Your build is done....what is your biggest dissapointment?

[Bladecutter]

The Ford

 

[Bladecutter]

Holy crap...20 mpg? How is that possible with that big of an engine? My 2007 Ram 5.7 never gets that unless I'm driving 55.

747' Charger is probly a good 1000 lbs less & the OD is probly taller than Yours. A guess.

 

[Bladecutter]

If we're giving advice on here I'm going to keep banging the gong OVERDRIVES ARE THE ABSOLUTE GREATEST THING YOU CAN EVER DO TO A CLASSIC CAR IF BUILDING A STREET MACHINE HANDS DOWN.
Having had built my share of older cars the one thing I always dislike is the "should I gear for launches or sacrifice launch for sanity on the freeway" decision. I'm running a Viper 6 speed with 3:55s and it is an absolute dream in every aspect of driving when it comes to gearing. Best money you can spend not to mention I'm getting around 20 mpg on the freeway with a 456 stroker.

Hey Dev, my Porsche' 67 911 S axle is 3:55 final drive....but im going to beef r&p and kick final around the two's.
My Fireball Dodge 22 ft. Has freaking 4:10 which i want to go 3:55 with.....number of the Day Man!

 

[tallhair]

Great thread idea Darius

 

[kiwigtx]

Getting back to the original question...
I don't really have any big regrets, however I do wish that 'circumstances' could be altered.

I purchased my GTX 19 years ago, and had thoughts about doing a few small things like steering box, carb rebuild and tidy up the general condition. However, when you start to do little things, bigger things come along to side-track the original intent. Soon enough we were rebuilding the engine (multiple issues from sitting in storage so long), carbs due to flooding & gumming, steering box due to leakage, brakes due to 12 years of no fluid, front end suspension due to age, transmission swap-out due to major problems.....just to be drive-able.

My wife has been really good about it through the whole process, and even after all these years she still enjoys the chance to ride in the car. If I could change things, I would have done my restoration when the dollar was at a good exchange rate for buying parts, waited till the Arabs had finished bickering over oil - so the price would be better, and found a panelbeater who didn't have a chemical dependency. Now that money and circumstances have changed for the better, I am too time poor to be able to enjoy driving as much as I want. The planets never seem to be 100% aligned for me

Oh, and if I ever sell the GTX....I'll get a beater that I don't feel so paranoid about when I go somewhere.

 

[Bladecutter]

Really great replies guys. My hope was to maybe help others into or planning a build gain some perspective from a different perspective than what we typically read here. I enjoy reading how others feel about their experiences.
This has actually had me thinking about other "things" but they fall into the same groups of issues many have mentioned.
Bottom line is ,yes, we are never really DONE tinkering and modifying in some way but that is ( most times) the joy of the hobby!

Thas' right.....the Journey IS the Adventure!

 

[747mopar]

Holy crap...20 mpg? How is that possible with that big of an engine? My 2007 Ram 5.7 never gets that unless I'm driving 55.

Kahn and I took a road trip to visit Goon in Canada last Summer which meant multiple gas tanks of straight freeway driving with 4:30 gears and consistently got 19 mpg. I'm now running 3:55s so I'm just quessing that it's a bit better. To answer Blades final drive question it's .5 in sixth so yes it's splitting the rpm's in half (80 mph = 1,800 rpm) and the motor was built for low to midrange power so it's happy doing it.

 

[747mopar]

Thas' right.....the Journey IS the Adventure!

This is too true, I think our cars never get done because we just get bored?

 

[ws23jrt]

Thas' right.....the Journey IS the Adventure!

I agree with this too.
As for a car being "done"? -- I bet their are very few in this world that are.
Their are always little compromises along the "journey".

Bringing an old car back to life can be (sorta) like raising a child. And when is a child ever done?

 

[Bladecutter]

I agree with this too.
As for a car being "done"? -- I bet their are very few in this world that are.
Their are always little compromises along the "journey".

Bringing an old car back to life can be (sorta) like raising a child. And when is a child ever done?

.....or Tik wood on a boat?....lol

 

[ws23jrt]

.....or Tik wood on a boat?....lol

Good point. -- The golden gate bridge (as another example) is still in the paint stage.

 

[Budnicks]

Good point. -- The golden gate bridge (as another example) is still in the paint stage.

Perpetually too...

 

[Budnicks]

My biggest problems is,
I always seemingly see something new, or get some brainstorm/idea
that will work better or I like better, that's hard to ignore...

My last old 68 RR project was a drag race car with license plates,
in search of a corner...LOL
I bought 2 68 RR's basically a year apart, one was a 67k mile car,
{my 13th} needed a bunch of body work, but complete & nice interior
sort of, with little to no rust really...
I bought almost 2 of everything I ordered originally for my 1st car &
org. one was "going to be" just basically restored,
with just different wider taller wheels & tires, better fuel & electrical system &
hotter coil/better ignition, bigger better cooling & exhaust etc...

Hell I had the parts...

but ;
after I sold off the race car, I spent 7 years perfecting,
to a buddy that made me an offer I couldn't refuse &
I was able to keep my old 6bbl set-up & my A12 lift off hood, off the old car
& chit started to snowball after that, the org. plan & outline went out
the proverbial window...

My current 68 RR is something between the 2 cars concepts &
I'm still considering changes, not because I'm not necessarily happy,
I love the stuff I did, I just get something in my head & go with it...

I like changes sometimes too, keeps me from getting bored...

I build it at my pleasure now, not for anyone else or for resale, not really on anyone's timeframe like I always use to...
I still don't like just pissing the $$$ away, so I try to do my builds
where it's at-least updateable, with some minor changes, bolt-ons more or less
so I don't go off the rails too far...LOL

I'm Budnicks & & I'm a caraholic
1st thing is to admit you have a problem....

