Early BDR VS New

[Trueoo7]

I guess the first couple of questions to ask is are you mechanically inclined, ambitious and a little inventive?

I have car 38. I've listed the things that I decided to upgrade and their difficulty level the way I found it to be.
I have the wider body as opposed to the real early cars. I believe the new body now is just a tad wider than mine so the rear wheels sit just a bit recessed (in case you want wider tires)
All these upgrades (just like the newer cars) I did myself which were no harder than changing a set of brakes.

1.Had to install missing o-ring in speed sensor due to leaking diff, Boudy sent it to me for free. (anybody remember him)
2. Due to a leak, had to replace some of the wood screws holding in the gas gauge on top of the gas tank with the proper bolts (thats right, wood screws) Must have been a Friday ! Had to drop the tank for this, hardest part siphoning out all the gas.
3. I rerouted the clutch line, hardest part is refilling the reservoir tucked under the fender, still that way 700 + cars later.
4. Changed the brake light pressure switch over to a pedal activated type. Hardest part was crawling under steering wheel to work on it (and I'm not that big). Also had to make my own bracket from stuff lying around. I believe they still use the pressure switch in the new cars.
5. Installed the heat shield for the brake lines
6. Changed out the rear springs (old ones were to soft) Reg sent them to me for free. Easy to do.
7. Rerouted the passenger seatbelts through the back wall and down to the frame. Hardest part is making sure you on the middle of the frame when drilling.
8. Installed a driveshaft hoop, again Reg to the rescue, for free.
9. Guess I'm lucky, my hood shock still works well (known to fail) but I've seen where people have found replacements so I'm not worried. New ones have a prop rod.
10. Front hood does have a new cleaner looking hinge system but mine works fine and adjusts well so I'm happy. Changed out old flat weatherstripping around perimeter to better softer stuff which works well. New cars have recessed rubber grommets.
11. I know there have been problems with the tail lights, mine where changed at the dealer to Factory Five taillights and I've never had a problem. Doesn't look too hard to swap out anyway.
12. Had to upgrade the Differential bolt to a heavier size AFTER it snapped off in the diff. That was probably the hardest because I had to drop the diff to drill it out and didn't know how. If it hadn't broke, could have changed it in the car real easily. Wasn't too many people around back then to ask for advice (being the 38th customer) Jay, who had just opened, at Vintage helped me as did Tony in S. Africa with this one. Since then I've had it in and out three times. Its actually pretty easy now.
13. Replaced the kinked radiator hose from the overflow tank that came with the car to a new one. Simple
14. Replaced side pipe hangers with better ones that I made. Rubber hangers, a little tough to find but I did.
15. Tony from S. Africa sent me new door guides for free.
16. Changed out the Fuel Filler tube to an aluminum one. Metal one was rusting on the inside and clogging the fuel filter. This took a little hunting on the internet and some trips to different shops for aluminum tubing. Then had someone weld it up. After that it slipped right in.
17. I don't have the padded dash and don't miss it.
18. I don't have four way flashers and do miss that sometimes.

All in all I don't think the extra money is worth it if you don't mind doing some of these things yourself. It will give you something to do over the winter.