Metric Mechanics Rally engine vs Numbers matching rebuild

[teahead]

I concur.

I'm on the https://www.sl113.org forum and it's crazy how NO ONE there will even put an aftermarket oil filter on their cars.

There are those who drive their cars, and will modify it to drive better. ANd then there are those who just brag on the internet and stare at their cars in the garage. (of course, I'm in the 3rd camp where it's not driven because it's torn apart).

Again, #s matching on a non-CSL E9 is not a big deal. When I pull out the 2.8L out of my car, that lump will most likely end up at a metal recycler.

 

[cicada]

I concur.

I'm on the https://www.sl113.org forum and it's crazy how NO ONE there will even put an aftermarket oil filter on their cars.

There are those who drive their cars, and will modify it to drive better. ANd then there are those who just brag on the internet and stare at their cars in the garage. (of course, I'm in the 3rd camp where it's not driven because it's torn apart).

Again, #s matching on a non-CSL E9 is not a big deal. When I pull out the 2.8L out of my car, that lump will most likely end up at a metal recycler.

I saw you on there, so I just knew you'd understand! The Mean Girls attitude, negging, and toxicity make it not so fun. It reminds me of a story before I quit rowing. There was an old lady in the club who had a nice blue/blue split window C2 she bought new. She had over half a million miles on it, drove it every day. If she didn't drive it to practice, she'd bring here little NA Miata which had a few nice mods. A real gearhead, this lady! Anyway, cue the toxic Corvette people. Three old guys strut over there are start nitpicking how her car doesn't have the original tires, how her sound system isn't right, why would she add power brakes and power steering... she ruined the car, how could she?... like, go buy your own C2, you jerks, you drive F150s. She's infinitely cooler than any of you.

Case in point over there is that guy Gael's outstanding 5.6L swap. The car is nearly as fast as my F82, though he probably doesn't have enough rubber under him to truly exercise that motor. Basically no comments from anybody in the whole incredible build thread. People like that just suck, and it kills the scene of any hobby. I like to do jazz dances, like Lindy and East Coast Swing and all that, and there are people who are extremely snobby about dance purity. Well, in the 40s/50s, older people who knew both dances certainly mixed moves from both! Mind your business!

Anyway, sorry for distracting from the thread here. /rant

 

[Arde]

These rims don’t look good on anything. Though they made a friend’s Mitsubishi look great?

Yet people confuse them with Alpinas, which everybody loves...

 

[Ohmess]

All this numbers matching BS nonsense on the SL forum has been giving me conniptions. Immediately after my intro post a guy sets in on me asking why I'd ever consider modifying an original car . . . . .

These guys spend more time fussing over whether their muffler has squared or rounded edges than driving their cars. It's collective insanity, goaded on by whichever OEM's CCA. There's a tiny number of people who care, then everyone else makes their choices trying to cater to those people, who are unlikely ever to see their car, but a potential buyer might be just as well worried about what the originality nazis think. A dear friend of mine a few years ago was selling his 356 Speedster. It had a carrera-swapped motor, which had been done in the mid/late 50s by the original owner. I believe Porsche also offered such an option from the factory. This was apparently a somewhat common thing to do, as the old timers I've spoken to often derided the stock speedster motor as underpowered. Anyway, he kept having people come to give him grief (the man was in his 80s... these were "collectors" in their 40s and 50s) about the "unoriginal motor". Just drive the car, man!

As an aside, evidently if one wants truly top dollar for their E9, it seems it better be modified/swapped/customized in some way, like that amazing M90 build that sold in the 200s last year or the year before.

I think there are a couple of things at work here. There are a lot of purists who value originality because it gives you the driving experience you would have obtained from a car when it was new, and because you (and any subsequent buyer) can follow well defined factory authorized maintenance procedures for your car. This also simplifies the process of evaluating a car because there is a well defined point of reference for the vehicle.

On the other hand, there are a large number of people who like vintage cars but don't consider it sacriledge to make changes to make their cars more reliable and enjoyable. Modern air conditioning systems are a very good example here, as they make a vintage car much more useful. And many of us remember the "original car" experience, but don't necessarily want to relive it. Seeing your life flash in front of your eyes behind the wheel can be exhilarating, but its no longer something I want to do on a regular basis. Same with the satisfaction of roadside repairs on a long trip. I lean heavily in the direction of making my car more useful and more reliable, at the expense of some originality. It seems to me that there is a large and growing number of people who want to enjoy driving around in their vintage cars and are willing to make these same trade offs.

For folks in this later category, the question is how much added value is there is storing a bunch of parts so that your car can potentially appeal to someone who might take your car back to its original state, and what does it cost you to capture that added value?

 

[cicada]

I think there are a couple of things at work here. There are a lot of purists who value originality because it gives you the driving experience you would have obtained from a car when it was new, and because you (and any subsequent buyer) can follow well defined factory authorized maintenance procedures for your car. This also simplifies the process of evaluating a car because there is a well defined point of reference for the vehicle.

On the other hand, there are a large number of people who like vintage cars but don't consider it sacriledge to make changes to make their cars more reliable and enjoyable. Modern air conditioning systems are a very good example here, as they make a vintage car much more useful. And many of us remember the "original car" experience, but don't necessarily want to relive it. Seeing your life flash in front of your eyes behind the wheel can be exhilarating, but its no longer something I want to do on a regular basis. Same with the satisfaction of roadside repairs on a long trip. I lean heavily in the direction of making my car more useful and more reliable, at the expense of some originality. It seems to me that there is a large and growing number of people who want to enjoy driving around in their vintage cars and are willing to make these same trade offs.

For folks in this later category, the question is how much added value is there is storing a bunch of parts so that your car can potentially appeal to someone who might take your car back to its original state, and what does it cost you to capture that added value?

This is a great and measured reply. Suppose I was looking at, well, an E9, and it had some cosmetic changes I didn't necessarily like -- like some kind of racing seats, or a steering wheel, or other wheels... all of these things can be changed out easily, and if the seller has the original or other parts available in the sale, that's all the better! Things like switching out the ignition to an electronic system and keeping the old degraded mechanical system on hand?... Carting that around is just a nuisance and adds no real value to me or probably anybody else. The same goes for old radiators and such. I could see keeping an original drivetrain if someone extensively modified a vehicle that has a rather uncommon motor and whatnot, even if that motor is nowhere near as good as the one in the vehicle. For a well-done M90-swapped car, could you ever imagine any owner switching it back to a 2.5, 2.8, or 3.0 M30? I don't think so... besides, such a motor in these cars is considered desirable, certainly by me, so why pay extra for a car with it only to turn it back? Who really wants a pair of old US bumpers, too?

I suppose a question one can ask themselves is what was the design intent of whatever vehicle... what is its goal, its purpose? Is it supposed to be fast, or rip stumps out the ground and pull a horse trailer, or supremely comfortable, or very capable off-road? Or a combination of those things alongside extremely reliable? Or is it just supposed to be very stylish, and everything inside doesn't matter? I suppose a lot of cars are some combination of these factors. If one makes a modification that makes a car closer to its conceptual intent, I think that's a very valuable thing. There are quite a few cars out there limited by economics, regulations, or other factors which had their designs compromised, and I think modifying those to reach their true potential is a nice thing to do, if done well. And if it is done well, I'd never consider looking in the rear view mirror.