Be brutally honest about your abilities.....and finish your car!!

I talk to so many people who start a musclecar project, and then get disillusuioned and usually sell it for way less than they've got invested. And because of this bad experience, they don't attempt another project that may be way eaisier and less costly. I've touched on some of these things before, but I think it will help the person who is not an experienced car builder or mechanic by trade immensely. # 1. I don't care if you can prove that it's one of one owned by Elvis, a "Basket Case" with major rust damage, or water or fire damage, or missing a key component-i.e. a Hemi car without the Hemi engine-is something to stay away from. Especially body damage, or a bent frame-most competent shops charge $100 per hour or more for restoration work-that can add up to 10 grand very easily and quickly. Believe me most of the time your better off just paying more money for a better car to start with. Here's a perfect example-a friend and I went to look at two 1970 Firebirds. One was a Trans-Am, the other an Esprit. The guy wanted $500 for the T/A and $2500 for the Esprit. The T/A was an engineless, transmissionless,interiorless, gas tankless, hulk. Yes, the body was straight. But that was it. The Esprit on the other hand had some oxidized paint, and the vinyl top was peeling off, but it was all there. The interior was ok, and the 350 V8 fired right up, and it ran like a champ. The TH350 shifted smoothly, there was no rattles,and the brakes worked fine and didn't squeak. I told him to buy the Esprit. "This is a complete running car that only needs a little work." "It will cost you way more than $2500 to get that shell even into the "driver" shape that this one is in." Where are you going to get all the clips and clamps, and bulbs and a motor and a tranny, and a radiator and a dash and everything else?" "That'll cost you a ton." He agreed, that even though the Esprit's price was FIVE times what the T/A's was, it was still clearly a better deal, and a better starting point for a hot rod. # 2. It's just as easy to get the model you want, with the engine you want. I know a guy that bought a four-cylinder 1980's Mustang with the intent of swapping a V8 into it. Why? I have seen rough, but running "5.0" V8 models as low as $1000, and anything over 2 grand is usually pretty nice. And even if you could the labor yourself, it would cost a lot more than 2K to convert a 4-banger to V8 power!!  I know another guy that bought a 1971 Charger with a 318, that he was going to drop a 440 in. Like two weeks later, we run across a 1973 Charger with a factory 440, that's nicer than the one he bought, and priced less than $1500 more than the 318 model!! And again, by the time he changed the crossmember, the tranny, the engine, etc on the 318 model, he'd have a lot more than $1500 invested in the swap!! Magazines talk all the time about how "Easy" it is to swap engines, but if you've never done it before, even a simple apples-to-apples in-and-out like a small-block Chevy can be frustrating as hell, especially in your driveway with hand tools, rather than in a shop with a rack and air tools. And magazines don't talk about stuff like fuel line routing, belts and hoses, whether or not the power steering pump, water pump, fuel pump, alternator,starter etc will interchange, if the brackets will work on the other engine, if the sending units will work, and that's if your swapping something very simple like a 289 Ford for a 302, or a 305 Chevy for a 350. If you think you can take a carburated engine out and swap in a fuel-injected one easily and cheaply, like the old threat-"You've got another think coming." Engine swapping is not for the faint of heart even if you've done it 100 times like I have. If you've never done one, the best advice I can give you is don't try it. Just spend the extra money and get a car with the engine you want.   # 3. Get the transmission you want. Same deal- Magazines talk all the time about how "easy" it is to swap transmissions. It's not. For example-probably the easiest one on the planet-swapping a 2-speed Powerglide or Super Turbine 300 for a 3-speed Turbo 350 is a pain in the ass. Yes, they are the same bellhousing bolt-pattern and the same length, so you don't have to move the crossmember or alter the driveshaft. But-if you use the stock shift linkage you won't be able to manually engage low-gear. In a performance car, this can be a problem, as a lot of bracket racers shift their automatics manually at the desired rpm. The kickdown linkage may be different, and the speedometer cable may need to be different, and the speedo gear inside the tranny may need to be changed-if the cars don't have the exact same axle ratio-the speedometer could be off by as much as 30 mph! And that's the simplest one. Others-like swapping in a TH400- you may have to move the crossmember and drill holes in the frame,change the rear trans mount, shorten or lengthen the driveshaft,change the driveshaft yoke and u-joints, fabricate a kickdown linkage, and maybe change starters. If you think your going to just drop in an automatic overdrive-like a 700R4 or 4L60E with a lock-up converter and electronic controls-think again. And those are automatics being swapped for automatics,that are relatively easy-if you want to swap an automatic for a 4-speed or vice-versa-it can be a nightmare. Different bellhousings, clutch linkages,flywheels and flexplates, torque converters, is the block tapped for a clutch linkage? Is the engine internally or externally balanced?