Lee, I used silicon spray on the distributor cap and wires -- a similar concept. :-) It's great that your father passed on so much information from his extensive experience owning and driving trucks. And, four generations is impressive! Per your suggestion ...
Here are some photos of the '64 1/2 Mustang. It's from the Ertl "Classic Vehicles" series from 1989, although I bought it new last year or so.
First, I painted the door handles and the front running and rear lights to match photos of restored cars:
I also painted the windshield wipers and "washed" the vent on the hood with black paint but I really should have used a grey instead of black.
At minimum, I wanted to paint the seats white. In my dreams, I also wanted to add "glass" to the side vent windows and maybe the backseat windows. The model disassembled:
The hump for the stick shift is detailed enough to include chrome and wood -- with a steady hand and magnification. It would be good to remove the steering wheel and give it the chrome and wood treatment, but it doesn't look easy to remove -- the plastic is kinda melted on the reverse side.
It's hard to see in black, but there's nice dashboard detail and room to paint the radio (translation: or "suggest" it with a dash of silver):
I've started the first coat. It needs a second one and the embarrassing "paint slop" cleaned up afterward 
:
Here's another view showing the potential for dashboard and etc. detail:
Tomlinson Run Railroad
