What if all the manufacturers hadn't just gave up on performance in 1973-74?...

I mentioned in the last post how the Pontiac Trans-Am became the best-selling car of the late '70s-partly because it was a great car and partly because it was the only game in town. We owe Pontiac-a great debt-if it weren't for the T/A's phenomenal popularity-we wouldn't have had 5.0 Mustangs and Buick Grand Nationals in the '80's or Impala SS's and Ford Lightnings in the '90's. And we wouldn't have 400 hp Mustangs, Camaros and Challengers now. That aside-the other automakers screwed up big time.  Here's some examples. # 1. Olds 442. The Cutlass was the best selling American car in the '70's. However-after 1972 the "W30" 455 was dropped, and the "442" became an "Apperance and Handling package." In other words-you could buy a Cutlass with badass graphics and big tires-that had a 350 2 bbl V8 that wheezed out 150 hp. The sad thing is-the "W30" 455 which could compete with the LS6 454 and Pontiac 455HO could have continued unchanged through 1974 and with minor changes-like Pontiac did with the L78 400-could have rocked on until 1979. Think a 455, 4-speed or TH400 backed 442 would have sold? Is a pig made out of pork?  # 2. Big block Challenger / 'Cudas. For some insane reason, after '71 the biggest engine you could get in a "Cuda or Challenger was a 340 or 360. Since GM kept the F-bodies the same from 70-81-Chrysler could have done the same with the E-bodies if they didn't drop them in '74. And the 400 and 440s were EPA certified in the big cars until '78. Think a 440, 4-speed Challenger could have competed with a Trans-Am?  Yeah!!!!   # 3. Javelin AMX. Same thing-they quit production in 1974. They could have continued on until 1979 easily. The 360 and 401 engines were EPA certified in Jeep Waggoneers and AMC Ambassadors. A 401 Javelin could have competed with a T/A.  # 4. Ford Mustang. Instead of going to the Pinto based Mustang II in 1974-Ford could have kept the '71-73 bodystyle that could accomodate a 429 / 460-and the 460 was certified in T-Birds and Lincolns until '78. Think a 460 Mustang could compete with a 400 or 455 T/A?  Duh!!!!   But everyone just gave in to the bean counters. Thank god Pontiac didn't. Otherwise-like I said-we wouldn't have the great performance cars that we do now.  All Hail Herb Adams and Dennis Mecham and everyone else that promoted T/A's in the '70's. Mastermind    

Some badass cars that never made production.....Damn!!..They'd have been awesome....

