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