Be realistic about what something is worth and what you really want or need........

 I talk to so many people who spend big bucks on classic cars and then are disappointed with the car when they get it. I think people need a reality check. TV shows like "Overhaulin" and "Counting Cars" and others have contributed to this. People are asking insane money for cars that aren't worth it, and some people are paying it, sadly. I saw a 1970 RAIII, 4-speed Trans-Am advertised the other day. It was touted as numbers-matching and having factory A/C.  Asking price was $85,000. The car looked nice in the pictures and had the vents in the dash, but the underhood pics showed no compressor or hoses or reciever / drier!!!  Excuse my language-but are you fucking kidding me???  You advertise a car as having "Factory Air" and you want $85,000 for it, but the fucking compressor and hoses, etc are missing??!!  How much would it cost to put a compressor, reciever / drier and hoses on it?  $ 1,500? Come on, Man!!!  I saw 1967 Corvette Stingray convertible that the guy wanted $89,995 for. Except is was 454 backed by a Powerglide. The original 390 hp 427 was long gone.  You want 90K for a 'Vette with a non-original engine?? On tons of websites 90K will buy you a 427 / 435 hp, tri-power 427 Stingray with a 4-speed and a numbers-matching 427. I've seen 400 hp tri-power models for 50K all day.  390 hp models-ditto-all day. I saw a 1970 454, 4speed LS5 model for $40K. Anyhow-back to the '67- This guy wants 90K for a Vette with the wrong engine and a Powerglide!!  At least if it had a TH350-that would be something. A TH350 is the same size and length as a Powerglide and uses the same rear trans mount and driveshaft yoke, basically a bolt-in-and offers a stunning improvement in performance and drivability. If it has the wrong engine-why would the wrong tranny matter? And the performance would be enhanced.   The other thing is the "Coolest" model isn't always the "Coolest".  I talked to a guy who lived 60 miles from town on a ranch. His 440 4-speed, 4.10 geared 'Cuda is not fun to drive with the motor buzzing at 3,800 rpm at 75 mph on the freeway. If you live in a big city with a lot of stop-n-go traffic maybe an automatic would be a better choice than a 4-speed. If you live where it gets 100 degrees in the summer then a car with factory A/C should be at the top of your list. If you live where it snows 5 months a year-then I'd stay away from convertibles. And unless you just "Gotta Have" a '55 T-bird or '57 Chevy-or whatever-I'd avoid anything built before 1960. If your going to drive the car at all-power steering and power brakes make a big difference in safety and drivability. The other thing I'd avoid is cars with massive modifications by the previous owner. Now-like I said-a TH350 in place of a Powerglide or ST300 makes a '57 283 Bel Air or a '65 389 GTO a much nicer driver. 70's Camaro / Firebird spindles and front disc brakes, and the booster / master cylinder is a great safety upgrade over the 9.5 inch drum brakes on a '66 SS396 Chevelle, Stuff like that is a godsend. But a '64 Impala that's been low-rided with leaking air suspension and hydraulics, and has electric door handles and a mega watt stereo system that constantly blows the 35 amp alternator on the car-I would avoid. Or the Shelby Cobra replica with a for-real 600 hp side-oiler 427 and Top-loader 4-speed, that has a Pinto / Mustang II front end and a Jaguar rear end with inboard disc brakes and an aftermarket master cylinder on it. Your going to slam on the brakes at over 100 mph with confidence in that? I wouldn't. At least the Factory Five models use Fox Mustang parts-a real car that was designed as a system. Anyhow-be careful. Something that seems cool can be a headache and a money pit-and there's a reason the guy that's selling it is getting rid of it-and if it's anything other than needing money-chances are you don't want it either.       

Some one or two year "Oddballs" that might be fun....If you run across one.....

