Retrofitting derelict ships

[neofit]

I found this derelict destroyer in my system. I fixed it, it has almost twice the firepower as the ones I have, and almost every component is above my technical abilities, so I am keeping it. It does not have a hyperdrive though. Its design is "Qaestor II", I created a new design through "Copy as New" named "DDX Questor II" where I only added a hyperdrive than I can make. But when I try to give the command to retrofit, it won't give me the option to retrofit to the new DDX design, only to the non-obsolete destroyer designs that I already have.

Technically I am only adding an element that I can make myself, the new hyperdrive. Or is it coded in such a way that if the design is "alien" and contains at least one component that I haven't researched yet then my techs won't touch it, because "there are complicated and scary things inside"?

I have no problems either way, I want to know if I am doing something wrong. I understand that hooking a hyperdrive to an "alien" power circuit may be dangerous.

[Spidey]

You can't retrofit with tech you don't have, so building a new ship that includes components you don't know how works is not allowed in the game. I made the same mistake myself the first time around, by the way.

That early ship you've found is therefore really only good as an early space critter killer and pirate deterrant. Once you've got hyperdrives, the best thing to do is to dismantle it for the tech bonus.

[malkuth74]

Without hyper drive I would Take it apart and get the technology boost from it. If it had hyperdrive then I might keep it.