I would hope the cars I restore are better than factory, I do drive to the show cars, so aluminum radiators, disc brakes up front (new tech brake pads all around), gates belts and hoses (way nicer than the stuff from the 70's), no bias plys, poly bushings, led light bulbs, msd ignition, better flowing and sounding exhaust system, stainless brake and fuel lines, stainless e-brake cables, better lubes through out the car, and we didn't even get to the engine yet.
A much better cam grind (in some cases a roller cam and stroker kit with fuel injection), the heads are cleaned up (if we don't use aluminums), the intakes are matched, had assembled, arp bolts, high volume oil pump, pistons with coated skirts, better bearings, better springs, etc...
Even the trannys I do most of the time I have them slick shifted and when I get the steering gear back from steer and gear I think its night and day better than original feel..
Yah I will take my 70' v-code GTX how it is now, over how it was on the first day of its life any day of the week.
A real 550 hp 500" roller cam motor, 6 pack has all the promax goodies, 4 speed that can be power shifted, pypes brand exhaust that can make you rethink life itself, 4 wheel disc stops on a half dollar, steering feel like a race car, suspension reacts and recovers WAY better than it did factory, aluminum radiator with electric fan keeps that big girl cool on even the hottest days, msd ignition works with out fail or thought, braided, and stainless, lines everywhere look and are worry free.
yah Ill drive that car to California twice a week for 5 years with out worrying about a thing. I spoke with and met the original owner who bought the car in March of 1970 and he said it died on the way home, there was a problem with one of the carbs it was pouring gas into the air cleaner, lol.. Then he said they fixed that after 1 day and the second day he brought it home it needed to be towed back to the dealership because it had NO SPARK, lol.. He owned it for 1 year, and the following year he bought a chevy!!! He wasn't a mopar guy. I bought the car from the second owner who bought it from him, and they worked in the same chemical plant in west warwick RI for 35 years !!!! That plant recently burnt down, well recently to me it burnt 10 years ago.
If you have time and want to read how I got the car, Ill share the story, its a long one, but to me its a good one, seeing how most people I run into and ask "where did you find her" they say "ebay" or "craigslist"...
Here it goes, it was the original owners brother who told me about the car- sitting in a garage in Coventry RI, 6 pack gtx, green with a black top.
We were at a breakfast joint in Johnston, ri . Me and my wife in a 69 charger r/t, I used to own, on a sunday morning. So this guy strikes up a conversation which is always nice to talk about our cars, and says "my brother had a 6 pack gtx, bought it brand new, sold it to his buddy from work and that guy still has it", so I am interested, LOL..
long story short, I say I would love to see it, maybe its for sale and I said give him my number, he agreed..
Before we were done eating he walks back over and said, "heres his number and address, I called my brother and he had the guy that owns it now call me, and he will sell the car today if you want it!!!!"
So my poor wife looks over and said "we aren't going for a walk at Roger Williams today are we?" (that's when a couple of older white people could walk that park alone, that came out racist, but its the truth)...
And we never took that walk, she was right, I went right to the address, with the charger, knocked on the door and was met by one of the nicest guys I ever met.
He showed me the car, my wife and his wife had some coffee, and there she was, NO ROT, NO RUST, FACTORY PAINT, ,NEVER IN AN ACCIDENT, with a locked up motor and 4 flats, and some mice that had moved in and out already..
He bought the car in 71' drove it for 2 years, couldn't afford to put gas in it said he was getting 3mpg, no matter how he drove it, lol, their lied the problem. He started just taking it out on weekends in the early 70's and one day he took it out and it locked up, turned out it was dumping fuel and they just didn't know anything about them, he said he should have known because it was gaining oil, when his others cars burnt oil, lol..
heres the best part 21,583 miles on it, lol. Maybe not the best part, these are my exact words
"I want the car and I will pay more than its probably worth NOT TO SEE IT SIT IN THIS GARAGE for the rest of our lives, she deserves sunshine and dunkin donuts parking lots"... He laughed and smiled, said lets go in the house and talk.
So we go in the house and he says to his wife "should I sell it", and his wife said "can you get enough to build the patio", turns out they were just going over having a patio put in, 22x36 with a firepit and built in cooking station.
Well guess who owned a john deere 110 back hoe, and specialized in patios, ingrounds, foundations, landscape construction, and driveways,lol.
They already had plans drawn up and had 3 or 4 quotes, my wife spilt the beans, she said that's what Bob does.
Great, lol I didn't even look at the plans, I looked out their sliding door leading into their yard and seen the stakes in the ground, I said "even trade, Ill do it"...
he laughed and said you don't know the plans, I said is that the plans there (they were in a closed yellow folder) he said yes, I put one hand on top of them and stuck the other out for the handshake!!!
he said you know that motors bad and it hasn't moved in a long time.. I said "Paul my arm is getting tired" and we shook on it right there!!!
To do the deal I wrote him a check for his lowest quote and took the car, it took me 5 days with 3 helpers, and $3500 in materials, I even had my granite guy put a new countertop in the kitchen in their house while he was going the outdoor slab (back then he charged me $750 to do the entire job, now it would be $4K) as a surprise...
That car isn't worth a million dollars but the entire experience is to me, I could have gotten $150K at one point for that car ,but I will never sell it, I restored it twice (kind of, the first time wasn't really a resto, it was a motor rebuild, interior cleaning, and tires, lol)...
I don't tell many people about that cars story, Paul and I became good friends, as did my wife and his, when I got the car on the road (took a winter to do it, the first time), first place I went was to his door to let him take me for a ride, and I let him and his wife take it for a bunch of sundays (I had the charger, we used to go together), BUT he passed a little bit ago and I cant look at the car with out thinking about him (in no way a bad thing), his wife is in an assisted living facility, my wife goes and takes her out once a week, that old mopar has made us family...
I think about it this way, everyone I meet in this hobby is a new friend, sure it costs me money to mess with these old cars, but it makes me feel young, which is something I am not. Meeting paul and his family, and having them over on holidays, and sure we seen each other many times with out even bringing up the cars, it was our common bond, and if you think about it, family is bonded by blood, which in some families is all they have keeping them "in common" Paul and I meet with something we were both passionate about in common and built a relationship out of a car, lol. I was closer to him than any family member short of my wife, mother, father and children I ever had. I have his picture in the car, and when people come to the garage and see my cars, that one is always covered, and of course everyone asks, but I always say "that's my buddies car, someday we will be back in it together" First time my wife heard me say that she broke down and almost fell to the floor, I didn't knew she was in the garage, but I said it so many times I didn't realize the impact it would have on her.
I know I am not going to be here forever so I don't show the cars much, some day they will have to be sold and don't want them being "known". they can buy my cars, but not my memories, like I said I don't share that story much, because I hear many myself, you know the story, this car belonged to the vet that didn't come home parents couldn't bare to sell it, they are thrown around and diluted by people with no connection to it.
I can promise this, if or when rather the day comes where that picture of me and paul is taken off the dash, I will have been long gone.
Its a long story, but when you get older ahopefully you will have a bunch of long stories too, if not, I'll feel for you..
, already had breakfast, showered, shaved, dressed, made a couple phone calls, got the dogs out and in, fixed a leg on a table my wife asked me to fix last night, what is wrong with me? I'm gonna start going to bed at 3 am so this doesn't happen anymore.. Its only 7:30 and I have nothing to do until I go to bed tonight, I don't like Tv so I am fucked... Ill be in the garage if anyone needs me 