 For whatever reason-almost every manufacturer has a one or two year model that didn't sell well, but was actually pretty cool. If you run across one at a reasonable price they can be great sleepers and great fun to play with-because your not messing up a classic. Here's my list in no particular order.  # 1 1970-71 Pontiac Tempest T37, 1972 LeMans GT.  Often called the "Poor mans GTO" these strippy coupes had a 350 V8 and a 3 speed stick as standard equipment. However a 4-speed or an automatic was available, as were the 400 and 455 inch V8s. For some reason the name was changed to "LeMans GT" in 1972-but the package was basically the same. Dynamite if you can find one at a reasonable price. I say "If" because whenever I see one of these for sale the owner is usually asking more than what you'd pay for a Ram Air III Judge. But their cool if the price is right.  # 2. 1971-72 "Heavy Chevy". These were a Malibu coupe with a domed SS hood, a blacked-out grille, hood pins, 14" slotted Rally Wheels and "Heavy Chevy" badging. Most had 350 power which certainly isn't a bad thing, but the 396 / 402 was an option. 6,727 were built in '71 and another 3,000 or so in '72. Expect to pay substantially more for the Rat-motored model.  # 3. 1971 Dodge Super Bee. For this one year only the "Super Bee" package was offered on the Charger instead of the Coronet. A 383 Magnum was the standard engine, with a 340 small-block optional for the first time, as well as the 440 4-bbl, 440-Six-Pack, and 426 Hemi. Hemi and 440 versions are priced in the stratosphere, but you can still find a deal on a 340 or 383 model. 6,000 or so were built.  # 4. 1971-72 Dodge "Demon". These were basically a 340 Duster with a dual scooped hood, a Go-Wing, and Special "Demon" badging which was a cute little smiling Devil holding a pitchfork. Mr Norm's Grand Spaulding Dodge even put "Six-Pack" induction or Paxton Superchargers on a few as dealer-installed options. Even in the '70's special-interest groups caused trouble. A Christian group complained about the "Demon" name and badging. Chrysler caved into the pressure and the name was changed to "Dart Sport" for 1973. Funny-where were all these loyal "Christian" buyers when Chrysler went bankrupt a few years later?  # 5. 1974 Pontiac GTO. Often called "The best Nova ever built". For this one year-the GTO name was moved from the LeMans platform to the Ventura ( nead Nova )  platform. These had a 350 V8 backed by a 4-speed or a TH350, front disc brakes, front and rear sway bars, and a Trans-Am style "Shaker" hood scoop. The buff magazines-pissed off that the "Goat" nameplate was moved from the LeMans platform where the 400 and 455 V8s were still available-derided and made fun of the car. However since they only weighed about 3,200 lbs-600 lbs less than a Firebird and about 800-1,000 less than a LeMans-performance was decent for the time-15 second 1/4 mile times-it just wasn't as blisteringly fast as an SD-455 Trans-Am-which was now the flagship. On the upside if you get one-any suspension or brake upgrades that fit a Camaro / Firebird fit these, and a 400 or 455 is a bolt-in swap. I can see a Ventura with WS6 suspension, 4-wheel disc brakes, radiused and flared fenders with 17X9 Snowflake wheels and 255/50ZR17 tires, and a snarling 467 inch Pontiac under that "Shaker" hood. Wouldn't that be a sleeper?  # 6. 1975 Plymouth Road Runner. For this one year the "Road Runner name was put on the Sport Fury platform. They had Rally wheels, "Road Runner" badging, a "Tuff" sterring wheel and the "Beep-Beep" horn.  318 models are dogs, but the 360 and 400 versions can be made to run. About 6,500 were built.   # 7. 1977 Pontiac "Can-Am".  Trying to cash in on the Trans-Am's immense popularity Pontiac came up with this performance package for the LeMans. You got "Radial Tuned Suspension"-wrist-thick front and rear sway bars, a "Shaker" hood scoop, a "Ducktail" rear spolier, and "Judge" style striping. Power was a 400 Pontiac ( a 403 Olds in California and High-Altitude Areas ) backed by a TH400. Their fun if you can find one. I'm sure I missed a few-but we'll touch on those another time. Mastermind

Fix the little things....Before they become big things......

