I just bought my father's '73 911S Targa, which he bought new. It has 42,000 miles on it, and is in perfect running condition. It needs only minimal work to get it perfect, but I'm new to the restoration game.

It has a crack in the dash, the driver's side carpet needs to be replaced (all the other carpet is perfect), it needs new weather stripping (the original stuff works, but it's cracked and worn), and that's about it.

The car was resprayed in the original silver, we have found no signs of rust, and it's never been in an accident. Other than a few repairs over the years (with OEM parts) - fixes for oil leaks, new vinyl for the targa top, and a new crest - the car is all original. It still has the original clutch, brake pads, tool kit, owner's manual, window sticker, receipt, original spare tire (33 year old XWX - never used), all service records (down to every oil change), etc.

Now I'm torn. I want to preserve the originality, but at the same time I'd like to fix the broken things. Do I buy a replacement dash, even if it's genuine Porsche? Do I replace the one section of bad carpet with new German Perlon? The tires are about 10 years old - should I replace them with Vredestein or new XWX's?

By the way, I do intend on driving it, though not much. I'll bring it to work on occassion or drive it to a PCA meet.