Dilema

Need some opinions from you guys,Im rotisorrie restoring a 69 340 Swinger all numbers matching.I have added some performance items to the motor.According to the # its B5 blue,stripe delete,black interior.Im not big on the B5 blue thing .Its going to be driver that I will beat on from time to time.The body work will be good enough to wear black.I have always wanted a black dart with red call out stripe and thats kind of where I have been heading.Its getting close to paint time and I have mixed feelings.What do you think.

Most people would probably say you should stick to the original color since you are doing such an extensive restoration on the car. If it was me, I'd paint it the color I wanted. If somebody wants to take it back to the original color later (like after you're dead?), they'll have a good base to work with. The car will look awesome in black with the red stripe.

It's all about personal preference. I dont want a black car because they get tooo hot inside. I see you are in Onterio so that may not be a factor unless you try to sell it to someone in Arizona LOL.
A clean black car with a decent amount of chrome (like that Barracuda in for sale section) sure does look good but any striping would would just kill it for me. I know of a few from my high school days who painted theirs black and after the stripe went on they wish it hadn't.
I could tell some stories about white trucks on the preowned lot that didn't get lookers but sold after stripes were added.

Why do a rotisorrie restore if you are not going original? And a driver to beat on from time to time? But like 64 said, its yours and black does look hot on our cars.

it depends how worried about the "value" you are.. it would be worth more if all original. for me.. screw what everyone thinks. unless they are paying the bills i'm doing it my way.

Probably be worth 5 to 10 grand more if it were the original color. Is it worth that to you to have it black instead?

If you want a black car why would you settle for something less?
It's your dream car, your vision ,are you puting all this work into it
for the next guy or you?
I think sometimes guys forget what the car hobby is about.
It's your version of the perpect car, if they want a cookie cutter copy
and are willing to pay for #match or concours let them go to Jackson-Barret.

Let the next knucklehead paint it blue or paint it RESELL RED.

longarm said:

If you want a black car why would you settle for something less?
It's your dream car, your vision ,are you puting all this work into it
for the next guy or you?
I think sometimes guys forget what the car hobby is about.
It's your version of the perpect car, if they want a cookie cutter copy
and are willing to pay for #match or concours let them go to Jackson-Barret.

Let the next knucklehead paint it blue or paint it RESELL RED.

Click to expand...

Couldn't agree more.

I totally agree with painting it black. You are doing the restore for your enjoyment, not as an investment. What's the difference between this and someone doing a similar restore but putting a new engine in it, with the original engine stored in the corner of the garage. Although a hassle, changing the paint back can be done at any time. Actually, since it was already a black interior, changing it back at some future date isn't all that difficult.
Go for broke! I mean black!
C

I'm with these guys.
It's your car, put it together how you would have ordered it for yourself if you could have when it was brand new.

I'm tired of all this emphasis on numbers-matching, date-coded restorations.
To me, all that means is the car is never going to be driven.

I'd much rather see an incorrect mopar cruising down the street then a perfect resto sitting on rare NOS Goodyear redlines at a car show.

That's why I say build the car to enjoy, not as an investment.

That's why I bought my Duster. I wanted something fun to drive with that old car smell and V-8 rumble, and it had to be a mopar simply because all the cool factory color schemes I could possibly repaint it into.

I went to school for car design, and my instructor Junior year was the man who headed up the design for the 1st and 2nd gen Barracuda, and the Duster.
I also knew the guy who designed the Belvedere that the Roadrunner and GTX were based off of.
They both thought the attention paid to keeping numbers matching while restoring old mopars was utterly ridiculous. They basically said that the cars were meant to be driven and enjoyed by their owners as inexpensive fun cars to cruise and race around in, and not meant for something as boring as sitting in front of judges, being rated on whether or not the paint on the engine grounding strap is correct or not.

Thanks for your opinions,they put me back in the right frame of mind that I was in from the get go.Black it is,rear view mirror on the B5 blue.Almost makes me want to minitub it.