Improvements On A Classic Car

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Good looking set of wheels and tires I think is the single best improvement and easiest...it sets the look for the whole car!
 
As mentioned in post #2 and 4, V8.
A 727 or a well built 904 with a custom ordered stall converter.
If the car has small bolt pattern, remove it and go big bolt.
 
66340SEDAN said:
Good looking set of wheels and tires I think is the single best improvement and easiest...it sets the look for the whole car!
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This is the first thing I do, whether it is a car I’m going to keep, or one I’m building to sell. To that, I always have a few extra sets of tires and rims hanging around, Rallyes, steelies, and matching tires are a must. Some people diss the dog dish, but to me they are a cheap way to get a cohesive look to a car. And, I almost always like raised white letters. That said tho, my Roadrunner came with dog dish, 14x6” steelies and white sidewall tires. I’m running raised whites and 15x7” now, but I am blasting and painting the original rims, and I have a nice old set of BF Goodrich whitewall tires I got for free from a member here. I’m going to put them on the rims and mount them on the car, just for pictures, but I am dying to see what it looked like on the dealer lot.

I also put whitewall tires on the Valiant because that’s what I had, but I’m changing them to raised whites to “soup it up” a bit, for sale purposes. Not everybody likes the sleeper look, and I like to create a good first impression. I try to read the car and be as appropriate as possible to the feel of the car.

here’s a good example. The pic with the nose in the air was the way I got it, but it had full moon caps on it, the 2nd pic as it was when I sold it. Bonus, under the full moons was a set of deep 14x6” small bolt steelies that I blasted and painted and put on my own Cuda.

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Street car, drive anywhere, anytime. First are the brakes. Dual master cylinder, 10" drums up to snuff are the minimum. The disc brakes are the next step up, SBP is fine with me, works with the A Body 8 3/4 as delivered. Suspension is 2nd and the minimum should be the best factory, Formula S or 340 with the front sway bar. Find a great alignment guy. 3rd is an electric fuel pump for quick starts. Then we get to the drive train, must run on 91 octane with full timing advance. 4 barrel carb, anything but a Holley. Everything in the drive train should be checked and adjusted to work as it should, no special parts required. Best factory exhaust manifolds for your car, Jet Hot coated inside and out, and duals or 273 HiPo single exhaust on an early A. Exterior I like to look stock except tires which should be at least an H speed rating. Interior should be close to stock with very nice speakers and a hidden digital stereo with a remote. At least 1,000 of your favorite songs on a thumb drive to be shuffled. That's just me.
 
The last car was a weekend racer. For this one the goal is reliability and comfort. Last year was engine detailing and top end upgrades plus modern wheels and tires. Now I am doing a front disc brake swap, headlight relays, more modern radio, rebuilding seats. Oh, and it has working factory A/C. Hopefully it will be able to make the 8 hour drive to Carlisle this year.

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Crash box 4 speed, nitrous, cut outs - in that order. Regardless of what you have under the hood it will be a good time.
 
I like to drive my cars as much as possible! So drivability and reliability are key. Some of my favorite mods are the overdrive transmission with the low(4.10) gear. It really scoots off the line and still slips down the highway comfortably.
Another is the 89 pick up Starter. It let's it whirl over and start so quick. Especially when it has sat and the carb bowls have gone dry.
AC was a nice addition but not as important as I thought it would be.
I have a cruise control set up for it and look forward to getting that installed.
I want it to be as fast as it can be for what it's primary function is. It's a Cruiser!

Cley
 
RustyRatRod said:
We've all seen the negative nellie how to ruin a classic muscle thread or whatever it is. How about a positive spin?

It doesn't have to be an original "muscle car" per say. Might be just a base model like Vixen, my 64 Valiant. But whatever it is, what are some of the things you would do to make it more of what you like?
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The biggest issue I've seen with cars is people making huge projects out of them. They need to sit back a little and take the car out, even if it's not "perfect", and enjoy it.

I've set myself a rule. Anything that I do to my car is going to have a time limit to how long it's going to sit around and not be drivable. Most of that time, I keep my down time to a day or two.

Point is, too many cars sit in the garage in various states of disassembly for years, when if they set their sights just a little more realistic and didn't take on too much at once, the car could be driven and enjoyed.
 
Big_John said:
The biggest issue I've seen with cars is people making huge projects out of them. They need to sit back a little and take the car out, even if it's not "perfect", and enjoy it..
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My big mistake, and now I'm "old"
 
Big_John said:
The biggest issue I've seen with cars is people making huge projects out of them. They need to sit back a little and take the car out, even if it's not "perfect", and enjoy it.

