Buying the right car to begin with Part 2....

Like I said in the last post, a lot guys over-estimate their mechanical ability when tackling a project. Magazine articles contribute to this a lot with articles on how "easy" some major procedure is. For example using 1970-81 Camaro / Firebird spindles, rotors, calipers, master cylinder, booster, etc to convert 1964-72 "A" bodies with front drum brakes to disc using junkyard and / Autozone / Pep Boys / Napa etc, parts. They all say how "easy" the swap is. In their state of the art shop with lifts, air tools, and career mechanics doing it, sure it's easy. Have you ever tried to change spindles or ball joints in your driveway with hand tools? Not so easy. Ditto for engine and tranny swaps. Drilling holes in the frame, moving the crossmember, shortening the driveshaft, etc, sounds easy, but is actually a pain in the ass. Doubly so in your garage, not a shop. Here's some advice on how to avoid untold grief when taking on a project. Big Mistake # 1. "I'm changing the engine anyway, so it doesn't matter what the car has in it to start with."  GM,Ford or Mopar, especially if the car is a six-cylinder model and your swapping in a V8, this is most people's major goof.  Here's why-they get a short block or long block of whatever V8 they want from a friend or junkyard or auto parts place. They forget that nothing from the six interchanges. The starter,alternator,water pump, fuel pump,power steering pump and hoses, all the brackets,valve covers, timing cover, oil pan, distributor, intake and exhaust manifolds, throttle cables, battery cables, all that stuff is needed, and if you don't have it, it can be expensive and time-consuming to put all that stuff together. Whereas, on the other hand if you bought say a Camaro with a 350 that had a bad crank or whatever, and you bought a killer 383 long block from a machine shop-all that previously mentioned stuff off the 350 would work, saving you a ton of money and time. Further-they don't consider the radiator-one designed for a 225 inch Slant-six is not going to cool that killer 440 your building. That six-cylinder Nova-guess what? After you drop in that killer Rat-the front springs are not going to hold up the front end properly, and the monoleaf springs are going to windup and wheel-hop so bad under acceleration that you'll rip out the driveline real quick. And those 9-inch manual drum brakes on all 4-wheels? I wouldn't want to try stop from several 100+mph passes with those! A V8 Nova that cost a few hundred more, but had factory front disc brakes and multi-leaf springs in the rear would be a much better starting point! Big Mistake # 1A- Cross-breeding and upgrading-even the same brand. This is the other major goof -especially on GM products. "All GM stuff interchanges, way better than Fords and Chryslers".  That's true up to a point-but let's say you want to build a killer 1983-88 "G" body-with a stompin' small-block Chevy in it. I would pay $1,000 more for a same-or worse condition Chevy Monte Carlo or Pontiac Gran Prix of this era than I would for a Buick Regal or Olds Cutlass. Here's why- 90% of the Montes and GPs of this Vintage have 305 Chevys under the hood. Conversely, 95% of the Cutlasses and Regals have 231 inch Buick V6s or 307 inch Olds V8s in them. The 305 Monte Carlo and Gran Prix will be a bolt-in swap for your badass 350, 383, or 406 small-block Chevy. The Olds and Buick-1st off-you need a new transmission-BOP engines have a different bellhousing than Chevys. ( Some 200R4s have the dual-pattern bellhousing, not all ). Secondly-the motor mounts, and all the previously mentioned accessories are completely different. Or let's say you buy a nice 1968-72 Buick Skylark 2 dr and decide to build a GSX clone. Great-where are you going to get a 455 Buick engine? They've been out of production for 35 years- are not very plentiful in junkyards,( and they don't have 1/10th the aftermarket support that Pontiacs do ) If you find one, Yeah, the 455 will bolt up to the Turbo 350 in the car, and unless the engine has more than 500 hp, the TH350 will probably hold up-but how accurate do you want your "Clone" to be? Original 455 engined GSXs had Turbo 400s.  (A few were 4-speeds, but that's a different can of worms-clutch linkage, pedals, bellhousing etc.) Which means you not only have to locate a short-shaft BOP bolt-pattern TH400, ( Not an easy task, as they were only installed in GTOs,Gran Prixs, Firebirds, and 442s. Unlike Chevys, which used shorty TH400s in trucks for years and years), you have change the driveshaft yoke, and if you use a long-shaft TH400 you also have to move the crossmember and shorten the driveshaft, and install the electric kickdown. And again- a lot of the external accessories are different. Easy as pie,right because all GM stuff interchanges? Not always. Big Mistake # 2. "Saving Money" on an "Off-brand" project. This bites a lot of people in the ass. For example-you decide to build a '55-57 Buick, Olds or Pontiac instead of a Chevy. 1st off-The Chevys had a modern, open driveline from '55 on-the others used the old-fashioned "Torque-tube" and Hydro-matics up until '58. That means whether using a stick or automatic-your going to have to custom fabricate a driveline, transmission crossmember, and probably use a 57-64 Pontiac rear end, ( good luck finding one of those) or ( Cha-Ching! a custom 9 inch Ford ). Reproduction body parts for 55-57 Chevys are easy to find, but how many companies make 1/4 panels, front fenders or door skins for '56 Oldsmobiles? This happens on later, more modern stuff too. Sure, you can get anything you want for a Mustang, but what about a Mercury Cyclone? Try to find a grille for a 1972 Gran Torino. Restoring a Road Runner or 'Cuda / Challenger? Your covered. What about "C" bodies-Sport Furys or Monacos? Not a lot of Duster / Dart repro parts out there. The other "Shoot yourself in the foot" deal is buying and trying to restore a car with an obsolete engine. Small-block and Big-block Chevys, Pontiacs, FE Fords, and Most Mopars have great aftermarket support. But 292 and 312 "Y-block" or Flathead Fords? 354 or 392 Hemi Chryslers? 215, 300 and 340 inch Buick V8s, or 394 Oldsmobiles are very different from their later brothers and parts are almost non-existent. There's probably a few other traps I missed, but these tips should help most people stay out of trouble. Mastermind