Perhaps I used the wrong words or should've given an example, but no, I'm not confusing Pro Street with a Restomod. I have a friend who put 7-8 years and $30K into a '79 Pro Street Thunderbird....awesome car, homemade EFI on a Tunnelrammed 460, wheelie bars, shaved door handles, an '89 T-Bird dash and door panels and a million little tricks you would never notice. But this car is 100% impractical as a driver. He's had it on eBay twice and it never brought over $4000. So much for Pro Street...
The Restomod movement is fine, but it's just gotten stale because everybody builds the same cars. Please don't think I'm trying to hurt anyone's feelings, but a red Restomodded '67 Mustang is generally the same as a million others. They're 'safe' because everybody loves Mustangs. I do too. I'm an equal opportunity insulter..
, but it's the same deal with Galaxies, Fairlanes, Falcons, Comets or what have you. Old time Hot Rodders always prided themselves on oneupsmanship and building something different. So why not take a '65 Rambler American hardtop as an example, put a MII front end under it, install a Ford powertrain of your choice with a rear disc brake rear, build a coil over suspension for all 4 corners, put on the wheels of your choice and add your own finishing touches. It would take some skill to do it, but none that most here couldn't learn and by being inventive with used parts, this car could be built for the same money as a Mustang, or maybe less. This is one reason that I admire my buddy F15 (Tom). He's his own dog, builds his cars based on simple principals but are definitely different! Granted, he has more shop equipment than most, but 99.9% of the things he shows us don't require that much machine work and if you own a rod, you should have a machinest friend.
I'm taking a 'go my own way' track with my '64 Ford Tudor. Remember, this car is secondary to my dirt tracker. I've got 2 460s, one with DOVE heads and an EFI 302 HO complete with computer and wiring from a '92 Lincoln LSC sitting in my garage. But I'm keeping the original 223 6 under the hood. Why? Just because I like it. I've got a set of high lift rocker arms for it and can fab up a 2bbl. intake and header in my shop without much grief. A 300 Duraspark distributor swap is in the works with a GM module to fire it. If I want to swap mills someday, it'll likely be for a 300 6. I've got a T-Bird disc brake setup here, but I'm going with just a dual pot M/C for safety until further notice because drums work just as well as ever. I have a few suspension changes planned, but with parts I have lying around. I've got some wheel choices too, all of them steel.
As for the exterior, what is not Rustoleum Semi Gloss black will be sprayed with Rustoleum clear to protect the patina. This car is NOT a rat rod, but *I*
enjoy keeping this car looking close to it's roots. My killer stereo is the Cherry Bomb on the end of my tailpipe.
Is this car "safe" as in a crowd pleaser, heck no! Do I care,,,same answer. I don't particularly enjoy cruise nights...sitting in a lawn chair next to a car is boring to me. But I do enjoy driving it which is the purpose of a fun car. I don't expect anyone else here to copy my ideas or understand my motives anyway.
Jan...doin' my own thing.
