[Michael C Henry]

If you have an original it would be hard to see an owner modifying it as it would forever ruin its value. So the rest of us build replicas. I would not ever try to pass my car off as an original that would be fraud. So I can change things I want. I would bet that no two cars are exact the same. I come from a heavy equip mechanic back ground and what a real racer would or I would do are going to be different. But you do have a a lot of room to adjust your car to fit your wants and needs. I'm now retired and have lots of time on my hands. I still do not have an unlimited budget. I'm aware there are lots of people that specialize in different areas and could do things I want better and cheaper than I can. I have gotten in over my head before and for a long time I question things before committing. I have observed that hot rodding is a personal thing. You more than likely will not even break even when resale because most buyer would have made different decisions. That is why Summit and Jeg's are around and sell parts and not building cars. Some thing are the way they are for a reason and I have often not thought it all through before tinkering. I'm trying to quit that. Who would have ever thought that doing some grinding and then repainting a curved two foot long door closure frame member of 1 1/2" square tubing would have taken over three months , over two heat lamp bulbs and three cans of gloss black Rust-Oleum spray paint. And it isn't done yet. It gives new meaning to "waiting for paint to dry". What a lesson and another story.