I have a Lionel 6555 S.U.N.X. vat/tank car, the tank is metal and also the frame too. It is faded badly but otherwise not rusted and dent free. It is in need of silver paint and decals, would you advise repainting and adding new decals to this original car?
I think it is a matter of personal preference. I’m an operator collector, if you will. So I would have no problem stripping that tank car to the bare metal (be careful the caps are not metal) and repainitng it in either silver or chrome and then slap on new water transfer decals. In fact, I have done just that with a single dome car and triple dome car I have.
Mike