What Barry White is doing to those cars is similar to what many of us are
doing in putting modern technology into a Tiger... At least in concept.
http://www.supermusclecar.com/
None of the cars could be regarded as a clone on more than a very
superficial level - most of them have brakes, suspension, and engine
technology (as well as interior and body fit and finish) never approached by
the original article.
The Hemi Dart got its torsion-bar-spring front end replaced with a coil-over
sprung arrangement and brakes suitable for the task - among other things,
reducing the front end weight by 100 pounds over the stock suspension. The
reason why the oil pan hit the rack (according to the show dialogue) was
that the builder of these front ends didn't normally use power racks and
that was the reason it interfered with the pan. You'd have to think that if
either Barry or the vendor of the suspension kit thought that altering the
pan was a 'hack' and likely to impact their reputation, it never would have
made the airwaves.
You're right that it's heavily scripted and edited; to most people there's
nothing compelling about watching a guy use an English wheel to fabricate a
panel or cut and weld twenty feet of custom exhaust pipe. Obviously someone
decided that sheetmetal cutting is most exciting if it's done using an
abrasive wheel without a guard - and all the shows from American Chopper to
Overhaulin' followed suit because "that's the way it's gotta be done". It
would be interesting to get an insider's view of the fabrication and editing
behind one of these shows...
Theo
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