 Had some musclecars through the shop in the last couple weeks. I'm amazed at the cars I see with $5,000 paint jobs and $2,000 worth of tires and wheels that can't pull 5,000 rpm in low gear. I had a 1969 Mach 1 Mustang come in. It was a beautfiul car in Grabber Blue. It had a 351W / FMX powertrain. It had 16" Torq-Thrust mags and 245 / 50ZR16 Comp T/A's on it. And it couldn't spin the tires on dry pavement, and coughed and spit under acceleration, and the transmission shifted very hard, when it shifted at all.  Upon inspection I found multiple issues. The vacuum advance was unplugged, the timing was way too slow, the points were closing up. It had bad wires-so it was probably running on 6 or 7 cylinders. The carb was way too rich, the kickdown linkage on the transmission wasn't hooked up, and the vacuum modulator was spewing fluid. After changing the plugs and wires, and the points and condenser and distributor cap, rotor and wires,I set the timing to factory specs, hooked up the vacuum advance and replaced the modulator on the side of the transmission. Then I addressed the carb. It was a 1405 Edelbrock on a Performer Manifold-a stellar combination. I hooked up the kickdown linkage. I then screwed the fuel screws all the way in-they were way adjusted way too rich. I then turned them 2 1/2 turns out. This is the base setting out of the box. Starting the car-it sounded much better. On the test drive-I checked for men in blue. Feeling the coast was clear, I punched it from a light. The Mustang lit up the right rear tire all the way across the intersection, and when the FMX hit 2nd-it laid another 8-10 feet of rubber and made a nice, satisfying,  "Rubber in 2nd" screech. The 351 kept pulling until let off at the top of 2nd gear,-going way too fast for the city street I was on. I punched it up a freeway on-ramp, stayed in it until 3rd gear, going well over 100 mph. I went back to the shop, and let the customer drive it. He was escatic. "Holy crap!" "Did you put a new engine in it?"  "No it was just suffering from neglect on mulitple fronts." "This is how it should run."  He was so happy that he tipped me $50 over the bill I charged him. He promised to send me all his friends. I thanked him.  I see this all the time-a beautiful car that runs like shit because the motor's neglected, and maybe the owner doesn't know it-especially if he's not a gearhead or a mechanic. This Mustang-which was bone-stock except for the Edelbrock carb and intake which replaced a 2bbl setup-just need a thorough tune-up and check up. Once all the small issues were fixed-it ran like a scalded cat. I saw another one-a 440 powered 1973 Charger that idled rough, got crappy ( even for a 440 ) gas mileage and wouldn't run much over 3,500 rpm. It couldn't spin the tires either.  This cars plug wires were so bad that I found three of them almost broke in two. So it was running on 5 cylinders. Further-the Thermo-Quad carb-was bleeding over badly and had multiple vacuum leaks-the bakelite body was badly warped. I replaced the plugs and wires and got a remanufactured Thermo-Quad from Summit. I bolted it on out of the box, and set the idle.  The improvement was unbeleivable. Now it idled at 800 rpm, and would literally spin the tires as long as you wanted to stay on the throttle. The car's owner couldn't believe it. "It's never run like that and I've had it 2 years."  I asked-have you ever had anyone tune it up or look at it?" He was kind of sheepish. "No, not really." "I always thought it was kind of a dog for having such a big motor." "I'm not a mechanic-I guess I should have had someone go over it." "I'll bring it to you from now on."  This guy had been limping this car around for 2 years on 5 or 6 cylinders with a carb that was FUBAR.  I'm amazed it would even start. But he's happy as a clam now. So if your not a mechanic-have a competent one look at your pride and joy once in a while. A little maintenance goes a long way. Mastermind      

Thanks to CO-VID 19 no Hot August Nights this year.....

