Posted by MoparNorm on Monday, May 26, 2003 at 8:41AM :
In Reply to: Re: Although,.... posted by Willy-N on Monday, May 26, 2003 at 0:07AM :
Hi Mark,
No, I didn't mean that at all, I was specifically refering to your question,...but now that you've brought it up, let me expand and explain a little. First, there is nothing wrong with making changes for personal touches or preferences. My W200 will not be a concourse restoration, but it will not be presented as one either. However every part will be Dodge, or a Dodge specific aftermarket part, it will not be parts year correct. Therefore it will be a "re-build", not a "restoration". There is a big difference in price for those two terms if you are selling "for Profit". There are very few folks out there selling restored trucks for a profit, if that was your goal, I wish you luck but sucessful restorers are few and far between and as such they DO demand and deserve top dollar. Most of us restore/rebuild as a labor of love, never expecting or needing to get a monetary reward in return. In fact, unless your wage worth/value is 4 cents per hour, you'll never recover what you truely have into the these trucks.
Extending the frame will not re-add anything to the value of a truck, once the frame has been altered, it is altered, no amount of repair, grinding or welding will hide that fact. Someone looking for a $20,000 truck should be smart enough to pass. I apologize if you took that remark personally, I did not mean to disparage yours or anyone elses work, just wanted to point out that if you are expecting to get what your truck was first listed for on e-bay, it had better be a completely bone stock, a to the letter TRUE restoration, with matching numbers, paint codes, part ID's etc. without jury rigged or cost saving, corner cutting.
If you are only re-building and mixing and matching parts, throwing in a seat from Cooters old chitty, hanging racoon eyes from the mirror, dice from the antenna and using any old part that you find or scroung from any old source,...that is perfectly fine also, just don't expect people to pay top dollar for that effort.
We do this as a labor of love and as an honor to a time past, a time when these trucks ruled the world. They ruled exactly because they were built strong and without regard to cost or corner cutting. They were JobRated, purpose built trucks with parts quality and workmanship second to none.
This was all meant to be a general discussion, and NOT meant to be anything personal or specific against your, or any truck. I hope that you take it in the vein that it was meant. I have enjoyed your posts and your enthusiasm as your work progressed.
MoparNorm
Follow Ups: