New to the mopar scene but I am about to start restoring a 67 coronet 500 convertible with a 2bbl 383 TF727 floor shift and dealer installed air. My question is if I delete the trim add a 4bbl and R/T clone it will I ruin the value/collectibility of the car.
Welcome!! I guess it's your car, so you can do what ever you want, but for me, I like keeping them just the way they were built!
Welcome aboard. Its your car, so make it the way you want it. I like the trim myself. When I was searching for a 67 500 convertible, it was very difficult to find one that still had its side trim. In the days before the internet, it actually took me years to find one that still had its side trim. Big block 67 500 convertibles are rare and quite possibly a lot more rare than a 67 RT convertible. When I was looking, I found that many 500 convertibles had been cloned into RTs or merely had the trim discarded with no attempt at cloning the actual appearance of an RT (hood louvers, wheel lip moldings, rocker moldings, grille center). Years later when I was looking for a big block 67 hardtop, I ran into the same problem. If it was a factory big block 67 500, the chances were it had been cloned into an RT hardtop (or at least had lost its side trim). To me, that was a shame, as production of 67 RT hardtops with 440s under the hood was nearly triple the number of 67 500 hardtops that were built with 383 4 bbls.
In terms of value, I can't help you. If the cloning is done right with a 67 440 block and all the 67 RT trim, you might actually increase its value. But I'm also sure that every time a 500 convertible gets cloned into an RT convertible, that the 500 convertibles like mine become more rare and more valuable.
Also keep in mind that merely discarding the side trim does not make it an RT clone, it just makes it "custom" or "modified". Its your car, so if your plans are to keep it for a long time, build it the way you want it. If you are restoring it to resell, I would advise you to either keep the trim to maintain a stock appearance, or to go all the way with the RT cloning process (engine and all the trim).
A 4 bbl conversion and dual exhaust would be a nice upgrade even if it stays stock otherwise. But always keep the intake, linkage, carb, and air cleaner that were original to the car so that it could be easily put back to original.
Thanks jim for the detailed answer you pretty much nailed nearly every question I had. I will most certainly keep the 383 it came with since it is a numbers matching car. But the owner I bough it from has already changed the intake to a Holley street dominator 4bbl with a 600cfm eldebrock carb. But I was lucky enough to find the original 2bbl intake with a brandnew period correct carb. My only concerns with the trim is that the previous not so car savvy owner use sheet metal screws to fasten the trim essentially ruining all of it and like you have said I am having a hard time sourcing 500 trim pieces it has been a lot easier to find r/t things
Lone star coronet Wrote:New to the mopar scene but I am about to start restoring a 67 coronet 500 convertible with a 2bbl 383 TF727 floor shift and dealer installed air. My question is if I delete the trim add a 4bbl and R/T clone it will I ruin the value/collectibility of the car.
In the interest of brevity....yes.
The ruined trim makes this a whole new ball game..