For some reason-every manufacturer has had some ultra-badass cars that would have been easy to produce and would have sold like hot cakes, yet they were killed before they were born. Here's a bunch we all wish were built. # 1. 1970 LS6 454 Nova SS. Originally the LS6 454 was slated to be optional in the Nova SS and the Camaro SS as well as the Chevelle line. In fact-the intake manifold loses 10-15 hp over the 1969 427 4bbl intake because it's so flat-designed that way to clear the low hoodline of the new Camaro. Since the 396 was already an option in both cars, it would have been a bolt-in swap. However-a Nova weighs about 800 lbs less than a Chevelle and about 400 lbs less than a Camaro-if the buff mags thought the LS6 Chevelle was badass-an LS6 Nova would have been like "Leroy Brown"-"Badder than King Kong and meaner than a Junkyard Dog."  For whatever reason-the brass killed it and the LS6 was only offered in the Chevelle line that year.  # 2. 1971 Boss 429 Mustang. The larger '71 Mustang was designed with the 429 CJ as an option, so it's huge engine bay could have easily accepted a "Boss 429". And unlike the -'69 and '70 models which started life as 428 models and were converted at Kar Kraft-( Ford lost money on every one ) the '71s could have been built on Ford's assembly line. For whatever reason, Ford decided not to offer the Boss 429 at the last minute. # 3. 1971 Plymouth Superbird / Dodge Charger Daytona. Chrysler considered putting the slope-nose and big wing on the new for '71 models, and then changed their mind at the last minute. Too bad. They'd have been cool.  # 4. 1971-73 429 / 460 Mercury Cougar. Since Pontiac offered a 455 in the best-selling Gran Prix and Chevrolet offered a 454 in it's Monte Carlo cousin some Ford engineers thought the Cougar should have a big block as well. The bean counters decided that the G/P and the Monte were competitors of the T-Bird, not the Cougar. Hello? The T-Bird was based on the much heavier Lincoln MKIV platform. In drag race-the 455 and 454 "A" body ( Chevelle / LeMans chassis ) GM offerings would blow the doors off a 429 / 460 T-Bird. My cousin had an early '70's GP with a 455. It had power everything, and it felt like a GTO. She showed her taillights to quite a few evil-looking Camaro and Mustangs.  A 429 Cougar would have been competitive. Alas-a 351C was the biggest engine you could get in a Cougar. # 5. 1974 Pontiac GTO. Initially-Pontiac was going to keep the GTO nameplate on the LeMans platform and offer the SD-455-that had only been available in the Trans-Am / Formula Firebirds in '73. That might have given sales a shot in the arm. When it was decided to move it to the "X" body ( read Nova / Ventura / Omega ) platform, the engineers got the bright idea of returning to it's 1964 roots that made it wildly successful-stuff a "Big Car" V8 into a light compact. They thought about dropping in a 400 and reviving the "Judge" moniker. Since the 350 was already an option in the Ventura and Pontiac engines are externally identical it would have easy. And a Ventura weighs about 500 lbs less than a Firebird. A 400 Ventura / GTO would have been a rocket-even quicker than the vaunted SD-455 Trans-Am. Since the T/A was now the flasgship and cash cow, the brass couldn't allow that. So the down-sized Goat got a 7.6:1 compression 350 that wheezed out 200 hp. And they wondered why they didn't sell?  # 6. 1977 AMC AMX. I know there was an AMX option in '77-78, but let me finish. After 1974-there was no more 'Cuda / Challengers, no more Road Runners, the Charger was a re-badged Chrysler Cordoba ( yuk! ) the Mustang was more Pinto / Capri than Mustang, the Javelin was no more, no more SS Chevelles, and the Z/28 was gone, and the biggest engine you could get in a Corvette was a 350, and you couldn't even get a 4-speed in California!. Gee-wonder why 400 and 455 Pontiac Trans-Ams were selling in record numbers, even before "Smokey and the Bandit" came out?  Musclecar buyers didn't go away after 1974-the manufacturers stopped making cars they wanted to buy!! After T/A sales doubled or tripled every year from '73-76 ( "Smokey and the Bandit" wasn't released until May 1977 )  Everyone realized their collossal goof and began trying to find a Trans-Am fighter. Chevrolet hastily re-introduced the Z/28 Camaro for '77 with very T/A like spoilers and graphics. AMC engineers developed a performance package for the compact Hornet. It had a great handling suspension and since-like Pontiacs-AMC engines are externally identical-a 304 V8 was an option in the Hornet line-they got the bright idea to swap in a 401 out the big car / Jeep line. That would have been a bolt-in swap. Since a Hornet only weighs about 2,900 lbs-and a '77 T/A weighs about 3,800-a 401 Hornet AMX would have smoked a 400 Trans-Am in a drag race or the twisties. They might not have been sexy but-like the '68 Road Runner-they'd have been a stripped-down, badass street fighter. In spite of irrefutable proof that performance buyers were still out there-Pontiac sold 50,000 T/As in 1976 alone, and another 68,000 in '77, and the revived Z/28 was selling-'77 and '78 were record sales years for the Camaro and Corvette-the AMC brass decided that performance didn't matter only cosmetics-so they ok'd the suspension and graphics package but nixed the engine swap. The only engines available in the Hornet AMX were a 258 inch six and a 304 V8 with a 2bbl that wheezed out 120 hp, and there was no manual transmission option. Decisions like this are why AMC went under.  # 7. 1990 Buick Reatta. That's not a Typo. Buick engineers wanted to make the racy Reatta 2-seater rear-wheel drive and drop in the badass Turbo V6 out of the now-defunct Grand National. ( Since the engine was offered in the '89 20th Anniversary T/A, they were still building them. )  Chevrolet brass had an absolute meltdown-as a GN-engined Reatta would have blown the doors off an L98 Corvette in performance and sales both. GM brass nixed it-and the Reatta was made front-drive with a normally aspirated V6 that wheezed out 120 hp. And they wondered why they didn't sell?  What might have been....Mastermind                

Ask for professional advice....And then don't take it...stick to your fantasy....

Had a guy mention an old Hot Rod article about a couple guys that ran a 440 powered '68 Charger in the Silver State classic and went like 185 mph. ( They were shooting for 200 mph ). He asked if I thought they could break 200 if they'd had a Hemi. I said no-the 440 they had was putting out like 600 hp-they didn't need more power-they needed a lighter and more aerodynamic car than a heavy, boxy '68 Charger. He asked what combination I would run if I wanted to try to go 200 in the Silver State classic or at Bonneville. I said I would use a 1982-90 Pontiac Trans-Am with a 454 Chevy for power as this would be the easiest and most econmical way to do it. Then he asks why not a '70's T/A with a 455 Pontiac. Here's why-# 1. Aerodynamics is just as much a factor in high-speed runs as power. A more aerodynamic car can go faster with less power because it slices through the wind easier. Why do you think a '79 Trans-Am can go 132 mph while a 454 powered GMC Stepside '78 1/2 ton pick-up can only go 118-even though they both weigh about 3,800 lbs and the truck had 20 more hp ( 240 vs 220 ) and catalyst-free exhaust?  Because the Firebird slices through the wind easier than the boxy truck. Very simple. Anyhow-I said-a '70's T/A has a drag coefficient of .048. The '82-90 model has a drag coefficient of .032-or .028 with the "Aero" package. That's about as low as your going to get with a production car. Even if they had the same amount of power-the '80's model would go way faster because of the aerodynamics. Secondly, the '70's T/A weighed about 3,800 lbs. The '80's model weighed about 3,200.  So with the aerodynamics and the weight advantage-the '80's model would go much faster with the same amount of power.  # 2. Bang for the buck. Like it or not nothing makes more power for less money than a big-block Chevy. Yes a Chrysler Hemi or Boss Nine Ford can make as much or more power-but at double or triple the cost. For example the GMPP 454 HO makes 440 hp and 500 lbs of torque for $5995.  The 465 hp 426 Hemi that Mopar Performance sells retails for $14,995. The 472 and 510 Hemis are way more expensive than the 502 or 572 GMPP Rat Motors. As for the guys question about a 455 Pontiac-yes Butler performance and other companies offer 600 hp Pontiac motors-at a cost of $15,000 or more. Then he asks if a Fox-bodied Mustang could do 200 with a 347 stroker?  Really?  I just said you'd have a hard time doing it with a slippery T/A with a pumped to the gills 454 Chevy. Why would you think a "barn door" Mustang could do it with a 347 small-block??  Really?? Mastermind  

You can restore or build a car on a budget....Just don't waste money on unnecessary upgrades that offer little "Bang for the Buck"..

