Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[colwyn500]

I like cars maintained to original specification even when this makes them harder to use and posssibly makes them more fragile or unreliable.
The recent thread here about a pre-war car on EBAY tended towards the view that replacing the engine with a modern Ford was a bad move.
I hear a lot about owners upgrading cars to later specification components which often fit with little or no cosmetic modification.
There are loads of shade of grey in this conversation but my question is, "When re-furbishing/repairing, do you prefer to keep original spec when possible?"

[D4B]

Hi Peter,

apart from fitting four skateboards to my mates mums favourite armchair so that we could ride it down Linchmere Hill, I have kept everything else exactly as standard. Perhaps that shows the limits of my fabrication skills though......

PS we were grounded for a week

[Rootes75]

I like to think if it was made that way then it should be restored that way but each to their own I suppose.

[mikeC]

I enjoy driving my old cars because they are old; part of that enjoyment stems from the challenges engendered by quirky (by today's standards) design and outmoded performance. If I wanted my cars to behave like a modern car, then I would just buy a modern car (perhaps a pseudo replica if I wanted the style of one). To replace vintage running gear with modern machinery seems to defeat the whole exercise for me.

[kevin2306]

I preferr things to be as they were origionally desigined.
As a young un, i went down the modified route but these days i love origionality, inc accessories etc that could have been fitted/used back in the day

Kev

[Riley Blue]

My cars have to be 'fit for purpose'. If I wanted a car to win prizes at shows it would be 100% original (though I doubt many people would notice if it wasn't) and polished within an inch of its life. However, I drive my cars as often as possible, so they need to be comfortable and safe hence, in my Riley 1.5 currently on the road, I've changed the seats, fitted a brake servo, uprated the lights and done one or two other things that mean I can drive several hundred miles - or as far as my back and arthritis will allow me - without aches or stiff joints. If I wasn't having to go into hospital for surgery shortly I'd have driven it throughout the winter, especially as we've had few frosts and the roads have been largely salt free.

Thinking back, I think every one of my cars (classic or modern) has been modified in one way or another. Just as I've altered my houses to suit my needs, so I've done with my cars.

My other 1.5, bought as a restoration project, is already modified with telescopic dampers and overdrive. It will be even more modified by the time I've finished

[JC T ONE]

[colwyn500]

[lowdrag]

More and more the word "restomod" is creeping into day to day usage. Electric power steering, electronic ignition, modern engines, uprated suspension, and modern gearboxes spring to mind amongst others. If you talk to the restorers it seems that the younger breed of classic owners want the looks but not the inconvenience, like learning how to double declutch for example, hence a lot of T5 Ford 5-speed boxes going into E-types. I admit to putting Zeus four pot brakes in my E-type after 30 years due to modern driving conditions, but for the rest she is mostly stock, although I have recently come across a new fan motor by Cool Cat of the USA which replaces the old two blade windmill and fits perfectly, bolting in place on the picture frame just like the original and fitting perfectly into the radiator shroud. Moving 2,000 cu ft per minute it seems again a sensible mod given today's traffic density and far cheaper than a Kenlowe which I don't like since it attaches with cable ties through the radiator matrix. Seems a recipe for instant leaks to me. I love using the car, but topping up the radiator regularly may now be less often.

As regards originality, some pieces are now pure unobtanium, and anyway, where will I find 1961 air to pump up the tyres? The Northern line underground has been suggested!

[petermeachem]

Well my Austin may get stonechip paint under the wings and led headlights so I can see where I am going, aside from that all Austin Seven. If I made it go, stop and steer properly it wouldn't be an Austin Seven.
So that's no 12v, electronic ignition etc.

[Riley Blue]

[emmerson]

Interesting thread, but really the question is unanswerable, imo, as each of us needs/wants different things from his car. My Range Rover, f'rinstance has every modern convenience I need, but in a Classic body style, so it suits me fine.
My classic Royale caravan however is very much original, and I try to keep it that way, BUT, it suffered some minor damage a couple of years ago which needed a side panel replacing. So, technically, it is no longer original!
With regard to modern fitting, some of my fellow-owners use the criteria that if an item had been available in the seventies, would the factory have fitted it?
If the answer is yes, then go ahead and do it. This covers things like cassette toilets, central heating etc. As Royales were top spec vans in their day, then such things would have been fitted.
However, as with so many things classic, to each his own.
It's your toy, you do with it as you will.

[Ellis]

If a classic car is rare or has been preserved as original with history I believe it would be wrong to modify it.

However, if the model numbers are plentiful then I see no reason why it should not be modified provided such modifications are reversible and do not detract from the car's outward and original appearance.

All my classics are modified to some extent but look outwardly original.

Lotus Elan and Elan +2 are examples. I believe many owners have removed and stored their often troublesome original engines and fitted modern Ford Zetec engines in their place for regular use.
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Starting Handle Expert

1964 Jaguar Mark 2 3.4 litre
1962 Land Rover Series 2a 88"
2002 BMW M3 E46 Cabriolet

[Phil - Nottingham]

I agree 100% with Riley541 as all our cars have to be fit for purpose. None of them are rare or museum exhibits and must earn their keep so although I do try to keep to original I would fit a later engine (have done in my wifes Mini Traveller as its got an 1100 Clubman engine instead of its 1000cc original) or even one out of a modern car like a Ford Crocus.

Having said that its really nice to see genuine originals but not so called Concours cars that never looked that good even when new
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Rover P2
Rover P4
Rover P5 & P5B
Land Rover S2 & S3
Morris Mini Traveller Mk2

[Penman]

Hi
There are also a few cases where manufacturers have re-engineered their own models to suit more modern conditions.
Before the FN takeover Bristol were doing quite comprehensive makeovers for the V8 models and FN are still offering the brake upgrades.
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Bristols should always come in pairs.

Any 2 from:-
Straight 6
V8 V10