P-51 data plates

[Leo]

accuracy

I recently saw a Corvette restoration complete down to the paper part number tags and the crayon inspection initials on the engine, all painstakingly researched and reproduced. Who knows where the parts originated, but the numbers were all correct.
The level of accuracy in warbird restorations is pretty close to that now.
But they are restorations, not originals. At what point does originality end? Once a tire is changed? The oil? At that point a car or plane is no longer "factory original" I guess.
An original would be impracticle and unuseable. I'd rather see a restoration fly.

Leo

[speeddemon]

Originally posted by Randy Haskin

They shipped the hulk back to the depot and, over the course of a year or more, completely rebuilt the airplane from the ground up. SO....a large percentage of the metal was different, but the airplane was the same.

Hmmmmmm.........

Sounds kind of like Michael Jackson's face.

[Unregistered]

Re: accuracy

Originally posted by Leo

But they are restorations, not originals. At what point does originality end? Once a tire is changed? The oil? At that point a car or plane is no longer "factory original" I guess.
An original would be impracticle and unuseable. I'd rather see a restoration fly.

Leo

I can answer that from the car perspective (not that I AGREE with it... more below).

For the cars I deal with, an "original" means:

1) All parts that would have been stamped with the actual VIN of the original car are indeed the orignial pieces. For Chrysler products after 1966, that means the engine block, the transmission case, and 4 specific locations on the unibody steel (trunk inner lip, radiator core support, and of course the VIN tag riveted to the dash and the Fendertag under the hood). It does not matter if the engine and transmission have been rebuilt or not.

2) all the parts that have a date code should have a code that would have been "possible" for the original car. For example, say the original intake manifold on your '69 440 had been removed and an Edelbrock put on. To "restore" the car to "original" condition, you need a factory iron intake with a date code a 'reasonable' amount PRIOR to the scheduled build date of the car. Say the car's scheduled build date was late November '68, then a manifold with a casting date October or November would be fine.

3) Other parts should be original vendor equivalents (Tires, belts, hoses, etc.)


It can be a little different for different brands of car. General Motors didn't stamp engine blocks and transmission cases with the VIN of the car they were originally installed in, so whether the engine is actually THE original is not traceable as it is with a Chrysler, for example.

Now in my opinion, that is all well and good but not for me. I prefer to stick to the general parameters of the original car, but I've got electronic ignition, radial tires, and so on. Stuff that could be easily undone, but that is much better to actually drive today.

My impression is that with Warbirds, part functionality is everything and having a "correct" casting number doesn't mean too much except as an added attraction if for some reason it's possible (ie. 'Glacier Girl' still has her honest-to-God original engines). And I can certainly see that- when you're talking about a flying machine, you don't want to risk it all on a questionable, but correctly MARKED, part just for the sake of "originality."


Steve

[flipit1]

P-51 data plates

If you have data plates you basically have an aircraft. Even if you do not have a valid fuselage