I was talking to some gearheads in Summitt Racing the other day and they were lamenting  how expensive it is to build a hot rod. I'm not always "Devil's Advocate", but I had to differ. The reason is these guys had fallen into emulating car magazine project cars and the ever-present "Gotta Haves.". The "Gotta Haves" can drive the price of a project up substantially while not really offering the performance return for the dollars invested. Heres the main offenders. # 1. Aftermarket 4-wheel disc brake systems. Why does every single magazine project car have to have a Wildwood or Brembo 4-wheel disc brake setup worthy of a NASCAR Nextel Cup race car?  Don't get me wrong, I'm all for safety-But honestly-the stock front disc / rear drum or 4-wheel disc brake setup on most late '60s, '70's, '80's and '90's cars isn't adequate to stop the car in daily driving or on a weekend trip to the drags?  I had a friend that Autocrossed his '76 Trans-Am with great success, with the stock brakes. We figured out that if he used Police-Spec D52 Metallic pads and Dot 5 fluid, that his brakes wouldn't fade, even in back to back events. Ditto for another friend that had a '78 Camaro "Super Stock" circle track car that he raced on 1/4 mile, 1/2 mile and 5/8 mile ovals. Even on a 50 lap main event on a 1/4 mile track-( that's a lot of heavy braking ) his brakes never faded either. In fact he found that the Dot 5 fluid was the key. Dot 3 fluid would boil-and cause the pedal to be mushy. As long as he used Dot 5 fluid and Police-spec Wagner or Ferodo pads-he never had a problem. If you are building an autocross car or something that your going to race in vintage car races at Laguna Seca or Lime Rock then you might want an upgraded braking system-but honestly-whether it's a '68 Chevelle, a '78 Trans-Am, an '88 "5.0" Mustang or a '98 Dodge Dakota R/T your playing with-anything with factory front disc brakes is going to be able to handle 500-600 hp safely in daily driving or a weekend trip to the drags. In fact-back in the '70's-I knew many guys who built 400 hp V8 Vegas, Pintos and Chevy LUV trucks-and the stock front disc/ rear drum setups on those compacts stopped the cars safely from multiple 100+ mph 1/4 mile runs every Saturday night. A lot of guys who built 10 second Shelby Cobra kit cars used Mustang II front suspension and disc brakes and the cars stopped quicker than most production sports cars.  # 2. Ford 9" rear ends. Why does every single magazine project car-even GM or Mopar-have to have a $4,000 custom Currie 9 inch rear end?  In 40 years-I have never seen anyone break a Chrysler 8 3/4 rear. A friend has a Duster with a 505 inch 440 based stroker with nitrous that runs 9s on wrinklewall slicks-and he's never had a problem. I had Lakewood Ladder bars and N50-15 Mickey Thompson Hot-n-Sticky drag tires on my GTO-I'd pop the clutch at 4,500 rpm and powershift at 6,500 and I never broke the 12 bolt rear in it.  I've had 400, 4-speed '70's Trans-Ams and popped the clutch at 3,500-4,000 rpm 15 times at a weekend at the drags-every weekend for two years-and never broke the 8.5 inch 10 bolt posi. LIke I said-I know guys who have Cobra replicas with 500+hp 302s, 351s and even 427s-and they've never broke the 8 inch Ford Maverick / Mustang II rears that their using. I know guys with 9 second Fox Mustangs that have never broken the stock 8.8 rear. Yes-if you've got a 720 hp 572 inch Rat backed with a TH400 with a 5 grand converter and a trans-brake and your running wrinklewall slicks bolted to the rims-driveline breakage is a possiblity-but for most people-the stock rear end will hold up to just about any power level. The exception being the 7.5 incher in '80's Camaros and Firebirds and GM G-bodies. They break with moderate power levels-they need an upgrade-but just about anything else-that 1/4 or 1/2 inch on the ring gear isn't going to make that much difference. # 3. Upgraded transmissions. Every magazine car seems to have a Richmond or BW five or six-speed stick or a beefed up 4 or 6-speed automatic. In reality-a C4 or a TH350-a "small-block" trans-will withstand up to 500 hp in basically stock trim-i.e. a shift improver kit and upgraded cooler. My brother's GTO has a 400 with the Edelbrock Performer RPM package on it-Edelbrock claims 422 hp and 441 lbs of torque with this package- and his TH350 has lasted 7 years with his lead foot-and still lays 30 feet of rubber on the 1-2 shift. A friend with a Ram Air III '69 Firebird has a 200R4 in his car-and it works great. I know Buick Grand National racers that run 11s with 200R4's. So you don't need a TCI or B&M or Art Carr built  700R4 or Ford AOD for your car. If your car has a TH400, 727 Torqueflite or C6-their practically indestructible in stock trim-that's why they were put behind 454 Chevys and 455 Buick, Olds and Pontiacs, 440 and 426 Hemi Mopars and 429 and 460 Fords in various cars and trucks. A shift kit and an adjustable modulator will be all you need in any but the most radical applications. Ditto for sticks. The 4-speed in your GM, Ford or Mopar Musclecar will stand up to just about any power level. Even factory 5-speeds are very tough. I know guys with 11 second "5.0" Mustangs that are running stock T5 trannys. I know a guy that put a stompin' ZZ4 crate engine in an '85 IROC-Z-and it lasted 13 months with him powershifting it 20 times a weekend every weekend at the drags. If he'd drove it normally it probably would have lasted 5 years. If you want an overdrive tranny and can afford it-fine go for it-but that's 3 grand that you don't really need to spend. # 4. Unnecessary bottom-end beef and machine work. Here's where the "Gotta Haves" are half-right. If your building a NASCAR Nextel Cup engine that has to go 7,800 rpm for 500 miles at Daytona, or a Pro Stock or Top-Fuel drag car-then you need all the beef you can get. For the average street machine that will never see the high side of 6,500 rpm-you don't. Two-bolt main blocks are fine for this kind of use. Ditto for cast cranks and cast pistons. That's what I told a guy who asked my advice about building a hot small-block Chevy. I told him I'd only recommend a forged crank and pistons if he was going to run a blower or nitrous. But then my question is-"If you have THAT much money and need to go THAT fast-why aren't you building a 454 instead of a 350?"  See what I'm saying?  Anyhow-just because " Project Badass" has it-doesn't mean you have to copy it part for part. Mastermind        

