To resto-mod or Not, that is the ?

[65FBE2]

I just bought a 65 convertible GT. It has 51,645 original miles on it. The car looks great but the engine and suspension are very tired. It drives like a old buckboard. The question is do you think it will hurt the value of the car if I put struts and rack and pinion on the car or should I just rebuild to stock? I want a nice cruiser, nothing to radical. My long term plans are to sell this car in a couple of years and the car is a true GT. But as it sits now, it is just no fun to drive.

 

[mustangbrad]

There are several upgrades that can be done to the stock suspension that will make it a great cruiser, check out Opentracker Racing Products. This will be less expensive and less involved than a strut conversion. With a '65 vert I would do as little as possible in the resto-mod department, especially if you are not keeping it long term. Mods that are the rage now may be frowned upon in a few years. Think about the pro-street fad with pastel paint, neon pin stripes, tweed interior, and tubbed rears. Those were the thing to have not that long ago, now they are very dated. I would most likely keep it close to stock.

 

[65FBE2]

If i went with the open tracker products, do I have to lower the top control arm?

 

[mustangbrad]

I don't know. But I do know that Total Controll Products makes a lowering block that bolts in the stock UCA holes in the shock tower but has a lower attachment point for the UCA shaft. Like getting the "Shelby" drop without drilling extra holes.

http://www.totalcontrolproducts.com/upper_dropped.html

 

[suki243]

I think if you get high quality parts, and rebuild to stock it shouldn't hurt the value. At least it wouldn't to me if i was looking for a cruiser.

 

[chromedog]

i think the restomod car cars will be around alot longer than the prostreet cars...mca never had a class for prostreet that i recall! my 65 is a restomod, in my eyes, and i wouldn't have it any other way. looks good, drives great, draws attention from the rodders and purist alike,and shows well to the mca judges. that alone would make me do it over without changing a thing. (ok, maybe a set of procar seats, the stockers get a might uncomfortable after 5 or 6 hours!)

 

[matt0matic]

Restore it, dont hack away at a rare car.

 

[Red5oh]

IF you are going to sell it... you will probably get more money from restoring it. If the steering is the only thing bugging you, rebuild it and try it... it will be MUCH better than it was. Good luck

 

[freddiecougar]

I don't know. But I do know that Total Controll Products makes a lowering block that bolts in the stock UCA holes in the shock tower but has a lower attachment point for the UCA shaft. Like getting the "Shelby" drop without drilling extra holes.

http://www.totalcontrolproducts.com/upper_dropped.html

This piece is only for our coil over conversions, it will not work with stock a-arms!
Sorry to disappoint.....
Tim

 

[mustangbrad]

This piece is only for our coil over conversions, it will not work with stock a-arms!
Sorry to disappoint.....
Tim

Well I did not know that. Thanks for the info Freddie. I really like the idea of not having to drill extra holes.


I'm not saying anything bad about resto-mod cars at all. That is what i'm currently doing to my car. I was speaking from a resale standpoint. Almost without exception, the closer a car is to stock the easier it is to sell. Plus it is hard to get your money back on anything but the most basic of mods. I know that modified cars sell all of the time but usually it takes longer to find that one guy that wants all of the mods you have already made trusts your workmanship to be better than his. Ultimately it is your car to do with as you wish.

 

[zookeeper]

Oddly enough, a buddy of mine and I were talking about this same thing today at work. He owns a '57 T-bird that he has owned since about '73. It's all original except for the Borg-Warner T10 four speed shifted by a '68 Mustang shifter. He paid $1500 for the car off a used car lot and occasionally enters it in the driver class at various vintage T-bird shows. He said that while the car is great to look at, it really doesn't drive all that well, and lately he's noticed a lot of stuff like disc brake conversions for the early T-birds and he's considering buying discs, stiffer springs and maybe a set of period-correct wheels and radials. All of these modifications are allowed in the driver class and all would be a huge improvement in the cars handling and his personal enjoyment of the thing. All of the stock crap (yes, crap, there I said it) could be stored in case the public needed one more all stock '57 T-bird to look at. Personally, I feel that tastefully modified vintage cars are not only more fun to drive and look at, but ebay and various auctions shown on TV proves that the day of stock vintage cars being worth more than their modified counterparts is long gone. Remember that GT500 that set a then-record high of something like $260,000 on B-J a couple years ago? It had aftermarket wheels and a brand new aluminum 427, yet it outsold all the "correctly" restored GT500's. Say what you want, but I feel as long as you don't do something irreversable (please, no chopped tops!) or tasteless (as in 4x4 Mustang) then modifications add to the value of pretty much any Mustang. Plus, they are safer and MUCH more fun to drive.

 

[65FBE2]

The only reason I was thinking struts was that it is totaly reversible. If I keep all the original parts, I'm hoping that even a purist would be interested in buying it. See I have a 65 2+2 with these mods and driving it is a gas, but this GT bites. If I'm going to have any fun with this thing I want to update, but I can't take a afford to take a beating on the resale

 

[zookeeper]

I think you already know the answer to your problem. Make it drive better and you probably won't want to sell it!

 

[chromedog]

i have to agree with zookeeper... the trend is moving away from the 100 point trailer queens, and toward the "restomod",build- um-to-drive,i dont care who likes it, cars. thank god! ive seen so many original,65 k code fast backs that unless it is parked in my garage, i dont care to see it. now show me a mod motor, t56, 4 wheel ifs 65 fastback, and you have my undivided attention! this is not saying there is no place for the trailer queens,but i think a lot of mustangs are being built to drive, and enjoy, and this is a GOOD THING for our hobby in general...btw, i just returned from a 90 mile cruise in MY restomod, how many original, k code 65 convertible owners can tell you that on a thursday evening?

 

[bnickel]

if you limit any mods to strictly bolt on and keep the original stuff for the next owner it shouldn't hurt the value at all, don't throw anything away!!!!!!! that said Openatracker parts look completely stock at first glance and i doubt anyone but a concours judge would notice them anyway. the only exception i would make from the ORP stuff would be the strut rods, personally i'd either go with TCP strut rods or the RRS strut rod bearing kit, other wise John can hook you up with everything you'll need to get better performance out of your car. however you can get softer springs from John as well that will imrove the ride and the rest of his stuff will greatly improve the handling.

one thing though is that ORP stuff is more performance oriented rather than ride comfort oriented, so that could weigh on your decision. a good coilover system should improve the ride of the car, something like the RRS strut conversion or the TCP, Global West or Ron Morris system will improve the ride if you order the right parts. however one thing to consider is that most of the early mustangs rough ride actually comes from the rear suspension. for that there are a lot of options to choose from. i'd look at the TCP, G-Bar rear system or one of the Heidts rear 4 link kits. kep in mind though that the TCP system and maybe even the Heidts require some welding to the car.


if it were me i would use the ORP stuff up front with softer shock and springs and the TCP G-Bar or the heidts system out back. a rack and pinion conversion will help the handling a bunch too, check out the Randalls Rack rack and pinion conversion for that.

 

[NasaGT]

You only live once, do what ever is going to make you happy!

 

[69gmachine]

Just looking at the overwhelming majority of the responses, I think it's obvious that restomod isn't just a fad. It's the safe way to make your car fun to drive again, and as said before, it isn't likely to ever go away.

Given that you're starting with a rare and complete car, I'd do like Bnickel suggested and keep up with all the old junk to pass along to the next guy, but if improvements to drive-ability are done tastefully, I think you won't lose any resale value at all. And once it's fun to drive, I bet you won't want to sell it anyway.