restomods vs restorations

[JR]

i personally feel if the car was a true r/t then leave it original to preserve the original muscle cars but if its a base model then free game...modern engine, modern suspension, big brakes and more comfortable interior. i know i could and have built restomods that have sold for way more profit vs just doing a restoration. waaaaay more fun to drive and economy was way x2 if not x3 better in cases. even with better economy they are still faster/ take a stock 5.7 hemi (cheap) and turbo it($3k). still 20mpg but 700hp, do that with a big block...lol. the last barrett auction really confirms my thoughts on just doing restomods. its a new generation coming in and we want modern comforts and driveability, plus more power without losing that driveability. soooo...restomods for the win!!!

   Yep I think you are 100% right, and my son should have gone with fuel injection instead of a 6 pack setup just for that reason.

I sold my six pack setup and bought a FiTech EFI.

The best modification I've done by far.

(My car is a U code, the six pack was from another car. Don't freak out resto guys.

[69rtsetracpac]

I have an R/T SE 4 speed car NO numbers matching, on my death bed will I regret mini tubing it...NO.

[chargerperson]

i have 67 Restomod that I kept looking orginal as possible.  Was non-numbers matching, non-period correct motor so was easier call to restomod.  Went with new 6.4, 6 speed tremec, RMS, wilwoods, vintage air and redid the AM radio so it will play my iphone and FM.  Kept the interior 100% original looking restoring everything except i added a NOS clock for the console and car was an automatic.  Shift lever though is from a 66-67 Charger so the car's interior looks like original 4 speed with a clock.  For the exterior had to go with 17" wheels due to the brakes but went with repro magnum 500s.  Rest of exterior was restored to original though i did not use an original color.

Car is a lot of fun to drive, only challenge is i drove out of the seats as the original seats are flat so when i go fast around a car there isn't as much support as a modern bucket seat. 

[Bad B-rad]

i personally feel if the car was a true r/t then leave it original to preserve the original muscle cars but if its a base model then free game...modern engine, modern suspension, big brakes and more comfortable interior. i know i could and have built restomods that have sold for way more profit vs just doing a restoration. waaaaay more fun to drive and economy was way x2 if not x3 better in cases. even with better economy they are still faster/ take a stock 5.7 hemi (cheap) and turbo it($3k). still 20mpg but 700hp, do that with a big block...lol. the last barrett auction really confirms my thoughts on just doing restomods. its a new generation coming in and we want modern comforts and driveability, plus more power without losing that driveability. soooo...restomods for the win!!!

   Yep I think you are 100% right, and my son should have gone with fuel injection instead of a 6 pack setup just for that reason.

I sold my six pack setup and bought a FiTech EFI.

The best modification I've done by far.

(My car is a U code, the six pack was from another car. Don't freak out resto guys.

What was so much better about the FITech, power? Gas mileage, drivability? Or all of em'   

[JR]

I'm building the car for drivability above all else, and the EFI is awesome in that regard.

Instant cold starting, low/midrange throttle response is infinitely better, I don't have to tune the carb for weather changes every few months, as it's always optimally configured, and the best part:

The exhaust doesn't make my eyes burn from raw, unburnt fuel anymore. The exhaust smell isn't any worse than a modern car now. With the carb, if I spent an hour driving the car, I smelled like fuel after. Now, I can drive it all day, and i don't stink when I get out of it.

I can't wait to install the Ready to Run distributor so the FItech can control engine timing too. That's the next step.

If you're actually gonna drive the car, EFI is the way to go.

[Bad B-rad]

OH MAN that sounds great. I am glad you enjoying your ride.

[JR]

Cool, thanks man. I can't say enough good things about the EFI.

Highly recommended.

[G-man]

I agree.

For the money spent to get a 'numbers matching' vehicle... you end up spending a quarter of a million dollars to have an out dated vehicle that goes slow and burns a lot of smoke. No fuel economy, no power.

Basically buying grandmas grocery getter back in 1968-1970 for the price of a world class elite super car that the same quarter mil can buy you.

Spend all that money to get a vin tag? - Go see a psychiatrist.

[500Jon]

Good replies Guys.

Collector-car, Muscle-car, Grand-Tourer, Restomod, Cruiser whatever you are calling it doesn't matter!
A Muscle car was designed to between traffic-lights approx 440 yards asap.
That's what most 60's Muscle cars were, stripped out over-engined Land-barges...
If you can convert that into a modern Classic, then good luck to you.

