Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Rick]

In the dim n distant, I confess to fitting tubular sports exhaust systems to my red Mk3 Spitfire. The mild steel one fell to pieces in under a year, and was replaced by a stainless job instead. It looked the part, and sounded fab, but definitely was a bit boy-racer, especially as I was still running a factory cast iron exhaust manifold. The GT6 bonnet wasn't strictly necessary either. But I had a lot of fun with that car

The alloy wheels that I fitted to the same Spit, period Magnas, were quite rare and suited the car, painted as they were in a moody, subtle, black, although I became less enamoured when one made a bid for freedom (how was I to know that the standard wheelnuts weren't suitable for use with these wheels!!!??? ).

I also admit to fitting spotlamps to cars, but never actually getting around to wiring them in. Again, they did look the part though. I'll gloss over the magnetic white racing number squares, that for a time adorned the doors of my A40

What boy- (or girl-) racer add-ons, that weren't strictly necessary, do you confess to having fitted, perhaps as a youth new to the joys of driving, to your car??

Obviously I've grown up a lot since then, and would never do the same again...

RJ


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[mid]

look what i did to a perfectly good vw polo....(it was my first car. this would've been late 90's)



Alloys off a golf...OK these did look much better than the standard steels
golf gti chin spoiler... just meant i hit pretty much every speed bump
home made dtm corner splitters... why?... why not
home made debadged grill... that took me ages!
multi coloured headlight bulbs.... looked great, but were pathetic in the dark
single wiper.... would regularly pop off the ball joints in the linkage as i'd extended the arc
white sun strip... couldnt find a red to match!
F1 style wing mirrors... these were ridiculous, they were so small you could hardly see anything and they were plastic mirror rather than glass and weren't really flat so anything you could see was out of shape, they also wobbled around so you couldnt make anything out clearly anyway!
home made rear roof spoiler...because i could
home made rear difuser under bumper...because i could
tinted rear lights... actually still think that was an improvement..in looks anyway.
filled the boot with massive speakers...
i didnt put the ariel there, that was the previous owner.

the engine was completely standard and pretty much every panel had a dent, but i did love that car, and i still firmly believe that if it wasnt for me getting into the modifying thing then i wouldn't have ever got into the restoration thing!

[Riley Blue]

If prefer the term 'go faster' accessories 'cos each and every one adds bags more power!

My first car gained many extra horses from the seat brackets, switch extensions and quick-release grille knobs I fitted but when I added a Peco exhaust - wow, it was like adding a turbo! (It was a '62 Mini Traveller).

I haven't grown up either; my current Riley 1.5 has a tubular manifold and large bore exhaust, Minilite replica wheels, pancake air filters, wood rim steering wheel etc.

[Jason]

I've done it all to various cars, body kits, cherry bomb exhausts, spot lights, painting dashboard vents, after market alloys, etc, etc.

though that was a few years ago (late 90's) and at the time I was a boy racer
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"people with money buy a Rolls Royce, people with taste buy an Alvis".

[peppiB]

Back in 1966 I had a '64 Riley Elf and fitted a straight through big bore exhaust (with an extension welded on the end so it cleared the boot) and covered the inside in padded black plastic, making sure there was no access to either door or rear pouches. People had a habit of being sick into those - not nice as I always had to clean up the mess. It had a stick on number plate, 3 numbers/letters either side of the grill. lasted 6 months before I was pulled by an enthusiastic traffic cop as it was illegal. A bank of 4 spotlamps (all wired) completed the look. They weren't used much as they drained the dynamo fed battery
The whole thing was finished off by fitting a 1098 engine (from an Austin/Morris 1100)

[kevin2306]

1st car was a mini 850cc (this was in 1980-plg677m)
It had minilites, recaro buckets, 3 front spots and one rear spot. Oh, and i sprayed the bonnet old english white! Ah, just remembered, i put a 1300gt steering wheel and twin carb set up on it...wtf!
That mini was the fastest car ever...in my own head...lol

Kev

[smiffy220]

I upgraded my Mk1 Astra back in the late 80's with a 2" exhaust system, new alloys and different side pin stripes. Plus a couple of important stickers!! Before and after:-





I also fitted a Remus stainless system to my old Cavalier GSi, but that was a subtle mod not a noisy one! Back in my boy racer days again!!
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Born to rally, forced to work!

1980 Opel Manta 2.0 SR Berlinetta
1934 Morris Cowley Four (my late fathers)

[ChrisD]

I'm fortunate in that I own a wildly period modified car ('59 Sprite) as well as a totally original unrestored car ('39 Hillman).
I have to say the modified car is much more fun but remember - I didn't modify it, it was done 40 years ago!
As a kid in the 70's I loved the Hot Rods of that era. Never bettered IMO (Small Fry, Revenge, Andromeda, V12 model T etc).

While on the subject, I have just secured a deal to buy a mostly complete set of Hot Car Magazine from 1968-75. Months of period Boy Racer material to wade through there! I'll post anything of interest here as I read through it.

