No you don't.....Show me time slips and dyno sheets.....Then maybe we'll talk,,,

I love how people pull numbers out of their ass and expect you to take them at face value. Got an email the other day from some clown claiming to have a 1,000 hp 4,000 lb Chevelle that runs 9s on street tires and  purrs like a kitten and gets 22 mpg, and says he only has 14 grand in the whole car. "I believe you, Wayne"  "Not!" There's so many holes that you could drive a truck through in this statement. # 1. Price. A blown 638 hp ZR1 'Vette engine costs $22,000 through GMPP-and that's just the motor. Mast Motorsports builds Stompin' LS engines with 500-1,000 hp but they start at $12,000 for the 500 hp model and get well over 25K for the big dogs. And that's just for the engine-to put all that power to the ground-you'll need a heavy duty transmission, rear end and suspension and some sticky tires. Did someone give him a car for free with a TCI built TH400, a 9 inch Ford Rear End, a Competition engineering 4-link suspension, and an 8-point cage?-( which most tracks require for anything that runs quicker than 11.50 ). Which brings up- #2 Putting the power down. In 2008 Hot Rod did a "Crate Motor Shootout" which included small-blocks, big blocks and LS engines. The test mule was a '68 Chevelle with an 8-point cage, a gutted interior a Currie 9 inch rear and a ladder bar suspension. It also had a TCI TH400 with a trans brake and a 4,800 rpm converter and 4.30 gears and was running 12 inch slicks. The 720 hp 572 inch Rat motor ran the fastest time which was a 10.17, with a Pro Stock Drag Racing champion driving it who said he could barely hold it in the road-That to go any faster the car really needed wheel tubs and much bigger slicks and more suspension tweaking. So if this gutted race car with a total drag race suspension, a 4,800 rpm converter, and running on huge slicks couldn't even put 700 hp down without frying the tires halfway down the track-how does this guys street car put 1000+ down??  The answer?  It doesn't. Because he doesn't have 1,000 hp!!  Because--# 3. Let's see GM, Ford, and Chrysler with all their billions of dollars and engineers who graduated MIT can only make 650- 700 hp with their premium engines. NASCAR NEXTEL CUP cars can only make 850hp with their state-of the-art $40,000 engines,Legends Like John Lingenfelter and Jack Roush can build you mega hp engines-for $15-30,000 on up. But THIS genius makes over 1,000 hp for like 5 grand. Sure. # 4. Drivability. Read the "Engine Masters Challenge" that they have every year. Everything from Flathead Fords,Small-Block Chevys, Chrysler Hemis, Boss-Nine Fords, Pontiacs, LS motors, Ford Mod Motors,etc all compete. The ones who make 700+ hp are full on race motors. Most of them if their put in a car-need a vacuum reservoir because they can't even make 9 inches of vacuum at idle-thus no power brakes or operating a vacuum modulater to make a transmission shift. So does this guy have a transmission with electric shift solenoids and an elaborate hydroboost system like a diesel to operate his power accessories-or is he claiming that his "1,000" hp engine also makes 15 inches of vacuum at idle?  And remember he built this for 14K including the purchase price of the car.... Anyhow-I've seen many a person who like The "Fast&Furious" movies claimed to have a "10 second" car-and when they got to the strip couldn't break out of the 12s. Not that 12s is anything to sneeze at, but it's a far cry from the 10s. I'd like to see Mr 1,000 hp run his car against an all-wheel-drive Nissan GTR which with "only" 550 hp  according to Car and Driver runs 0-60 in 2.9 seconds and the 1/4 in 10.80 and see how he fares. I'm sure his car is quicker than 90% of the people he has "Stoplight Gran Prixs" with, but spare me the virtually impossible power and performance claims.....Mastermind        

For the last time.....I don't hate LS motors,,,,I just don't think they should be put in stuff like a numbers-matching Judge!!!!

