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acceptable mods for your classic

5K views 33 replies 22 participants last post by  xcgxl 
#1 ·
on the classics what mods would you find acceptable. for example would you put 18" wheels on a xt fairmont. how about a full recaro interior for your coupe. or perhaps ef thermo fans for your radiator etc.
for my xb gt i prefer mods from the era of car produced. like a deep dish saas steering wheel in place of the skinny gt/gs one. upgrade brakes to kelsey hays 4 spotters with slotted discs and still be able to use 15" maglites or globes. braided hoses in the engine bay, chromed alternator and accessories. externally, period correct spoilers but no flares unless it's xd/e, upgrade to h4 instead of sealed beam headlights.
would the race cars of the era be a good starting point for finding acceptable mods for your current classic? check out dicks old group "C" xe and you'll understand what i mean, that is one tough looking car.
 
#4 ·
nak302 said:
on the classics what mods would you find acceptable.
Tricky... my car has very few modern mods... in fact, the only one I can think of is the CD player.

I would personally allow AU thermos into the front of my car. To get them to fit, I wouldn't have any problem with taking the dremel to a small bit of metal because in my view, they are a practical upgrade. Ditto more modern headlights and other little things like that. Upgrades to engines and the like are all well and good too. As long as it's subtle.

But I'd draw the line at a full interior refit and stuff like that. And yes, wheels too. Case in point - there's a rather lovely yellow and black XB GT (I think it's a replica, but that doesn't worry me) that bangs about this way and it gives me goosebumps. I've never seen the inside, so can't comment on it, but the one thing that, in my humble opinion, makes it look shit is that it rides on 17" chrome alloy wheels. No, no, no. Not my thing, but obviously the owner disagrees.

As for keeping original parts, I say chuck 'em out or sell 'em unless you either might want to use them again (why, if you've upgraded?) or you have have an obsession with originality, in which case you shouldn't even be thinking about modern mods. Which is fine if you have a genuine XY GT or something, but for those of us with more humble transport, I say go for it provided it's not out of character to the car.
 
#5 ·
I'd never believe modding a car to please someone else/other people would be deemed as acceptable.

I mod things, how I like or want them to be, as I am the one that has to drive and enjoy it. How can you enjoy something that you may not like but everyone else does?

Best not to try and please anyone but yourself. If your happy then you've achieved the desired result ;)

Brenden
 
#7 ·
I am fan of moding to suit the car era. if it was made within 10 years of the car I am happy. Of course that is if you want a classic car. If you want a Hot Rod any thing goes as long as you deam it taste full. Then you have the over the top as the XP on the front page of Street machine. Sorry but I do not like it at all (being a XP owner what a loss of a nice car).
 
#8 ·
Exactly BrenX.

Whatever is needed to make your machine do exactly what you intend it to do.

Keeping the old cars running and making it worthwhile to have used the resources to manufacture the car in the first place is the environmentally friendly thing to do.

Did you know it takes:
180 tonnes of water to make 1 tonne of steel?
136,000 tonnes of water to make 1 tonne of aluminium?
91 tonnes of water to make 1 tonne of petrol?
900 tonnes of water to make 1 tonne of artificial fibres?

Like My ZC Fairlane with the Alloy Head II engine - full emission control gear - just have to fit the fuel tank vent to charcoal filter pipe and vapour control cap:
http://www.ftw.com.au/cpg/displayimage.php?album=106&pos=0

:)
 
#9 ·
Era mods for me...

I'd accept tinted windows as they have a practical purpose ie. saving the interior and lowered springs and perfomance shocks. Apart from that, fat wheels and a dual exhaust system :) everything else.. stock!
 
#10 ·
I guess I've always subscribed to the view that if it's yours you can do whatever you want to it, it all depends on who you're trying to impress.

My personal opinion is you're not building a concourse original, then keep the exterior bodywork original and make the interior/engine/driveline into whatever you want (or can afford). Anything that makes an oldie go/stop/turn/ride better is acceptable (within reason ie. bigger rims that still complement the style of the car and decent tyres, modded engine, brakes and suspension).

Rgds,
Tacrat
 
#11 ·
brenx said:
I'd never believe modding a car to please someone else/other people would be deemed as acceptable.

I mod things, how I like or want them to be, as I am the one that has to drive and enjoy it. How can you enjoy something that you may not like but everyone else does?

Best not to try and please anyone but yourself. If your happy then you've achieved the desired result ;)

Brenden
yes i agree 100% Brenden. i was just wondering about the mods YOU would do to YOUR car. whether it's the retro scene or closer to era of production, regardless of other peoples opinions.
 
#12 ·
For me it would depend on what I had. I prefer to not go into what if's or dreams.

In regards to what I would do, everyone here's seen what I'd do. If I ever owned a GT I'd touch nothing but engine/gearbox and diff. I'd do all the driveline mods then if I was ever silly enough to sell? I'd put it all back to stock with all the stock parts I pulled out before I made it go like a GT should.

