Tune it right, maintain it right,.......And drive it once in a while!!

Hot August Nights is coming around soon, and again my city will be full of musclecars and their owners cursing them and complaining about how their not running properly, hard starting, pinging even on premium fuel with octane booster, or overheating in our usual 90+ degree summer weather. I'm always amazed at the conversations I have with these people when they come into the shop. They'll spend $5,000 on a paint job and $2,000 on tires and wheels, but they haven't checked or replaced the belts,hoses,fan clutch or t-stat in years, and are utterly aghast and have a fit when it overheats on a 98 degree day. Here's a conversation I had with a Shelby Mustang owner that was spewing coolant last year during HAN.  "This is a brand-new engine!" "When did you rebuild it?" "When I first bought the car." "When was that?" "12 years ago."  Hello? Your surprised that a 12 year old hose sprung a leak?  Does your 1999 Chevy work truck have the original belts and hoses on it?  Of course not! Regardless of how many miles you do or don't put on the car, the belts and hoses need to be replaced every three or four years, more often if you DON'T drive the car a lot. Here's some tips to avoid major frustration of your musclecar breaking down during Hot August Nights, the Hot Rod Power tour, or whatever other summer road trip you may try. # 1 Cars were meant to be driven, not sit for months or years at a time. I understand people not wanting to put a lot of miles on their pride and joy. However, most of the musclecars out there have 150,000 or 200,000 miles on them to begin with. That's why it needed a full restoration!  Even if you have some rare, ultra low-mileage "Survivor", just driving it 10 or 20 miles a week will go a long way to keeping the gaskets and seals soft, and not leaking, the battery charged, and everything in good working order. And do the math-even if you did this for 10 years, you wouldn't even put 10,000 miles on the car. Honestly-is a pristine Hemi Cuda with 79,600 original miles really worth a penny less than one with 70,000?  # 2. Prepare it for storage. If the car is not going to be driven for an extended period of time, it's wise to drain the gas tank, or at least put a fuel stabilizer in it, so when you do try to drive it again, the tank isn't full of varnish and rotten gas. If it gets cold, where you live, drain the radiator or make sure it has the proper ratio of anti-freeze so you don't crack the block or a head. It's also a good idea to disconnect the battery. # 3 Basic Tuning. I'm amazed at cars with show quality, magazine-cover paint jobs and bodywork, that come into my shop not running right, and when I try to pull a plug wire, it's so brittle it breaks in my hand. Or the vacuum advance is unplugged, or not working, the timing is way too slow or way advanced, or the carburator is way rich or way lean. When I ask the owner when is the last time they changed the plugs and wires, or the fuel filter, or set the timing, or changed the points, they give me a blank, vacant stare, like I asked them to explain Einstien's theory of relativity.  "Huh?" "I don't put 500 miles a year on this car." "When's the last time you tuned it up?" "When I did the frame-off restoration." "When was that?" "1997." And you wonder why the car has a miss with 14 year old plugs and wires?  Like Comedian Bill Engvall says "Here's your sign." ( That says-"Im an idiot" if your not familiar with his comedy).  # 4 Replace the old carburator!!  Keep the original in a box for concours shows or if you want to sell the car to someone really anal. However, if you want to drive the car at all, a 40 or 50 year old carb just isn't going to work. The body will leak, the throttle shafts will be loose and warped, and having it refurbished will be major-league expensive. If your a GM guy Jet and other companies make excellent stock replacement and high-performance Quadrajets. If your a Mopar guy the Edelbrock Thunder AVS will work way better than your 45 year old Carter AVS of which it's an exact replica. If you have a single or dual Carter AFBs the Edelbrock Performers series is identical and bulletproof. If your car had a Holley- get a modern vacuum-secondary model, or double-pumper if you wish with better floats and blow-proof power valves than your 40 year old one. I guarantee the car will run faster, start easier, and get better mileage.  And you'll enjoy the summer event and your car, instead of cursing it.  Mastermind              

Get the better raw material for sometimes less money....

I talked previously about being flexible in your search for a car-i.e. consider different model years, or sister cars, etc. While this can save you money on the initial purchase price, it can also save you money on the restoration, especially if you want to increase the cars performance, handling, or comfort and driveability. Here's some tips and good examples- # 1 "Sister" cars.  Which is a better deal for the same price-a 1970 non-SS Chevelle or a 1970 Monte Carlo? Chances are the Monte Carlo. Why? Several reasons. A big one being that base Chevelles and Malibus had manual drum brakes standard on all 4 wheels, while, all Monte Carlos had power front disc brakes standard. Very few base-model Malibus have factory Air Conditioning. I have honestly never seen a Monte Carlo that didn't have A/C. Which is a better deal for the same money-a 1972 Monte Carlo or a 1972 Pontiac Gran Prix? The Gran Prix. Why? Well, about 99% of all 1970-75 Monte Carlos have 350 small-blocks under the hood. 402 and 454 Montes are rare, and usually pricey. On the other hand all GPs from 1969-76 had the mighty 400 Pontiac standard, and a fair number had 455s. See what I'm saying?  # 2 Different Model years of the same car. Even though the bodystyle is basically the same, and some people might actually prefer the older one's trim, again, for the same price which is a better deal- A 1968 Pontiac LeMans or a 1971 LeMans? Chances are the 1971 model. Here's why-while both model years will more than likely have a 350 Pontiac under the hood, the 68 model will have drum brakes, may not have power steering, and may have a two-speed (Super Turbine 300 / Powerglide) automatic for a transmission. The 1971 model will have front disc brakes and power steering standard, and if it's an automatic it will have the excellent 3-speed Turbo 350 automatic. The same is true for Mopars and Fords- The standard engine in a non R/T 1970 Challenger is a 225 inch slant-six, and drum brakes, and manual steering are the norm even on V8 models. By 1972, the standard engine was a 318, and power steering and front disc brakes were standard equipment. A non-Mach 1 1969 Mustang had the 200 inch six standard, and again, power steering and front disc brakes were optional. The 1971-73 models had disc brakes and power steering standard, and most had either 302 or two-barrel 351C motivation. The 4bbl 351C's were limited to the Mach 1s. A different model year may be a better deal because of other factors. In my mind, a 400, 4-speed, T-Top equipped 1977 Firebird Formula is a better project car than a 400/automatic 1970 Firebird Formula, even though some people might like the earlier models trim, and claim the older engine will have more power. Weigh these factors carefully before making a snap decision. Mastermind   

Bastardize Junk, not rare collectibles!!

I got in a pretty heated debate with the editor of a national magazine the other day. I told him he should change the name of the publication to "Modern Fuelie Swap Monthly" since every month for as long as I can remember they have featured pages and pages of Vintage GM Iron with Chevy LS motors, Vintage Mopars with 5.7 / 6.1 Hemis, and vintage Fords with 4.6 / 5.4 mod motors. He knew I had this site, and I had contributed articles to his magazine as well as others. He accused me of being a "Just as it left the factory Nazi." I told him he knew better, as he had featured my Hurst/Olds in his magazine, and it definitely isn't stock. My problem, I tried to explain, is that there are apparently too many people out there with more money than brains that butcher rare, classic muscle. I quoted three articles from one issue of his magazine. The cover car was a 69 Chevelle. The article read-"The car was a for-real, numbers-matching 4-speed, SS396 in pristine condition."  Then they tell how he put in the LS motor and six-speed automatic, and aftermarket suspension. Another one showed the same being done to a 1970 GTO Judge!!  The owners of these cars couldn't buy one of the literally millions of beater 2-door GM A-bodies produced between 1968-72-Non SS Chevelles, Pontiac Tempest / LeMans, Non 442 Cutlass, or non GS Buick Skylark or Century and butcher it?  No, it had to be a "Pristine for-real, 4-speed SS396" and a numbers-matching Judge!!  The same mag had a guy who did this to a 1972 Trans-Am that had "Been purchased as a show car several years before."  Again, you can't desecrate one of the millions of 1970-81 beater Camaros or Firebirds out there, it has to be one of 1,286 455HO T/A's left on the planet! This car really perplexed me. What did he do with the rare, Ram Air IV headed, Aluminum Intaked, 455HO engine that came in the car? If he wanted to "Restify" that he could have got 500 or 600 hp out of that for a lot less than the 13 grand his LS Crate motor cost. Secondly, he put DSE front and rear subframes and suspension on it. Why? To improve handling? I don't think so. Stock, '70's T/A's are awesome handlers. In the late '70's Herb Adams had them pulling close to .88 G on the skidpad, with '70's tire technology. For comparison sake, according to Road and Track magazine tests this is about what an SRT8 2010 Challenger, and what a 2010 SS Camaro can do with modern rubber. If he'd put urethane bushings, Koni shocks, and 275/40ZR17 Goodyear Eagles or BFG Comp T/A's on it, he'd probably surpass that figure easily. Other issues of this mag in successive months featured a 1970 Super Bee with a 6.1 Hemi and a GM six-speed automatic conversion, a 1970 Challenger R/T with the same, and a formerly 428 engined 1969 Mach 1 with a 4.6 mod-motor and Tremec six-speed. Again, why not a beater Coronet, or six-cylinder or 302 generic Mustang coupe? I don't begrudge anyone building any kind of car they want, but I don't understand why you wouldn't buy say, a Pontiac LeMans, and put all the modern electronic wizardry on it that you want, and paint it like a Judge, if that's the look you want, rather than destroy a valuable piece of history. I know the modern fuelie motors are the way of the future, just like the small-block Chevy eclipsed the Flathead Ford. But let's feature them in the cars they came in! I'll read about a 2008 Charger with a blown Hemi, or a 2010 Camaro with a 454 inch LS stroker and nitrous, or a new Boss 302 Mustang with a pumped 5.0 Coyote. But I don't want to see that "Coyote" motor in a 1969 Boss 302! To all you rich guys out there, do what you want with junk, but don't destroy priceless muscle because you can afford to. Leave the numbers-matching Judges and Super Bees for those of us that want them the way they are!! Please. Mastermind     

Cool Full-Size Muscle that no one thinks of!!

