Restorer? Or rodder?

[seattle smitty]

This is utterly unimportant, of no value to anybody, but I'm curious about you K-car guys. Are you mostly restorers, or are you rodders/improvers?

Personally I am or try to be the latter. I used to help some restorers of early Corvettes, and got fed up with them. Corvette restorers are "correctness" fanatics; the ones I knew, I would not trust with changing spark plugs, but boy oh boy did they know about what was factory original!! I don't know how many bolts I replaced, under the cars and out of sight, because they didn't have the "correct" markings on the heads, and I have worse stories than that. They'd ride around on their pretty cars using the skinny old bias-ply tires that came on them, when using modern rim/tire combinations, nothing remotely extreme, would have vastly improved the ride/handling/braking/steering.

Sure, every marque should be represented by a few totally factory-original examples to serve as historical examples, but after that, why not take a nice design and upgrade it?? EVERY car can be improved. I used to contribute a lot of tech ideas to a Dodge/Plymouth Colt Vista site, now defunct, but never with the intention of promoting restorations of those disappearing orphans; my idea was to upgrade anything that would keep them serviceable.

[seattle smitty]

GC, where are ya? You'll talk to me, won't you??

[K-CAR_WAGON]

In regard to lack of responses - There has been an activity fall off on this website.

Its a mix of owners; there are both extremes. I prefer original but am not a correctness fanatic. Most of the "improvers" gravitate toward the turbo version cars and use the turbo mopar and turbo dodge websites where there is more technical information and discussion of modifications, upgrades and parts interchangeability. (Suspension upgrade, brake upgrades, etc.)

[Kwagon2]

Yes things are quiet ...this is a really well done website and should be an excellent vehicle for some great discussions and info...With regards to the Rodder /Restorer question I have done a major shift in thinking ....I did the purist restorer thing and it wore me out , it started to taste bad as the guys didn't seem to do it for historical value but as a one upmanship thing and they'd look down on the guy that got a car together on a budget ...not cool... we're all motor heads or we wouldn't be playing with cars and all should be welcome...so now I'll check out anything on wheels as I might learn something and even make a friend! I still have a few pure factory "as builts" but I want them that way and its for pure historical "thats how they made 'em" value. I'm in the middle of my K wagon restoration (82 Aries) putting in a floor etc. and it will be a complete reasonably correct
Early K , Why? because there just aren't any left up here, mine survived because it was sitting in a compound for 18 years! Finding parts has been tough! With my Reliant I'm going to warm it up a touch but I'm in a learning curve right now as I've got a lot of the 2.2 Tech to uncover let alone sources for "performance parts". So in the final analysis I'd have to say I'm part Restorer and part Rodder . Have fun!

[seattle smitty]

...I did the purist restorer thing and it wore me out , it started to taste bad as the guys didn't seem to do it for historical value but as a one upmanship thing . . .

I've seen that, too. One "helpful" guy bends low and looks closely at a headlight on what I though was a beautifully restored early-'60s Pontiac, and then says to the owner, "Actually those aren't the correct headlights, you want to get the ones with (such-and-such emblem embossed in the glass)." And the owner gets offended and huffy. And I'm thinking these restorers are so damned anal-retentive, which surely isn't fair to most of them.

My idea is not change for changes' sake, but generally to fix up the car in a way the original designers and engineers would approve of, and often would have done had they not been constrained by having to bring the car in on-budget, make sure it was easy to manufacture, and work for a whole range of customers with differing requirements. Those fellows had a whole lot of compromises they had to balance. When rebuilding a car for your own use, you get to customize it for YOUR needs and preferences. Done well, I'm sure an optimized K-car would impress and please any of the original creators.

I'm still hoping Guy will show up . . .

[Kwagon2]

Oh ya ...thats typical seen that too...things like headlights, fuel filters, hoses , belts, filters etc. are "service" items once the service life is over ya pitch 'em and install a new replacement...that'll be the day I chase down a set of headlights in order to be correct...My DeSoto is pretty well a stock correct car but I installed Halogens just to be safer at night..had to install a set of relays and separate fusing but the lights allow much better night visability hence greater safety. My cars are not trailer queens either I drive 'em...
BTW your Colt Vista is a pretty rare car I can't recall seeing any up here , basic Colts , and Crickets over the years but no Colt Vistas... I just stumbled across a Plymouth Cricket in an older yard where I scored a bunch of parts for my Aries...complete not a single part taken off ...

[seattle smitty]

Of course, a guy can take a car too far with customizing. Was in a tire store yesterday when a gal drove in with a beautiful black 1937 Plymouth sedan. These old classics can look better when the ride-height is lowered to some extent, but I think this is where way too many owners get carried away trying to achieve some sort of Hot Wheels look. This car wasn't slammed, but was lowered so much that the tires, especially the rears, were getting destroyed by the edge of the fenders. The tire man was giving the owner options for narrower rims and tires, and I was having to bite my tongue and not blurt out that she could just get the ride-height raise a couple of inches to solve the problem and make the car look better and less juvenile.