 Thanks to CO-Vid 19 Hot August Nights has been cancelled this year. I can't say it's any great loss. 34 years ago-in 1986 when they started it was a great Idea. A celebration of classic cars and rock-n-roll. For many years we had great entertainment-The Righteous Brothers, Gary Puckett and the Union Gap, John Kay and Steppenwolf, The Guess Who, Fats Domino, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chubby Checker, The Beach Boys etc. I realize a lot of these people got older and retired or died-sadly. But even then we had people like Paul Revere and the Raiders, Donny and Marie Osmond, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Van Morrisson. We had real drag races at the Stead Airport. Burnout contests, bikini contests, wet-t-shirt conests. All the not politically correct shit that makes life fun. Robbie Knieval would appear and jump a train or something. And the cars-used to you'd see thousands of great cars. Max Wedge Mopars, Hemi Superbirds, Hemi Darts, Thunderbolt Fairlanes, RAIV GTO's, W30 442's, Tri-Power 427 'Vettes, Six-Pack Mopars, Rebel Machines, and Javelins, Z/ 28's, T/A's Cougar Eliminators, Boss 302 and 429s, Tons of '55-57 Chevys, '55-57 T-Birds, '60's Avantis, 23 T-Buckets, Shelby Mustangs, Road Runners, Chargers, SS Chevelles, SS Impalas, Challengers, 'Cudas, Dusters, 396 Novas, V8 Vegas. Shelby Cobras. Not anymore. The last several years-the GM section is all Camaros, Chevelles, and a few GTOs and Firebirds. No Super Duty Catalinas, no Tri-Power Gran Prixs, no 427 Impalas, no SS El Caminos, no SS Novas, No Buick GSX's or Rivieras, No Olds Toronados.  The Ford section is all Mustangs. Generic Mustangs. Once in a while you might see a '67-68 390 fastback done in "Bullitt" style-but no Shelby GT350s or 500s, no Boss 302s or boss 429s, no Thunderbolt Fairlanes, no Cougars or Mercury Cyclones. No '60's T-Birds, no Torinos, or Rancheros. The Mopar section is the worst. It's all '68-70 Chargers and Road Runners. A few '70-74 E-Bodies-but no 'Cuda AARs, or Challenger T/A's, no Superbirds, no Sport Furys, no Hemi Darts, hell I'd jump for joy to see a 340 Demon. Or a 78-79 Li'l Red Express Truck. No Super Bees, no 340 Dusters. Ugh.  And what's with 1/8 th mile drag races?  660 feet???  With street tires-most of the big block cars can spin the tires for more than 200 feet!!  My freakin' all-wheel drive 4 cylinder Subaru could be competitive for 660 feet!!  The big casinos have just gotten cheap. If they don't want it to die-they need to have real drag races at the Reno-Fernley Raceway with real prize money, and we need to spend the bucks to get people like John Fogerty, John Cougar Mellencamp, whovevers left of the Temptations, etc.  And stop writing $300 tickets to everyone who passes "Boomtown"!!!    

If you want "All the Money" then it better be perfect.....