While the masses fight over 1961-66 Impalas, and Pontiac Catalinas, there are a lot of very cool cars out there that can be bought dirt-cheap, and give incredible "Bang for the Buck, yet are largely overlooked by enthusiasts".  I'll list them in no paticular order. # 1 1967-68 Pontiac Gran Prix. The last of the "Big" GPs-in 1969 they went to the A-body platform. These cars have roomy, luxurious interiors, unique hidden-headlight styling, and with 400 or 428 cubes under the hood, plenty of muscle. Ray Liotta drove a '68 in "Goodfellas".  # 2 1966-69 Buick Riviera. These cars have the swoopy,fastback,hidden-headlight styling of the revolutionary Olds Toronado, but are still rear-wheel drive. I personally think these are one of the best-looking cars of all time. With 430 cubes under that long hood, they move pretty good too.  # 3 1966-69 Olds Toronado. Racy, futuristic styling, and tons of luxury. They may be front-drive, but with 425 or 455 cubic inches under the hood, they have some muscle too. Car Life tested a 1969 model-that even weighing 4,700 lbs, still blasted through the 1/4 in 15.0 seconds flat. # 4 1967-71 Ford Thunderbird. Racy, Nascar-inspired styling, and 390,428 or 429 snarling cubes under the hood. The last badass T-Bird until the Supercharged 1989 model. 1972 and later models had 429s and 460s, but compression ratios and power were way down, and the car was then based on the much heavier, and uglier Lincoln MKIV plaftorm. # 5 1971-73 Buick Riviera The famous "Boat Tail" design. Cool styling, luxurious interior, and 455 cubes for motivation. # 6 1967-68 Cadillac Eldorado The futuristic, wedge-like, hidden headlight styling is still cool today. And with 429 or 472 cubes, they move good too. Front drive, but like the Toronado, the driveline is virtually bulletproof.  These cars might not be considered "Mainstream Muscle", but they are unique cars from the era, and have tons of big-block grunt, and make incredibly nice drivers.  Mastermind   

Biggest motor you can afford! The key word being AFFORD...

Every enthusiast magazine out there features mega-cube stroker motors, and says-"Always build the biggest motor you can afford." This is generally good advice, but I think a lot of people misconstrue it, and spend a ton of money they don't need to, or feel they can't afford the project and abandon it altogether. Here's some tips to avoid this problem. # 1 Be realistic about what you want. Everyone says they want 500 or 600 hp, because of what they read in magazines. Here's a way to decide. Go test drive a new 312 hp V6 Camaro, or a 305 hp V6 Mustang, or a 306 hp Lexus IS350.  You'll be amazed at the performance. Then go test-drive a new 425 hp Camaro SS, or a 412 hp Mustang GT, or a 416 hp Lexus ISF or 414 hp BMW M3.  I guarantee that you will agree that no one in their right mind "needs" more than 300 or 400 horsepower in a car their going to drive at all.  # 2 That resolved, here's where you need to be honest again. Stock or modified, do you really need more punch than a 383 Mopar, or 396 Chevy or 400 Pontiac has to offer?  Properly tuned, with the right cam, these engines can make 325-350 hp with 8.01 compression on junk gas, with stock iron intake and exhaust manifolds. If you want 400+ horsepower, wouldn't it be smarter to spend your money on heads, cam, carb and intake, exhaust, or maybe stiffer rear-end gears, rather than chucking a perfectly good 396 Chevy and spending a extra 3 grand buying and rebuilding a junk 454?  # 3 On the other hand, sometimes the shoe is on the other foot. For example-stock or modified, a 350 Chevy will make substantially more power than a 305 with the same equipment, and the cost of parts is exactly the same. A 400 Pontiac will make way more power than a 350 all other things being equal. Ditto for a 340 or 360 Mopar compared to a 318. Here's where you may consider changing the engine to get more bang for the buck. Other makes-it might behoove you in the long run to chuck the 304 that came in your Javelin and get a 360 or 401 AMC out of a Jeep Grand Wagoneer. A 403 Olds will make more power than even the vaunted W31 350 with very little work.  # 4 If the engine in question does need a complete rebuild, here's where you have to decide if going bigger is a worthwhile investment. If the engine runs good, doesn't smoke, doesn't use any oil, and your just freshening it up with rings,bearings, oil pump, etc. then no, spend the extra bucks on cams, headers etc. If the engine knocks, has low oil pressure, a piston slap, or is locked up, That's different. Then you'll have to have the block bored, and you will need new pistons, crank and rods anyway. In that case, buying a 383 conversion kit for a small-block Chevy doesn't really cost any more than a standard 350 crank kit, other than the flywheel and balancer. And the 383 will make more power and torque all through the range. The same goes for turning a 400 Pontiac into a 428 or 455, or a 302 Ford into a 347.  These swaps require no machine work at all or very little. Others that require some machine work are turning a 383/400 Chrysler into a 446 or 451, or turning a 351W Ford into a 392 or 427. # 5 Here is where you have to remember the old saying- "Speed costs money, how fast do you want to go?"  For example, Before you spend a ton of money building a radical 408 inch stroked out 360 Mopar for your Challenger, do the math. Would it be easier and cheaper to just swap in a 440?  I say this to Chevy guys all the time when they talk about blowers, nitrous, etc. If you have that much money, and need to go that fast, why aren't you building a 502 instead of a 350?  Think carefully about "Bang for the Buck" before tearing your car apart, and you'll be a lot happier in the long term.  Mastermind           

More expert advice on building your Musclecar engine

"Man's got to know his limitations." Clint Eastwood said that in the "Dirty Harry" flick "Magnum Force." Good advice. If you are not a professional mechanic, or even if you are-  say your a Toyota mechanic by trade, you may need some professional advice when restoring a musclecar for the first time.  Most machine shops or repair shops do general maintenance and repair work.  Engine building or restoration is not their specialty.  Tire stores sell tires, and want to do brakes, shocks, struts,radiator flushes, etc. You wouldn't have your dentist attempt open-heart surgery, so why would you have a guy who does mufflers and brakes for a living rebuild your prized engine?  And there are engine remanufacturers who sell rebuilt engines through places like Kragen, Pep Boys, Autozone etc, Napa, etc.  Again, these companies rebuild everything from Mazda Rotarys, to Hyundais, to Ford Diesels. They are not going to be concerned with how to build the ultimate 440 Mopar, or 428 Ford.  However, I'm here to give the best advice you'll ever get that will save you a ton of money and grief.  The #1 thing to remember is that for 50 years the default test-bed for any performance part has been the small-block Chevy. Even so-called "Performance" shops that claim to have built successful racing engines for local circle-track or drag racers, aren't really "Experts".  Why? Think. What is the powerplant that 99% of "Street Stock" or "Hobby Stock", or even "Super Stock" local racers run?  A small-block Chevy. If you need a Pontiac, Mopar, Buick, Olds, Ford or AMC engine built, chances are these guys aren't going to know anything about the idiosyncrasies or nuances of these engines. They might as well be working on a Ferarri Formula One car, or an Air Force F14 fighter plane.  In short-they don't know squat about what your asking them to work on.  If you can afford it-the best way is to find a recognized expert and trust him-I.E. -Nunzi Romano or Jim Butler for Pontiacs, Dick Landy for Mopars, John Lingenfelter for Chevys, Kenne-Bell or T/A performance for Buicks, Mondello Performance for Olds engines, and so on. These guys are awesome, and their engines will have awesome power and reliability-but you may have to get on a waiting list and pay 10 grand for the motor. The next thing is find a local expert in your area-you want a Ford built, talk to local Mustang club members, a Mopar, hit Mopar club meetings. If you want to build it yourself then buy several books and study yourself. Summitt Racing has an excellent selection of "How To" books on building Small and big block Chevys, Fords, Mopars, Pontiacs, Buicks or AMCs.  These books can give you invaluable information on getting maximum performance for minimum bucks. And they''l tell you tuning tricks that you'd have never thought of that are specific to each engine line. For example-Pontiacs love a lot of timing and a lot of fuel. I know a guy that has a GTO with a stout 421 in it. His induction system is an Edelbrock dual-quad manifold with TWO 750 cfm Edelbrock carbs on it, and he runs 40 degrees of timing. It starts and runs like a dream, and if not for the lumpy cam, you'd think it was bone-stock until you hit the loud pedal. It runs high 10s on drag radials. Even an Edelbrock/Musi built 555 Chevy rated at 650 hp, only has an 800cfm single 4-barrel on it. The 720 hp GMPP 572 inch Rat only has a 1050 dominator. Yet, anyone who has driven or rode in, or raced against my friends Poncho, will swear that it's NOT over-carburated!!  These are the little tricks you'll learn, that will make your car stand out from the rest performance wise-even if your doing a stock-type rebuild.  Mastermind     

Use the right combination of parts, and tune it properly!

