Modifying Rare Muscle Cars & Value Questions

[socaldodger]

Hi:

What's your guys take on modifying Rare Muscle Cars(Yenko, AAR, T/A, Shelby, Hemi, Copo Etc)? By modifying I mean modifications to original engine (displacement etc), upgrading suspension components, maybe even making it a 5-6 speed?

Also by how much does a Muscle Cars value go down if it dosen't have the original #'s matching drivetrain?

[Donutblue]

IMO if it's original that's where your value is. If your looking to modify it to suit your taste and have fun with it,but your still looking to maintain value, don't make any drastic changes and keep the original stock parts available.

[William]

I find this sort of amusing.

Virtually all Musclecars earned their legendary status via guys who modified and raced them. Can you even look at a 1st gen Camaro and not think of Strickler/Jenkins, Penske/Donahue, Fred Gibb, Dick Harrell and many others? Back in the early '70s I looked at a lot of used Z/28s and virtually all of them had bars, headers, aftermarket wheels.
The Dated Hose Clamp set may not like it but Day 2 is how a lot of Musclecars spent most of their life. I would not cut one but anything else goes.

[Hylton]

[ QUOTE ]
I find this sort of amusing.

Virtually all Musclecars earned their legendary status via guys who modified and raced them. Can you even look at a 1st gen Camaro and not think of Strickler/Jenkins, Penske/Donahue, Fred Gibb, Dick Harrell and many others? Back in the early '70s I looked at a lot of used Z/28s and virtually all of them had bars, headers, aftermarket wheels.
The Dated Hose Clamp set may not like it but Day 2 is how a lot of Musclecars spent most of their life. I would not cut one but anything else goes.

[/ QUOTE ]

Amazing how they all grew their original parts back huh?

[camarojoe]

[ QUOTE ]
I find this sort of amusing.

Virtually all Musclecars earned their legendary status via guys who modified and raced them. Can you even look at a 1st gen Camaro and not think of Strickler/Jenkins, Penske/Donahue, Fred Gibb, Dick Harrell and many others? Back in the early '70s I looked at a lot of used Z/28s and virtually all of them had bars, headers, aftermarket wheels.
The Dated Hose Clamp set may not like it but Day 2 is how a lot of Musclecars spent most of their life. I would not cut one but anything else goes.

[/ QUOTE ]

That may be true, and is also why original stuff as well as the cars themselves are worth what they are today. if not for a large percentage of the cars and original components getting swapped out, cut, hacked, and modified, the value of that stuff wouldn't be what it is today... If every 69 Z still had its original 302 and was never modified with day 2 stuff, never had any dated or original parts thrown away, and no one cut them up, raced them, or ruined them, finding a nice original one would not be difficult, nor would they be valued as much. The rarer something is, or the more difficult it is to locate, the more valued it becomes... this goes for original parts and has recently moved over to some original "Day 2" stuff as well.

[indyjps]

i would not risk an original matching #'s block, or 4 speed, set it aside and have some fun.

[njsteve]

My car's been Day2 since Day1 and I still beat on it. It's one of one produced. If the part can be unbolted and swapped back on, then there's no problem. Items such as headers, intake, shifter, mag wheels are fine. They wont hurt the value if you have the original parts stored away. Bolting on a large rice-rocket wing and neon lights would however, be a little beyond the limit.

[Keith Tedford]

The investors and speculators want the cars that are restored to original and will pay top dollar for them. Others just like to restore cars to perfection and that is fine too. Our COPO Chevelle was Day 2 from the beginning and will stay that way. It got Hedman headers, Hurst shifter, rear sway bar, and 15 inch wheels. All for the improvement of the car. When new, the car wouldn't get out of its own way, wallowed around corners and shifted terribly. Some things had to change to make it a pleasant driver.
Our L78 Chevelle has the same equipment along with the original Stewart-Warner gauges that were installed by the original owner. We also have a set of Cragar SS mags that we swap back and forth with the SS wheels just for a visual change. Driving, not showing, is where we are at. That's just us.

[TDW]

Or do like I did. I have 3 cars that are numbers cars.I wanted something I felt comfortable "beating" on. I bought a pretty decent 70 Nova and put a 427 in it. Mucho fun car now!

[BBIGG BLOCK 396]

If it is original I would LEAVE IT ALONE as far as MAJOR modifications! Get something else and modify that! Original cars are worth more $$$$ My opinion is they are only original once!

Bobby Dodson