Historically relevant or not when it comes to value?

[IdahoTory]

I got what I consider a good deal on a mostly complete 1952 M38A1 with a bad engine. Its close, but I won’t go underwater even after a complete drive train refresh.

I’m not necessarily looking to do a restore. I want to put about 10K miles a year on it. I am doing much work on it, but it’s not about making it historically perfect. I’m building it to be a reliable driver with a refresh of its original configuration as it came from the factory.

Paper work would indicate restoration activity that happened in 2003 and 2018. It looks the part, but the engine was ruined when I acquired it. All of the bearing surfaces were destroyed, and the engine wasn’t salvageable due to previous rebuilds. It ran like Crimp One Off, but it ran when I bought it. Tear down of the motor showed oil starvation which lines up perfectly with the amount of oil pouring out the rear main seal. Kind of odd, the neoprene seal didn’t look bad, it’s like it shrank or something. It wasn’t really touching the crank, it was a gusher. I bet it went through a quart per mile.

Here is a list of positives:
-Detailed paperwork back to 2001
-Professional rebuilds in progress – Zero Miles
-Long block
-Transmission
-Xfer Case
-Saturn Overdrive
-Front/Rear Diffs
-Has NOS fording gear including the menagerie of venting back to the air box and that crazy looking snorkel.
-New exhaust from header back
-24v electrical systems with what appears to be a recently rebuilt generator (but I couldn’t find an invoice or receipt)
-New Brakes
-New Clutch
-New Water Pump
-New speedo cable
-New Radiator (Maybe NOS)
-New gas tank and sender (Maybe NOS)
-Turn Signals
-NOS heater kit and an aftermarket “water heater” (I haven’t looked that closely, neither are installed. Not sure if its all there either)
-Original (?) or NOS canvas top with all the hardware and complete canvas doors. They look original due to the impressive build quality, but I am no expert.
-Many of the original parts that were replaced above. Many look to be original.

Not so perfect issues: I’m not sure I care about these things right now, but I may want to address these sooner rather than later as parts become more challenging to acquire. Even if I simply store the original parts off to the side for future use.

-The original block that came in it, was not an “MD” and neither is the replacement block I found. I don’t know about your neck of the woods, but buildable MD series blocks are not easily found. Should I care about this when it comes to long-term value? It’s too late to do anything about it now, but if I’m patient, I may be able to find a useable MD block and store it for later use.

-The original springs were replaced with a 2” Rancho lift. Should I acquire the authentic 10 leafs and store them? I like the lift well enough, and I will be taking my rig offroad a lot. I don’t plan to remove the lift at this time.

-The floor pans at the transmission and xfer case were hacked up a bit to accommodate the overdrive lever. Is that a horrible thing? I may be able to relocate the overdrive lever or put it on a push button actuator and replace the floor pan with NOS.

-The vacuum-actuated windshield wipers have been replaced with 24v electric units. The vacuum plumbing is still in place. Is that a cherished item that greatly impacts value? I’m not sure I have all the parts.

-It doesn’t have original rims. They look the part, but they have been converted to tubeless and are not original. Should I go after the original rims? There is no way I would flip back to those rims, but somebody may want to in the future.

-Solex Carburator? I have what appears to be an original carb as well. I assume the Solex is preferred???

Oddities:
It came with a full roll cage that was removed by the preious owner. It looks to be a Poison Spyder kit. It’s well done, with high quality welds. I’m not sure what I will do with that just yet. If I put it on there it’s not going to look very cool. Safety is a top 5 priority for lots of people, should I keep it or sell it?

Thanks for reading. Any thoughts on any of this are greatly appreciated.