I talk to a lot of people that work on their musclecars, trying to "Restify" them ( Restore/Modify if you don't know the term.) and end up disappointed with the results. I think the problem is the old- "A little bit of knowledge is dangerous" theory. Here's what I mean. Someone reads that the Edelbrock Victor Jr intake manifold and a 750 Double-pumper Holley made the most peak hp on a dyno test of different manifolds on a small-block Chevy. He doesn't read that the engine in question was an 11:1 383 with a roller cam with .538 lift, and aftermarket aluminum heads, and that it went in a Nova with 4.11 gears and a 4-speed. The Victor Jr is a single-plane design that is popular in Nascar and makes peak power between 4,000 and 8,000 rpm. He puts this combo on his 72 Chevelle with 8.5:1 compression, a hydraulic cam with .383/401 lift, and an automatic with 2.73:1 gears. It's a dog, and doesn't even run as good as it did bone-stock. That's because the Victor sacrifices low-speed and mid-range torque for top-end pull. On the hot 383, that makes 450+ lbs ft of torque, that's okay. Even if he lost 50 lbs of low-speed torque, he still has 400 lbs ft, and the mechanical advantage of stiff gearing, to get the car moving and get the engine up on it's power curve. On the stock 350, that makes maybe 280 lbs ft of torque, losing 50 lbs of torque kills it. Further, the high ( low numeric ) gearing, further handicaps it at low-speed. And, the stock engine is going to start running out of breath about 4,500 rpm, and be all done in by about 5,200. The Victor intake doesn't even START to make power until about 4,000, so you see the problem. He'd have been better off with an Edelbrock Performer intake ( which builds torque from idle-5,500 rpm) and a 600 cfm vacuum-secondary carb. It would also serve him well to swap the 2.73 cog for a 3.42 or 3.73 to put what power he does have to the ground effectively. The same goes for camshaft selection. Everyone says "Put a Cam in it." It's true, that the camshaft is a big source of engine power, but especially in a street-driven car with an automatic transmission, it's better to err on the side of caution. You have to remember that your engine is basically an air pump. The more air and fuel you can flow through it, the more power it will make. This is accomplished three ways- one- with cylinder pressure-i.e. high compression ratios, or forced induction, i.e. supercharging or turbocharging. Two with a larger engine-cubic inches, or three with better flowing cylinder heads, and a longer duration, higher lift cam. A bigger cam is going to bleed off cylinder pressure. That's why you need high compression to run really big cams. There are some cams on the market, that are short duration/high lift, and close the intake valve early to build cylinder pressure, and "fool" a low-compression engine into acting like a higher compression one. These are good for relatively stock engines, with stock torque converters and high gearing like 2.41-3.08. The cam manufacturers will give you good guidelines on what works and what doesn't regarding intake and exhaust, engine size, ( a cam that kills a 305 inch small-block Chevy will run great in a 400 small-block) car weight ( A cam that rocks in 327/4-speed Camaro, is probably not going to work in a 350 powered 3/4 ton Suburban with an automatic pulling a trailer). Axle ratio is important too. Put a Ram Air IV cam in your 8:1 compression, 2.56 geared, automatic, "Smokey and the Bandit" Trans-Am and wonder why it's a slug. Like the Victor Jr intake on the Chevy, the RAIV package, even on a torquey 400 Pontiac, sacrificed a lot of low-end torque for top-end rush. There'a a reason that RAIV cars had 10.75:1 compression and were only available with 3.90 or 4.33 gears! Most cars, whether small-block or big-block do well with gearing in the 3.23-3.73 range. Go to 4.11 or 4.56 and your engine runs out of rpm, and no one wants to be buzzing at 4,000 rpm on the freeway. The last thing is basic tuning. I see so many cars, that run like crap. Check them out, and the timing is way advanced or way retarded, the vacuum advance is unplugged, the carburator is way rich or way lean, the spark plugs are two ranges too hot or too cold, and other ills that can cost you as much as 50 hp, on a bone-stock engine. Get information from the experts before you start buying parts. The Edelbrock "Total Power Packages" i.e.-heads, cam, and carb and intake, give you good guidelines on how to build for street, towing or drag racing. A little research might stop you from spending a ton of money and then being disappointed in your car's performance. Mastermind       

Stock Looking but Nasty......

A lot of Musclecar enthusiasts want their cars to look stock, but be wicked fast. This can be accomplished with a few "stealth" modifications that no one would know about, unless you told them.  # 1 The old saying-"There's no substitute for cubic inches, except cubic dollars"  is still true. If you can afford it, obviously you could swap your 383 Chrysler for a 440, or your 396 Chevy for a 454.  If you have to "Run what you brung" I.E.- use the engine that came with the car, you can still go bigger for very little investment.  If your rebuilding an engine anyway, it doesn't cost much more to install a stroker crank kit. The most popular are 350 Chevy into 383, 302 Ford into 347, 360 Mopar into 408, 400 Pontiac into 455, and 400 Mopar into 451.  # 2 Camshaft.  As much as we love our "Classic" muscle cams from Crane or Lunati, you have to realize that most of these are based on 1965 cam profiles and are not computer optimized. Modern cam designs from Edelbrock, Competition Cams, Crane, etc-will make more power, idle better, get better gas mileage, and generally just blow away the "classics" on the dyno and on the street or strip. And, no one knows what cam you have in your engine. # 3. Cylinder heads. A lot of guys won't go so far as to put aftermarket aluminum heads on their musclecars, but you can play with factory iron heads, especially if your not worried about casting numbers. A few examples-1981-86 305 Chevy "Smog" heads have 58cc combustion chambers, as opposed to the 76cc chambers on most 350s. This will raise compression on a 350 from 8.2:1 to 9.8:1. 1996 and later Vortec heads have 64cc chambers, and flow better than many aftermarket heads. 1992 and later Dodge 318 and 360 "Magnum" heads flow better than the legendary 340 heads. Like with Chevys and Vortecs, the Magnums will need an aftermarket intake, but that's hardly a big deal. 1975-79 Pontiac "6X" heads flow better than any Pontiac head except the legendary and rare, RAIV heads. I could go on, but you get the picture. # 4. Blueprinting. You can port match your intake and exhaust manifolds to maximize performance. # 5. Mechanical advantage. Swapping a 3.08 axle ratio for a 3.73 will improve acceleration drastically without hurting fuel economy or freeway cruising speed too much. Automatics can benefit from shift kits and higher-stall speed converters. These mods will give you a stock-looking, but wicked fast machine. Mastermind     

Junkyard Jewels

If your looking for a replacement engine for your muscle car while you rebuild the numbers-matching one to original specs, or if you want to drive it hard or race it without the worry of throwing a rod out the side of a rare, numbers-matching block there is a low-buck alternative. # 1 The obvious choice-1987-2000 350 Chevy. There are literally millions of these in junkyards across the nation. These have one-piece rear main seals and centerbolt valve covers-( No oil leaks ). They also have roller cams from the factory, which saves you a ton of money if you want to install a hotter aftermarket grind. Super Chevy built one for $2600 including all the parts and labor and it made 400 plus horsepower. 1996 and later models will already have Vortec heads, and GMPP and Scoggin-Dickey sell new pairs for about $650!. The Vortec heads 64cc combustion chambers will raise compression from 8.5:1 to about 9.6:1 and they flow better than any stock head, and many aftermarket ones. Stock, they can use cams up to .480 lift. Scoggin-Dickey sells them with the vavlve guides machined to accept cams up to .575 lift. You'll have to buy a Vortec-style intake manifold, but Edelbrock, Holley, Weiand, and GMPP sell these for about $200. And one-piece rear main seal 383 stroker kits are out there too. For a cheap,reliable, powerful engine, this one's hard to beat. # 2 1992 and later Chrysler 318 and 360 "Magnum" engines. Besides millions of Dodge trucks and vans, these engines were used in zillions of Jeep Cherokees in the '90's. They are different from the LA engines used from 1967-91. The Magnum heads breathe way better than the old ones. Like the Chevys, they are set up for roller cams, and you'll have to buy a Magnum compatible intake, but Edelbrock and Weiand have you covered. Like the Chevys and the Vortec heads, Magnum heads will bolt onto earlier blocks, as long as you use the Magnum intake. There are stroker cranks that can turn a 360 into a 410. This is a cheap, reliable way to get big power for your Mopar project. # 3 1986-1997 302 and 351W Ford V8. Besides Fox-bodied Mustangs and T-Birds, these engines were used in millions of trucks and vans. Again, they can use modern roller cams. If you want to get creative, Ford Racing, Scat, and other companies offer stroker crank kits to trun a 302 into a 347, or a 351 into a 392 or even a 427!  Keep your rare original engine in a plastic bag in your garage and have a blast with these. If you grenade it with nitrous or by missing a shift, just go to the boneyard and get another one! Something to think about. Mastermind        

Enough with this "Originality" crap!!!

