Better Beaters - Building Cars and Daily Drivers

"Does it hurt to become Real?" Part One.

photo source: Get me shop.com
C'mon you know that you'd love the little guy a bit more since he's been through a few things.

"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time. Not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become real."

"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.

"Sometimes" said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."

"Does it happen all at once, like being wound up." he asked, "or bit by bit?"

"It doesn't happen all at once,"said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

_ Margery Williams Bianco, The Velveteen Rabbit.


Maybe you remember the entire story, I just remember hearing the quote somewhere.

Anything that is actually used as it was intended too is going to display evidence of that use. Now multiply this use by years and years, even decades and be honest, "That's going to leave a mark."

Of course the subject of my discourse is not going to be about well worn, stuffed childhood friends, it's going to be about old automobiles.

They are designed to be very hardy and to stand up to years of exposure to the elements. The paint, the bright work, the interior can last very long time, almost indefinitely.

However, over time, even a well kept vehicle will display fading paint, dull, tarnished, and oxidized bright work and dirty and worn upholstery.

Sometimes if a vehicle is bought and placed in a time capsule, usually purchased new as a collectible, it can easily be preserved cosmetically as a brand new vehicle.

The 1976 Cadillac El Dorado convertible was purchased by some collectors as the last of it's kind, the owner's goal was to maintain it in an "as new" condition. Hopefully to sell it at a later date at a huge profit.


Unfortunately, some cars are bought and subject to complete neglect. They are seldom washed, never waxed, and certainly never garaged. I've always felt that kind of treatment was unfair to the car and a very poor reflection on the owner.

Their interiors are never cleaned and they develop an accumulation of trash, food wrappers, and liquid spills. They also develop some rather unpleasant odors due to this accumulation.

Cars treated in this manner quickly deteriorate to a very sad level and remain at that level for the rest of their useful lives.

Most of us, being enthusiasts, maintain our cars much better than this, even if we don't always dote on them excessively.

My stable of cars have endured the bumps and grinds of life commonly referred to as everyday use.

Take my Explorer for example. It arrived in my garage already a veteran of over twenty years of road campaigns. It had accumulated over 200,000 miles of experience with the requisite scars. Careful maintenance had preserved it's innate nobility.

Though it was looking a bit down at the heels around the edges.

Overall it was acquired in presentable condition.

Looking kinda faded.

Definitely broken in but still real comfy.

Ouch! That had to sting!

The right rear door had sustained a pretty big scrape before I bought it. The hood is pretty chipped up and the rear window posts have both weathered quite badly. The front tires were scuffed and one was missing  a hub cap. The front seat bottom leather covering had cracked and broken in several places, and they were covered by those hideous cheap nylon covers. Luckily the seat backs are still in really good shape. There are a couple of dents and dings but overall, the body and paint are in good shape.

You could just leave everything as it was and learn to live with it, Or, you could do a few things to spruce it up a bit.

That door scrape was the worst spot, so I went over the area with some touch up paint and a Q Tip. It made quite an improvement.

A year and a half later the touch up still looks pretty good.

Replacing missing badges and emblems shows that you care.

I found the missing Ford emblem at a wrecking yard and glued it onto the tailgate.

Those weathered roof posts really made the Explorer look old and tired. A quick mask and spray perked things right up.

I decided that those cheap seat covers looked worse than the damaged seats so I pulled them off. The seat backs are the only part visible from outside, and those look perfect.

What about those cracked and torn seat bottoms? I'm going to live with those for a while. I'm a mechanic, not a magician!

My XJS looked pretty good as found.
Yeah, I wish that was my house, too.

My XJS was purchased in pretty good shape, the body and paint were quite good. There is a faded spot on the lower left quarter panel. There a few small dings along both sides and one of my co workers recently scraped the left rear bumper panel. Luckily, it only abraded the rubber. I rubbed it out with compound and it's almost invisible. It just wouldn't have been worth replacing.

Before the buffing.

The Skin Horse would be sympathetic.

The interior has held up well except for the driver's seat bottom and the wood veneer on the console face. The top was in bad shape and my driveway patch job really hasn't done it any favors.

This is after I glued down all the broken bits and loose edges.

Not done for beauty, obviously

There are several cosmetic things that I'd like to fix and improve on the XJS but I have to address the mechanical items first.

My XJ6's photo in the Craig's List ad.

My XJ6 was purchased in pretty good overall shape. The body was straight and free of collision damage. The paint was still shiny, the interior clean. There were a few dings here and there a chip in the paint.

Located somewhere between those two leaves is a little dent.
Kind of hard to see so I usually don't worry about it.

That inside headlamp is kind of wobbly.

That was there when I bought the car.

This one really hurts. Supermarket damage sustained under my watch.

Another door scrape to the right rear quarter

Both sides of the rear bumper had these scrapes when I bought the car.

A pretty good chip on the left rear door.
I should really touch this up.

One small ding on the left side of the hood, a scrape on the left rocker a noticeable ding on the rear passenger's door, and a small scrape that damaged the pinstripe on the right rear quarter. The rear bumper has scuffs on both sides. The interior is in great shape as the headliner was replaced. I believe that a couple of new panels were sewed into the driver's seat. A professional repair. I need to find an upholstery shop that can do that. Still it looks really great.

I haven't addressed these cosmetic imperfections and they don't detract from the appearance of the car as a whole. I've described how I repaired that inside rear view mirror that kept falling off. After I peeled off the melted velcro tape. Yes, there are a few things that I can and will do.

Next week I'll finish up my thoughts and see if I can offer some kind of conclusion.