Brenden
 
#13 ·
any wheels as long as they suit the theme of the car,
eg. 18" alloys would go with a nice debadged, smoothed over shell with modern paint scheme, modern interior colours and perhaps a turbo engine.

but yeah i think mods that do not suit the theme are tacky, like 18" plastic chrome wheels with an old skool V8 and stock interior
 
#15 ·
Hmmmmm......

Body wise I wouldn't do much at all. Mechanically, almost anything goes. Looks, I like to keep it looking period original.

Can't say I'm big on heaps of chrome and braided line.
 
#16 ·
smciner1 said:
Hmmmmm......
Mechanically, almost anything goes.

Agree.... But i like the idea of a set of FR19s on my XY... which is prob the way im goin with the orange wall
 
#18 ·
As long as it doesn't end up a rusting heap in the car graveyard I'd say restore it any way you like. At least if it survives in some sort of condition theres a chance that i will be able to get my hands on it in the future and do the right thing!
 
#19 ·
My EB isn't even a classic and I want to keep it in "original" form (visually)!

The only visual mods I'm thinking of would be a repearl (the roof is blistering & looks tatty) and a tape player from an EF/EL to suit the rest of the dash/console.

Unless it's a buzzbox or a new Ford/Commodore, I'm not a fan of flashy CD/MP3 players, and finding ordinary-looking CD/MP3 players isn't that easy nowadays! Also I'm a cheapa$$

I'm gonna keep the interior stock, circa 1991 so that in the future it might become "classic". (I also quite like the orig interior)

Engine-wise I'd like it to look factory still, but I plan to upgrade some of the stock components that make it run s l o w, such as the MAF, TB, heads, extractors & exhaust, & intake. But the upgrades I'm after will (mostly) be from newer Fords like AU parts for example, keeping with the "factory" theme.

I have just stated my opinions, like other posters have, but ultimately it's up to you and what makes you happy with your car mate.

-Dave-
 
#20 ·
I think it becomes un-cool when holes are drilled, metal's cut (for finning, etc, though you see less of that these days..), interior's ****ed with, and dodgy mech work's done....JMHO

Then, on the other hand, Howard Astill's done some incredible jobs on cars, and involved a lot of cutting and fabrication. I guess it all comes down to personal style and execution

In the end, they are cars, after all, and are meant to be inaminate objects ;)

R
 
#22 ·
#23 ·
XpCoupe said:
I am fan of moding to suit the car era. if it was made within 10 years of the car I am happy. Of course that is if you want a classic car. If you want a Hot Rod any thing goes as long as you deam it taste full. Then you have the over the top as the XP on the front page of Street machine. Sorry but I do not like it at all (being a XP owner what a loss of a nice car).
Thats not a car its a hotrod, at least he didn't cut up an original as it was the gold hilliers xp once. But im with you on the period correct body mods ,much more drool worthy. Mechanicaly Anything goes as long as it fits.
 
#24 ·
Neeek said:
But I'd draw the line at a full interior refit and stuff like that. And yes, wheels too. Case in point - there's a rather lovely yellow and black XB GT (I think it's a replica, but that doesn't worry me) that bangs about this way and it gives me goosebumps. I've never seen the inside, so can't comment on it, but the one thing that, in my humble opinion, makes it look shit is that it rides on 17" chrome alloy wheels. No, no, no. Not my thing, but obviously the owner disagrees.
Neek, I thought the same to start with, nice car but it needs globes, but the Phat Chromies have grown on me... Identifies the car as his. Makes it stand out among the sea of globes/12slotters/cragar SS/jellybeans/centrelines that are usually on cars of this ilk, and have been for the last 30 years.... (mind you, I do like my globes!)
However, that Black XY with the Gold 20" spoked wheels that someone posted is just wrong....

My car was a Grotty old Fairmont 6cyl with a 3on the tree at some point, so I'm not fussed about originality, and I love what the US guys call Resto-mods. Restore a car how you want it to be. Modern brakes, hot motor, decent seats, basically do what you want without losing the soul of the car....

Having said that, heres a mustang I'd love to own.....
Its a tube frame with all steel bodywork, and a 700ish hp blown 347... its a road racer for the street.... I've contemplated how you'd do something similar with an XY... :D

and the black one is just plain clean, nice stance, nice wheels....:D
Now if people wanted to do this with their falcons, as long as its not a real GT (for the blue example) I don't mind.....
 

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#25 ·
GammaBoy said:
Having said that, heres a mustang I'd love to own.....
Its a tube frame with all steel bodywork, and a 700ish hp blown 347... its a road racer for the street.... I've contemplated how you'd do something similar with an XY... :D
Probably pretty easy (as much as any racecar project can be easy) - just take a leaf out of Pete Geoghegan's book with the "Brute Force" XY as described in AMC issue 12

Mmmmmm, 1315kg XY....
 
#26 ·
Probably pretty easy (as much as any racecar project can be easy) - just take a leaf out of Pete Geoghegan's book with the "Brute Force" XY as described in AMC issue 12
Check out the build photos
HERE
 
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