Sometimes I feel like Charlton Heston in "Planet of The Apes" when Dr. Zaius had him thrown in the Ape prison. Remember him pounding on the bars and screaming- "This is a madhouse!" "A madhouse!"  The other day I was driving my Hurst/Olds and another driver followed me into Jack In the Box. He was driving a 1971 Olds Cutlass. Not a 442, but a clean, relatively rust-free 2 door Cutlass. He was obviously planning to restore it.  He complimented my car, and then asked if I had any advice for him, as he wanted more power, but didn't know really how to get it. His car had a 350 Olds V8 with a two-barrel carb, backed up by a Turbo 350 automatic.  I know 455s, are scarce nowadays, so I gave him two options.  "Well, the easiest things would be to put an Edelbrock 4bbl carb and intake on the engine you have, a good dual exhaust system, and maybe put a B&M or TransGo shift kit in the trans." "That's all relatively simple, won't hurt gas mileage or driveability, and will make a huge improvement in performance."  "Or you could go to a junkyard and get a 403 Olds out of a late '70's Firebird or Riviera or Olds 88 or 98." "I still see them in junkyards., and their externally identical to a 350."  "You'd have 53 more cubes, and if you put your heads on it, ( 1968-72 350 heads have 70cc combustion chambers as opposed to later models 80-83cc, although the bolt holes would have to be re-tapped for 75 and later blocks ) you'd raise compression from 8:1 to about 9.5:1." "Put an Edelbrock Performer intake and matching cam with that, and you'd have a real stormin' 400 inch V8 that would look like a stock 350."  Wait for it--"But then it wouldn't be original."  He said.  I gritted my teeth, smiled, and said-"Well if you want it to look totally stock, I'd search junkyards and swap meets-Olds made a ton of 4-bbl 350's in the '70's."  "You ought to be able to find a factory iron 4bbl intake for $50 or $100, and Summit sells rebuilt Quadrajets."  "You could also put a mild cam in your 350, and no one would know, and you'd still have a numbers-matching engine, with a little more oomph if that's what you want."  Again- "But it wouldn't be original."  "Then you have to live with however your two-barrel engine runs."  I replied. "I don't mean to disparage your car, but it's not a 442, a Hurst / Olds, a W31, or even a Rallye 350."  "A base-model Cutlass isn't worth any more or less because of the intake manifold."  "Look, you said you were going to repaint it the original gold color." "I feel bad for insulting your car." "I'll sell you the gold Rally Wheels that came off this one."  "Why would you do that?"  "Because I like the Center Lines that are on it, and if I ever want to make it stock again, '70's Olds Rally wheels are a dime-a-dozen, or you can get new reproductions from Wheel Vintiques."  "And they were OPTIONAL on base Cutlasses in '71."  "No thanks." "Mr Hubcap is trying to find me original hubcaps."  "Your not even going to put mag wheels on it, factory or otherwise?"  I asked, incredulous. "No. It wouldn't be original."  I really had to resist the urge to scream-"Am I in the "Twilight Zone?"  "Is everyone crazy?"   I just don't get this ultra-anal obsession with being "Original" on stuff that doesn't matter.  If your restoring an LS6 Chevelle, yes, I get it that you want a factory aluminum intake, and a #3310 780 Holley, (even if it doesn't have 1970 date codes ) rather than an Edelbrock Torker and 850 Double-Pumper.  I understand.  I get someone paying extra for a "Pistol Grip" Hurst shifter for a 340 / 4-speed Challenger rather than just putting in a "Generic" aftermarket Husrt Competition Plus or Mr. Gasket, or Summitt shifter.  I fully understand that. I'd do it myself, if I owned those cars.  But you haven't "Compromised" the value of  a 69 Malibu by putting Cragar SS mags and big tires on it.  Your 66 LeMans ( if there's any that haven't been turned into GTO clones left ) isn't "Ruined" if you pull out the 326 / Powerglide combo and install a later model 350 or 400 and a Turbo 350.  You can't compromise the value of something that wasn't worth anything in the first place.  If someone even thought of putting a 10 point cage and a Supercharged 5.4 mod motor in a 1966 GT350 Shelby Mustang, I'd lead the townspeople to his home with torches.  But if someone wanted to do that to one of the other 3 million or so base-model 289 65-66 Mustangs out there, who cares?  Please, people, listen to reason!  Mastermind              

Other Corvette fighters that failed.....

In the last post, I talked about cars proposed by other GM divisions that the Chevy Brass had killed, because they didn't want them to steal the Corvette's thunder. The Vette is still with us today, and unless you spend 200K for a Ferrari, you can't top its performance. I think Patrick Bedard said it once- "There are a lot of sports cars that really need more power." "The Corvette isn't one of them." Like Bruce Springsteen said about Elvis,-"There are contenders and pretenders to the throne, but there is only one King."  Anyhow, other people have over the years come up with Ideas for two-seat sports cars to compete with the Mighty American, but none of them really mounted a serious challenge. # 1 Ford / DeTomaso Pantera. For years, Ford wanted a "Corvette fighter", and in 1971 They partnered with Italian automaker DeTomaso ( Who used Ford engines in the Mangusta ) and put the 351 Cleveland V8 in a Mid-engine chassis. It has 4-wheel disc brakes, and a ZF five-speed transaxle. Performance was good-top speed over 140 mph, 0-60 times in the six second range, and 1/4 mile times in the low 14's. About on par with what an early '70's Vette would run. However, for some reason, they were sold through Lincoln-Mercury dealers instead of Ford Dealers. Lincoln buyers are not your typical high-performance buyers. And they were expensive. $10,000 in 1971 dollars was a ton of money. Especially when a Pontiac Trans-Am listed for $4255.75 and a Corvette listed out for about $6,000. Even a Porsche 911 was only about $7,000. They were imported until 1976, but they never sold well. DeTomaso kept making them, and few were imported each year until about 1990. Today, they have kind of a "Cult" following, and a nice one will bring between $25-35K. Watch out for rust issues in the frames if you want one.  # 2 Bricklin. In 1974, a guy name Malcom Bricklin tried to market a mid-engined, gull-wing doored, two-seat sports car that looked like Mercedes M111. It had a racy body, and early models had 351 Ford V8s, so performance wasn't bad. However, he had a falling out with Ford and the later models used 360 AMC V8s with a Two-barrel carb, and the required catilytic converters for 1975 really killed performance. The car was a slug, and the gull-wing doors leaked when it rained or went through a car wash. Bricklin went bankrupt and stopped production in 1976. They are rare today, and don't really bring any money. # 3 DeLorean. John DeLorean wanted to make a stainless steel, gull-winged, mid-engine sports car, that could compete with not only Vettes, but Porsches and Ferraris. But he couldn't make a deal with his old employer-GM for small-block Chevys, and he insisted on building the factory in Ireland. As we know, it ended up with a (Yuk!) Renault V6 that was underpowered, and he ran out of money, and afoul of the law. They were only built from 1981-84, and their only claim to fame is being the time machine in the "Back to the Future" movies. No one wants them today. Mastermind

