Warts or scars?

[Ghoste]

Are there certain things on your Charger that you just refuse to repair because it's a reminder that its just a car and it has a history?  You know, like a scar from battle.
Or do you see all of these old blemishes as ugly warts that need to be removed?
Thought of this when I was looking at the cigarette wounds in the dash pad above my cars ashtray.  I don't have a concour's eligible invitee or an AACA medal winner so I think I'll leave this in there even though I don't smoke.

[bakerhillpins]

Mine has tons of them and for the most part they are all going to get fixed when/if I ever get to that stage with the car. The parts of it's history that I may save are the parts that support the story of the car being street raced and its moment of fame in a magazine at one point in its life.  Things like the bolt on mounts for the drive shaft loop, holes in the trunk where the NOS bottle was mounted, etc. History is anything that happens to the car, whether it be all its warts and scars since it rolled off of the line or the fact that somewhere along the line it was neglected and then all the warts/scars are removed in a restoration. 

[b5blue]

My 70 is peppered with them. 45 years of battle damage. 

[Shakey]

Mine has a few also.

I am not so concerned about them as I am pleased just being able to drive the car.  I have a list of "one of these days" items but if it's like the list I have for my house also, it'll be a while before I get to them!   

[Ghoste]

Are there any that you think you'll leave Shakey?  Because you did a pretty fine restoration just to get it where it is now I can scarcely imagine what might be left.

[Shakey]

Probably most of them...

Examples:

The faux wood-grain panels on the dash have some scratches and nicks.  I contemplated spending the $$$ for the replacements but said F it.  Maybe one day but most likely not.  My thoughts are that I prefer the original pieces with their imperfections as opposed to reproductions and their imperfections.

The console lid is aligned pretty good for the most part and stays shut but it is not perfect so maybe one day I'll fiddle with it.  Experience has taught me sometimes to leave well enough alone.  If I take apart the console to try and make it perfect it may end up worse.

I have a few blemishes/nicks in my paint and I am OK with that.  I want to drive the car anywhere and everywhere and not worry about parking it for a few hours while I take my girls to figure skating or soccer.  Hell, I had it out on Boxing Day as well as the 27th and have put over 900 miles on it since October.

Always maintained that it was going to be a # 2 car while in my mind it is # 1.

[Shakey]

Are there any that you think you'll leave Shakey?  Because you did a pretty fine restoration just to get it where it is now I can scarcely imagine what might be left.

Oh and...thank you for the compliment!   

[myk]

Scars offer a distinguished presence and convey a sense of character about the bearer.  Whether the scars involve scratches and flaws from a muscle car that has been roaming the roads and tracks for decades, or even surgical scars from a woman who's increased the displacement of her bra and cup size, scars are definitely cool...

[HANDM]

Are there certain things on your Charger that you just refuse to repair because it's a reminder that its just a car and it has a history?  You know, like a scar from battle.
Or do you see all of these old blemishes as ugly warts that need to be removed?
Thought of this when I was looking at the cigarette wounds in the dash pad above my cars ashtray.  I don't have a concour's eligible invitee or an AACA medal winner so I think I'll leave this in there even though I don't smoke.

My ashtray pad is in the exact condition as yours, I even added a couple myself before I quit smoking two years back..... And no, there's no replacement in the near future.

The other "blemish" other that the whole car, lol, is the shifter console plate, apparently in the cars past, someone regularly slammed the tranny into low and park causing very slight round indents front and back.... Not all that uncommon I'm sure.

[tan top]

  yeah   , scars age  history  etc  , when I stripped mine down to the very last nut bolt clip & screw ! to do the restoration , I only replaced what I really had to , & went back with as much as the original parts from the car as I could , ( not mechanical or electrical ,  ) , all be it after a through clean & repair if necessary & detail etc! ,
 while over restored , base & clear paint a mile deep are awesome , just the same as OEM restos correct right down to paint runs &  tire valve dust caps are just as awesome !  as well as anything else in between  


not the sort of thing/ look !  I was after with mine , did not want it looking too new  too false !!  IMO  noting wrong with this of course    , see above  , no offence meant , each to our own  

mine has still got the scratched & worn wood grain dash ,  original gauge faces etc   put the original worn  pitted name plates back on ,  even the scratched dented pitted sill plates went back on , only things replaced with interior was headling , rear package tray ,  seat covers ,  
 left a early 70s  student parking decal on the rear glass  ,  left stone dents on the grill trim , even put the original windshield back in , & fixed a bulls eye from a stone , ( don't notice its right under the driver side wiper blade when its parked .