Come the 70's and things got much better, the smallblocks became fashionable and creature comforts came back in fashion.
Mother Mopar actually got serious about trans-am and cars that would go around corners too.
But that was short lived and cars became POO again.

So now we want to relive the 60's and the glory days of motoring, It must have been fun for those who were there, living the dream!
(I'm 60 now and I was too young to experience myself,) so the Guys and Gals that did, are well old!

The only problem I see with recreating the dream is, $10 a gallon gas, speed cameras, numberplate recognition cameras on every road, skyhigh insurance for Non-original vehicles and a real tough MOT TEST to get through EVERY YEAR! Apart from that it will be a DODDLE HaHaHa...

[Evoking]

This thread is so timely for me. I am trying to figure out whether to drop a 440 into my mint 68 that now has a great running/sounding 360!

If I go by restomod, handling and bang for buck I should just keep the small block. But if I want "description cred" and optimum resale I go 440 or newer Hemi!

The 440 might be $12k installed.
The newer Hemi $20k
Add FI and tune the 360 $3k

Decisions decisions!

[alfaitalia]

Good replies Guys.

Collector-car, Muscle-car, Grand-Tourer, Restomod, Cruiser whatever you are calling it doesn't matter!
A Muscle car was designed to between traffic-lights approx 440 yards asap.
That's what most 60's Muscle cars were, stripped out over-engined Land-barges...
If you can convert that into a modern Classic, then good luck to you.

Come the 70's and things got much better, the smallblocks became fashionable and creature comforts came back in fashion.
Mother Mopar actually got serious about trans-am and cars that would go around corners too.
But that was short lived and cars became POO again.

So now we want to relive the 60's and the glory days of motoring, It must have been fun for those who were there, living the dream!
(I'm 60 now and I was too young to experience myself,) so the Guys and Gals that did, are well old!

The only problem I see with recreating the dream is, $10 a gallon gas, speed cameras, numberplate recognition cameras on every road, skyhigh insurance for Non-original vehicles and a real tough MOT TEST to get through EVERY YEAR! Apart from that it will be a DODDLE HaHaHa...

Is the bottom picture your "other car"??....if it is you still wont be going round corners too fast with that amount of weight!! LOL!

[charger_fan_4ever]

Must be because I am partial to mopars. If a see a mopar with elastic bands for tires wrapped around big 20's and modern engine/interior I will walk right buy it. A 1st gen camaro with an ls1 in there, i like this. I'm not a #'s match guy either. Never understood the whole $500 nos spark plug wires and $500 date coded radiator hose.

[fizz]

Two of the best parts on my 70 r/t are GM based, The L460 trans and the hydro brake kit. Really, no permanent modifications to install either. Installing a mopar overdrive auto requires tunnel cutting. Both mods made the car a fun driver.

It used to hurt my hands to touch gm or ford stuff, not any more.  But I would never install a GM engine. Hell, I wouldn't install anything but a big block Mopar. The soul of Mopar muscle is a WOT 440 or Hemi.

To each their own.

[alfaitalia]

Agreed......some of the best restomods I've seen leave a well built MOPAR lump in there (whichever one you fancy is fine by me!....440 for me though!).......like replacing its heart to fit a modern Mopar....or removing its heart completely to fit a GM /Ford etc!!!  

[marshallfry01]

Two of the best parts on my 70 r/t are GM based, The L460 trans and the hydro brake kit. Really, no permanent modifications to install either. Installing a mopar overdrive auto requires tunnel cutting. Both mods made the car a fun driver.

It used to hurt my hands to touch gm or ford stuff, not any more.  But I would never install a GM engine. Hell, I wouldn't install anything but a big block Mopar. The soul of Mopar muscle is a WOT 440 or Hemi.

To each their own.

What kind of modifications were required to install the GM L460? I want to put an overdrive trans in my charger but don't wanna back up the floor.....

[Derwud]

I kept the stock block and that is it.. I plan to keep the body stock, but mechanically all different, except for the 540 CI Mopar Big Block...

[brad mcintyre]

its your car you paid for it .do what you want I feel a little sad when I see something rare and complete cut up .but not sad enough to pay for it and save it 

[Chad L. Magee]

I am for the restorations side on vintage Chargers....

[toocheaptosmoke]

What I'd like to see in my driveway:  Original paint and numbers matching car

What I'd like to drive on a road trip:  Restomod with new engine and suspension

What I actually have:  Rat muscle hack job... 

