Have you ever torn apart an all-original car to build what you wanted?

[TylerW]

Hey all:

I'm in another dilemma. For a long time I've been contemplating building a Duel tribute car...the red '71 Valiant. Although at different times I owned both a '68 and a '73, I discarded the idea of using either as a core because both had body details that differed from a '69-72 and I didn't want to try to locate decent parts that always seemed to be valued at twice what i could ever sell them for if |I were attempting to.

Last year, I rescued a 1972 Valiant which I planned to use as my basis for my project. However...after getting it running and driving, it's proven to be a very nice, original car that I'm not sure I can bring myself to hack up. It's nearly all-original, no water leaks, good glass, NO RUST, runs and drives 100 percent. It's also nearly the exact car to use. It has all the right trim and options, and this and that, and it's right here and I own it, yadda yadda. But, it has all it's papers, two build sheets, original perfect headliner, perfect old Mopar smell. It would need a color change in and out, so there goes all that nice original upholstery, those deluxe door panels nobody wants to buy but also can't be found anymore...

Frankly, I don't think I can do it. In today's market it's a solid 5K car here in the Chevy south and even more honestly, I'm probably more capable of ruining an original car than capable of seeing this through. I don't drive it much as is, and my gut tells me to store it inside over the winter and sell it in the spring to someone who would continue to take care of it.

Anyone else been in this boat?

 

[RustyRatRod]

Yeah. The one I have right now. It is an original 64 Valiant 170, three on the tree. So far I've put a hot 225 in it and I'm getting ready to finally do my Ford T5 five speed and Ford 9" swap.

 

[ragtopfury]

So I bought my Shelby Dakota brand new in 1989. A few years ago, I decided to put a dart/duster snorkel hood scoop on it and threw a 360 together and pulled the original 318 , also lowered the rear sobit sits nearly level. The lifters failed and destroyed the cam, so the original 318 went back in except I topped it with a 4 barrel carb and boxed up the throttle body injection. I also did not re-stripe it as original.
Back when I bought the Shelby, also had picked up an all original 71 Barracuda ragtop. B3 blue? 318, auto, PS, manual disc, AC , flat hood and with a manual top. I installed a rally dash and a 340, buldge hood, painted the car and the grill sub lime.

Build what ya want and don't look back.

 

[Dartsun]

Both my darts I got were unmolested original cars. Both not the top level of the model years either. My 65 while a GT is a 2 barrel 273, my 69 is a custom slant 6. Both will not be original if I ever get done with them. I've owned both of them 20+ years now.

 

[Dana67Dart]

67 Dart GT Convert 273 2bbl 904, 7-1/4, front drum, PS, AC

becoming


67 Dart GTS tribute/clone, 383 4bbl , 727, 8-3/4, front KH disk, manual steering, no AC with all factory parts.

Don't judge my messy garage.

 

[coloradohill]

I’m the third owner of this ‘67. I drove it for 10+/- years in original form. 225 slant w/a/c

I collected parts during that time to build it like I wanted.
73 front suspension/disc brakes. 8 3/4 ect.

I bought a spare hood to cut and kept almost everything I removed that bolted on/off.

Now it’s a 418 with Indy heads / dual quads with a rmvb 904 racing trans.
568HP / 575 TQ.

I don’t regret it, you only live once. I know people who have cars so nice that they are afraid to drive them much. I love driving it although I don’t get to drive it as much as I would like to.

 

[mopowers]

Original cars are boring and do nothing for me. Hell, I'd probably tear into a hemi 'Cuda if I had one.

 

[Dana67Dart]

Hell, I'd probably tear into a hemi 'Cuda if I had one.

You butcher....

 

[coloradohill]

Don't judge my messy garage.

I happen to like your garage. I makes mine seem a little more normal.
It’s my neighbors perfectly spotless garages that bother me!
Keep up the good work.

 

[Dana67Dart]

I happen to like your garage. I makes mine seem a little more normal

And that is cleaned up, @jaws came buy to pickup some parts so i had to clean things up, long over due.

Now I'm seeing if I can squeeze in a lift for my sister's 65 mustang

 

[Newbomb Turk]

I was the second owner of a 1972 340 Demon. Factory 4 speed, 8.75, disc brakes. All there. Never touched expect the PO installed a spread bore Holley. Thats it.

I went to the wrecking yard and bought a correct TQ for it so it was just like it rolled off the showroom floor.

And I turned into a race car.

My dad should have beat my *** for that stupidity. It also had a steel crank and 10.5:1 pistons from the factory as it was an early 72.

Someone should have beat my *** for that one.