Some smart-ass sent me a snotty email yesterday challenging me to a race for pinks and spewing venom responding to a post I made in 2012. That's right-three years ago-I said I was sick of seeing people putting LS motors into stuff like a one of 1.286 1972 455HO Trans-Ams, or butchering a pristine, numbers matching, 4-speed, SS396 by swapping in an LS engine and an automatic. I said then-and I'll say it now-no one gives a shit if you want to stuff an LS engine into a beater '68 Tempest, or one of the 243,000 Camaros built in 1969. But don't do it to a one of 3,797 1970 GTO Judges ( I've seen this exact swap in a magazine!!!) or One of the 602 '67 Z/28's ever built. That's all I was saying. If you were a motorcycle enthusiast would you swap a fuel-injected Harley Twin-Cam engine out of a 2011 Softail into a '47 Panhead? Or a Fuelie Buell engine into a 1965 Sportster? Or a 4-cylinder Honda Hurricane sportbike motor into a pristine 1969 Honda CB750???  If you were a gun collector, would you put laser sights on a WWII vintage Colt .45??  If I can find one, I'll buy a 2004-2006 GTO and put a blower on it and run the crap out of it. But I WON"T buy a numbers-matching Tri-Power,389 4-speed '65 GTO and put the LS powertrain in it!!!  That's all I was saying-so spare me the "I'll run you for pinks" with my LS monster shit. My buddy has a 9 second Nova ( with a traditional Rat Motor ) That I'll put up against anything. I don't care how fast you can make an LS motored car go-If you want one, do it-in one of the millions of '98 and later Camaros,Firebirds etc or at least one of the millions of beater '70-81 Camaros or Firebirds-just don't take a one of 943 SD-455 1974 Trans-Ams or one 2,000 1972 LT-1 Z/28's and do it. Are we clear on that, finally??  Mastermind

Can't afford a Hellcat or a Z06, or a Z/28 or a Shelby......Check these late-model bargains out....

There's a lot of people that would love to have a modern musclecar but simply can't afford it. The Hellcat Challenger, the Shelby GT500 Mustang, the ZL1 and Z/28 Camaros are all awesome with their 600+hp engines and suspensions to handle all that power. But not many people can afford $70,000 for a car!! Even the mid-level models-the Challenger R/T, the Mustang GT, the Camaro SS-with "only" 400+ hp still cost $40,000. That's too much for many people's budget-especially for something that's maybe a 2nd or 3rd car- a "toy"-not the person or family's primary mode of transportation. But here's a solution-a lot of high-performance cars were built in the last 10-15 years and most of these are under $20,000 now, and many are under $10,000.  Here's my personal favorites. # 1. 2005-2010 Hemi Charger / Chrysler 300C Hemi. These have between 340 and 425 hp depending on whether you get the 5.7 or the 6.1 Hemi. I have seen these cars at auctions for as low as $8,000. These were built during the merger with Daimler-Benz. You have a Mercedes E55 chassis with a Chrysler Hemi stuffed in it. The best of both worlds. There is a ton of speed equipment available for these cars. # 2. 2008 "Bullitt" Mustang; 2009-10 GT. The Bullitt edition had a special suspension, 3.73:1 gears,a short-throw Hurst shifter, a special exhaust and 320 hp- ( 20 more hp than the GT). Ford incorporated those changes into the GT package in the ensuing years.  #3. 2004-2006 Pontiac GTO. The best car nobody bought. Car and Driver said it best- "It runs like a Corvette, handles like a BMW and looks like a rental car. You got a 350hp 5.7 liter V8 in the '04 models and a 6.0 liter 400 hp V8 in the '05-06s, backed by a six-speed manual or a 4-speed automatic. Off the showroom floor they ran 0-60 in the 5-second range and the 1/4 mile in the 13s. The bland styling may keep the men in blue off your back as well. I have seen these cars for sale as low as $6,500. Dynamite if you can find one.  # 4. 2003-04 Mercury Marauder. Designed to compete with Impala SS these cars took the Ford Crown Vic Police Interceptor package and took it further. The 239 hp 4.6 liter V8 was replaced by a snarling 302 hp version pirated directly from the Mustang Cobra. The 4-speed automatic was fitted with a high-stall speed converter and a special shift kit. Wrist-thick front and rear stabilizer bars and fat 18" low-profile tires put all that power to the ground. Inside you got special seats and Auto Meter guages. For some reason, Ford never promoted this car or advertized it or asked the buff magazines to test one. And then wondered why they didn't sell. Jennifer Garner drove one on "Alias" for a while. # 5. 1998-2002 Pontiac Trans-Am / Camaro SS. These cars have the LS1 5.7 V8 out of the same-year Corvettes. 320 hp stock and you can increase that by 100 easily and stay smog-legal. There is a ton of speed equipment available for these cars. And $7,000 will buy you one in any state in the union. Food for thought if you want some later model muscle....But don't have an extra 50K!!!  Mastermind          

It's ok to "Run what you Brung"......