[GreenMachine]

  Pretend the year is 3017 and roads aren't obsolete yet. Would you rather have a 1969 Charger with a 2017 Era suspension and engine, or factory original?

   Or, pretend the year is 4017 and roads aren't obsolete yet. Would you rather have a 1969 Charger with a 2017 Era suspension and engine, or factory original?

[cbrestorations]

all high dollar restomods are never driven except for articles or showcase in magazines. im not a fan of those...and some ruin the signature charger features. im talking a true enjoyable daily driven restomod whether it be stock appearing or i guess to the extreme like my bucket, but cars that handle like modern ones, stop good, are fast and could go on long cruises. i just find it not cool when a 90's cadillac can out perform a restored charger on an autocross course  

[G-man]

What I'd like to see in my driveway:  Original paint and numbers matching car

What I'd like to drive on a road trip:  Restomod with new engine and suspension

What I actually have:  Rat muscle hack job...  

The reason some (possibly many) people drive or want a charger is because it looks like a beast. It is the kind of car that looks like it wont be beat from light to light.

Im sure a lot of guys here back from the 60s (not me im from the 80s by birth) took these cars out and someone somewhere was the king of the hill to beat.

I mean, even looking at the old car commercials it was very much driven that way in idea. Big engine, hard accelerating street dominator.

So here we are in 2017. Old feelings of this car owns fast and furious trying to re-advertise that 'muscle cars dominate'.

The whole aura of these cars is that they are the king of the street.

However now being 2017 we have a problem... by todays standard muscle cars are slow.

Bmws, mercedez, audis and almost everything else in stock form will leave our cars dead. They get 30mpg, and are a luxury car, have all computer controlled everything  heated seats, cameras, digital display, cruise control and even cup holder heating and what not else.

The whole thing is... a muscle car still has that aura. I mean we pay big, big fuel cost, sacrifice all luxury stuff cause luxury cars are not 'performance' cars yet they go harder than our 'performance' based car.

So this is where I see the whole restomod.

To keep the charger with that king of the street sense, one has to modify and rebuild it to match/exceed todays standards. Otherwise you just end up with a hasbeen car with nothing more than an illusion of it dominating the street.

What used to be fast is slow now. So to put the muscle cars back in their rightfull place, one must modify and forget any idea of original. Leaf springs, rattling gearbox, old tires, broken air con, only mph gauge working might of been the thing back then but now mums grocery getter is gonna leave your original car dead and get 30mpg doing it.

So its time to restomod and make these cars the king again.

---------

Just a side thought about original.

Is original having all the same parts that were in it back in the 60s? What if you get a replacement part, bore the engine or whatever? - it is no longer original in its purest sense.

What about - originally the cars owned the street, so to build it with replacement parts and call it original... it isn't original, it wont dominate how it used to. So the whole 'what the car did' doesnt do it anymore.

So perhaps a restomod is original as its bringing the cars original position back to where it was, the car to beat. Thats what it used to be, so I would call that original more so than a restored car with replacement parts.

In both situations one is buying parts to put in their restomod/restoration, neither is therefor original. So why buy out dated parts designed in 1960 when you could of put that money into a much better part?

[Mike DC]

What would you be driving if you were the last man alive on earth? 

Build that.

[Derwud]

Good replies Guys.

Collector-car, Muscle-car, Grand-Tourer, Restomod, Cruiser whatever you are calling it doesn't matter!
A Muscle car was designed to between traffic-lights approx 440 yards asap.
That's what most 60's Muscle cars were, stripped out over-engined Land-barges...
If you can convert that into a modern Classic, then good luck to you.

Come the 70's and things got much better, the smallblocks became fashionable and creature comforts came back in fashion.
Mother Mopar actually got serious about trans-am and cars that would go around corners too.
But that was short lived and cars became POO again.

So now we want to relive the 60's and the glory days of motoring, It must have been fun for those who were there, living the dream!
(I'm 60 now and I was too young to experience myself,) so the Guys and Gals that did, are well old!

The only problem I see with recreating the dream is, $10 a gallon gas, speed cameras, numberplate recognition cameras on every road, skyhigh insurance for Non-original vehicles and a real tough MOT TEST to get through EVERY YEAR! Apart from that it will be a DODDLE HaHaHa...

The Mulsanne, freaking beautiful car..

[fizz]

Marshal, check out the install manuel on Silver Sports site for the l460 install