No you didn't.....and your still a moron....Part 2...

Got some more outrageous boasts from angry idiots after the last post. I thought I'd share the more entertaining ones. # 1. This is my personal favorite. This clown, who has a 1986 SVO Mustang-which if you don't know has a Turbocharged 4-cylinder engine with 200 hp. When they were new-they ran 0-60 times in the 7 second range and the 1/4 in the high-15s. Not bad for the time-but the "5.0" V8 models were both quicker and several thousand dollars cheaper-which is why the SVO's didn't sell. Anyhow this idiot claims that he beat a 1998 WS6 Trans-Am-which had 320 hp stock and ran 5-second 0-60 times and high 13s in the 1/4. Technically he did, but he sounds like such an asshole justifying it. They didn't line up at a stoplight and go on green, and he left the other guy. No,-he races in a bracket racing class at his local strip. The way they do it is if a 15 second car is racing a 13 second car-the 15 second car gets a two second head start. I mean they literally let one car leave the line, while the other one sits there staring at a red light for two whole seconds, before he's allowed to launch. This system really favors the slower cars. Often the guy waiting for the delayed launch redlights and loses,or doesn't launch quick enough when he finally gets the green and loses. There's no way in hell this clowns '86 SVO Mustang could beat a '98 LS1 WS6 T/A in a regular drag race, or a "Stoplight Gran Prix". # 2. This one is hilarious too. This guy I sold cars with back in the '80's. He asked me if I remembered his 289 powered '67 Mustang beating a mutual friend's '69 SS396 El Camino from a light. I do-and I asked him if he remembered that the guy had blown the 396 up a couple months before, and had put a 307 with a 2bbl in the car so he could drive it while he was rebuilding the 396. So he beat an Elky with a junkyard 2bbl carbed 307, not a "real" SS396!!  # 3. Here's another "10 second" car that got smoked by a 14 second car. This guy had a shop next to mine for years. He had a '68 Nova that started out as a six-cylinder, 3-speed model. It had a one-legger monoleaf sprung 3.08:1 10 bolt rear. He put a 350 and a 4-speed in it. I don't know what cam he had in it-it idled rough enough to tell me it was "too big" for the car-and it had headers and a really loud exhaust and a Weiand Tunnel Ram with two 660 Holleys. He put traction bars on it to control wheelhop. He was always revving it up and smoking the tires. It spun the wheels and made a lot of noise-but I never thought it moved that fast. One day he challenged my buddys restored 440 powered 1972 Road Runner to a drag race. The Road Runner was restored to stock specs-except it had an Edelbrock carb on it instead of a Thermo-Quad. It was only a race for about 100 feet. As soon as the Road Runner stopped smoking it's tires he started pulling away. He won by about 5 or six car lengths. The Nova driver was aghast. How could this be? I told him-his car was built wrong-his tunnel-ram killed whatever low-end torque his engine did have-and the 3.08:1 gearing didn't help. He needed a single 4bbl induction system and some 3.73:1 or 4.11:1 gears, and m,aybe a smaller cam for it ro run the way it should. And even then it would have been maybe a 13 second car-not a ( GAG!!!! Damn the "F&F Movies!!! ) "10 second" car. Anyhow just had to vent those. Mastermind                

No you didn't......And you sound like a moron insisting you did.....