IMO Ghoste   those cigarette marks above the ash tray , need sorting out !! repairing or replacing  , not so much part of the cars history , ( yes it is history but not the same IMO ) , more of a careless previous owner
hard to explain  

[kab69440]

The dent in the front of my hood just left of the center line. It was my first attempt at body filler work. You can see it if you're looking for it and you can definitely feel it. It's staying just like that no matter how nice the rest of the car ever looks. I was very cautious to avoid it when I  stitched Runner bulge  in.

[F8-4life]

My car is a beater so yea,  I don't care about resto mentality.

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

Battle scars.  Yup.  Just put on my shiny new SS exhaust tips & took her out for a ride.   Stomped on her & heard a CLANG CLAng CLang clangggg......  One of the tips few off down the side of the road.  Scuffed the top edge of it nicely.  Contemplated on getting another...nope.  Slapped her back on as a reminder.  

Same as the slight ding I put in the quarter panel dropping a radio off my work bench...contemplated doing the paintless ding repair....nope leaving it as a reminder


PS Shawn....never seen an original 68-69 center dash pad without ash burns

[Lord Warlock]

Yes, I kept a couple "scars" of my past, pretty much to remind me how stupid I was as a kid.  The primary one is a small hole in the passenger side upper door panel bolster, where I shot it with a BB pistol to empty the chamber before driving home from doing some target practice in the woods.  Have no idea why I decided to shoot my own car, and was lucky I didn't shoot my eye out as there is metal under the panel and it could have bounced easy.  Its the only defect on that piece, but I left it there as a reminder. 

I also tried to keep as much of the original car as possible.  I can proudly say that every body panel on the car is original sheet metal, except the front valence, and I have the original valence hung up in the shop just in case.  It got a decent dent on one side when I tried a dukes of hazard style jump over two curbs in a mall parking lot, hitting it at 45mph and going airborne, slamming to ground then hitting the 2nd curb and going airborne a second time.  Car survived but memory stays with me.  The car has no bondo on it except skim coat to level out some imperfections before painting. 

All the chrome trim is original except check trim, and I'll eventually replace the chrome trim around the tail lights that is heavily pitted.  Also replaced the side mirrors only because of pitted chrome, kept originals to rechrome later. 

[Ghoste]

Haha, you are so right on the dash pads without burns.  To the point that repops almost should come that way.
I had a 68 road runner once that was burn free.  (or at least I remember it that way- I know where the car is so I might have to go look now)

[bill440rt]

Probably most of them...

Examples:

The faux wood-grain panels on the dash have some scratches and nicks.  I contemplated spending the $$$ for the replacements but said F it.  Maybe one day but most likely not.  My thoughts are that I prefer the original pieces with their imperfections as opposed to reproductions and their imperfections.

I too have a few nicks on the woodgrain dash panels. They are the originals, and the little scratches are very few and are so minor.
I contemplated replacing them, although the repros are nice they just aren't the same & I could not justify the cost.
One trick someone told me is to use a tan or brown wood stain crayon to touch them up. Just find a color that's close. Haven't tried it, yet...


The almost 30-year old paint job is starting to crack on my red '68. I'm learning to live with it, but I know someday down the road I'll be stripping it off. 

[MxRacer855]

This might sound crazy... but I feel that way about glass. A few of my original pieces have some scrapes and scratches in them, and as ugly as it looks... it's really cool to know that someone was looking out of that same window 47 years ago!

