vent warning: hot rodded regrets

-
wheel vintiques will make a steelie with custom back spacing that will accept a dog dish hubcap....really not that expensive...pending you level of pain. Looks like you have suffered through worse.


Sounds like a "makeover" will get you lookin vintage, but will keep you 'up to date'

What are you running suspension wise? sway bars?
 
My 65 S ran so good after I changed the dual points and 8 plugs. I would have kept it bone stick if it were not for the 273 losing a rod bearing and killing the crank. Something about the dull glow of the dash bulbs and turning that key of that big old slow Chrysler starter ..waaa waaa waaah vroom! Carter idled like sitting in an easy chair. Drop it in drive: the RPMs didn't even move and you were on your way. Power steering with your fingertips on the 3 spoke wheel. Everything seemed so effortless....only thing lacking was the bench seat for the girl to sit next to you as it had factory buckets. Mash the gas and break the bias plys loose then get a chirp going into second. Let off and your back to cruising. Yep, original times lost. Can get most of that back cept the long gone cable shift 904 and factory console as well as that 273/4 block that I kicked off the back of my work truck in a field somewhere in 1995....as everyone said, "should have kept it that way". I went back to look for that block 4 years later but there was a 100,000 square foot distribution warehouse built on that plot.
 
wheel vintiques will make a steelie with custom back spacing that will accept a dog dish hubcap....really not that expensive...pending you level of pain. Looks like you have suffered through worse.


Sounds like a "makeover" will get you lookin vintage, but will keep you 'up to date'

What are you running suspension wise? sway bars?
Now I'm laughing, air shocks out back. Nothing fancy, no sway bars, 8 3/4 3.23 so still streetable.

Those brakes came on 70's B Bodies, 15 inch wheels were very common back then. Had them on a 78 Plymouth station wagon with 15" wheels and hub caps.
I am going to keep an eye peeled for these wheels, thank you.

My 65 S ran so good after I changed the dual points and 8 plugs. I would have kept it bone stick if it were not for the 273 losing a rod bearing and killing the crank. Something about the dull glow of the dash bulbs and turning that key of that big old slow Chrysler starter ..waaa waaa waaah vroom! Carter idled like sitting in an easy chair. Drop it in drive: the RPMs didn't even move and you were on your way. Power steering with your fingertips on the 3 spoke wheel. Everything seemed so effortless....only thing lacking was the bench seat for the girl to sit next to you as it had factory buckets. Mash the gas and break the bias plys loose then get a chirp going into second. Let off and your back to cruising. Yep, original times lost. Can get most of that back cept the long gone cable shift 904 and factory console as well as that 273/4 block that I kicked off the back of my work truck in a field somewhere in 1995....as everyone said, "should have kept it that way". I went back to look for that block 4 years later but there was a 100,000 square foot distribution warehouse built on that plot.
Man that's a flashback to how I remember it. Dammit! Good memory you got
 
wheel vintiques will make a steelie with custom back spacing that will accept a dog dish hubcap....really not that expensive...pending you level of pain. Looks like you have suffered through worse.


Sounds like a "makeover" will get you lookin vintage, but will keep you 'up to date'

What are you running suspension wise? sway bars?
I just didn't know when to stop. Now I need to invent a time machine. I will look into the custom steelies, thank you
 
If I kept my 67 Fastback stock I would have sold it in 1979. lol
I am returning it back to the original K-1 Turquoise after all these years and 3 paint jobs later.
Factory restored interior with a few aftermarket gauges.
 
There wasn't much point in saving any original parts; none of them would fit anywhere now.
1-49025513573_138fbfbc79_k-M.jpg
 
I keep everything,heck I even have the orig wheel cyl...
 
I personally wouldn't beat my brains out about it. Having done a Chevelle that was orignally a slant 6 car into a SS clone with goodies I probably had more fun building that one that all others. All bets were off and originality meant zilch.

Now my current car (72 H code duster) is probably 75 percent as it came from the factory. But the changes I have made were correct to the year car (buckets, etc.) and most of what came off the car is still in the shop.

I had a RB built for it and let it all go last year. Lost interest and will sell the car eventually and am glad I am reinstalling the original M&T. Let someone else do what they want but it will be close to original so they have a factory starting point. But no regrets on anything I have done hotrodding wise. If I want to invest then I need to call Warren Buffet lol. For the rest, it's just a moment in time when I made things my way....

JW
 
As long as the car isn't a numbers matching original I always sell the original stuff to "modernize" my cars. Why would I ever want to go back to drum brakes? Weaker torsion bars? Skinny bias ply tires? So my car would ride and stop like it was before? Hell NO!!! The changes I made to my 68 MADE IT BETTER BY FAR and I'd never change it back JMO
 
Having done a Chevelle that was orignally a slant 6 car into a SS clone with goodies I probably had more fun building that one that all others. All bets were off and originality meant zilch.

JW
This one made me chuckle! :poke::lol:
 
As long as the car isn't a numbers matching original I always sell the original stuff to "modernize" my cars. Why would I ever want to go back to drum brakes? Weaker torsion bars? Skinny bias ply tires? So my car would ride and stop like it was before? Hell NO!!! The changes I made to my 68 MADE IT BETTER BY FAR and I'd never change it back JMO

Your car, your way. However if you do have a car that is somewhat sought after today and you modify it there is a huge following for that. And if you ever decide to sell the car leave no doubt retaining the original parts will help the sale. That has been my experience anyways.....

JW
 
I am also into the old stuff (Mopar) out of the 50s or late 40s. Like all things, there are several trains of thought. You have the guys that love the original, the whole deal of it all, right down to the "primitive" nature.
Then you have the street rod guys that have been around for decades.
Then there are the hot rodders.
Now you have guys that want a toilet for a seat!!!! the crazy
Variety is the spice of life someone said!!
 
I don't really regret any modifications I have made to my cars over the years - I'm not a "stock" or detail guy. In fact, I prefer cars that have the "day 2" or "neglected street beast" look to them. That's because being born in 1978, the high school kids in my neighborhood had hot rodded, beat up, muscle cars as their first cars, and that non-stock look was what introduced me to these beasts.
 
A little "spirited" driving in a 440 six pack Coronet was all it took to convince me 4 wheel drum brakes SUCK!!! The brake fade I experienced was SCARY. When I was a kid in the 80's everyone was trying to go FASTER. Now as a late 50's "Wiser" man I want to STOP FASTER.
 
-
Back
Top