Cars killed by the Corvette

Although Cadillac has always been the "Flagship" of the GM line, Chevrolet has always sold the most cars, and therefore been the most profitable of GM divisions. This however, has made Chevrolet engineers and bean counters bullies throughout the years. By bullies, I mean demanding other divisions kill projects that might hurt sales of High-Profit Chevy models, or if other divisions came up with a cool idea, they demand a Chevy version. Here's some cars that never were, but would have been way cool. I've even seen pictures and prototypes. # 1 Pontiac XP-833. This one had two prototypes built. It looked a lot like the famous 1965 Mako Shark show car, which looked a lot like a 1968 Corvette. It was a two-seat sports car, and Pontiac built two, one with the 215 hp, 250 inch OHC six-cylinder engine, and one with a 421 V8. The Chevy brass demanded it be killed, and it was. However, when Chevrolet was designing the Camaro to compete with the hugely successfull Mustang, John DeLorean, who was president of Pontiac, at the time, told the brass that since they had killed XP-833, they owed it to the division to give him a Camaro derivative. Chevy engineers bitched and moaned, but the brass ultimately said DeLorean had a point, that Chevrolet couldn't have it both ways. The other GM divisions had  a right to develop cool stuff-like the Racy,front-drive Olds Toronado for instance, and if Chevy was going to demand that stuff like Xp833 be killed to protect the Corvette's market share, then they had to give Pontiac a piece of the Camaro program. That's how the Firebird came into being. # 2 Pontiac Fiero Turbo/ Supercharged. That's not a typo. Back in the mid-'80s Pontiac introduced the Fiero as a cheap sports car. However, because of the plastic body, insurance companies basically killed the car. People would want to buy one, and then find out the insurance premiums were as much as the payments. Pontiac decided to go the other way, and make it a high-performance sports car. They built a few of prototypes. One had a turbo on the 2.8 liter V6 that was optional in the car already. One, had a Buick Grand National motor in it, and one had a 231 inch V6 with a roots-type blower on it. The same powerplant that was used in Buick Rivieras and Pontiac Bonnevillee SSEIs in the early '90's. They quickly scrapped the 60 degree 2.8 liter models because of reliability problems. But the GN motors were already emission certified and bulletproof. And needless to say, the GN engined Fiero was ungodly fast. Pontiac was actually going to make them, and sell them for under $25,000! Chevrolet brass demanded that the project be killed, because they'd never sell another Corvette. # 3 Buick Reatta. Again, I'm not kidding. Buick engineers initally wanted the racy Reatta two-seater to be rear-wheel drive and have the vaunted Turbo GN motor. Again, Chevrolet cried foul, saying that the badass Reatta would hurt the Corvette. Buick then wanted to power it with the Cadillac Allante powertrain, and make it mid-engine, but Chevrolet sang the same song, and that idea was killed too. Ultimately, the Reatta became the piece of crap that it was-front drive, and with barely 150 hp from its normally aspirated 3.8 V6, which is why it didn't sell. # 4 Pontiac Turbo Trans-Am. After 1988, when the GM Intermediates-i.e.-Monte Carlo, Cutlass, Regal-which the Grand National was based on went front drive, that was it for the GN package. But the engineers and the automotive press loved the motor. And GM engineers wanted to keep it alive. In 1989 Pontiac installed GN motors in a few Trans-Ams- the 20th anniversary edition. The Turbo V6 was lighter than the small-block Chevys that came in Camaros and Firebirds,which improved the T/A's already phenomenal handling. They also had more power and got better mileage than the Chevy V8s. The buff magazines raved. For 1990, Pontiac wanted to make the Turbo V6 the T/A's engine permanantly, and turn up the boost to increase power. Again, the Chevy brass threw a hissy fit, saying that T/A with the new powertrain ( Rumored to be clost to 325 hp from 231 cubes ) would put a big dent in the sales of the more expensive, and potentially slower Corvette. GM brass ruled that the 89 Turbo T/A was a limited edition, and the 1990 and later models would continue to use the 305 and 350 Chevy V8s. And the Turbo V6 was history. Instead of killing it's potential competitors, maybe Chevy engineers should have worked on making it better!  Mastermind

New Rules!

I have to plaigarize comedian Bill Maher of "Politically Incorrect" fame on this. Whenever something annoyed him on the show He'd say "New Rule" and then explained why the behavior was now banned.  I now have to implement a similar policy. This mainly applies to older guys, but everyone needs to hear them. New Rule #1. No more tall tales about how fast your musclecar was back in the day. 99% of us never owned a Hemi Cuda, or an LS6 Chevelle or L88 Vette or whatever. Most people reminisce about their 389 GTO, 383 Road Runner,396 Chevelle, etc. Tales of pulling the front wheels and fourth gear rubber seem silly when someone pulls out a yellowed, dog-eared copy of Car Life or Hot Rod, and we read that the machine in question ran in the 14.60s. New Rule #2. No more "I could have bought" stories. No one wants to hear that in 1970 the Dodge dealer offered to sell you a leftover 69 Hemi Charger Daytona for the same price as the strippy 318 70 model you bought. Nor do we want to hear about the fuel-injected 57 Corvette you could have bought for $500 in Tupelo, Mississippi that was supposedly ordered by Elvis, yadda,yadda,yadda. Which brings up..New Rule #3. No one wants to hear that you traded in your Z16 375 hp, 4-speed SS396 Chevelle in on a 1971 Vega wagon because your then-wife was pregnant, and that you only got $850 for it on trade. Or that you traded in your 440 Six-Pack Road Runner for a VW Bug in 1973 because of the gas crisis. You were a moron then, and your a moron now for telling the story. New Rule #4. No one wants to hear how your mother's 4-door 327 / Powerglide 65 Impala beat a Shelby Mustang in a drag race, or that your dads 428 LTD Country Squire wagon smoked your buddys Z/28. Didn't happen then, and no one wants to hear it now. New Rule #5. No one wants to hear how you won a race in 1964 and that you could have dated the trophy girl who turned out to be Linda Vaughn, Raquel Welch or Yvonne Craig, but you were already married to your fat, ugly wife, who was fat and ugly then. Again, didn't happen, and no one wants to hear it. Just had to vent that, since "Hot August Nights" is coming up and where I live will be overrun with liars telling these ridiculous tales. Just had to vent that. Mastermind    

Why does anyone "Need" a musclecar?

Some one asked me this question last week. Obviously, this person had never owned or driven one, and neither had any of his friends. Yet he was commissioned by the publication he writes for to do an article on the attraction people feel for classic muscle cars, and why the new retro- Mustang, Camaro and Challenger were about the only american cars selling good in this recession. We know each other professionally, so he asked my help. I remembered when I converted a friend of mine back in the '80's. This guy had played with Volkswagens for years, building and selling several "Baja" Bugs and a couple Karmann Ghias that he thought were fast. I'll never forget the day I took him for a ride in my mildly warmed over 77 Trans-Am. I powerbraked it a little, and lit up the tires all the way across the intersection. At 5,200 rpm, the Turbo 350 snapped off a quick 1-2 shift laying a good 8-10 feet of rubber. At the top of second, as we shifted to third about 5,000, the words "Holy Crap!" came out of his mouth.  I slowed down enough to make the turn onto a curving freeway on-ramp. As we came out of the curve. I punched it again, just as a 5.0 Mustang was coming up on us. The Mustang driver punched it too. As we came up on traffic, the Stang and I started to dodging cars, to keep the other from getting ahead. It wasn't quite the chase from "Against All Odds" , but my buddy was white-knuckled and white-faced, as the Mustang and I played cat and mouse at speeds up to 115 mph or so. The freeway split, and the Mustang driver and I gave each other a thumbs up, and he exited left and I exited right, as we knew if we fooled around any more we'd surely attract the attention of the men in blue. I pulled over to let my pal drive. He was muttering "Jesus Christ." "Jesus Christ."  "Here." Take a spin." I said and we switched seats. He took off in a cloud of tire smoke, and said again-"Holy Crap."  "I'll never again talk about Volkswagens." "I gotta get one of these."  He aired it out a couple more times before we went home. He was awed when I said-"I like this car, but it's not nearly as fast my 69 GTO was." "The GTO was faster than this?"  "A lot faster." I said. "Jesus Christ." He muttered again. Two days later he calls me to come and see his new car. I go visit him and see in his driveway an Orange 71 Plymouth Road Runner. I noted the "440" emblems on the hood. I looked inside, and saw the "Pistol Grip" 4-speed Hurst shifter. "I sold all three of my VWs to buy this." He said, grinning from ear to ear. "I want you to show me how to go fast in this."  He said. "You know how to drive." I replied. "Volkswagens." He said "Is all I've owned since I was 16." "I want you to show me how to drag-race in this."  "I don't want to break something on your car." "Don't worry about it." "Show me."  We went to a deserted country road near where he lived.  I revved the engine to 3,500-4,000 rpm and let the clutch fly. Even with a Sure-Grip rear end, the tires lit up halfway through low gear, while the car moved forward with alarcity. As the tach swept past 5,500 rpm, I powershifted to second, breaking the tires loose for another 30 feet or so. 5,500 came quickly, and I powershifted to third. The Road Runner was pulling on that mountain of torque like a freight train. We all know 440s are long-winded. I hit 4th, and it kept pulling.  I finally let off, and deadpanned like John Belushi in the Blues Brothers after Dan Akroyd eludes the police- "Car's got a lot of pickup."  My pal burst out laughing and said "That's why I bought it."  "Now let me try." He blasted up and down the road a couple times while I coached him on powershifting. He was an instant Mopar fan. Since then, he's also bought and sold two 68-70 Chargers, a 71 Charger, and a 72 Road Runner.  He converted another guy from his former VW club that bought a 72 Charger with a strong 440 in it. He spoke at a dinner his Mopar club was having, drawing great laughs with the story of how he got hooked on musclecars by a guy in a "Screaming-chicken Firebird." racing a 5.0 Mustang. The guy I was talking to was not impressed by this story. Just telling him didn't do it.  I let him drive my Hurst / Olds, even letting him do burnouts and shift the Dual/Gate shifter manually. "I stand corrected." He said.  "It's like Harley riders say-"If I have to explain, you won't understand." This is what's weird." My fellow journalist said.  "It's big, heavy, has a small backseat, a small trunk, poor rear visibility, and uses too much gas."  "Yet, I can't remember the last time I drove a car with so much charisma."   "It turns heads everywhere, rides and handles good, and just feels great." "We've learned a lot about tires and suspensions in the last 30 odd years, but I think we've forgotten how engines should run."  " I can't quantify why anyone "Needs" a car like this, but now I damn sure know why they want one."  Amen.  Mastermind       

What happened to badass cars with bad manners?