 

[HawkRod]

I agree with Dev that overdrive transmissions are awesome. While mine was out getting repaired after my cross country trip I had the original 4 speed in the car. It was great fun around town, but then we took the car to my sister-in-law's for Easter. It was only an hour drive, but 45 minutes on the highway sealed the deal for me. Next weekend I put the overdrive back in the car!

In my opinion, the most important thing to have when building a car is a true plan. Too many people dive in before really thinking about what they want. Do you want a car you can cruise in? Great - ditch the tunnel ram and 11:1 compression. Want a 1/4 mile race car? Great - ditch the power steering, brakes and put in wheel tubs, roll cage, etc. Try to mix the two and you might not be happy unless you want a "streetable race car".

Either way, think about what you want, do it once and do it well and you will likely be very happy with what you end up with...

Good luck to all those on their builds!

Hawk

 

[ws23jrt]

For me the biggest disappointment with my 69 dodges. (69 C500 and 69 hemi coronet) was-- not-- how they turned out.
It was that I bought a SRT challenger in 09. And now have a Hellcat Challenger.
My memories of my 69 cars lived strong as cool, strong and great fun to drive cars.
Driving a new dodge muscle car is more than a world away from how they were in 69.
The disappointment I have now is the fun of driving the old cars is trumped.

 

[Dennis H]

For me the biggest disappointment with my 69 dodges. (69 C500 and 69 hemi coronet) was-- not-- how they turned out.
It was that I bought a SRT challenger in 09. And now have a Hellcat Challenger.
My memories of my 69 cars lived strong as cool, strong and great fun to drive cars.
Driving a new dodge muscle car is more than a world away from how they were in 69.
The disappointment I have now is the fun of driving the old cars is trumped.

Not good to compare apples with oranges.

 

[ws23jrt]

Not good to compare apples with oranges.

I know----But it has made an impact on me. I still do like the heavy clutch, the shake of the car, the smell of exhaust, the very loose steering, etc of my 69 hemi car. Btw the attention it gets is a good thing too.

I also have no intent to sell my 69. I would rather give up the hellcat if it came down to it.
The disappointment for me comes in the partial dashing of some of my old memories about how well I thought the old ones performed.

 

[Dennis H]

Drove my new Challenger (not a Hellcat) 900 miles last year. 69 Coronet - 11,000. Personal preference. I prefer to drive myself-the way I want to and not have all of the annoying computer "suggestions. Will the 69 buck a little on Sonora Pass with no computer to adjust for altitude? Yes. Don't care.

 

[Bladecutter]

Good point. -- The golden gate bridge (as another example) is still in the paint stage.

Yep, start at one end, by the time they get through it all, time to go back and start over....im quite fond of that bridge.....caught a ticket for 90 plus on my 'zuk water buffalo headed into city.....guy had chased me all the way from north end of sausalito all way up Waldo Grade. Guy on back, bike cafed, no rear sets, 6 pack of bud bottles between us.......coming into toll booth i was hauling down hard, forks seriously compressed....everything was fine except i failed to consider one thing....OIL from bleeders in toll booth asphalt. Babee!! Thank gawd i had clip-ons, frontend just yanked hard right, and both of us just stood up as bike laid down and the six pack broke up on asphalt....i yanked that ****** back up, grabbed some bills....toll booth guy was deer in headlights, mouth agape, finally registered, took money robotically....fired the scooter, then looked back & saw the CHP....bike not registered, no Bike license & dumb **** with me, gives cop bad info out of my earshot.......Cop looks us both & sez, "well i cant give You an open container ticket" laughing his *** off....pulls me to side & asks what deal is with dumbass....i said i was giving some stranger a ride home from Jaguar shop in Mill Valley i worked,, dint know his story.
Cop wrote the ticket for the 90 alone, nothing for bike license & registration. And away we went.....even better, i never paid it(old days no court date) and it fell thru the cracks.....yeah i love the GG!! Like that could ever happen again. I have only had one vehichle ever towed(not confiscated)on me for the countless contacts with man over years......accident free still. As far as collision......ive overdriven turns...and boonied, 360's in cars, high sided bikes at speed a couple times......but have never met with immovable objects yet.
I couldnt resist mouthing the GG story....that was a Good Day. Back to topic, no hijack Darius......bc

 

[Kern Dog]

Does anyone ever break even?
Funny, Blade-man ! Some do, some are buried so deep they'd have to sell their cars 3 times to break even.
SOME of us do not care! I never bought or built this car with any intention to sell it. I grew up loving the General Lee. When the time was right to buy and build a Charger, I saw this 70 advertised in the Sacramento Bee classifieds. I figured that I'd just swap on a '69 front end because at that time, I liked that grille better. It took me about a year to feel different about it. I am glad that I kept the body all original.
I have fixed up and sold several Darts and Dusters and always made a few bucks on them. This was when their parts were still easily found at the self serve wrecking yards. They are not so common there anymore.
This topic has me searching for an answer though. Any and all of the mistakes that I have made have resulted in a learning experience. I know now that high compression is a bear to live with no matter if you have aluminum heads or a big cam. I know that KYB shocks are not the "hot thing" for a good ride and great handling. I've confirmed in my own mind that the more complete a car is, the more it is worth as a restoration candidate. Buying a stripped out shell of a car is a lot cheaper for a very good reason. Tracking down missing parts on an UNfamiliar car is a pisser. You don't even know what is missing until you try to assemble things. I bought a partially "parted out" 73 Challenger in 2001 with intentions to fix and sell it. I didn't know what the window hardware looked like, the bumper brackets, door handles and linkage rods....THAT car was a piece of ****. Plenty of regrets with that one.