Sir, I am well aware of the condition of the materials I'm working with, thank you. Instead of telling me what you consider pointless, would you offer some advice on actually doing what you advocate?
The image fills the screen once I correct the aspect ratio to anamorphic 1.78:1. Therefore no need to worry about black borders. All I'm left with are two rectangles that need to be covered by a black mask.
Does anyone know how to do this with a subtitle overlay? As CompMovieGuy said, it would have to be timed to come and go as the counter comes and goes.