what to say to nit pickers at car shows

I had a similar situation at a show about 15 years ago. My car was not in the official show, it was in the parking lot as it's not show car quality. Anyway, I happened to be hanging out with a friend with my hood open and some guys were checking out the engine. At the time, not a lot of guys had 340's in early A bodys, so there was a lot of curiosity.

So this guy points to my home made throttle return spring bracket. It was a simple L shaped bracket that I made when I swapped on my LD340. He says "That's not original." I looked him and said "Well, my car is so far from stock it really doesn't matter." He shrugged and walked away. My friend said "That was great! You basically told him to go f#*& himself without actually saying it."