[njsteve]

Thanks. I do enjoy a good debate, though, once in a while.

It kind of reminds me of the scene in Princess Bride between the Sicilian and Dread Pirate Roberts and their battle of wits. :-)

[RamAir]

I'm with you on this Steve, you are doing what's necessary to preserve the integrity of the car. Keep cleaning away, but it looks like you have it covered.

[West Coast GTO]

It is still a right here in America to have an opinion. It is also an old saying that " opinions are like noses, everyone has one."
As far as removing the " patina" of a low mileage survivor car, opinions definitely run strong! Just where does one draw the line?
If, for example, my survivor car has a leak from the timing cover front oil seal that leaves a puddle of oil on the garage floor as well as contributing to the " patina" of the oil covered pan, trans and floorboards, do I repair it? After all, that leak helped to create the oil " patina" that covers the underside of my car. Also, if that seal should be replaced, should I clean off the dirt and oil covered components and preserve any bare metal that will soon rust OR leave those components dirt and oil caked and then re-establish a matching dirt/ oil " patina" on any and all securing screws or bolts?

Here is another question: my car has a quarter size rust hole at the bottom of the passenger fender, obviously from the drain hole that had become plugged over the last 40 years. So, my 14,000 mile survivor car has an ongoing deteriorating condition that will continue to get worse as time goes by. Should I have it repaired to preserve the original date coded fender that Pontiac installed in 73 or just let it rust away for the sake of the " patina'?
Steve's car has a remarkable history and it is apparent that he is preserving the originality of his car.
Oh, that's right; it IS his car after all!

[njsteve]

I see my role as more of a conservator in this case: trying to halt any future degradation (changing the bad fluids and fixing the damage they caused).

One of the Yenko.net guys (Charley L) acquired an 1,100 mile 1970 Z/28 a few years ago. it was parked since 1971 when it got a door ding. He has dedicated a complete website to just the documentary photographs of the car. Dusty, oily, covered in undercoating, etc,. When he acquired the car he drained and replaced the oil, removed and cleaned the filter, drained the fuel tank, disassembled the carb (the gaskets had shrunk), pulled the plugs in order to oil the cylinders to get the stuck motor turning again. He tried to pull the distributor to prime the oil pump, but it was frozen into the intake/block. He pulled the rear drums off the verify the condition of the brakes and take photos.

That Z/28 was on display at the MCACN show a few years ago. In his video interview he mentions that the master cylinder cap has never been off. You can see the master cylinder's rear seal is leaking as badly as mine was, from the photos.

I like what he has done/not done with the car but I would have pulled the master cylinder to stop the brake fluid leak since it can cause some serious paint damage.

And no, Charlie did not fix the door chip that the high school friend of the original owner's sister caused, back in 1971.

Here's the website: http://1970z28camaro.com/