I'll just agree to disagree.....

Got some flack from the "Just as it left the Factory" crowd over yesterday's post.  I feel, as long as a color or an option was AVAILABLE on that model, that year, then your ok putting it on your car, whether it came with it originally or not. For example-if you want to put a tri-power setup on a 1965 GTO or a Six-Pack setup on a 1969 Road Runner, I think you'd be INCREASING the value of it, rather than hurting anything. Maybe changing engines or engine parts should be open to debate, but when it comes to other accessories-Puhleeze. If you buy a 1971 Firebird Formula 400 and you replace the cracked "Luxury Cushion" steering wheel with a "Formula" ( read Trans-Am ) wheel are you really compromising the value of the car?  Or if you put Rally II wheels on it when it originally had Honeycombs are you committing a cardinal sin? I think not. If you add or remove a vinyl top, or add or remove stripes, are you hurting anything?  If you put a Hurst Dual / Gate shifter in a GTO or 442 with an automatic, your adding value. What about disc brakes?  I'm not talking a 4-wheel Brembo setup worthy of a Formula 1 car, but what if you buy a '68 SS396 Chevelle or El Camino with 4-wheel drums ( They made them, I had one ) and put the spindles, rotors, calipers, master cylinder, booster, etc from a 1971 Chevelle on it, have you "ruined" the car?  No, you brought it to the top of specifications for that model year, since power front disc brakes were optional. What about transmissions?  Just because you could GET a Ram Air III 400 in a Firebird or GTO with a 3 speed stick, or a 383 Super Bee or a Road Runner with a 3-speed, doesn't mean anybody really wants one. Putting a 4-speed in would increase the value immensely. And what about carburators?  Quite a few Chargers had 383 V8s with a 2bbl carb-( My girlfriend had one back in the '80s ). A lot of Mach 1 Mustangs from 1969-73 had 351Ws or 351C's with 2bbl induction, and a fair number of Pontiac Firebird Esprit models had 2bbl carburated 400 V8s.  If you install a factory 4bbl carb and intake, or even an Edelbrock Performer and matching carb have you totally "Bastardized" the car? Honestly, excuse my language but are these people really saying that they wouldn't buy an otherwise pristine 40 year old car at a reasonable price because the f#4&ing carburator wasn't original?!!  Get over yourselves people!!!  And to go one step further-if I buy a beat-up six-cylinder, three-speed '69 Camaro and install a mild 350 and a Saginaw 4-speed put a "Cowl Induction" style hood on it and paint it like a Z/28-guess what?  I don't care if you don't like it, and neither does anyone else. As long as I'm not trying to pass it off as the real thing no harm done. And anyone with half a brain would know it's a fake after looking at it for about 30 seconds!!  As long as the stuff was available on that car, that year, it's ok. Mastermind