Hey y'all, I was thinking the other day about some of the radical alterations we make to our cars in order to make them match the vision in our heads. Chops, channeling, radical cams, custom bodywork, outrageous exhausts, etc... What did you do to your hot rod or kustom that you wish you hadn't? Was the 5.13 gear too steep? Did the flamethrowers burn your paint? Was the chop too low or channel too deep? Did the new bodywork visually miss the mark? Or maybe the compression was too high for pump gas? Let's hear your stories! What did you do? Why'd you regret it? And did you do anything to "fix" it? Pics are always appreciated. And no, selling your car doesn't count!! We've all suffered that regret...
The choice of using an original A chassis under my 28 A RPU, why, OH WHY didnt I go for a 32 frame?????????? Doc.
I would image a lot of Pro Street guys wish they could re-install the original wheel housings. I know a guy that has a 33 Glass Vicky that looks way stupid with those big meats on it. He's asked me several times to buy it and I don't have the heart to tell him I think it sucks, a lot of work to change it back to skinny tires
Regrets, I had a few. I regret putting full length headers, 3" pipes, and Flowmasters on my former street car, a '69 Torino. It sounded great for the first 5 minutes. Then stuck in traffic for an hour, day after day --I wanted to blow my head off!
I will never shave another set of door handles on a vehicle I have to drive fairly often. You only have to be stuck on the outside of your car a couple times before you start to kick yourself in the ass for tossing a perfectly good pair of door handles in the scrap bin. I don't care if it is a full custom, it will still have door handles...
I put a Pete Jackson gear drive on a sbc (37 Ford). It was really neat for about 2 hours. After that, it sucked. Stu
Did you have turndowns after the mufflers or exhaust all the way out the back? I have a similar exhaust set up that was obnoxious. A fellow on here suggested adding 18 inches of pipe after the mufflers. I did it and it is an entirely different sounding beast now. No drone and is fairly quiet at cruise speed, but still bellows when you plant the right foot.
Doing away with the side vent windows and going to one piece glass on an off topic Cal-look veedub. Looked good but the function was gone.
I regret turning my '77 vette into a tree . . . that mod made a permanent modification to my nose too
Years ago when I got my truck,the front suspension was screwed up,M#stang II suspensions hadn't been thunk up yet and subframe swaps were in their infancy in these parts. A welder of some acclaim helped "install" a N#va subframe in the front of the truck.It had drum brakes which operated great for many years. I had my beloved chrome reverse on the front and back and all was right with my hot-rodding world. Jet ahead...I decide in a sober moment that I absotively-posilutely had to have disc brakes on the front end. Now my 14" wheels(3 different sets of wheels and tires) won't clear the calipers("grind em" some guys say? Nope,ain't gonna do it.). I curse that swap frequently... Old stuff is still good stuff.
I had pipes all the way back. Oh yeah, while I was moving the Torino sounded awesome. But in LA, most of my time was spent with my foot planted on the brakes... in traffic... listening to ((((reverb))))
What problem/problems did you have with the handless ride? Right now my problem is getting them to work. Period!
I should have left it alone, stock suspension lowered with disks, 235 with a 5 speed. dead reliable and good mileage. I am an idiot.
my biggest regret was accidentally putting an 65 Mustang on my rotissierie that I built for my 49. $7500.00 and hundreds of hours later I had a running driveable primered shell with a beautiful undercarriage and engine compartment. lost my job and sold it for $4500.00. should have put that time and energy into a car I liked better.
Getting married, having kids, getting a job....... Oh wait, those are the things that keep me from doing the mods, not regretting them. LOL
I put a Richmond 6 speed in my Biscayne with a strip clutch. That Richmond was a pain to shift ALL the time and the clutch was murder in traffic. I sold the car before fixing it. The new owner put an automatic in it.
Its a small mod but I regret shaving the drip rails on my 52 Chevy pickup. It just doesn't look right.
Recessing the brake booster way deep into the firewall. Looks really sweet under the hood, but, like all humans - I have knees.
extending the frame 2-1/2" for more enigine room.... it totally blew the great stubby look of and A coupe.
Putting a TH350 in my old '67 Malibu just because it was cheap. I should have saved the money for a 700R4 or a Four Speed.
mt biggest mistake was putting a 409 in a 62 corvair.it was an 340hp 409.used the corvair transaxle(went throu a bunch of them.)did a lot of fabracation work and had to put some cylinder heads in the trunk(it was in front of the car.)it was a real bear on the road.i insalled the radiator in the trunk and ran pipes to the front and rear.used an old window fan with a 12v motor.the thing turned like a mack truck and if you gave it to much gas the thung would just about flip over.i sold it and new owner pulled the 409 and scraped the body.
its the ones I didnt do that I regreat... I finished painting my 26 coupe and stood back and thought to myself,,,,fuck I should have chopped it
I rebuilt a '55 Willys CJ-5 with a 225 Buick V6, new paint job, straightened out all the body, brand new top, new seats, pretty much everything, and didn't realize I was just too tall to be comfortable driving that thing for more than 15 minutes. I tweaked the seating position several times and just couldn't make it comfortable enough so I sold it at a loss. I should have built a CJ-6 instead.
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