 

[nutz]

my one owner dart gt vert ...getting the 340 swap....poor thing lasted this long with a slant

 

[Dana67Dart]

getting the 340 swap....poor thing lasted this long with a slant

Dress it out in Commando/Charger topside and I won't tell anyone

 

[tinman2]

Around 1990, I saw a one owner green 1953 F100 with 78,000 miles for $1000. It had a flat head V8, and 3 speed manual column shift. It had been sitting in a shed on 4 rotten flat tires, and the inspection sticker was 1978. I bought 4 new stock Ford wheels and new tires, put them on it, and had it hauled to my carport. I had planned to build a resto-mod so I didn't care about the original driveline. About 3 days later, I was looking it over. I picked up the nice rubber floor mat and there was shiny green original paint. I had heard that flat head engines were bad to lock up. I reached under the hood, pulled on the fan and to my surprise, the engine turned over. I pulled the plugs, poured in a little Marvel Mystery oil, changed the oil, cartridge oil filter, and gas. Put in a new 6 volt battery and it cranked right up and it didn't even smoke. I drove it for about a year before a bad relationship about drove me crazy. I didn't want anything that wouldn't fit in a suitcase. I really didn't mind selling it because it was all original and I hated to cut it up, and I already had a running 56, a 55 cab and chassis, and a 53 cab and chassis. All was sold. It wasn't long before I regretted not keeping the 53 and leaving it all original. It drove good, interior was nice. All it needed was a few dents repaired and a paint job.

 

[Garrett Ellison]

I was the second owner of a 1972 340 Demon. Factory 4 speed, 8.75, disc brakes. All there. Never touched expect the PO installed a spread bore Holley. Thats it.

I went to the wrecking yard and bought a correct TQ for it so it was just like it rolled off the showroom floor.

And I turned into a race car.

My dad should have beat my *** for that stupidity. It also had a steel crank and 10.5:1 pistons from the factory as it was an early 72.

Someone should have beat my *** for that one.

I'm reminded of the say "Good judgement comes from experience, which comes from bad judgement." Unfortunately, you had to start learning somewhere. I'm hoping the car is still continuing to live on, even if it has to as a racecar. Too many of them aren't around now because of much less glorious ends...

 

[matthon]

Public service announcement:
Stop saving cars for someone else to enjoy at some other time when you're not around.

I 'ruined' an original bb a-body and it was the best decision ever!
The kid and I have driven it all over.

All pics taken by not us, found on internet, having a blast, didn't save it for the next loser to save it for the next, and so on.

 

[Newbomb Turk]

I'm reminded of the say "Good judgement comes from experience, which comes from bad judgement." Unfortunately, you had to start learning somewhere. I'm hoping the car is still continuing to live on, even if it has to as a racecar. Too many of them aren't around now because of much less glorious ends...

That’s the sad thing. The jackass I sold it to ended up crushing the car.

 

[Garrett Ellison]

Ohh, Daiuhmn!! I can’t even begin to imagine your pain there. I know of an original Lemon Twist 340 auto Rallye ‘Cuda that’s a one owner car. Her parents bought it for her new as a graduation present before she started college. She’s is in the nursing home now, and has never been and still isn’t willing to part with it. The roof has literally rusted off of it, it’s been parked in the same weeds since the late eighties. They may as well bury her in it when that time comes.

 

[MOPAROFFICIAL]

Yeah. The one I have right now. It is an original 64 Valiant 170, three on the tree. So far I've put a hot 225 in it and I'm getting ready to finally do my Ford T5 five speed and Ford 9" swap.

9" eats the powa

 

[halfafish]

I have this 66 Valiant that is a stone cold survivor. It's going to get a complete upgrade of everything out of sight. It will look the same from the outside but will be all new and improved underneath.

 

[RustyRatRod]

9" eats the powa

Horse feathers. I bet there's not 3HP difference between my 7.25 and this 9". In fact, going from a 3.23 in the 7.25 to a 4.11 in the 9" probably makes up for it and then some.

 

[str12-340]

Just save the original parts and pass them to the next owner, then it is their choice...

 

[junkyardhero]

my thought is that if it's a numbers survivor car, say something like a 340/4spd car that's got low miles and it's all there and runs and drives and is a good representation of what the car is and was back in the day-- then don't cut that up.

but to me, anything else is fair game. wanna scoop that GTS project that looks like it's a million miles off and buckets upon buckets of cash away from being done and snap in a magnum and paint it the way you want it, go nuts kemosabe.

at the end of the day, it's your car. do with it what you please. if you feel like there might be some guilt behind that and you can't square it, then sell it on and buy something you won't have second thoughts or regret on doing up how you want.

 

[Davco]

I was the second owner of a 1972 340 Demon. Factory 4 speed, 8.75, disc brakes. All there. Never touched expect the PO installed a spread bore Holley. Thats it.

I went to the wrecking yard and bought a correct TQ for it so it was just like it rolled off the showroom floor.

And I turned into a race car.

My dad should have beat my *** for that stupidity. It also had a steel crank and 10.5:1 pistons from the factory as it was an early 72.

Someone should have beat my *** for that one.

That is wild! What era was this?

 

[grjammer]

My original Mopar was a 1970 super bee. Purchased off the military credit union lot for 650 bucks in 1977. All original never disassembled car, w/383, 18 spline, pistol grip, 3:91 sure grip. Pre-internet days, I was 18.
I beat that car all the way to the wrecking yard after discarding the 383 for a 440. I don't even have any pictures of it, lol. Fire engine red with dual hood scoops, was a gorgeous car.