[peter scott]

I welded up a couple of flanged pipes to mount twin SUs on my gutless 803cc Minor. It sounded faster but my piece of plastic tubing coupling the throttle spindles tend to twist when it warmed up.

I eventually threw in the towel and reverted back to the single carb.

My next car was a 1958 Minx with column change and I found a remote floor change that came from a burnt out car. It needed a bit of fettling to overcome the slightly distorted casting but worked quite well. I then fitted an overdrive box from a Series I Rapier to it. It was also quite nice but its clutch slipped if you stressed it.

I replaced the Minx with a Series III Rapier (this time with a decent overdrive) The best go faster add ons with the Rapier were the discovery of Michelin Xs and a thicker anti roll bar.

Peter
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https://www.nostalgiatech.co.uk
1939 SS Jaguar 2 1/2 litre saloon

[poodge]

My first car,an A30,received indicator/side light units off an austin 1100.In my ignorance ,I hacksawed through the front panel/inner mudguard joint to fit them vertically in place.This car also received a 1-1/2(!) inch exhaust pipe on a straight through muffler.I couldn't afford alloys,so the wheels were painted black with a silver rim.
My next one,an A35,got a similar treatment,using mk1 Escort indicators on the front,again placed vertically.A 2" exhaust pipe made the required noise,until i was nailed by the constabulary.Fined $40 for a noisy vehicle,at a time when my weekly wage was $26.
My next car,a mk1 Cortina,stayed quiet,but i fitted bullet racing mirrors halfway along the front mudguards.Looked fantastic,but completely useless for rear vision,as all I could see were the side windows.I also fitted go-faster stripes along the sills,the type that came on a little roll.I also bought a set of Minilite look-alikes,fitted with Firestone tyres off a friends MK3 Cortina GT.He had bought Dunlops,as the Firestones were rubbish in the wet,as I found out later!
I transferred these wheels to my mk2 Cortina 1200,together with a new set of bullet mirrors.Then I got married,and had no money or inclination to doll up my cars,other than with baby seats,etc.

[ChrisD]

Here's my latest acquisition as I mentioned. A nearly complete set of period Hot Car mags (68-75 & a few others) I picked up for a song! Only read the first few so far but they are fascinating. Thousands of period adverts, new car reviews, modified cars, motorsport from that era etc, etc. Its a bit overwhelming right now!
So far I like the MGC and Escort Twin Cam reviews which of course were new cars in 1968. How about a blown MGTC or an E-type with flares and side-pipes, ha ha!
Any requests and I'll try to find them.

[JohnDale]

Early 1960 got my first car, a 1947 Ford 10(fore runner of the Prefect) - fitted an 8hp head,turned the exhaust front pipe toward the driver's side & fitted a motorbike chrome exhaust which peeped out under the running board- didn't go any quicker but sounded as if it did.
I also fitted a vibrator type radio which hummed louder than the audio, &, as I couldn't afford an aerial, I made one to mount on the rear bumper bracket(insulated from same) from 5/16" round bar painted silver for the American police car whip aerial look. Ah well,such were our dreams back then,cheers,JD.
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1958 Ford Zephyr Mk2 Convertible
1976 Ford Granada Ghia.

[bob2]

Well my first car was my green mini which I still have. When I started driving it, it was completely standard but soon it got a set of 12 inch minilights, a new interior in black with white piping replacing the brown vinyl interior, a new plastic dash with rev counter, plastic arches colour coded, a cooper (mk2) grill, cooper emblems on the side with a thin stripe just beneath the waistline, a new luisi wooden steering wheel, a pancake airfilter and a new cooper S exhaust system in mild steel which started rotting through after 2 years!!
However when I dismantled it for a respray it got even more, with a couple of corbeau bucket seats retrimmed in cream with black piping including the rest of the interior, walnut dashboard, new rev counter, cooper s mark 3 badging, stainless steel arch covers, and the most important bit a 1340 tuned angine complete with 286 road rally camshaft, big valve head and weber 40, and a new exhaust system with dtm twin upswet pipes on the back.
I love it whenever I go for a run!

I am now starting some work on my other mini which will be retaining the standard 998 engine (if I do not get bored with it, I've been eyeing the 1100 engine minus head that I've got lying in the garage lately). This mini will be specced in similar fashion to the 60s works rally minis but will not be done in red but will be resprayed in surf blue cause I really love the colour.

It will have 3 lucas spots upfront, and one for reversing on the back, white door squares, couple of old bucket seats I have reupholstered in black vinyl, mk 1 rear light conversion, some other wheels painted in oew like the roof (probably standard ones).
And the dash will also be modified to mimic those found on rally minis.

Hopefully I will be starting some work next saturday!!

[baconsdozen]

I found padded black and white spot lamp covers added a touch of real class in the early seventies.
It didn't matter if you didn't have spot lights either,a couple of saucepan lids bolted to the bumper worked just as well.
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Thirty years selling imperial hand tools for old machinery(Now happily retired).

[BigJohn]

A lime green 72" fibreglass whip aerial graced the rear bumper of my Mk1 Escort, but the village bobby made me clip the top to my roof gutter, so it formed a big 1/2 loop. It was that or a dangerous parts summons.