Can't find your dream car? Build it!

 Premium musclecars can not only be expensive, sometimes even if money is not a problem, finding the car you want for sale, at any price, can be a problem. Want a Ram Air IV Trans-Am? Build it! You can buy a base-model Firebird, and with the aftermarket's help, buy the trim pieces to turn it into a T/A. Ditto for the engine. If you have a 400 Pontiac block, the aftermarket can supply the rest. Edelbrock Performer RPM aluminum heads are patterned after the legendary factory RAIV heads! The matching Performer RPM cam has the same duration and lift-308/320 and .470 lift with 1.5 rockers and .520 with 1.65 rockers. The RPM manifold won't clear the Shaker scoop, but the "regular" Performer manifold will, and works as good as the factory aluminum RAIV/455HO intake. A set of round-port headers, a 4-speed and 3.73 gears and your rockin'. Or an automatic with 3.73 or stiffer gears and a 2,500 converter. It's not totally original, but when you give a smug late-model Hemi Charger or Mustang GT owner a history lesson, you won't care! Speaking of Hemis-Mopar Performance sells complete 426 Hemi crate engines rated at 465 hp-40 more than the original. Yes, they cost about 15 grand, but if you can do the installation labor yourself and you spent say 20 grand on a decent 383 Road Runner, you now have your dream Hemi Road Runner for 35 grand!! Not cheap, or original, but way better than the $150,000 -250,000 "Numbers-Matching" Hemi cars are bringing even in this recession.  It would be pretty easy to turn a simple 1965-68 289 Fastback Mustang into a Shelby GT350 clone at about a fifth of the price of a "Real" one.  Want a Boss 302? Or Boss 351 Mustang? Buy a 1969- 70 or 1971 Mustang Fastback. Edelbrock and Trick Flow sell Aluminum "Clevor" heads-i.e.- "Cleveland" heads that bolt on to a "Windsor" block, and matching intake manifolds so you can build a "Mock" Boss 302 or Boss 351 engine!. Since it's not rare or original, you won't care about racing it, or blowing it up, so you can really have some fun.  Chevy man? Forget trying to build a faux-LS6, how about a GMPP 720 hp solid-roller 572?!!  Might be the only way for some of us to realize our dream of owning an "Ultimate" musclecar! Mastermind