 I peruse a lot of high-end dealers that sell classic cars on the web, and I've noticed something that really bothers me. Often people are asking $50,000 or $100,000 or more for restored cars, yet there's still stuff missing or doesn't work. One had a '67 GTO that they wanted $59,900 for. It was pristine, had a 4-speed, the hood tach, front disc brakes, posi rear end, all the good stuff. However they say it's an original Factory A/C car-but the compressor and hoses, reciever dryer, etc are missing. Excuse Me?  You want 60K for a car that the Air Conditioning doesn't work on, because it's missing parts??!!  And how much would it cost their shop to put a compressor, condenser, etc on it? $1,500 in parts? Another one had a '78 Pace Car Corvette that had like 8,000 original miles on it. It was an L82 car and gorgeous. They wanted $39,900 for it. They say the tachometer doesn't work. Huh? You want $40,000 for a car that the Tach doesn't work on?  How much would it cost to fix the short, or replace the tach?  $200 bucks?  Like Ditka says on Monday Night Football-"Come on Man!!"  Another one had a badass '69 Z/ 28 that they wanted $99,999 for. I loved the wording-the 302 was "Date Correct". It had an M20 Muncie 4-speed, ( all Z/28's had M21's or M22s) it had the dual Holley Cross-Ram intake, the Corvette 4 wheel disc brakes that were retrofitted. So-you want 100 grand for a car that has a non original engine, the wrong transmission, and rare options added on that weren't original?? On the same site they had another '69 Z/ 28 that had the numbers-matching 302 and M21 tranny and was Macneish certified. They were asking $69,000 for that one. Huh? The expert certified, numbers-matching car is 30 grand LESS than the cobbled up one?  My personal favorite was the '72 Chevelle that had been done up to look like a '70 SS454 model that they wanted $50,000 for. 50K for a clone? You see numbers-matching SS396's and 454's all the time ( as long as their not L78's or LS6's)  for 50 grand!!   If it was 20K it might be a deal, but for 50 you can buy the real thing all day long.  I guess that's why they say "Buyer Beware".  Mastermind

More on what upgrades are ok....

Had some more debates about modifications to musclecars. Here's my take-everybody did something to their cars back in the day. Just like now. If you bought a new 5.0 Mustang or Hemi Challenger today would you leave it bone-stock for the next 20 years?  Probably not-chances are you'd add a Cat-Back Flowmaster exhaust, a Hurst shifter, a K&N air filter. Maybe some aftermarket wheels. More hardcore guys might add a Magnussen blower. So a '68 Camaro with a 327 that has an Edelbrock "Tarantula" manifold, a 650 Holley, headers, and some Cragar S/S mags is just as "Right" today as it was in 1971. Now a '68 Camaro with an LS3, a 4L80E, and 20 inch Center Lines is not cool. See what I'm saying? As long as the mods are "Period Correct" and don't irreversibly damage the value of the car-like cutting up the trunk for wheel tubs-I'd say it's ok. This includes changing engines and transmissions. A guy I know bought a six-cylinder, 3-speed Camaro at an auction. He dropped in a mild 350, a Saginaw 4-speed, added some rally wheels, spoilers and stripes, and now everyone "oohs" and "aahs" over his "Z/28".  Another guy bought a gorgeous '64 Cutlass convertible. He chucked the 330 V8 / ST300 2-speed, and dropped in a 403 / TH350 combo. He also added front disc brakes and front and rear sway bars pirated from a '75 Gran Prix. The improvement in performance and handling was stunning. And to the casual observer-they wouldn't notice an HEI distributor-the car looks stock. Now again-if he'd stuffed an LS motor and a 6-speed in it, I'd be griping about him messing up a nice car. I'd even say a little cross-breeding is ok if it's "Period Correct". A few examples I've seen-a guy had a '71 Pontiac Ventura-Pontiac's version of the Nova. A lot of them had 250 inch Chevy Sixes, or 307 Chevy V8s. Some had 350 Pontiacs. His was a 307 version. He chucked the 307 and dropped in a stompin' 383 inch Small-block Chevy. Now for him to put "Real" Pontiac power in it-he'd not only have to change the engine-but the transmission as well-Chevys and BOP engines have different bellhousing bolt-patterns. Further-all the accessories-power steering, alternator, water pump, fuel pump. belt pulleys-are all different. So dropping in the Chevy motor was the path of least resistance. And who cares if a 307 Ventura now has a 383 in it? Another guy had a '64 Tempest with a stompin' 425 Olds V8 in it. He had 11 second time slips for it. Now if it was a numbers-matching Tri-Power GTO with an Olds engine in it, I would take issue. But a 326 Tempest? What? There's one less Fake GTO running around?  Thank god for that. Another guy had a '66 El Camino with a 389 Pontiac in it, that was a rocket. And no, it was not an SS396. I read an article in a magazine-I think it was "Street Rodder"-about a guy that bought a '57 Chevy that had been a race car since 1962, and had always been campaigned with a Pontiac engine. I thought it was really cool that instead of spending a gazillion dolars returning it to "Just as it left the Factory" he was restoring it as a race car-complete with "incorrect" Pontiac engine and he was going to run it at vintage drag events. In the same issue a guy had a beautiful 1961 Impala-that had a 500 Cadillac / TH400 powertrain. Moved the big car way quicker than the 283 / Powerglide combo it replaced. Chevy purists will gripe-but again-it's an Impala-not a Split-Window Fuel-Injected Stingray!! And at least it doesn't have F%^&in' LS motor in it!!!  Like everything in every magazine.  Mastermind 