With the premium models bringing a King's Ransom-GTO's, SS Chevelles, Z/28's, T/A's, Mach 1s, Charger R/T's etc-a lot of people are buying base models. I then hear them lamenting how much it's going to cost to build it the way they want it. It's your car-build it any way you want. But if you buy say a 350 powered 2 dr 1970 Malibu-You don't HAVE to turn it into an SS454 clone. There's more speed equipment for the small-block Chevy available than there is for all the other makes combined. A small-block Chevelle can really rock with the right equipment. And they can really be made to handle with the proper suspension upgrades-much better than a big-block model ever would-because of about a 200 lb weight difference in the engines. If you buy a Mustang-it doesn't HAVE to have a 351C or a 428 or 429 to go fast. I've seen many '65-73 Mustangs that hauled ass with 289s and 302s, 351Ws or 390s. Then there's the "Other"-i.e.-Non-Chevrolet 350s. Buick, Olds and Pontiac guys are snobs because the 400,425.428,430 and 455 engines were plentiful for many years. If you have one of those or can buy one cheap-great-"There's no substitute for cubic inches, except cubic dollars." However-if you have a LeMans, Firebird, Ventura, Skylark, Cutlass, etc with a 350 under the hood, don't despair. Of the three-the Olds has the most potential-there was a fire-breathing factory version-the Vaunted "W31" that was grossly under rated at 325 hp. Think-the base Cutlass 4bbl 350 had 310 hp. A cam with 308 duration and .474 lift,special heads and exhaust manifolds, and an aluminum high-rise intake only added 15 hp to the lo-po "station wagon" motor?  Riigghhttt. Anyhow-their tough-and reliable and Edelbrock claims 397 hp and 400 lbs ft of torque with their "Performer RPM" package. Magazine writers spout numbers flippantly-but 400 honest hp will turn any street car into an absolute rocket. The Pontiacs respond well to basic hot rod tricks-headers, cam, carb and intake-but their limited because the small bore won't allow you to use factory or aftermarket big-valve heads-which you need to make big power. However-even with the small heads you can make 300-350 hp and 400 lbs of torque pretty easily. If you need more than that-I'd get a 400 or 455. Same for the Buicks-there's not a ton of speed equipment for them-but they can make 300-325 hp with basic stuff. Like the Pontiacs-the head design kind of limits them-and they won't rev much over 5,500 rpm. But if you need 400+ hp then why aren't you building a 455?  Ditto for Mopars you don't "Gotta Have" a Hemi or a 440 to go fast. I've seen some STRONG 383 cars-that were rockets. You just need the right combination of parts. And-360s can really run as well. There's millions of 92 and later "Magnum" engines in Dodge Trucks and Vans and Jeep Cherokees. The "Magnum" heads breathe better than any factory head and many aftermarket ones, and Edelbrock makes 4bbl intakes that are compatible. Magnum heads will bolt up to earlier blocks-you just need a "Magnum" style intake. Mopar Perfromance sells a 360 crate engine with 390 hp. And there's stroker kits to turn a 360 into a 408. So don't despair if you don't have a mega-cube engine under your hood. You can still have a kick-ass car with whatever came with it. Mastermind  

A full-size car may be the way to go for some low-budget muscle....