Had a couple of conversations this week that made me want to slap the people senseless-when I realized if they had any sense-they wouldn't be making the stupid statements that they were!!!  I blame the "Fast&Furious" movies. I know their immensely popular-but since the first one in 2001, stars Vin Diesel and the late Paul Walker spouting about "10 second" cars and insane horsepower numbers has caused idiots everywhere to make impossible boasts about their car's ability.  Moron #1. Claimed to have a Mitsubishi EVO sedan with "800" hp that could go 140 mph in third gear, and topped out at 197 mph-when he "Let off". Let me quote actor Ricardo Montalban- "Welcome to Fantasy Island." Here's why- 1st off- a stock Mitsubishi EVO has 305 hp. Like its closest competitior- the Subaru WRX STI-it runs 0-60 times in the mid 5-second range and the 1/4 in the very low 14s or very high 13s depending on which magazine road test you read and brutal the launch was. They also have a top speed of about 143 mph. He claims that by adapting a Ford Diesel truck Turbo that he was able to push the little 4-banger to the 800 hp level. Really-how-since Gale Banks-who is widely regarded as "THE" Turbo Guru-could only get 800 hp out of a 454 Chevy V8 and in a gutted '82 Trans-Am race car that had a drag coeffieceint of .028-was barely able to top 200 mph in Bonneville run. But I'm supposed to believe that this guy-in his garage was able to make that power level with one bolt-on piece-no head porting, no hotter cams, no bigger exhaust, no nitrous or water injection, no MSD or Jacobs additional electronic management, no larger fuel injectors, etc- from a 4-clyinder engine thats less than 150 cubes??  Even if this backyard mechanic was somehow able to actually increase the horsepower of his car by 50%-no easy feat even for factory engineers-he'd have "only" 450 hp-which would make the 3.330 lb car an absolute rocket-but it's still nowhere near "800" hp!!! And his speed claims are ludicrous. With stock gearing-even if he disabled the rev limiter and could go 7,500-8,000 rpm-the fastest he could possibly go in third gear is about 90 mph. As for his top speed claim-he's totally dreaming. The Hellcat Charger that really does have 707 hp-can only pull 186 mph top speed. The Z06 Corvette-which weighs less than an EVO, has 650 hp and a drag coefficient of something like .024-way more aerodynamic than the boxy little jap sedan-can only go 192. Danica Patrick-a NASCAR and Indy car driver-couldn't top 200 for Car and Driver in a Lamborghini Gallardo-but this asshole can go 197 in his boxy little rice rocket. Riggghhhht.  NASCAR Nextel Cup race cars that really do have 850 hp and are gutted, aerodynamic race cars-not production sedans with airbags, etc-rarely top 195 mph-with miles of acceleration at Talledega or Daytona. But this asshole goes quicker in his street car-he just "Lets off" at 197!!!  Sorry bud, not in your wildest, wettest dreams.  Moron # 2. Had a 1974 Pontiac Ventura. I like Venturas.  ( Pontiac's version of the Nova.) I had two of them-one with a warmed over 350 and the other with the warmed over 400 out of my wrecked Trans-Am. Since they weigh about 600 lbs less than a '70s Firebird-they make a good street machine. And any suspension or brake upgrades that fit a Camaro / Firebird fit these cars-so you can build a corner-carver or a drag racer. I commented on how nice the car was-and said I had a couple, and that my 400 version was quite a sleeper. Arrogant little bastard sneers at me-"Yeah well this one runs 10s."  I couldn't resist. Really? I said-"I'll run you right now,with my Subaru, and I'll bet you 100 bucks you can't outrun my Subaru." "And it's not a WRX, it's a Forester." "And it's not even a Turbo Forester." ( When Motor Trend voted the Forester SUV of the year for 2014-the Turbo model ran a 6.2 second 0-60 time and a 14.7 second 1/4. The base model, which I have-ran a 7.5 second 0-60 time and a 15.8 second 1/4 ). Which is faster than Cars Magazine's 1974 Ventura GTO test car. "I don't race for less than $500." the punk sneered at me. I had to crush him. "Ok." I said. "Let's race for $1,000." "Right Now." "You got "Noss" ( not nitrous,"Noss" god I hate the "F&F" movies!!!! ) on that thing?" He asked. "No." I replied. "You think your Forester runs 10s?" He sneered. "No."  "And your car couldn't travel 1320 feet in 10 seconds if it was dropped from an airplane." "Because I had a '69 GTO with a 12:1 compression, Ram Air III 400 with a solid-lifter Crane Cam, Hooker Headers, an Offenhauser Dual-Quad manifold with two 750 AFBs,backed by a Rock-Crusher 4-speed and a 4.33:1 geared posi rear end with Lakewood Ladder bars and N50-15 Mickey Thompson "Hot-n-Sticky" drag tires-and it could only run an 11.79 in the 1/4."  "I'm supposed to believe that your 7.6:1 compression 350 with stock iron intake and exhaust manifolds and a stock cam, and an automatic with a one-legger, 3.08:1 10 bolt rolling on 205 /75R14 tires is a full-second quicker than my Goat?" "I don't think so." "In fact like I said-I don't think this slug can out run my little SUV." "Or my co-worker's Honda Civic."  "Screw you buddy." he growled. "Yeah. Screw you too,obviously the truth hurts." He couldn't even lay 10 feet of rubber on his angry launch out of the parking lot, turning right!!. My buddy and I laughed ourselves sick. "Yep-that's a "10 second" car."  Guys-when you flippantly pull numbers out of your ass-you sound like a complete idiot to anyone who's ever been a mechanic or on a dragstrip or a racetrack. And you sound even stupider when you insist-after they've given irrefutable proof that you are wrong. If your going to brag about your "10 second" car-you damn sure better have a timeslip to back it up!!!  Mastermind        

There's a good reason for many "Day Two" modifications.....

