Why Modify?

Hello Automotive forums user,

I am a student at the University of central Florida. I am writing a resaerch paper on why people feel the need to modify their cars and I need people to respond to the question: Why do you modify your car? as in does it give you some sort of personal accomplishment? Do you do it to show your personal attributes? Do you enhance the performance of your car to compete and win events? do you just have nothing better to do with all that money? reasons like that. and how did you get into modifying your car? All responses will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Mack

I think you should try posting this in the street raciung section (even though its not exactally street racing oriented), maybe make a question stating "do you do it because you want that extra edge on the street?" Another good question you might want to add would be "do you modify because you enjoy working on your car?"

Safety is another reason why people modify their cars. I have known some people to install seat belts in their pre 1965 vehicles. I, myself have modified my 1964 Bel Air to meet more modern safety standards. When I first purchased the car in 1992, I took of the single cylinder brake master cylinder, and installed a dual cylinder one,similar to ones found in most vehicles today. I also modified the brake lines and installed a proportioning valve to work with the new master cylinder. My reasoning for this is was that with the old style, if you were to get a leak in the line or other component, the whole system would be compromised. With the new system 2 wheels are paired off, so if one should develop a problem, the other 2 wheels would be able to stop the car. My future plans are to try to replace this setup with something even newer (like early '90s GM master cylinder) where you don't need a proportioning valve attached to the frame. All of the components are attached to the M.C. I also installed a 4 core radiator for better cooling for the high performance engine I built and installed , The engine is a 1970 Chevrolet 400 cu.in. bored .030 over (making it a 406 cu.in.) the cylinder walls in the 400 are "siamesed" and are prone to cooling problems.Boring the cylinders out made it imperative that I have a better cooling system. I also would like to install a front disc brake kit, and removing the old drum brakes in the front. I also put 245-60-15 in tires on, which makes the car look good. Most of the mods I did to my vehicle show off my creative individuality, but they also have underlying reasons as well - safety, appearance, and personal preference. This is a good thread, too bad it couldn't be located in more than one forum, as people who this poll is targeted to may not visit this forum, or even street racing (I'll admit I haven't checked it out yet as well.) Maybe a good place would be Cars in General.

biggest reason why i moddified my car was to go faster... its hard being in a world of big dog v8's and trying to take them on in a v6.