I know this is an old thread, but . . . REALLY? ? ? You own a 1976 matching numbers , Firethorn red, 455 4-speed car, and you want to CUSTOMIZE IT ? Your car is about as close to my dream T/A as you can get. Seriously, if you haven't already done it, consider the value of it as it is. This is a beautiful color / fantastic powertrain combo. What on earth? Of course it's yours, so you can do what you want, but consider that someone else may appreciate it enough to give you a great price for it. Then you can buy a non-original car to customize. If you customize a non-original car, you don't really de-value it. An original car can only be original with everything intact.