I've set myself a rule. Anything that I do to my car is going to have a time limit to how long it's going to sit around and not be drivable. Most of that time, I keep my down time to a day or two.

Point is, too many cars sit in the garage in various states of disassembly for years, when if they set their sights just a little more realistic and didn't take on too much at once, the car could be driven and enjoyed.
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Taking a car all apart is the single biggest mistake a person can make.

I see it all the time and I often tell people DO NOT TAKE THE CAR APART, work on the small stuff and drive it for a year.
Almost no one has the time, money, space or skill to full take a car apart and re build it. The thing is, some folks have the time, other have the space, some have the cash. That wont cut it. You need to have all 4 or you will regret it.

In my opinion two of the best thing you can do is disk breaks and new bushings. Its much more fun to drive a car that is safe.
 
I'm big on suspension upgrades. Make it drive like a go cart. I'd go with all new steering components, front disc brakes, better shocks, and new gear box for faster steering. I just did my Chargers complete front and rear suspension with quicker steering, large sway bar, and disc brakes, etc. so I know where I speak. It's a absolute pleasure to drive now. It's a 383 2 bbl. and I'm beginning to rethink the speed upgrades I was thinking about because it drives so well.
 
Clean the windows inside and out.

For the $, QA1 uca/lca/struts, Proforged ball joints/steering, PST manual box, rebuilt steering column.
Exponential improvement over completely rebuilt stock front suspension, same car.

Wish list, power windows.
 
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Handling stuff, brakes, wheels/tires. Nothing keeps 13" wheels, only something rare like our GTS keeps 14s. BUT, if I were going to use the original poverty caps on the GTS it would get 15" small bolt pattern steelies.
 
Not to be redundant as most have already said the same, but suspension upgrades including disc brakes. And lord have mercy I always get rid of the firewall connection. Keep it running and drive the heck out of it. Replace one thing at a time and whatever you do don’t take the whole car apart. Unless of course you are wealthy and have lots of time. The majority of us have made that mistake and have had “shop queens” for years that we walk around and swear we are going to get back to some day.
 
Sublime one said:
Keep it running and drive the heck out of it.
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This is where I'm at. That's what it's all about. That's why I'm waiting on this T5 and 9" swap until I get everything together so I'll have the car down the shortest length of time. Runnin and drivin is where it's at!
 
RustyRatRod said:
This is where I'm at. That's what it's all about. That's why I'm waiting on this T5 and 9" swap until I get everything together so I'll have the car down the shortest length of time. Runnin and drivin is where it's at!
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I wont take a single bolt out of one of my cars until I have ALL the parts (and time / lift space) to finish the job.


I had a guy ask me narrow a 9" for him the other day.

I asked.

What's your break off set?
Whats you back space?
What tire are you gonna run?

He was like nah, i can figure all that out after the axle is in the car..


I will not be cutting anything until all those parts are in my hands.
 
Cope said:
I wont take a single bolt out of one of my cars until I have ALL the parts (and time / lift space) to finish the job.


I had a guy ask me narrow a 9" for him the other day.

I asked.

What's your break off set?
Whats you back space?
What tire are you gonna run?

He was like nah, i can figure all that out after the axle is in the car..


I will not be cutting anything until all those parts are in my hands.
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I know that's right. Thanks to Cass, I have all that ironed out. All I need is some dough. lol
 
On the other end of that discussion.

One other problem I run into (a lot) is people bankrupt them self on parts.

People get ahold of a year one book and bu bye cash. They order new door locks, visors, that chrome trim part that is missing. Break kits, now we need new lines, **** get the master also, now the clutch master dont match the break master, gotta order that too.......


I see this way more than I should.

They end up will PILES of parts and run out of cash for labor.


My shop is not a storage yard.

I dont care that you spent 20K on parts.

I didnt tell you to, now come get your car and bring it back when you can afford me to touch it.
 
Now that I'm old I like to cruise instead of burn tires. My Swinger is a automatic with power steering. I added a factory am/fm for a little more selection and a remote trunk release which is real handy at car shows and cruises.
 
Cope said:
Taking a car all apart is the single biggest mistake a person can make.
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exactly. have a friend that has done it twice now.. first dart took apart and never went together.. times got hard and he sold it..

few years ago he buys another dart and is loving driving it.. one thing leads to another he pulls the dash. 3 years later the car is still sitting waiting for someone to weld the cowl. now we know at least 3 guys that are very goo welders but he wants to wait for the most unreliable guy on earth to do it.. car is still sitting and getting no where.. probably end up like the first dart..
 
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