole in the line).
So to be extra safe, I replaced them with stainless steel. Well I couldn't see
painting the lines in the engine compartment like the factory did. And it was
just a little step to getting out the muslin wheel and the ruge.
Over-restoration struck in the form of polished stainless steel brake lines when
the original was painted steel... opps
When I was unbolting body parts, I spent a lot of time dealing with severly
rusted bolts & nuts. I didn't want to go through that again, so I decided to
use stainless steel fasteners for the body parts. The factory assembled the
body and then painted it. Having dwelt with the resulting rust from areas that
didn't get good coverage, I had body parts painted individually and am
reassembling them (final outside body paint to come after reassembly). Since
the body bolts were going on after painting, it would be hard to go back and
paint the bolts and washers per original...so the stainless steel bolts nuts &
washers are going on unpainted. When you are putting on a row of bolts that do
not need to be torqued to a tight spec, its real easy to line up the flats...
and it REALLY DOES LOOK BETTER....And since it is stainless, its real easy to
get out the polishing wheel.......this over-restoration disease stikes again.
Last night I found myself doing it again... I was sitting in the living room
polishing the heater valve assembly. And I was putting clear acrilic over the
inner headlamp rims that I just had refinished (part that goes inside the
headlamp bucket tha holds the headlamp and that you adjust when adjust the
headlamps.. You can't even see it when the car is asembled!}
I really do not want to over-restore this car! I want it to be as close to
factory as possible (except for the period engine and suspension mods). These
things I've been doing just happen! I see it happening an can not stop it. I
have sucessfully resisted chroming everything in sight or tossing out the rubber
floor mats to put in carpet mats. But I am in the process of polishing the
intake manifolds for the DCOEs (How many points can I lose on a concourse... let
me count the ways...)
Shipwright's disease and this over-restoration disease.. what am I going to do?
May I sucessfully resist future urges to purchase a fixer upper!
Will I be able to take the TR to a meet and not get embarised when I pop the
bonnet?
Arrrgg
TeriAnn Wakeman Large format photographers look at the world
twakeman@apple.com upside down and backwards
LINK: TWAKEMAN
408-974-2344 TR3A - TS75519L,
MGBGT - GHD4U149572G, Land Rover 109 - 164000561
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