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Keep it stock or trick it out?

pabster

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So here's a question: why keep a car as stock and original as possible, or restore a car to as close to stock as possible?

My '74 Charger is as stock as it gets- never modded in any way. It's in excellent shape, garaged all its life. It's amazing to drive it and feel like it's a time machine, taking me back to the mid '70s. It's not a show car, and I drive it multiple times a week.

But there's a part of me that wants to go nuts and make it mine, instead of keeping it the way it was manufactured. Paint it Plum Crazy, switch out the 318 for a beefier powerplant, change it from auto to stick. Since I'm not planning to ever sell it, it doesn't matter to me if the value plummets when I tweak it.

So what's the consensus? Does one keep it stock to preserve the legacy of an incredible time in automotive history? Do I make it into a Charger unlike any other? Either way, why?

Honestly, I just want to hear what others in FBBO think. I don't see myself going nuts on my car... I don't have the time or the energy to mess with it anyway at this point...

Thanks for the replies and for helping me to procrastinate during a work day.
 
This is a train of thought that I've been contemplating quite a bit lately. I was torn with trying to get my '72 as dead on to stock as possible, or go off the opposite deep end with it.

It sounds kind of boring, but I opted for the gray area in between. I drive mine more than once a week too, but it is by no means a numbers matching car. Even if it was, my decision was to do what made me happy at the time as it came along and I could. It came from the factory with a 400. I put in a '69 440HP, performer intake, 750 carb, MSD ign, headers a new 727 and so on. Soon, a new rear diff, new cam and lifters, new head, then on to body. Fresh Plum Crazy instead of the factory Petty Blue, maybe some reflective white tank tracks and matching fuzzy dice.

What I mean to say is that every time I see this debate for some reason it seems to always lean toward one extreme or the other. There's a huge amount of grey area in between, and for me, that's the area where I personally am the happiest right now. I know I'm never going to win trophies with my car and I know I'll never be the fastest at the track either. But, damn I'm about as happy as I can afford to be with her right now and that makes it everything I always dreamed it would be.
 
I would make it the way you want it, it can always be restored back to original condition, if you don't do a bunch of cutting on the car, if it's just a bunch of bolt on stuff, it can always be turned back to stock condition pretty easily, especially if you keep the all original parts... I'm not a real big purist "you got to keep it absolutely stock" guy, unless it's a rare car, very low mileage, very well optioned, low production number, Hemi or Six Pack car {not available in 74}, the value on a 318 auto 1974 Charger, won't be hurt much, unless it's a flawless time piece, then just leave it alone & find a basket case to build... Just my opinion, build it how you want it & to hell with what anyone else thinks...
 
i...for one , have been on both sides of this spectrum. lets go back to 1984....thats when i bought my first 1970 road runner. i was a young kid of 19 or so and all i wanted was a hot rod !woooooooooooooooooooooooohoooooooooooooo ......it had THIS and it had THAT....crazy cam...60 over...electronic accel ignition....bla blaaaa blaaaaaa... i spent every damn dime on this car to be theeeee baddest *** around. well.... all that caused me were headaches, heres why. i couldnt keep a clutch in the damn thing, replacing it at least 3 times a month. the headers were nothing but a pain in the ***, the exhaust was loud enuff to wake the dead on a distant planet, the exhaust fell off once a week and THE COPS HATED ME . YES...IMAGINE THAT....COPS HATING THE BADDEST *** CAR AROUND.. in one night (yes one night) i racked up $3000.00 in fines, had my license suspended for 18 months...and was broke .

the roadrunner you see over there<<<<<< is my latest 1970 road runner. and get this...NO HEADACHES.. the pipes stay on...theres no clutch this time...it has a stock cam....cops now pull me over because they love the car and want to look at it...the pipes dont hurt your ears.....AND IT STARTS EVERYTIME I TURN THE KEY !

You do what makes you happy...just remember ...everything is connected to everything else on that car. gear heads here know what i mean. dont get me wrong, i loved making that 1st road runner bad ***....but it DID cause me nothing but trouble!

the end,,,,now lets all sing!
 
Stock or a bit mild is the where you'll get your money worth.

Resale in the future, your audience is limited if you make it radical or crazy. You'll get less money putting all the high speed stuff on it because the first thing people are going to think is that it was driven hard and is a ticking time bomb.

It's your decision either way, just figure out how much are you going to drive it,(daily, track, or weekend cruiser) and what you can offord to lose if you decide to sell it.

To make it simple, just upgrade to a 360. That way you not looking at having to change out transmission, exhaust, brackets, suspension, drive shaft, radiatir, wiring harness etc.
It could turn into a money pit real quick. Your pocket book is the judge here.
 
I like what I'm hearing. I've boiled down the comments so far to:

Step 1: Upgrade to a 360.

Step 2: Convert tranny from auto to 4 speed. No one said this, I just really want a stick.

Step 3: Paint over Avocado Green with Plum Crazy.

Do not add a bunch of crazed engine mods that will get me in trouble mechanically and legally.

My car now... and in, uh, 2019?
 

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If I had your car I would leave it as is because finding an unrestored clean car like this is darn near impossible now and will not get easier as time goes on. What I notice at car shows is the original unrestored survivors get a lot of attention and for good reason. It's only original once and would be nice to do the car hobby a favor and preserve history. Now if your car was really rough then following your own idea is not a bad plan at all and can be done for a lot less money then a spot on resto. If you must have the tweaked custom job then sell your car to a collector and replace it with one that you can go nuts on. I'm all for making it your own, just not on a survivor.
 
I'm with Meep and in the middle of trying to putting my Bee back on the road just the way it was.
 
I can see both sides but im just going to say that unless you do it the way you want it, you wont be happy.. And in the end your the one who has to be satisfied, its your car you will have to decide if your going to be happy when its done, Paint is expensive, lots of time involved, and you cant just put it back where it is now if you don't like it very easy, not trying to scare you into not doing it but it isint like photo-shop where you change colors, which if you have it, (photo-shop) you could get some ideas just what it would look like at least.. Good luck.
 
Too late! I've already done extensive modifications...
 

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Dude! You could have saved yourself a lot of welding rod!!
 

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It looks good the way it is now. Looks like a Very Clean straight car.
Only upgrade I would do is put same rally wheels on it.
Unless the paint and body is needing attention, I would leave well enough a lone.
Same goes for the engine, if it run and trouble free, leave it be.
 
Seriously, folks- I'm going to leave it the way it is. The green monster is awesome. It was manufactured the same year I was, which means I'm linked to it, body and soul. Like ET and Elliot. I'm not going to mess with it in any way... except maybe some mags or rallyes...

Thanks again for weighing in.
 
Wise choice Grasshopper
I wish I had found a clean, unmolested car like that.
That green is the in thing now a days.

Don't sell off the white wall tires, wheels and hub caps. It what gives it the "wow" factor if you take to a show.
 
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