It's your car....For god's sake, do what you want! Not what's "Correct"!!

Don't take the title to this post wrong. I still firmly believe that anyone who even THINKS about cuttting up the trunk of a Hemi "Cuda for wheel tubs, or putting a modern fuel-injected Chevy LS motor in a numbers-matching Judge should be dragged out into the street and shot, after having his entrails pulled out and burned. There are some "Thou Shalt Nots." I'm not talking about that kind of butchery, I'm talking about people afraid of removing a vinyl top or changing a bench seat for buckets. Go ahead, laugh, but I talk to people all the time that say stuff like "I'd like to paint it a different color," or "I wish it had a hood tach", but I don't want to compromise the value." What value? Regardless of what any "expert" says-a car is only worth what someone's willing to pay for it. And why is everyone so damnded worried about what the car will be worth if or when they sell it? If you want a dog,have no kids, and you'd really like a pit bull, are you going to get a Golden retreiver instead, because their more kid-friendly, and might be more attractive to the next owner? Did you marry your wife because you thought she'd give you an easier divorce than the other women you dated?!  Why is everyone so fixated on if or when they get rid of the car and what the next owner might want, that they don't even build it the way THEY want it!  Trust me-if you have a '69 Super Bee and you call Summit Racing and order a complete Six-Pack setup and install it on the car-you've increased the value of it, even though it's not "Totally Original." If you add the spoiler and hood tach,and paint a '69 GTO like a Judge, it's worth more to more people than it would be if it was Original "Verduro Green" with a puke-yellow vinyl top. If you want a "Formula" ( i.e.-Trans-Am style ) steering wheel on your Firebird or GTO instead of the stock Luxury Cushion model, is the car "ruined?"  Would that actually stop someone from buying it if it was for sale?  Puhleeezzze!!  I know a guy that was in genuine pain because the '71 Road Runner he bought to restore was yellow. He told me his dream combo on this car would be B5 Blue with the black stripes, and A "Go-Wing." The car had a black interior, so it would have looked fine. ( If the interior was red, that might have been a problem.) "So buy a go wing from Year One, and paint it blue." I said. "It'll look awesome." "Yeah, but the build tag says it was originally yellow."  He replied, dead serious. "So?" "If you want to sell it to someone that anal five years from now, he can repaint it." "You hate yellow." "You only bought the car because it was too good a deal to pass up regardless of color." "I can't believe your actually thinking of painting your car a color you don't like, in case you want to sell it in the future." "Are you kidding me?" He eventually painted the car blue, and is happy. This goes beyond paint and trim as well. If you have a 1968 SS396 El Camino with 4-wheel drum brakes-( They exist-I had two of them ) and you go to the junkyard and get the spindles, rotors, calipers, and brake booster / master cylinder off a '71 Malibu and put the disc setup on your car, you have greatly increased it's resale value, even though it's not original. If you have a 1967 289 Mustang with a three-speed stick and you swap it for a 4-speed with a Hurst shifter, you've upped the car's value in anyone's eyes. If you buy a Pontiac Firebird with a 350 and swap in a stormin' 455, you've upped it's value. As long as the modifications were stuff that was optional on that car, that year, or is aftermarket "period correct" then don't fret about it. Like I said, you want a hood tach on a GTO or Firebird? Do it! A 1968 Charger with 15" Cragar S/S mags is cool. Put 20" wheels off a 2009 Charger on the '68 and it'll look stupid. A '70 350 Camaro with an Edelbrock Torker intake, 650 double-pumper Holley,headers, a Muncie 4-speed and Torq-Thrust wheels is just as cool now as it was in 1971. A '68 Camaro with a TPI 350, 700R4 automatic and 19" Enkei wheels is just wrong. See what I'm saying?  Within reason, do what the hell you want with it. It's your car!!!   Just had to vent that. Mastermind