I once had the pleausre of riding in Scott Sullivan's famous "Cheese Whiz" '55 Chevy.  For those who don't know, this was a yellow/orange-Pro-Streeted 55 Chevy with a 800 hp 454 that was a Hot Rod magazine cover car back in the '80's. It was ungodly fast, and it sounded MEAN.  The old poem "Something wicked this way comes." Popped into my head everytime it was started. The forged pistons rattled, the solid lifters, clicked, and the earth shook.  Ditto for the famous 55 Chevy that was in both "Two-Lane Blacktop" and "American Graffiti".  This shoebox Chevy had a tilt front end, a 12.25:1 compression solid-lifter LS7 454 with a tunnel ram and two 660 Holleys. It was backed up by a 4-speed and had 4.88 gears. This was when Tri-five Chevys were badasses, the quintesential american hot rod. I remember the guy that owned the car said he raced it as well as showed it, and it had an 11.01 timeslip taped to the rear quarter window. He said as soon as he got better traction bars, he was sure he could run mid-10s. And this was all motor friends, no nitrous. One of the few street races I lost in my Judge was to a nasty silver 1967 Plymouth GTX. He had a pumped up 440 with a gear drive. It had that trademark whine, a choppy 2,000 rpm idle, and it was so loud, I don't know how he avoided tickets for just starting it. But god, was it fast. It would literally pull the front wheels on takeoff.  A buddy had a small-block 57 Vette that could rev to about 8,200 rpm. It had the "Off-Road" factory solid cam, which was way hotter than the "30-30" or the LT-1 cam. With 5.14 gears, he'd get such a holeshot that even healthy big-block cars couldn't catch him. Nowadays, no one would even dream of doing that to a 55 Chevy or a 57 Corvette, or a 67 GTX.  Everyone wants their musclecars bone-stock, or with a modern Fuel-injected Chevy LS motor or 5.7 / 6.1 Hemi or 4.6 / 5.4 Ford Mod motor. If I want a car that idles like my wifes Honda Accord and gets 20 mpg I'll buy a new 300 hp V6 Mustang or Camaro.  A musclecar should say with it's sound, yes, I am the meanest mofo in the valley!  I'm thinking of swapping the ZZ4 small-block out of my 442 into an late '80's Camaro or Firebird for a fun driver, and buying the 12:1 compression, solid-roller cammed, Dominator carbed, 720 hp 572 inch Rat from GMPP and putting it in the 442. That'll wake up the neighbors!  I might even get a personalized plate just to irritate Z06, and ZR1 Vette owners and everyone else. Were allowed 7 letters. KNG KONG.  Just a thought. Mastermind

Check your facts before you start name calling.....

I often contribute to Muscle Car Review, as well as Popular Hot Rodding, Hot Rod, and Hemmings Muscle machines. I recently wrote an article talking about some of the fun times and races I've had in various muscle cars that I've owned.  I recieved quite a bit of flack in responding letters for what I said. People called me a liar, and other vile names and said I lived in a dream world because of three statements I made.  I'd like to call these people out publicly and correct them and ask them to apologize with the same venom they hurled at me for making reasonable and true statements.  #1 was I said my GTO beat my buddys Six-Pack Super Bee in a drag race.  Mopar fans howled to the high heavens. My buddy's 69 Super Bee did have the vaunted 390 hp 440-Six Pack under the hood. It also had a Torqueflite and 3.23:1 gears. My GTO was a 1969 366hp Ram Air III Judge with a 4-speed and 4.33 gears. I fail to see why anyone who has ever drag raced would not believe that a 366 hp car with a stick and 4.33 gears, could beat a 390 hp car with a slushbox and 3.23s in a "Stoplight Gran Prix". I even said that I chastised my friend for quoting the famous Car Life road test where Pro Stock champion Ronnie Sox piloted a Protorype Six-Pack Road Runner to a string of 13 flat and 12.9 1/4s.  I don't know why my saying that my then 17 year old buddy didn't posess Ronnie Sox's driving skill, and that his Torqueflite equipped, street tired, 3.23 geared Super Bee that hadn't had a tune-up or even an oil change in god-know-when, would likely run a lot slower than the Blueprinted, 4-speed, 4.30 geared, drag-slicked Car Life test mule, and that later production examples tested by other magazines ran between 13.60 and 14.40 is so profoundly offensive!!  # 2  I said when I bought my 1973 Hurst / Olds 442 way back in 1994, that I enjoyed "spanking" 5.0 Mustangs. Dozens of idiots wrote in and even sent in 10,11 and 12 second time slips of their highly modified and sometimes blown and nitroused Fox-bodied Mustangs. The 1987-93 models are acknkowledged as the best performers. Every road test I ever read of a 5.0 Mustang between 1987 and 1993 listed 1/4 mile times in a narrow range. The quickest was a 14.72 and the slowest a 15.29. These were all five-speed Mustangs. The automatics were slower.  I could not find a Road Test of a 1973 Hurst/Olds, but I found two of a "regular" 1973 442 with the 455 / Turbo 400 powertrain. Motor Trend's car ran a 15.20 e.t. and High Performance Cars tester ran a 14.82. Virtually identical to the range of a stock 5.0 Mustang. Numbers don't lie. Unless a Mustang driver was exceptionally skilled with a stick and launching without excessive wheelspin, ( In a 5.0, on street tires? good luck ) I'd say the big Olds had a good chance of winning a stoplight sprint. And from a rolling 20, or 40 or 50 up a freeway on-ramp,-302 cubes with 2.73 or 3.08 gears against 455 with 3.23s ?  Puhleeeze.  # 3 Also concerned my Hurst / Olds in it's current condition, which is powered by a ZZ4 Chevy crate motor, a Turbo 400 and 4.10 gears. I said I had fun torturing little boys in their Subaru WRXs. Even the editor of PHR made fun of me, until I pointed out that every WRX tested prior to 2008 had 224 hp and ran about 14.4 second 1/4s. The 2009 and later STI models with 305 hp run 13.7 second 1/4s, according to Road and Track and Car and Driver. In the Sept 2008 issue of Hot Rod magazine they had a "Crate Motor Shootout" where they tested 8 GMPP offerings in a 69 Chevelle. We all know that a Chevelle and a Cutlass are the same size car. With a ZZ4, the Chevelle ran between 12.44 and 12.69.  The Chevelle had slicks, 4.30 gears and a 3,500 rpm converter. My 442 has 275/60R15 street radials, 4.10s and a 2,400 rpm converter. I don't profess to run 12.69 with this combo, but even if I was a FULL SECOND slower than the Hot Rod test car, I could still feasibly show a WRX my taillights. And again, that's from a light. Off the line is the little all-wheel-drive Turbos advantage. If were above 20 mph, and wheelspin isn't a factor, with my 405 lbs ft of torque on tap and 4.10 gears- To plagiarize M.C. Hammer- "Can't Touch this".  The same thing happened when I said my brother beat a Buick Grand National with his GTO.  Morons came out of the woodwork with their 10 second GNs and nasty letters. However if you remember back in the day magazines clocked stock GNs between 13.9 and 14.3.  Before you fire off a spittingly hysterical letter slandering someone, read all the information!!  Mastermind            

Alternative Bodystyles That are way cool!