I hear it every day-some "Just as it left the factory" type makes an incredible barn find of a low-mileage musclecar and then bitches because it has a couple of non-stock parts-i.e. a Mallory distributor or a Holley carb or something else that was a popular mod back in the day. Besides enthusiasts looking for more speed, there was a lot of factory parts that just didn't work from the get go. Here's the major ones. # 1. Shifters. Pontiac GTOs and Firebirds and Olds 442s with 4-speeds had Hurst shifters from the factory, which worked great even when powershifting. However-for some insane reason Chevrolet SS 396 Chevelles and Impalas and even small and big-block Camaros and Novas used a horrible body-mounted Muncie linkage. Forget powershifting-if you were over 3,000 rpm and had your foot in it-the linkage would bind up. You couldn't shift them quickly under any circumstances. So most people did the smart thing and went to their local speed shop and bought a Hurst or Mr Gasket shifter and solved the problem. This wasn't just a Chevy problem. Fords and Chryslers had terrible shifters. In 1970-the new Hurst-"Pistol Grip" shifter that showed up in Mopars was a vast improvement-but it still wasn't great. Ask anyone who tried to powershift a pre-1970 Mopar and they'll tell you horror stories of missed shifts and being stuck between gears. Ditto for Fords. Yes, the Boss 302 had a Hurst linkage-but the 70,000 other V8 Mach 1 Mustangs had a terrible Inland linkage. Even in the disco-era the Pontiac Trans-Am had a Hurst shifter from the factory and the Z/28 Camaro had a crappy Inland shifter.  So that's why you rarely see a stock shifter in anything other than a Pontiac- in most musclecars-they were replaced with a Hurst 40 or 50 years ago!!  # 2. Distributors. GM had decent distributors. If you used genuine Delco or Accel points they were good to 6,000 rpm or so. Not so with Fords and Mopars. Their points would "sign off" about 5,000 rpm. If they weren't set perfectly, they'd start to "bounce" as low as 4,400 rpm. You never saw a Ford or Mopar drag racer who didn't have extra sets of points in his toolbox!! A lot of guys switched to aftermarket Accel or Mallory units. They did it because the stock ones just flat didn't work. There's a reason everyone rejoiced when Chrysler went to electronic ignition in 1972 and GM and Ford in '75!!  # 3. Carburators. This is what hurt Ford the most. The Autolite 4100 and 4300 4bbls are THE WORST carbs ever built, bar none. They were terrible when they were brand-new. Cold-starting problems, crappy gas mileage, no power. My dad was a carburator specialist in the '60s and '70's for both GM and Ford. If you had a new Ford in the early '70's and you bitched hard enough-Ford would have their dealers replace them with a 600 cfm Holley with a electric choke and warranty it!! If I remember correctly the carb number was either 6619 or 6919. My dad installed hundreds of them-even on 429 and 460 powered T-Birds and Lincoln MKIV's!!  But most gearheads that had Torinos, Mustangs, and Cougars didn't know that-and they just replaced them with a Holley or a Carter AFB. The Carter AVS that came on most Chrysler products worked pretty good, but they only flowed about 585 cfm. Fine for a little 273 small-block, but kind of choked off the big 383 and 440 engines. So a lot of guys switched to big Holleys. The 750 cfm Carter Thermo-Quads that Chrysler went to after 1970 was ok when they were brand-new, but the bakelite bodies would warp from engine heat and start bleeding over and running like crap. GM Quadrajets fared a little better brand-new-but for some insane reason a lot of these had plastic floats. Gasoline is corrosive to plastic, so the floats would get heavy and sink and the cars would run like crap. Tuners like my dad and Brad Urban and Nunzi Romano would rebuild them and use brass floats and jet them properly for performance use, but again-most gear heads just junked them. And in a lot of cases-they changed the manifold too. The reason being-the Carter AFB and all Holleys had a square bore bolt pattern that wasn't compatible with Q-jet or Thermo-Quad spread-bore manifolds. Some guys used adapters-but that never really worked well-so most of the time guys changed the carb and intake. Edelbrock and Offenhauser made a mint because of this. Then in 1971-Holley came out with a line of carbs that had the spread-bore bolt pattern. You could now put a Holley on your car without changing the manifold. And a lot of guys did. # 4. Exhaust. All musclecars had restrictive exhaust systems. Some-like the stupid "Crossflow" muffler in '70's Camaros and Firebirds and Corvettes-really killed performance. Even if you didn't have headers-going to an aftermarket dual exhaust system could add 40 hp with stock exhaust manifolds. It was too much of an easy boost for most people to resist. Who wouldn't want more hp, better gas mileage and a throatier sound?  # 5 Wheels and Tires. Really?? Is there anyone wondering about this one?? You'd really try to make a 454 Chevelle or a 440 'Cuda or a 428 Mustang try to hook up on F70-14 Goodyear Polyglas GTs or Firestone Wide Ovals??  Or even a 400 Firebird or 396 Chevelle or a 340 Duster for Pete's sake!!  Anything with any power at all built in the '60's and '70's needed more rubber on the road!!  That's how M&H and Mickey Thompson and Pro-Trac flourished selling big tires. B.F. Goodrich burst onto the scene with the Radial T/A-one of the first wide performance tires of radial design. Hope that clears things up on "Day 2" mods.....Mastermind              

The reasons why their aren't more ultra-premium musclecars left.....