[charger207]

An interesting topic!  As many of you know, the First Gen Chargers were basically a modified Coronet in a body sense.  So it is well know that none of them came off the line without a slight humps where the C pillar and roof seam where the Charger fastback was welded to the Coronet roof.  I remember watching a promo film showing the Charger assembly line.  A worker had an asbestos glove, a huge soldering iron, and a bar of solder.  he was melting solder to the weld and smoothing it with his gloved hand.   It's become a sort of badge of honor.  I told my body man NOT to grind and putty it.
I did not leave any dings and such in my restoration, or at least not any that are obvious.  But I know where the dinks and dings are under the dash, in trunk, etc. and they will stay to remind me About it's history.  I also left the glass. 

[tan top]

This might sound crazy... but I feel that way about glass. A few of my original pieces have some scrapes and scratches in them, and as ugly as it looks... it's really cool to know that someone was looking out of that same window 47 years ago!

yeah     you got it !!   , that's why I put  my original  windshield back in  , even though it had lots of stone chips  , & a bulls eye from a large stone , (see my above post ) , also the  passenger side door glass is scratched  , was the original to the car , reused all glass ,   only one I changed was the passenger side  door vent glass , because it had been replaced with a clear PPG piece , ( car was broken into sometime in the 70s)  put a good used  OEM tinted one in place , I know you could argue that's history too , but ...    it was the wrong glass   

[TPR]

This might sound crazy... but I feel that way about glass. A few of my original pieces have some scrapes and scratches in them, and as ugly as it looks... it's really cool to know that someone was looking out of that same window 47 years ago!

yeah     you got it !!   , that's why I put  my original  windshield back in  , even though it had lots of stone chips  , & a bulls eye from a large stone , (see my above post ) , also the  passenger side door glass is scratched  , was the original to the car , reused all glass ,   only one I changed was the passenger side  door vent glass , because it had been replaced with a clear PPG piece , ( car was broken into sometime in the 70s)  put a good used  OEM tinted one in place , I know you could argue that's history too , but ...    it was the wrong glass   

You guys are not crazy.
One corner of my rear window looks like someone went 'wax on, wax off' with some coarse sandpaper. My windshield has odd blurry blotches.
I had a fellow Charger owner offer me a spare rear window he had [not free], but I'd prefer to leave it as it is. After all, if I changed one window with new glass, I be tempted to change them all for consistency.
I have plenty of other bumps and scrapes especially on my dash and centre console which I don't plan to fix. It's an old car with a lot of character. I don't want to lose that.
TPR

[Shakey]

One trick someone told me is to use a tan or brown wood stain crayon to touch them up. Just find a color that's close. Haven't tried it, yet...

Hi Bill - hope all is well!

I tired the wood crayon/marker on a spare set I had and while it was kinda close, it didn't look as good as the character of the scratches.

While there haven't been a ton of people to see my car since I only "launched" it in late September, if someone has a comment about the imperfections my only comeback would be that the car is the same age as me and I feel it is in better shape than I am!

I've got some scars and battle wounds from my younger days also!   

9 stitches across the bridge of my nose
5 stitches across my forehead
5 stitches on my arm
a lower back that reminds of my age every so often...

[Ghoste]

Those scars sound like they didn't make too many high sticking calls in your local arena. 

[Shakey]

Those scars sound like they didn't make too many high sticking calls in your local arena. 

When traveling abroad it is usually easy to spot fellow Canadians by the hockey scars on their faces!   

[6spd68]

From personal experience, I find if the marks on the car have happened whilst I've owned it; I consider them scars.  When I bought my 72 Cutlass last spring, all the little dings and blemmeshis seemed more like warts in a sense that they actually bugged me a bit.  Which is probably the reason I ended up selling it at the end of the summer.  They could've all been fixed, but I already have a Charger.  There was no sense in throwing 3000$ at a car I was not going to keep in the first place.

Has anyone else noticed this trend?  You'll find more unappealing features about a car that isn't yours? 

[HeavyFuel]

For me, whether the wound stays on to become a scar depends on the severity the event and the damage.

I left this on the car for a while, then had to 'exorcise' it.

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,95015.msg1345728.html#msg1345728


Wear and tear type stuff will probably stay on for a long time.....all part of having a car you DRIVE.