Can we drop the tweed cap wearing, pipe smoking, "The Numbers don't Match" shit?...

I had this conversation with a Pontiac collector the other day. I understand the value of a numbers-matching engine block and heads. That tells you if it's a real Ram Air IV or LS6 or LT-1 or 440 / SixPack. I fully understand that. What drives me up the wall is the other parts. Like you want to buy a '67 GTO. The 400 has 1967 date codes. However-the "Expert" you've asked to look over the car tells you the Quadrajet 4bbl-while "period correct" has 1985 date codes. And the point-type distributor again-while "period correct" has 1974 date codes-it's clearly a rebuilt unit from Autozone or Napa. Are you not going to buy the car? Did you really expect a 50 year old car to have the original carburator?? And be running perfectly???  As "Mr Roarke" used to say-"Welcome to Fantasy Island." You don't think that maybe in 1970 the second or third owner didn't maybe put an Edelbrock P4b manifold and a 750 Holley on it?  Or that even if Grandma Betty owned it-when the float started sinking and the throttle shafts got warped  and it started running like shit-that her local mechanic-in the '80's wouldn't just throw a replacement Q-Jet on it from the local auto parts supplier-and take his profit-not worrying about losing the "numbers-matching" carb to save a $50 "core charge??  Ditto for the distributor-when it got old enough and the points started bouncing and it wouldn't run over 3,000 rpm-wouldn't "Joe Mechanic" taking care of a "little old lady" old car-just buy a rebuilt distributor from Napa or Autozone, et, al??  Not caring about resale value 20 years hence??  The same about transmissions. Again-Grandma buys a 1968 Olds 442 with a 400 and an automatic. In 1982 a cooling line blows and it loses all the fluid and burns up. She takes it to AAMCO and they install a replacement BOP TH400. In 1995 Grandma dies and her kids want to sell her car. Is this pristine, low-mileage 442 actually worth any less because of the numbers stamped on the TRANNY CASE???  That's why the Pure Stock drags has amended their rules to "Original Type". In other words your '70 Z/28 is legal with a replacment 3310 Holley Carb-it doesn't have to have 1970 date codes. Your '63 409 Impala can have a late-model BW T10 4-speed-it doesn't have to have 1963 date codes. And that's reasonable. So let's stop obsessing over serial numbers. Mastermind