Within reason, upgrades help value, not hurt it.....

Had a debate with another "Just as it left the factory" fanatic the other day. A friend of mine has a '66 GTO. It had the awful 2-speed ST300 ( read Powerglide ) automatic behind the 389. A TH350 is a bolt-in swap. Not only are they the same length, they use the same rear trans mount and driveshaft yoke. You can even use the stock shifter. You won't be able to manually engage low gear-but with a good shift kit from B&M or TransGo you won't need to. You'll have automatic kickdown to 1st gear at low speeds. The improvement in performance with the 3-speed auto compared to the 2-speed is unbelievable. He also put on front disc brakes using '70's Firebird spindles, rotors, calipers, and power booster and master cylinder. Now the car stops safely from high speeds, way better than it did with 9.5 inch drums. It's a beautiful car with period-correct Torq-Thrust mags on it. Mr "Just as it left the factory" commented on how he's "ruined" the car with these minor upgrades. "Ruined" it by cutting more than 1/2 second off it's 0-60 and 1/4 mile time without hurting gas mileage and drivability?  "Ruined" it by reducing it's 70 mph-0 braking distance from 230 feet to 140? How did that "Ruin" the car?   And it's a really nice driver. It rides good, handles, good, the seats are comfortable and the suspension doesn't rattle your fillings loose. And it's fast enough to back up the image. When leaving a stoplight or entering or exiting a freeway he doesn't have to take crap from little boys in WRX's or soccer moms in Hemi Cherokees. Another guy I know has an SS396 Chevelle. It had power steering an disc brakes from the factory, but it also had a bench seat and that awful Muncie shifter on the 4-speed. He put in some bucket seats and a Hurst shifter. Now if you've ever driven a Camaro or Chevelle with that awful body mounted Muncie shifter-you know why a Competition Plus is / was a "Day Two" modification. With the Muncie-forget powershifting-if you've got your foot in it above 3,500 rpm-you won't be able to shift it. No way, no how. Why Chevy did that is a mystery-because GTO's, Firebirds, and 442's had Hurst shifters from the factory that worked great. Anyhow-the Hurst shifter is a much needed upgrade. The bucket seats look cool and are more comfotable. Oh no, this Chevelle was "Ruined". "Ruined" How?  If my friend wanted to sell it-do you Really think a potential buyer is going to say "Gee, it's got a numbers-matching 396 and M20 4-speed, it runs like a scalded cat and the price is reasonable." "But I hate the bucket seats and Hurst shifter."  "If it had a bench and the Muncie shifter it'd be perfect". "Sorry, I'm going to pass." "This car is ruined."  Really???!!!  No, not in a million years would anyone say that and if one moron did, there would be 50 people in line behind him with cash wanting the car!!  Ditto if you put a "Six-Pack" setup on a Mopar-or Tri-Power on a Corvette or GTO-the car will be worth more, not less. I talked to a guy with a 78 T/A who wanted to put "Snowflake" wheels on it-but was hesitant because his PHS sticker said the car had Rally II's originally!!!  Really??  Like Ditka says on Monday Night Football- "Come on, Man! "   Mastermind