Someone told me the other day that he didn't understand why more of the prized musclecars-i.e.-Boss 302s, Hemi 'Cudas, LS6 Chevelles,428 CJ Mustangs, RAIV GTOs, etc weren't sold when they were new. Having worked in car dealerships all my life-I think I can give a viable answer, although there's no one single factor-but a variety of factors that contribute to these car's rarity. # 1. Availability of the option. This has always been a problem. A manufacturer introduces something really cool,and the buff magazines get wind of it and write about it, and people start pestering dealers wanting to buy the cars. But often the dealers can't even get the cars. Beleive me-they'd want to sell as many of them as they could, but often they can't get them. Here's several examples. Back in the '60's and '70's you had to sell 500 units to the public if you wanted to race the car in NASCAR or Trans-Am, or even NHRA Stock or Super Stock Drag classes. This is why only 602 Z/28 Camaros were built in 1967 and why only 1,603 Boss 302 Mustangs were built in 1969. Ford and Chevy didn't care about selling them to the public-they wanted to homogolate them for racing. Same thing with Thunderbolt Fairlanes and Hemi Darts. Secondly, the manufacturer's often changed or limited the availability of the option. For example-Initially, the LS6 454 was slated to be available in the Camaro SS and the Nova SS as well as the Chevelle line. The flat intake manifold that loses 15 hp compared to the 1969 427 4bbl intake was designed to clear the low hood of the new for 1970 Camaro. Since the 396 was an option in both cars the 454 would have been a no-brainer drop-in.  The brass decided to cut down on model proliferation at the last minute, and the engine was only offered in the Chevelle line late in the model year. Thus although nearly 50,000 SS 396 Chevelles were sold that year-only 4,478 LS6 SS 454s were sold. And think about this-At that time Chevrolet had a network of 7,700 dealers across the United States. Do the math-with only 4478 cars built-not every dealer got one-regardless of how high demand was. This is also why there is no LS6 1970 Corvettes. Zora-Arkus Duntov, chief Corvette engineer- fully expected the much more radical LS7 to make production as the 'Vette's top engine option which is why the LS6 wasn't offered. In early 1973 sales literature the SD-455 was listed as optional in the Grand Am, Gran Prix, LeMans,GTO and Firebird Formula and Trans-Am models. The buff magazines were excited. CARS magazine made a collossal goof-they voted the 1973 GTO their "Car of the Year." Both Hot Rod and Car and Driver raved about their Red T/A test car-( it was the same car ) that ran blistering 1/4 mile times of 13.54 and 13.75 respectively.  However-the engines had trouble passing emissions with the radical 308 / 320 duration RAIV cam. The cam was swapped for the milder 301 / 313 duration RAIII cam and hp was down-rated from 310 to 290. Then they had reliability and availability problems with the connecting rod supplier. In fact- if you went to a dealer and wanted to buy a set of SD-455 rods-you had to produce a matching vin number or they wouldn't sell them to you! They also had more trouble passing emissions because of faulty EGR valves. Only the tireless efforts of Herb Adams and the buff magazines kept GM from scrapping it altogether. Finally-in April 1973 the engine was EPA certified in the Firebird line only. This is why only 295 were built-252 in Trans-Ams and another 43 in Formulas. And that's why they all have May or June production dates. Another 943 were sold in 1974 Trans-Ams. This wasn't just a '60s and '70's problem. In the early '80's I was selling cars in a Chevrolet / Pontiac dealership. In 1983 the buff magazines raved about the L69 Performance Package for Z/28 Camaros and Firebird Trans-Ams. These hotted up 305s had a higher compression ratio, a hotter cam, a better exhaust and a better intake, and an electric radiator fan to lower parasitic losses. This bumped hp from 150 on the standard LG4 to 190 for the L69. Car and Driver's May 1983 test car ran a blistering ( for the time ) 6.7 second 0-60 time and the 1/4 in 15.0. However-the fan switch wouldn't kick the fan on until coolant tempurature reached 225 degrees. This caused overheating and vapor lock problems. Very few were sold. The option returned for '84-and GM solved the problem by going to a 180 degree thermostat instead of 195, and having the fan kick on at 180 instead of 225. Only gearheads knew about the option so they didn't sell a ton of them. It was offered agian in '85-but then the new Tuned Port Injected LB9 with 215 hp was the big dog-and the L69 quietly faded away, even though it was a good package. In 1984 the new Corvette was offered with the 4-speed 700R4 automatic and a Super T10 4-speed manual with an overdrive that could be turned on in 2nd,3rd or 4th, effectively giving you 7 gears. However they had problems with the operation of the overdrives, and 99% of '84 'Vettes were automatics-even though enthusiasts very much wanted the manuals. They got the bugs out-and it actually worked very well and was available from 1985-88. In 1989 they went to a 6-speed manual. But try to find a manual '84 model-there's not many of them.  # 2 Price of the Option. This is just as big a factor as # 1-maybe even bigger. Think about this-in 1968 the base price of a 383 Road Runner was about $2,800. That was a screaming deal for a stripped-down performance car that could run just as fast as the much more expensive Pontiac GTO, Olds 442 and Chevy SS 396 Chevelle. They sold 45,000 in '68 and in '69 they sold 81,000-almost 10,000 more units than Pontiac could sell of the vaunted GTO. Yes the mighty 426 Hemi was an option-a $1,163 option!!  