More on the path of most resistance....

Like I was saying yesterday gearheads seem to go out of their way to make their own lives difficult. I was talking to a couple people who wanted to build "Tribute" or clone cars of rare muscle. The thing I don't understand is if it's a fake anyway, then it doesn't have to be correct to the nth degree!!  Here's some examples. # 1. This guy wanted to build a Yenko Camaro clone. Simple enough, right?  Buy a '69 Camaro, swap in a Rat Motor, and get the decals / stencils from Phoenix Graphics. His lament was he couldn't find a 427 with 1968 or 69 date codes. Really?  I'd just buy a 454 out of a junkyard truck and rebuild that. If you "gotta have" a 427 you can buy a 427 crank, rods and pistons, and the proper balancer and flywheel from Summitt or GMPP very cheaply and put it in a 454 block. It's a fake anyway, so who cares if the block has '70's or 80's date codes??  # 2. This guy was building a 1962 Catalina Super Duty Tribute. He was griping that he couldn't find a 421, or an original dual-quad intake. He was aghast when I suggested that he put an Eagle 4.00 inch stroke crank / rotating assembly in a 389 or 400 block and "make" a 421, and use an Edelbrock or Offenhauser dual-quad manifold. "It won't be correct!" He whined. He was totally devastated when I pointed out that any pristine 1962 Catalina he found as a base, wouldn't be totally correct because "real" Super Dutys had aluminum hoods, front fenders and bumpers!  # 3. This guy wanted to do a Thunderbolt Fairlane clone, but couldn't find a 427!  Really?  All "FE" engines look alike externally, and 390s were used in millions of Ford cars and trucks from 1961-76.  Edelbrock claims 451 hp and 434 lbs ft of torque from their dual-quad "Performer RPM" package on a 390. That would give you the look and the performance at a fraction of the cost of buying a 427 that needed to be rebuilt! Again, it's a clone,so it doesn't have to be correct down to the hose clamps!!  Get over yourselves, people. If you want to clone a '69 Z/28 and you "gotta have" a high-winding 302 Chevy, don't mortgage your house and search the galaxy for a "DZ" code 302. You can use a 350 block and buy from GMPP or Eagle a 3.00 inch stroke crank and pistons and make your own 302. If you want to clone a Boss 302, Edelbrock and Trick Flow both make "Cleveland" style aluminum heads that bolt up to Windsor blocks, and Edelbrock offers an "E-Boss" intake manifold thats compatible with them. Or do you think you can find a complete, "real" Boss 302 engine for sale at any price?? If you stuff a Mopar Performance 426 Crate Hemi into a '71 Charger, it's still a cool ride, even though it's not "Correct!!!"   I don't get it. If it's not the real deal, then who cares if some of the parts are not totally correct or have the wrong date codes?  Mastermind