Better Beaters - Building Cars and Daily Drivers

Oily Rag. What could be easier?

photo source: oilyrag.com
The ultimate find, a weathered but complete and running Aston Martin DB2.

The concept is simple, preserve the vehicle's current condition, maintain it's originality. Maintain and repair it to keep it in running condition, but do not restore the engine in any cosmetic way.

Just wipe the dust off with an oily rag.

Weathered paint.  Faded, chipped and worn through to primer. Just preserve it. The term is patina, and the concept of preserving the original evidence of constant use has gained a lot of popularity. Now there are what amount to "barn find" classes at fancy shows like Pebble Beach! The term "survivor" car has become pretty common, and I believe this term came into popularity with the Corvette crowd. An original example displaying it's evidence of service became more prestigious than a car that received a full restoration. Was this the actual admiration for originality or just another attempt at one upsmanship?  I mean how many presentable originals are left? Any car can be restored.

They're only original once!


The interior upholstery should not be completely redone, instead it should be patched, restitched, with only the worst panels replaced. Sometimes the upholstery looks really good with little or no wear. Especially the back seat. My '56 Cadillac's rear seat was like that. However when I started actually driving the car I found that the foam cushions crumbled to dust and the aged fabric wore rapidly. I would imagine that reconditioned leather might end up cracking and tearing after steady use.

I agree with this concept except that many times the car has deteriorated in so many areas to a degree that there isn't even enough upholstery to patch.

photo source: Craigslist

                         Patch the upholstery? Where are the floorboards?

Are these horrible things seats? Looks more like a nightmare to me. 

The best oily rag candidates are cars that have been kept in constant service. These cars have received somewhat regular maintenance. They may have had non standard repairs and parts replacements done, with the ultimate intent of keeping the machine running. Think of the famous cars of Cuba.

They also generally have not had a lot of different owners. Many times they were owned for a very long period and are often still owned by the original owner's families. The families often have developed quite strong emotional ties to the vehicle and have been loathe to sell it to just get rid of it.

Surface rust has spread to the point that there isn't any original paint to preserve.

Don't worry that will buff out!

Will this be saved? It's probably too far gone.
 It's not valuable enough to make it viable.

I suggest that you visit the Oily Rag website and read their philosophy. It covers not only cars but other mechanical devices and even houses and architectural items. Preservation not restoration.

The term, "oily rag" was also used at one time as a pejorative slur against a perceived low skilled and low paid mechanic or worker. Much like the American term, "grease monkey." This is a term that I do find offensive, especially when used in a disdainful manner by one of the effete classes.

As a low buck car enthusiast so much depends on finding the right car. The idea is to find a well preserved example. Something that just needs a little work. While we might want a particular model, sometimes we will settle on a particularly well preserved car, even if it is something that we might have considered before.  It might be a four door sedan that was owned by a fussy senior citizen who kept up the maintenance schedule meticulously and well as keeping it parked in the garage when not in use.

I suppose this is why I can be quite finicky and protective of my old cars.  Condition is everything. Preserving and improving on them is paramount. They all inhabit that treacherous territory between high emotional desirability, (at least to me) and low financial value (to everyone else). So I do find my self worrying about "something" happening to them. Just like when my XJS was sideswiped in the employee parking lot at work.

Except for the Mark VII, my current fleet was purchased in pretty presentable condition. A couple were in remarkably good shape. The '96 Mustang and XJ6 had nice interiors and paint jobs. The XJS had a very good body and paint, needing only a convertible top and some work on the seat bottoms. The body and paint on the Explorer is pretty good but the front seats need a little repair. The worst car I've bought in recent times is the Mark VII. The paint is gone in many large panels, replaced by surface rust. The hydraulic systems are frozen. There is even a small rust out in one of the lower sill. Still the car was straight and complete, and it appears that it will able to run again with the current motor. Although it still needs an incredible amount of "fiddling" to be made useful. That's okay, I'm a proud member of the "fiddling economy."



Back to the specific from the general.

The majority of my recent time and efforts have been going into repairing and maintaining my house and yard. This has taken a lot of my free time and effort but progress is being steadily made. These responsibilities are what is referred to  as "life gets in the way" in all those stories about stalled automobile restoration projects. Sometimes being an adult can be a pain.

Efforts to clear out the garage to regain my workplace have been going extremely well. Now it is time to give some real attention to the Mark VII. It's time to get the thing running as well as finish up dismantling and rebuilding the hydraulics.

The good thing is that all this work is more labor intensive instead of money intensive. This will give me a chance to catch my financial breath and rebuild my car account.

Since the garage isn't quite ready, this is a good opportunity to concentrate my efforts on making the Mark mobile. It would be very useful to be able to move it to gain better access to enter and exit the garage.

I've acquired my stable of cars. Now it's time to put up or shut up. No pressure!