Everyone fights with machetes for Road Runners, Chargers, GTOs, Camaros, Firebirds, Chevelles, etc. However, if you can't afford one, or don't want to pay top dollar for a "Mainstream" muscle machine, there are still some ultra-cool rides out there that people don't think of, that can be bought at low prices.  # 1 1960-68 Full-size Pontiacs. 396, 409, and 427 Impalas and Biscaynes of this vintage bring a King's ransom. This is because 95% of the full size Chevys built in this period have six-cylinder, or 283 or 327 small-block motivation. By contrast, be it a Catalina, Bonneville or Gran Prix, every Pontiac built from 1960-66 had the venerable 389 as standard equipment, and a few had 421s. All 1967-68 models had 400s or 428s. These cars are great candidates for "Restification" because there are a million ways to build power into a Pontiac V8, and the "Slim-Jim" automatic can be swapped for a Turbo 350 or 400 pretty easily. You can also buy manual conversion kits and put in a T10 4-speed or Tremec 5-speed. Any aftermarket suspension or brake upgrades that fit an Impala also fit these cars. 1965-68 models have Turbo 400s from the factory. Dynamite. # 2 1963-65 Buick Riviera. Bill Mitchell's masterpiece. This cars racy styling is still cool almost 50 years later. Patrick Swayze drove two of these in the action flick "Roadhouse." With 401 cubes, they moved pretty good too. # 3 1961-64 Ford Thunderbird. Often called the "Bullet Bird" because of the shape of the rear fenders and taillights, these cars are way cool. I could see Frank Sinatra driving one. With 352 or 390 cubes of FE muscle under the hood, they can back up the racy styling. # 4 1966-69 Buick Riviera. These cars had the hidden headlight, fastback styling of the revolutionary Olds Toronado. However, unlike the Toronado, these cars were still rear wheel drive. And with 430 cubes under that long hood, they moved too. # 5 1967-71 Ford Thunderbird. These cars had sleek styling and big luxury. With 390, 428 or 429 cubes under the hood, they had big power too. 1972 and later models were emission choked, and based on the huge Lincoln MKIV platform, and weren't nearly as cool. # 6 1969-76 Pontiac Gran Prix. While most Monte Carlos have small-block motivation, every GP built in this period had the mighty 400 Pontiac standard, and a fair number of "SJ" models had 455s! My sister had a 72 SJ in high school. This car had power everything, and it felt like a GTO. Any suspension or brake upgrades that fit a Chevelle also fit these cars. Mastermind   

The Forgotten Z/28s!

Everyone sings the praises of the original 1967-69 Z/28 and it's high-winding 302. Magazines also say how great the 70-72 model with the solid-lifter LT1 350 that would still rev to 7 grand, but had substantially more torque than the 302 it replaced.  Emissions and safety controls tightened in the mid 70s however. In 1973 and 74 the Z/28 was powered by the L82 350 which had a hydraulic cam, and a quadrajet on an iron manifold instead of a 780 Holley on an aluminum one. In late 1974, the option was scrapped. Chevrolet quickly realized their mistake. They no longer had a "Flagship" Camaro. Meanwhile, the Pontiac Trans-Am soared to new sales heights, selling nearly 50,000 units in 1976, before "Smokey and the Bandit" ( Which was released in 1977. ) After a nearly 3 year absence ( Late 1974,75,76, and part of 77 ) In the spring of 1977 Chevy brought back the Z/28. It had one engine, the 170hp L48 350 4bbl. However, Chevy engineers used mechanical advantage to make them decent performers. Transmissions were a Borg-Warner T10 with a 3.73:1 rear axle or a Turbo 350 with a 3.42 cog. While T/A sales continued to soar-the 400 V8 in the T/A made 220 hp-50 more than the Z, and in 1978 the WS6 performance package further increased the T/As already legendary handling. Chevy tried to play catch up. In 1978 they scrapped the ugly huge bumpers that had plagued the Camaro since 1974 and adopted sleeker, urethane covered bumpers front and rear, which Firebirds had since 76. They also added air extractors to the front fenders and louder graphics-copying the T/A shamelessly. In 1979 they upped the horsepower to 190, and added T/A style fender flares front and rear. In 1980 they finally topped their Pontiac cousins. The 400 inch motors were dropped at the end of 1979, and were replaced with the anemic 301 V8 Turbo rated at 210, but they were noticeabley slower than the 400s. Meanwhile, the 350 was still available in the Z/28, and Chevy brought back "Cowl Induction" -a vacuum operated hood scoop that opened up on acceleration. Automatics still got a 3.42 rear end, but four-speeds had 3.08s. However, acceleration actually inproved, because instead of a 2.64 1st, and 1.75 second that the 77-79 models had, the 1980 models had a T10 with a 3.44 1st and 2.28 second.  Sadly, in 81, the 4-speed was only available with a ( Yuk!) 305.  However, the 1977-80 models are a screaming bargain. While Disco-era T/As are bringing high prices, these cars are a steal. Think about it-they have a 350 Chevy under the hood, front and rear sway bars, a 4-speed or Turbo 350 for a trans and a 3.08, 3.42 or 3.73 geared 10-bolt posi rear end all standard. You can't ask for a better base for a hot rod than that. There is a ton of aftermarket equipment available for 1970-81 F-bodies, and you could swap in a big-block if you want, a Richmond or Tremec 5-speed stick, or a 700R4 automatic very easily. They won't have the wow factor of a 67-72 model, but they'll probably be a 1/4 of the price. Something to think about. Mastermind    

More reasons to just drive it!!

A lot of us buy musclecars and have grand plans for them. And a lot of these cars have non-original engines in them and are in less than stellar condition. A good way to restore a car if your on a tight budget-( Most of us are ) is to do it little by little. My brother's 69 GTO was a little rough when he got it and had a 350 Pontiac out of a 75 Firebird in it. The 350 ran fine, but obviously, he wanted a 400 or 455. He was smart, however. He fixed the bodywork while driving it, and a few other things, like the heater core, and the power steering pump and a repairing the radiator, even installing a new transmission. He even got it painted with the 350 in it. He continued driving it, while he built his dream 400. When we swapped in the 400, it was easy. And believe me, what a releif it was to have all the brackets and linkages, and nuts and bolts off the 350 to put it together.  Another friend was restoring a 340 Cuda. It had a 318 in the engine bay. Same thing, he drove the car while fixing the brakes, the bodywork, the headliner, and other things. He did find a 340 block, but again, if he didn't have the valve covers, oil pan, timing cover, fuel pump, water pump, distributor, and all the brackets off the "Unoriginal" 318, it would have cost him a ton of money and time to buy those things or to try scour junkyards for them.  By keeping the car drivable, you can fix things that you might have missed otherwise-i.e.- the wiper motor doesn't work, but you found that out when it rained one day.  Plus, you can work out other bugs with the junk motor you don't care about. And trust me, all 40 year old cars have bugs, no matter how nice they look. Here's a good example- You buy a 69 Camaro that has a junkyard 350 in it. While driving around, you realize it's overheating badly, because the fan clutch isn't working.  Wouldn't you rather overheat and maybe blow a head gasket on the junk motor than on that 425hp 383 stroker you were planning to drop in?  You can also use junk to dial in nitrous systems. I'd rather melt the pistons of a $300 junkyard motor than a $7,000 crate engine!  Seriously, I know a guy that did this with his Nova. He built like a 300hp nitrous system complete with an extra fuel pump, timing control from inside the car, everything. He tested it at the local strip. When he grenaded a motor, he'd see why, go get another one from the junkyard and tune some more. After the 2nd or 3rd junkyard motor, he installed his solid-roller 408 small-block that ran high 11s on the motor and low 10s on the spray. And the engine is still together after more than a year of abuse and numerous drag races, which sometimes mean 30 passes in a weekend. The grand or so he spent grenading the clunkers while dialing in the nitrous has kept his megabuck, mega horsepower mill alive and well.  Something to think about. Mastermind

For God's sake!!.......Just Drive it!!