Everyone fights with machetes and sells their first-born children for '60's and '70's GTOs, Road Runners, Chargers, SS Chevelles,Camaros, Firebirds,Mustangs, and 'Cudas / Challengers, etc. Even base models are getting overpriced. I talked to a guy that was asking $6,500 for a '66 Mustang that was a total roach. It was a notchback coupe-not a fastback-it was an automatic, not a 4-speed, it had a 2bbl-289 not the 225 or 271 hp 4bbl versions,the interior was trashed, and it didn't have a straight piece of metal on it. I might have paid $2,000 for this piece of shit and then turned it into a ''60's style gasser tribute drag racer-but I wouldn't have restored it even if I could buy it for two grand-it needed so much work-that by the time you were done-you'd have been better off just paying 15 or 20 grand for one already restored!! Another clown wanted $4,500 for a '68 Camaro body. And when I say body-I mean just that. I mean this was an engineless,transmissionless,radiatorless,gas tankless,interiorless hulk. Again-if you took on this project-it would cost so much to restore that again-you'd be ahead of the game just paying 20 or 25 grand for a nice, complete car. That appears to be the current lay of the land. However-you can still find really good deals on '60's full-size cars.  A lot of them make great drivers-remember they were the top-of-the-line when new-and many are surprisingly fast even in stock trim. Here's my personal favorites.  # 1. 1960-68 Pontiacs. These are a screaming deal. While 99% of Chevy Impalas, Bel Airs, and Biscaynes of this era had 283 or 327 small-block motivation-( 396,409, and 427 versions are rare and priced in the stratosphere ) every Pontiac Catalina, Bonneville, or Gran Prix built in these years had at least 389 cubes under the hood-and some had 400, 421 or 428!! And the Pontiacs usually had upgraded interiors as well. There are a million ways to build power into a Pontiac V8, and any suspension or brake upgrades that fit an Impala fit these cars. # 2. 1960-69 Oldsmobiles. Like their Pontiac Cousins-the Olds 88s and 98s are a better buy than the Chevys because they had 394,400,425 or 455 cubes under the hood as standard equipment depending on year.  # 3. 1966-69 Buick Riviera. These cars have the sexy hidden headlight, fastback styling of the Olds Toronado-but are still rear-wheel drive. And they have 430 cubes under the hood. But with a Chevy bolt-pattern TH400 and motor mounts-you could put 572 inches and 720 hp under that long hood....Blasphemy, I know Buick fans,but just saying.... # 4. 1963-69 Fords. Galaxies and LTDs of this era are just like Pontiacs-most have 390 cubes under the hood and great interiors. My dad was ( and still is at 75 a gearhead ) so we had a lot of different cars. One of the coolest cars I remember my mother driving when I was a kid was a '65 Galaxie coupe. It had a sexy body-not quite as sexy as our '65 2+2-but it had factory A/C and bucket seats,with a console and the Ford t-handle-shifter. It had American Racing Torq-Thrust-mags on it and the 390 would burn rubber at the drop of a hat. The other Ford I always loved was the '67-69 T-Bird. The styling is still cool 40+ years later and they either 390 or 428 cubes under the hood. # 5. 1963-69 Chryslers. Plymouth Furys and Belvederes,and Dodge Polaras and Monacos all had at least 383 cubes under the hood-some '67 and later models had 440s. And they had the excellent Torqueflite automatic-which was light-years ahead of the early GM and Ford offereings. GM didn't introduce the TH400 until 1965 in full-size cars and 1967 in intermediates. The Ford C6 was late to the party as well.  All of these cars would make a cool driver. Mastermind      

Iron fists, Velvet Gloves...Pt 2.....

I can't believe the flack I got for the last post. 1st off-It's your car- you can do any fuckin' thing you want without asking any other asshole's permission!!  If it's a Hemi 'Cuda-and you want to narrow the rear end and cut up the trunk for wheel tubs- because you love the "Pro Street" look-go ahead. Here's the other thing-I've said it before-Why are we so goddamnded obsessed over what the car will be worth if we sell it? Did you marry your wife because you thought she'd give you an easier divorce than the other women you dated?  No-you married her because you thought she was beautiful,funny, would be a good mother if you had children,etc, etc,-you didn't marry her because of what she'd do when you got rid of her!!!  I like Pontiacs. My first car was a 1969 GTO Judge. I have to say-If I had my choice-I'd take a disco era T/A. I had a couple- and I loved them. I'd love to have another one. I'd put Edelbrock heads and other goodies on it-to make 500 hp. I'd put a Tremec 5-speed in it. I'd put Year One 17" snowflake wheels on it to run ZR rated tires. Why? Because no one gives a shit if you modify a '77 T/A. A '68 GTO and people lose their mind. Anyhow-Build your car the way YOU want it-not how it should be if your selling it!!!  I don't order a Cheeseburger the way I think the public likes it!!!  Mastermind