The path of least resistance.....

People ask me why I constantly  "Nit Pick" magazine articles or project cars. I'm not nit-picking, I'm just pointing out that there are often easier and cheaper ways to get the desired result. Yes, if you have enough money to throw at a project you can do anything you want. But that doesn't always mean that's the best way to go or the most prudent or economical. For example-If you want to build a corner-carving "G" machine / musclecar to challenge Porsche 911s, Z06 'Vettes, and Dodge Vipers-wouldn't it be more prudent to build a '70's Camaro or Firebird  than a '60's Impala or GTO? Or '68-70 Charger / Road Runner? The 70-81 GM F-bodys are great handling and braking cars to start with-especially if you get a Z/28 or Trans-Am model. And there is TONS of aftermarket suspension and brake upgrades for these cars, and their wheelwells will clear huge tires without modification. Their engine compartments will accept a small or big-block Chevy or a 400 / 455 Pontiac with no fabrication, so there's no problem making the horsepower either. Yes, you can make great handlers of the '64-72 "A" bodys" or Full-size GM offerings, or Chrysler "B" bodies- but the bottom line is-it would cost way more- to build and still wouldn't have the same performance level of the F-bodies-which are lighter, have a shorter wheelbase, and have way more parts available for them at lower prices than the others. I saw an article where a guy got a thick-wall 350 Olds diesel block, and put a custom ground 425 crank, big-block Chevy rods and custom pistons, in the short-block that made 440 inches, then topped it with a custom solid-roller cam and valvetrain, Edelbrock Aluminum 455 heads, and a custom-port-matched Performer RPM intake and a nitrous system. My question is-"If you have THAT much money-and need to go THAT fast, why aren't you building a 455 Olds  instead of a 350?  Same thing the other way-I read an article about a guy building a 300 inch Buick small-block for a street rod?  Why? There is practically zero parts availability for these engines either stock or aftermarket., any that are available have to be special-ordered, and the cost to rebuild one is WAY more than the price of building a small-block Chevy or Ford, both of which make double the power for half the cost and has widespread parts availability. If your trying to be unique and have something other than a 350 Chevy or 302 Ford in your T-Bucket or whatever, why not build a 318 or 360 Chrysler? Their bulletproof, there's tons of aftermarket support and they can easily make as much power as a small-block Chevy for very low bucks. Back to the obsolete Buick 300 V8- If the car was an old Buick and you didn't want to "cross-breed" i.e. use another engine line-I'd look for a wrecked '90's Buick Riviera or Pontiac Bonneville SSEI and salvage the supercharged 3.8 liter V6. They have 250 hp stock, they'll bolt up to a TH350 / 200R4 / 700R4 trans, and by changing pulleys on the roots-type blower you can add 150 more hp easily. They have the great drivability of a modern fuel-injected electronically controlled engine, and get about 25 mpg if you drive reasonably. Now that would be cool and unique under the hood of a 50's Roadmaster or '60's Skylark. Even people trying to be "King Kong" with old standbys-spend way too much money. Here's a case where a $10,000 blower motor is the screamin' deal. Don't believe me? Read on.  Hot Rod bought a GMPP 454HO crate engine for $5599 and slapped on a Weiand 8-71 blower setup. Even with the small-cap MSD distributor, throttle linkage and dual 950 cfm blower-calibrated Holley carbs the total cost was a shade under 10 grand. With a mild hydraulic roller cam and the blower 14.3% UNDERDRIVEN-( The big Rat would live forever at that boost level ) it made 754 hp and 724 lbs ft of torque!!! Just for giggles-they tried it 17.5 % UNDERDRIVEN to make it even more street-friendly on junk gas and it still made 737 hp and 706 lbs of torque!!!  Further- it made almost 500 lbs of torque at 2,000 rpm, and was as docile as a house cat-until you hit the loud pedal. And it did it on 92 octane gas with only 31 degrees of timing. If you had that in a 3,800 lb Chevelle or Camaro it would be a low 10 second car, provided you could get traction!!  To get that level of power from a normally-aspirated Rat-you'd have to step up to the 572 inch GMPP crate engine-which is rated at 720 hp and 685 lbs of torque-but has 12:1 compression and requires 110 octane race gas, has a lumpy solid-roller cam, a choppy idle, and way less drivability and low-end torque, and oh-yeah-costs $15,000-five grand MORE than the 454HO / Blower combo!!  All I look for is maximum performance and reliability for the smallest dollar amount. The most "Bang for the Buck".  That's all I'm doing, not playing "Devil's Advocate"- just disagreeing to disagree.  Mastermind