And you couldn't buy a Hemi with the standard 3-speed manual you HAD to get a 4-speed or a Torqueflite automatic. You HAD to get a heavy-duty radiator, heavy duty suspension and a Dana 60 rear. ( Why I don't know-I've never seen anyone ever break an 8 3/4 ). By the time you got all the "mandatory" options-the price had risen from $2,800 to $5,000+. Further-for some reason Chrysler only gave the Hemi a 1 year / 12,000 mile warranty. The 383 and 440 engines got a 5 year / 50,000 mile warranty. One of the editors for Musclecar Review still has the 440 Road Runner that he bought new in 1969. He said he didn't get a Hemi for those reasons. The 440 was like a $200 option, the Hemi, with the other "mandatory" options was in reality almost a $2,000 option-again pushing the price from just over 3 grand to over 5 grand. And for a young guy with a wife and kids making payments on a new car-that 5 year / 50,000 mile warranty was really important. Plus-the Hemis were a race engine that Chrysler was only selling to the public so they could race them in NASCAR. The peaky, dual-quad, huge headed, solid-lifter Hemi really needed a 4-speed and 4.10 or stiffer gears to get maximum performance. Popular Hot Rodding said the Torqueflite equipped, 3.23:1 geared '69 Hemi Charger they tested felt like it was running with one flat tire. They said it desperately need 4.30 gears and a high stall converter. They were right-on the high banks of Daytona or the Drag Strip with open exhausts and proper gearing the Hemi was King Kong-Richard Petty and Ronnie Sox were unstoppable in NASCAR and Pro Stock drag racing. But the milder 383 and 440 4bbl engines were actually quicker on the street. Ditto for the Boss 302 and Boss 429 Mustangs. The 302 had a lot of special one-off parts and had very little torque below 3,000 rpm. There's a reason they were only available with a 4-speed and 3.90:1 or 4.30:1 gears!!  And to cut down on warranty problems on these expensive pieces-Ford put a rev-limiter on it that cut off spark at 5,700 rpm!! Kind of pointless on a car that makes all it's power from 5,000-8,000 rpm!!  The 351W that was standard in the Mach 1 was a much better street engine, and could be had with an automatic and air conditioning if you wanted it. The 429s started out as 428 models, and were shipped to Kar Kraft for the Boss-Nine conversion. They too, had a lot of one-off special parts, and Ford lost money on every single Boss built. The Boss 429 was designed for one thing and one thing only-to beat the vaunted Chrysler 426 Hemi on the Super Speedways of Daytona, Charlotte and Talledega. It didn't run well with restricted exhaust and street gearing. The 390 and 428 engines actually ran faster on the street and in magazine 1/4 mile testing. But the nose-heavy "FE" engined 390 /428 cars were terrible handlers. The 351W / 351C engined Mach 1s of the '69-70 period were actually the best balanced and best performing Mustangs of the time. This affected every automaker. The vaunted Ram Air IV Pontiac engine had forged pistons, special round-port cylinder heads, a special aluminum high-rise intake, special round-port exhaust manifolds, and the hot 308 / 320 duration cam with 1.65:1 rockers and .520 lift. It was only available with a 4-speed or an automatic with a special 2,500 rpm converter and 3.90:1 or 4.33:1 gears. It could easily compete with the mighty LS6 454 Chevy,440 Six-Pack Mopars and 428 Fords. However Pontiac out foxed themselves by being cute and grossly-under-rating the engine to slip by insurance companies. The Standard GTO engine ( which was basically the mild "Big Car" 400 that came in a Catalina, Gran Prix, etc ) was rated at 350 hp. The RAIII which had a hotter cam was rated at 366 hp. The RAIV was rated at 370 hp. Huh? You want me to believe that very special pistons, very special bigger heads,bigger exhaust,a bigger cam with a special valvetrain and a bigger intake is only worth 20 hp over a station wagon engine, and only worth 4 hp over the station wagon engine with a cam?? And you want me to pay $600 more on the window sticker for it??  In a Firebird the base engine was rated at 335 and the RAIV was only rated at 345!!!  No wonder they didn't sell. From 1984-86 Ford sold SVO Mustangs that had Recaro seats, 16" tires and wheels, 4-wheel disc brakes, and a Turbocharged 4-cylinder engine with between 175 and 205 hp depending on year. The buff magazines raved. However-the "5.0" V8 models were both faster and several thousand dollars cheaper, so the SVO's sold poorly. # 3. Poor, or no promotion by the factory. This always perplexed me. You engineer a cool-ass car that would sell like hot cakes-and you don't promote it. I'm a lifelong gearhead and I didn't know Buick Grand Nationals existed until I read a road test of one in Car Craft. GM and Buick never promoted the car. Same thing with the Supercharged Ford Lightning Pickups in the late '90's. I worked in a Pontiac Dealer and I didn't know that the 20th Anniversary T/A was going to have the vaunted GN Turbo engine instead of the usual Chevy V8's until I saw one on the lot!!  No Brochures, no magazine articles nothing!!  And the 2003-04 Mercury Marauder. Ford never promoted them.  Any how-hope that clears things up-there's many reasons why their aren't more 340 Six-Pack 'Cuda AARs, or Boss 351 Mustangs or W30 442s or whatever.  Mastermind