-That makes a difference on which flywheel / flexplate to use. Is the clutch linkage mechanical or hydraulic? Again, if your not a mechanic that's swapped dozens of trannys-don't do it. Just look harder for a car with the "Pistol Grip" Hurst-shifted 4-speed or whatever. # 4. Even if your building a base-model, start with a well-optioned one. By well-optioned, I don't mean power windows. Let's say your looking to buy and or build a 1968-72 Chevelle, or a 1970-74 Challenger. Believe me, it's a lot better to start with a model that had a V8, an automatic, front disc brakes, and power steering from the factory than it is to start with a drum-braked,six-cylinder,three-speed manual-trans, and manual steering strippy. Even if it's a small-block car you start with, and your planning on keeping it a small-block, albeit with more power-swapping the 318 in the Challenger for a healthy 360, or the 307 or worn-out 350 in the Chevelle for a 383-the suspension will handle the weight and power of the engine, the radiator will cool the new engine properly, the TH350 or 904 Torqueflite will stand up to anything under 450 hp. And it will have enough "Whoa!" to counter all that newfound "Go!". If you stuff a V8 in a six-cylinder car, the radiator may not have the capacity to cool the larger engine, so you have an overheating problem right off the bat, or you spring for an expensive new radiator. On the V8s-like I said earlier-all the brackets and linkages and valve covers, oil pans,etc will interchange from a 318 to a 360 or a 307 to a 350. Not so from the six to the V8. The V8 is going to have a different starter and my need a different flywheel and bellhousing than the six. The 3-speed isn't going to hold up to the V8 and you wouldn't want it if it could-that means buying a 4-speed tranny. The manual drum brakes aren't going to stop the car more than once from high speed without fading, and the suspension may wheelhop-designed for a six with maybe 130 hp-how it is it going to manage your new 400 hp monster? Yes, you can install disc brakes, power steering, heavy-duty springs, radiator, etc after the fact, but wouldn't it be nice if the car had it to begin with? And the time and money you spent on that could have been used elsewhere-like tires and wheels, paint and bodywork, or gears or nitrous or whatever? #5. Err on the conservative side the first couple times you build a car, and you'll be a lot happier. I know a guy that spent about 25 grand over and above his time and labor building an ultra-badass Camaro that he was going to "torture Turbo Porsches and Vipers" with. It had an aluminum headed 12:1, 600 hp, solid-roller 454 that shook the earth, backed up by a Richmond gear five-speed. It had an 8-point roll cage, subframe connectors, a complete "Herb Adams" VSE suspension with steel bushings throughout, and 275/40ZR17 tires on the front and like 335/35ZR17s in the rear. Was it fast? It was ungodly fast-the first time he ran it at the drags it ran something like 11.88 spinning the tires 3/4 of the way down the track with street radials and a suspension set up for handling. If it had slicks or drag radials and traction bars, I have no doubt it would have hit the 10s. And it handled like a slot car-aluminum heads, intake and water pump,battery in the trunk,the Herb Adams suspension-he could leave 'Vettes and Porsches in the dust around Reno-Fernley Raceway like they were standing still. But away from the racetrack, it was a nightmare to drive. The gutted interior was both loud and hot,it was hard to get in and out of- ( Ever clambered around an 8-point cage?) It idled about 2,000 rpm,got about 5-8 mpg on 110 octane race gas, the clutch was so stiff that your left leg would look like Arnold Schwarzennegger's after five miles, and the suspension was so stiff that it rattled your brains out on anything other than glass-smooth pavement. He drove it less than 5,000 miles and ended up selling it in less than a year for 15 grand-ten less than he had in it. He swore off musclecars and now races Mazda Miatas. He doesn't know it, but he'd have been much happier with a 400 hp engine that idled at 800 rpm and sipped pump gas, and a suspension with rubber and urethane bushings and shocks that didn't transmit every little bump into the steering column and driver's seat with crushing force. He still could have played grab-ass with the Porsches on country roads and at track days, but he'd have enjoyed driving the car a lot more. In his quest to build the "Ultimate Musclecar" he went overboard and built something that was virtually undrivable for anyone other than the most avid hard-core gearhead maniac. Don't fall into that on your first project. Mastermind