I have talked to several people lately who really offended me with their anal, "It's not completely original" attitude.  Here's why I found the conversations so offensive.  Idiot # 1 had just bought a really nice 1963 Impala SS. The body was straight and rust-free, and was painted a nice silver color. The interior was perfect, having been redone with replacment upholstery by Year One. The powertrain was a mild 350 backed up by a Muncie 4-speed. It had 2 sets of wheels and tires-American Racing Torque-thrusts with BFG T/A radials-certainly a "Period Correct" look, and some steel wheels with whitewalls and original style "SS" hubcaps! The car ran and drove like a dream. And the Price was $8500!!  What a great find! The new owner sighed wistfully and said-"It's gonna be a while before I drive or show this one."  "What are you talking about?" I said incredulously.  "This car is an awesome driver right now."  "I'm gonna have a helluva time finding a 1963 327 to replace that 350."  "And a 1963 distributor, or Carter AFB carb?"  "I may have bit off more than I can chew." He said. "Are you planning on putting it in Concours shows?" I asked.  "No, I wanted to drive it on nice days, and maybe show it at Hot August Nights."  "Then do it." I said. "It's a great car."  "People will love it."  "Not with that unoriginal engine." he sneered.  "The car doesn't know what engine's in it, and neither will 99.9% of the people that look at it."  I replied. "Just drive it and enjoy it."  "I can't until its right."  I was shocked and appalled and thought he was maybe a 1 in a million moron.  I was wrong. I met another guy who bought a rough but running 1965 Pontiac Catalina 2+2 for $2500!!  The interior was good, but the body did need some work. It had the Tri-Power induction system on it, and the car ran strong. The trans was a Turbo 400. The new owner was crestfallen, because it turned out the engine was a 1967 400.  Same thing- "I'll never find a 421 with 1964 or 65 date codes."  The guy whined.  "So what?  I said. "Pontiac engines are externally identical from a 326 to a 455." "No one will ever know, unless you tell them." "And even if your selling it, I don't think a potential buyer would care if you told him." "And you can buy 421 or 428 crank kits to put in a 400 block." "Make it a 421 and be happy."  "But I'd know it's not original." The guy protested. Again- I posed the question-"Are you planning on showing it in Concours competition?"  "No, I wanted to race it at the Pure Stock drags."  "Oh, for Christ's sake!"  I exploded. "As long as your within 15 cubic inches of the original size and have a stock-type intake and exhaust system on it, your within the rules." "In other words, if this was a '70 Z/28 you'd have to have a #3310 780 Holley on it, but it wouldn't have to have 1970 date codes."  "You could build a stompin', but stock looking 433 inch Pontiac and probably win your class."  "I saw an article in Musclecar Review about the guy that won it a few years ago." He had a 69 428 Mustang. "  "But he was saving the original numbers-matching engine."  "The engine in the car was a 390 that he'd bored to 415 and put the CJ intake and a Lunati cam in."  "He shouldn't have won." "His car wan't original." The guy sneered. "None of them are."  I said- "The cars are Stock Appearing, but their not totally stock." "They all have bigger cams, or electronic ignition, and hi-stall converters, and whatever other "stealth" modifications they can get away with."  "That's what makes it fun."  "Some of the "Hemi" Road Runners running have Mopar Perfromance Crate Hemis in them." "Their not original Hemi cars." "Their allowed, because the Hemi was available in that body, that year." "Same for some of the Ram Air IV Pontiacs or L88 Vettes running." "Their not original L88 or RAIV cars, their built to that spec."  "You can race a classic, and not worry about blowing a rod out the side of a numbers-matching block." "That's what makes it cool."  "That's wrong." The guy said. "They should have to be all original."  "That's Concours again, and no one's going to race a car like that because their afraid of breaking it."  "Just drive the car and enjoy it."  I said.  "Not unitl I find a 421." He growled and stomped off.  I was stunned.  Like I said before, If Concours is your bag, have fun if you can afford it. But if you want to drive the car at all or yes-race it, then get real.  When you put your foot in it bang through the gears do you think-"Wow this really cool."  "Too bad I've got a 454 in this Chevelle ."  "If it was a 396 this would be even cooler."  Puhleeeze.  Drive the damn thing and enjoy it.!!  Mastermind   

What not to buy.....And Why!

I see people all the time that spend a lot of money buying and or/ building a car, and then their disappointed that A)  No one else thinks its cool.  Or B) They can't sell it for anywhere near what they spent on it.  Here's some good advice for people who are new to the musclecar hobby and how to avoid this problem.  # 1 I don't care that "Sport Sedans" are all the rage now. That's a 90's baby-boomer / Yuppie thing. Yes the Subaru WRX, BMW M3, and Cadillac CTS-V are all badass 4-doors, for people who like to go fast, and have kids and grandkids.  However, if you want a 1950's, 60s, or 70's car, the 2- door is king.  No one wanted a 4- door 57 Chevy in 1957, and they aren't worth anything now, except as a parts car for someone restoring a 2 door!  Ditto for 60's and 70s models. No one wants a 4-door 1966 Pontiac Tempest or a 4-door 1970 Malibu, or 1968 Coronet. They are good parts cars if you need front end sheetmetal, or a trunk lid, or interior or suspension parts. Otherwise your a nerd if you drive one.  #2 Pertaining to GM products Chevys always bring top dollar, with Pontiacs a close second.  That's a fact of life, so get over it. Watch the Barrett-Jackson Auctions on the speed channel or buy Hemmings motor news.  What this means is, the 1965 Buick Skylark with the 300 inch Buick V8 that was half the price of the 1965 Malibu SS with a 327, or the 1964 Olds Cutlass that was 1/3 the price of a 1964 GTO is not that great a deal. For three reasons- # 1 Chevrolet and Pontiac restoration parts are big business, and easy to find, and much cheaper than anything else. If Something is made for an Olds or a Buick, it' only available because it also fits a Chevy or Pontiac. Finding replacement Buick-only or Olds only parts is tough and expensive. # 2 There are a ton of aftermarket parts out there for Chevys and Pontiacs-aluminum heads, intakes, stroker cranks, whatever you want. Stock or hog-wild, Price out an engine rebuild for a 350 Chevy and a 350 Buick, or a 400 Olds engine and a 400 Pontiac. It'll make you sick, if your a Buick or Olds owner. # 3 Resale Value. People will give blood and a first-born child for a nice big-block SS Chevelle or GTO.  These same people won't even look at an Olds 442 or GS 400 Buick Skylark. If you want to buy an Olds or a Buick, the prices are lower, but the preceding reasons are why.  # 3 Base models are cheap for a reason.  If you find a good buy on a 350 LeMans or Firebird, great. Enjoy it, and restore or modify it to your heart's content.  Just don't expect GTO or Trans-Am money when you try to sell it.  # 4. An ultra-rare car missing a critical component is not a deal at any price. The obvious example is any Hemi-powered Chrysler vehicle without the Hemi engine.  Others would be a Boss 302 or Boss 429 Mustang without the "Boss" engines, Fuel-injected Corvettes without the Fuelie motor would be others. The reason is the cost of trying to chase down an original replacement engine and related parts, would be so prohibitive, that even if you had Donald Trump's bank account,  you'd be better off just buying an original or already restored car.  # 5 "Basket Cases" are not a deal, even if your a bodyman or mechanic by trade.  Here's why- You buy some engineless, transmissionless, gas tankless, interiorless hulk because it's a rust-free 69 Camaro body and you got it for $1000 bucks! Wow!  At the same time a guy is selling a rough but running 69 Camaro for $5000, that your buddy bought. Guess what? Your pal got the better deal.  Because by the time you find an engine-and where are you going to find the alternator, the starter, water pump, fuel pump, all the tin, and all the brackets, the radiator the hoses, the fuel lines, all the intieor parts, transmission, clutch linkage, the light bulbs, taillight mounting brackets, door handles, window cranks, wiper motor, wiper arms and blades, dash and guages, all the wiring and sending units, etc, etc,.it's going to cost you more than 5K to get the car in driveable and registerable condition, never mind magazine-cover or show worthy.  So even though your pal spent five times as much as you for raw material, he saved himself ten times the work, and expense. If a car has major body damage, or rust issues, or water or fire damage, or is missing the engine and trans, 99% of the time your better off in the long run by spending more money and just getting a better car to start with.  Mastermind          

More "Insurance Beaters" that might be collectible today

In the last post I mentioned how the Plymouth Duster flew under the radar of Ralph Nader, the safety Nazis and exorbitant insurance premiums. Other carmakers caught on, and came up with good-performing cars that would appeal to musclecar buyers, but not get saddled with the high premiums. One was the Pontiac Tempest T-37. Pontiac took a strippy Tempest, put Judge style stripes on it, and Rally II wheels without trim rings. The standard powertrain was a 350 V8 with a 3-speed manual, but the 400 and 455 inch V8s were optional, as was a 4-speed or a 3-speed automatic. The buff magazines of the day called them "The Poor man's GTO." They were only built in 1970 and 71, however in 1972 there was a LeMans GT package that was basically the same. Another was the Olds Rallye 350 Cutlass. This model was made for one year only-1970. They had a super loud sebring yellow paint job, and the bumpers were urethane-coated and body-colored. The had one engine- a 350 Olds rated at 310 hp. Rumors persist that of the 3,527 built that at least 10 were W31 powered, but this has never been verified by an Olds engineer or a car with a build sheet in a magazine. Buick had sold GS 350 Skylarks since 1968, but they were overshadowed by their 400 and 455 inch brothers. However, the option was continued. You basically had all the GS 455 trim, but with a smaller engine. Chevrolet got into the act as well. In 1971 for the first time since 1965-( All SS Chevelles built from 1966-1970 had 396 or 454 big-blocks) you could get a Chevelle SS with a small-block. The 350s were rated at 270 hp and ran well. The big-blocks were still optional as well. They also introduced the "Heavy Chevy" which was a 2 dr Malibu with a blacked-out grille, domed SS style hood, and slotted 14 inch rally wheels. Engine choices ranged from a 307 with a 2bbl, to two 350s-one with a 2bbl, the other a 4-bbl, to the 402 big-block. The 454 wasn't optional in the "Heavy Chevy" for some reason. These were built in 1971-72. Chrysler followed GM's lead and in 1971 for the first time offered the 340 in the Charger and the Road Runner, although the 383, 440, and 426 Hemis were still available. In 1972 the Hemi and the 440 Six-Pack were dropped. These cars have some collectiblity to them, and bring more than say a base-model Malibu, or 318 Satellite, and they are fun to drive. But don't pay much more than base-model prices for one. I mean face it-a pristine T-37 is still a 350 Tempest with bench seats, not a Ram Air IV Judge. A "Heavy Chevy" is a 2 dr Malibu with an SS hood, not an LS6, or even a for-real SS396. With that in mind, you might find a great car at a reasonable price. Mastermind