Is this a restoration Faux Pas?

[GorillaParts]

Hey everyone,

I'm acquiring an old A-Stamped RC10 this week. All of the parts appear original, but the bottom of the chassis is a little rough. I'm imagining the different ways that I can restore, or customize this car. I'm just worried about committing a foul with such a historic car. I have a little hobbyist machine shop at home, and lots of capabilities, so I can handle this any way I want. My concern is doing something that is widely frowned upon, or entirely depreciating the value of the car.

Here's what I've narrowed it down to:

A) Fully cleaning, decrudding, re-annodizing the tub, polishing parts, and leaving it all original

B) Total customization, re-anodizing the tub bright purple, dying all the nylon fluorescent green, installing fluorescent yellow ball joints, and upgrading to a whole lot of custom CNC machined carbon fiber, and Delrin parts.

I'm really leaning towards plan B, but I don't want to devalue the car, or be shamed forever.
Any advice is appreciated.

[coxbros1]

I personally like plan A, but B could be cool. I dont think u will be shamed

[jkelm24]

You'll find many, many, many examples on this site of both approaches.

It's your model, and your hobby experience. Do what you want with it and have fun!

[XLR8]

Hello and welcome to the forums.

From your description, it's not an unused pristine example so I guess I'd customize it. Either way, will you do a full build post here??

[jwscab]

whatever your preference, really, is what you should do.

reanodizing gives you a chance to start with a fresh chassis. there were lots of kits made, and lots of cars still around and available. certain parts are harder to find, and they will be sooner than later, so if you plan on running it, stock up on wear items.

dye the parts any color you want. when you get tired of that, you can dye them black.

[GorillaParts]

Thanks for the input, guys.

It looks like I'm going to go custom, and make it my own. I'll definitely start a build thread, and post my progress.

[Jools]

Obviously do YOUR thing.
Personally I prefer the original factory finishes, but super-cleaned and super tidy. A slight patina showing age and use looks great.
Full size restored bikes and cars are getting better money this way... unrestored, dead original down to the factory finishes, even if they're not perfect.
Nice project, enjoy.

[XLR8]

Also, do yourself a big favor and download the manual. Assembling the car correctly will save you a lot of grief later on.
I've built many of the early RC10's over the years but I still need to check the manual -- especially now that my memory is not what it once was.

[Incredible_Serious]

It's your car, mate, so really it's up to you what you want to do with it and how you want it to look and run. They're made to be used, and if it's already used, then why not!


Having said that, though.... referring to:

...entirely depreciating the value of the car.

And

... I don't want to devalue the car...

If all you're worried about is the subsequent (resale) value of the car, then anything you do to markedly change the colour and/or look of the original parts is most likely to negatively impact on the resale price, unless you do a really good job. In this case, I would suggest cleaning and polishing it up as much as you can, whitening any faded white parts (plenty of threads on this forum), and replacing anything that is an eyesore. If you deem it necessary, maybe clean, sand and reanodise the chassis and other metal parts, as long as you can get a colour that closely matches the original. Then, add a fresh body with a vintage look paint job, some nice wheels and tyres, and send her off to eBay.

Thanks for the input, guys.

It looks like I'm going to go custom, and make it my own. I'll definitely start a build thread, and post my progress.

Sounds like you've already chosen the better option....

Alex