Determination of "ORIGINAL"

[Guest Roar]

I have dug (Literally) a very old racer out of a backyard and am in the process of "restoring" it.

The question I have is: considering that the car was built by inexpert craftsmen using available materials just before or after WW-II; how much refurbishment SHOULD I do?

These homebuilt cars were built to race in the typically rough and tumble circle tracks of the era so generally weren't highly finished so the typical process of restoration: smoothing and finishing everything to a high standard was rarly done.

While these vehicles become beautiful pieces of art, they are NOT representative of what they originally were, I wish to return this to a (admittedly) somewhat better example of what the average guy hashed together and raced in the late 30's and 40's, how far SHOULD I go?

Can I receive some direction?

Cheers:

Roar

[Shop Rat]

Race cars go through a certification process to verify that they were in fact a race car in their past. You will need to assemble some documentation to submit for that process. We have a friend that is restoring a famous drag car with the help of the original owner. His car has temporary certification pending it being finished.

Here is the person you need to contact.

Dave Zimmerman - Chairman - Race Car Certification Committee

Zimmerman, David L.

6 Tainter Street

P.O. Box 213

Peapack, NJ 07977

Here is his e-mail address per the main web-site.

dlzoldcars@comcast.net<dlzoldcars@comcast.net>

Edited May 21, 2010 by Shop Rat
Adding contact info. (see edit history)

[Terry Bond]

...assuming that Roar intends to go the AACA certification route, which we want to encourage of course. Another resource would be Norm Hutton. Norm has a couple of great early racers and could be a big help to you. I don't have Norm's contact info handy but you should be able to reach him via the AACA Museum as he is their VP.

Terry

[Shop Rat]

...assuming that Roar intends to go the AACA certification route, which we want to encourage of course. ...

Terry

Yep, that was what I was shooting for.

[Guest Roar]

Thanks for the replys!

I understand that I must verify that the car raced but in that I'm glueing it back together, I want to know what the standards ARE. I already have read the rule book and see that I can use better paint and shouldn't chrome everything since it wasen't etc but My question is: do I return it to it's probable less than pristine condition of something hashed together from available bits or do I sandblast everything, smooth all the welds out, bring the lumpy body to rolls royce standards, use bridge bridge of wier leather for the seat etc.? ALL this while typical of the majority of show cars is NOT representative of what the car originally was so is NOT restoration!

Cheers;

Roar

[Shop Rat]

Roar, If you do intend to show the car at AACA National shows then the best person to ask those questions of is David Zimmerman.

In the case of our friend's car they told him to pick out a photo of the car that was at least 25 years old and restore the car to match the photo. Luckily for him the car was famous so there are LOTS of photos of it. In the case of his car it was one of the top cars so it looked really nice every time it came out for a race.

For a local race car, say a hobby stock or modified, the work might have been less than top notch.

Just don't pick a photo of it wrecked. :eek:

[Guest Roar]

---Then my reference to original period cars would be Tex Smith's book ROARING ROADSTERS.

Cars there incorporate such racecar specific features as a stuffed living room chair, waterpipe rollover bars, and NO body at all, just chassis, drivetrain and a seat. As he says it was pretty well run what ya brung!

I've forwarded my question to Dave, Hope I didn't breach AACA Etiquette by not addressing him by his official title.

[Shop Rat]

..... I've forwarded my question to Dave, Hope I didn't breach AACA Etiquette by not addressing him by his official title.

For something like this it is best to start with the person in charge. And I don't think he will loose any sleep over the fact that you didn't address him as "Mr. Chairman".

[Restorer32]

Seems to me you have answered your own question. Restore it as it was when on the starting line at the track, warts and all. If your intention is to "recreate" a period race car that is a different matter.