Just a thought-- take it easy
 

I see a trend that worries me. Please take this as it is meant. I completely stripped a 62 Impala SS that was perfect. It was 6 years old and I was 16. Big bad racer ya know. 283 PG, AC and every other option you can think of. Buckets, console, PS, PB. Damn.
I HAD to go drag racing! Stripped everthing. Interior, AC, all of it. Raced in PS/MA at Lions drag strip. Did pretty well too. Later put a 4 speed in it. Sold all the take off stuff so I could buy parts. Well a year later I got married to my bride and the car was history. Guy that bought it ripped it open and put the motor in an old boat he had. Sold some parts off and crushed it.
Now-----are we doing the same to the finite number of Chevelles that are left. 502-700 CID 6 speeds. Rear ends. Complete suspension change outs.
Will my Grandkids have any stock or at least near stock Chevelles in 20-25 years? I'm worried. A large majority of the "Racing" Chevelles will not be around then. I built a 36 Ford 3 window. Left a lot of it stock. It's still here and it is 74 years old. What will a racing Chevelle look like or perform like when it is 74? Take a 70. In 34 years it will be 74. In the year 2044!!!
Do you think they'll last?
I am just suggesting that we take a step back and think, that's all.
I don't want to fight or offend friends or be flames to death.
But do you at least see my point?
Thanks for listening.
Randy

I agree with you Randy,I like an original type car.But thats me,always did,always will. I have never bought a set of custom wheels in my life,no custom touches etc. Maybe I'm just boring.:) But on the other hand I can appreciate all the time and effort other people put in their cars to personalize them for their own enjoyment and taste.

If anyone gives you any crap,have them come see me,Randy.:p

I appreciate cars in all different forms. :)

I know what your saying but a lot of the changes are good improvements and aren't just for racing. Even the ones that are raced, most are well maintained. They won't be stock in another 34 years but they'll probably still be around. Of course there will be some number of them that remain pretty much stock.

Mine would have been scrapped if I hadn't saved it, so I feel no guilt about beating the hell out of it every weekend. ;)

Compare the Chevelle and "trends" to the Model A .... can anyone guess how man model As were used in demolition/japlopy derbys or hotrodded but even with all the "natural elimination" it is still no problem finding a restored "parade" car.

I say if you own it build it to what suits you .... just dont let it sit idle and rot .... hoarders do more damage to this hobby than anything.

I totally agree that there are some people who hang onto every little part, and will never let them go. And it makes it very difficult for those of who need the part to "restore" their Chevelle, and can't find it. So what is the alternative? Replacement parts, some made in the US but most are usually made in a foreign country. But most end up building it into whatever their "dream is" for their car.

Now will their be any "original Chevelles" left in another 25 years? I hope and think so. Will anyone be able to afford to own them? Maybe people with an endless supply of money.

For me, years ago financially I should have sold the Chevelle to pay some bills, but I couldn't and didn't. Now, is my Chevelle all original, no, but it is a piece of my family and will continue to be til the day I die. I just hope that there are alot of people who think that way.

Just my thoughts...
Nancy

Good discussion. I have to agree with all of you.
It is a good thing to do your car as you like. That is why I like this site so much. We can trade ideas and thoughts like adults.
Good thing.

Randy

I still have all the numbers matching stuff I pulled from my car, but to be honest, once there's an LS1 and 6-speed in it, I don't forsee any point in the future where it would be more appealing with the 250hp 2bbl 350 w/ TH350 back in it. If I needed the space, I'd sell off the original parts without any remorse.

With ours it was just a "Malibu" and had very little original, unless you call the rust original :)

It was not the smartest sinking what we did in to it, but its our car, done our way. It only had to make us happy, and it has :)

Yeah, I agree with the notion that each car is a beauty in the eye of its owner first. There will always be "by the numbers" guys, and if I had some special "numbers" car, maybe I'd be one too, but I don't, and I'm not.

If I had some giant stupid windfall of $ to spend on my Chevelle, I'd be bolting on everything I could find to make it go faster and handle better.

My 72 El Camino SS is completely stock except for the radio which had been changed before me and the Gaylord cover put on by me for traveling purposes. My wifes 72 Malibu vert was built to her specs ,non factory paint,bucket seats and console ,stereo with 12 disc cd in trunk, SS domed hood, mag wheels and we love it as well as most people that see it. My cars are for our personal enjoyment first ,but hopefully most others will also approve. Building numbers cars is not my thing as it is cost prohibited and I would ruin the value anyway because we drive our cars a lot.My 2 get driven probably 15000 miles a year as they are the most dependable of our fleet. The purists I know personally dont drive theirs except onto a trailer and off to the show field ,that is not why I spend a fortune on mine .I plan to drive mine forever .

And so the question of drive or show is brought up.I have put almost 1200 miles on my car in 3 years.Never really thought I would have racked up thank many miles on him. I still enjoy looking and shining the most though.

Mine is not numbers matching or a show car. I guess it's a nice driver. Hell, not the original block or trans.
We drive it as much as we can. 1200 in our first year. Hey... It's my baby. My dream car. It was built 2 days after I graduated high school.
My boys bought it for me as a Chistmas present in 2008.
Do I love my car? Yes. Do I love all your cars? Absolutely.

Randy

I have a friend that has an LS6 convertible fully restored with 6 miles on it ,but its pretty to look at. I would have to drive it ,Im not into waxing and looking .But that is just me ,not dissing anyone for enjoying their car in their own way.

I think there are far more restored chevelles out there than most realize. The reason you see so many modified chevelles is because we arent as afraid to drive them. We dont have a high dollar restoration of a numbers matching valuable car to worry about some other jackass wrecking. My car was modified to beat hell when I bought it, thats what appealed to me, no guilt, no remorse for anything I wanted to do to it, and if it gets wrecked I fix it and move on without the guilt of "i wrecked an original car". Museums and collectors across the country all have very nice restored chevelles, guys like Gary and John and yourself all have very nice stock chevelles in your garages.

In 34 years I think their will still be a huge number of stock and/or restored chevelles sitting in these garages and museums, and a huge number of modified chevelles running around too.

I like to see cars in all forms. Stock is fun for me to look at, being born in 1974 I wasnt there for the musclecars new, and I do remember riding around in some of my parents cars. So its fun for me to look at stock cars and compare them to what we have now, but for driving I prefer a little more fun under the hood and my 5 speed to get me down the highway with decent mileage and a sane rpm level.

Jeff

My 69 SS is a numbers match car along with a majority of the other parts, starter altenator,carb you get the idea. I'm in the proccess of building another engine so I can have some fun for now.If or when times get better and decide to do my frame off I will put it back to it's original state. In the mean time, when I finish the new engine and put the original in the corner, I will have fun pounding the hell out of it. Maybe put some aftermarket wheels on it for awhile too.

Even with the restoration of my Chevelle, we saved alot of the parts because you never know. We are not gonna hoard them, we are going to hang onto them, maybe we will use them, or come across someone who needs/wants them. Not that they are in the best shape, but they are the "original" parts.