hi mopar92...
i fully appreciate what you are saying. when i saw the M car i just bought had been cut up and made into a drag car i almost started crying. but give me a minute to try and convince you that i'm not committing "Mopar Blasphemy" with my intended "the M-Code Plymouth should have built" idea.
the alterations to this car for drag racing included cutting up the rear floor pan and all the original suspension. then drag slick tubs were installed. after that, the builder welded massive "frame rails" under the entire floor section to the front frame rails. then the drag guy cut out the rear wheel wells for the slicks. finally, the front suspension was "up-graded" to modern disc brakes with the "tubular" a arms conversion.
so..... this car needs a lot of work to bring it back to "stock." AMD now has the car and they have all the sheet metal to bring it back to stock. however, AMD is not OEM stuff. i am considering buying a donor car just so AMD can use all OEM Chrysler floor pan sheet metal. i can actually buy a non-title, no rust body section out west and have it shipped to AMD for about what their repo parts will cost. AMD and i have not reached a final decision yet as to which way to go.
either way, this M-Code is not going to be a "virgin" M-Code. more importantly, the only real alteration i'm going to make to this car is the installation of a floor hump for the 4 speed shifter. the original hood is long gone so the hood i buy to cut holes in for the intended "ram air" addition will not be an original M-Code hood - not that there is any such thing as a special "M-Code hood." the final car as i see it will look EXACTLY like a "regular" M-Code 69 Cuda except it will have a 4 speed shifter two red screens on the A56 hood scoops for the ram air (and i WILL NOT use original A56 scoops, i have a set - i will cut up repo scoops). the 440 will have a six pack set up instead of a single 4 barrel but that could easily be changed. all in all, i am not making any significant changes to this car. i did want to build this idea out of a real M-Code because of the value of those cars. i now have 4 Cudas and i have managed to buy and restore them within the current price values of the cars. when i get this M-Code done, i expect to have less than $35k in a final restored running car - that happens also to have an "M" in the VIN. while i love mopars and i do have some extra money to play with, i am not one of those guys who invests $60k in a car that is only worth $45k and then puts in his sales' ad "have to sell, will lose thousands on this car."
so again, i understand your argument about altering rare cars. but as noted, i don't think i'm going too far afield on this build and if i ever do sell this car (which i seriously doubt) the next guy can do a weekend's worth of work and have an "original" M-Code again.
thanks for your thoughts though...
jim coster
