Oddballs from the '80's and '90's that can be a bargain hot rod or fun cruiser....

Some times you run across a weird combination of options that was only available for one year that everyone snubs-but can be a cool cruiser or hot rod for low bucks. Here's a list of good buys that a lot of people don't think of. # 1. 1982 Mustang GT / Mercury Capri "5.0". These had a 302 V8 with a 2bbl carb and "only" 157 hp backed by a 4-speed stick or a 3-speed automatic. Their snubbed in favor of the 4bbl / 5-speed stick / 4-speed auto '83-86 models. However-they can bought dirt-cheap, and there's a million ways to build power into a small-block Ford.  # 2. 1983 Z/28 Camaro / Firebird Trans-Am. For this one year only you could get a "Cross-Fire Injected" 305 and a 4-speed automatic. ( 1982 models had a 3-speed TH250 ). Their snubbed in favor of the L69 Carburated / 5-speed models and later LB9 Tuned Port Injection models but they actually moved pretty good for only being a 305. The upside is with 454 throttle bodies and a Hypertech Prom chip this system can feed up to 450 hp and would work on a stout 350 or 383.  # 3. 1982 Corvette. This is the last of the C3 body with the first of the Cross-Fire Injected 350 and 4-speed automatic of the C4 'Vette. They were decent performers for the time-7 second 0-60 times, and 15 second 1/4 mile times-and they can be hopped up easily. # 4. 1984 Corvette. These had the "Cross-Fire" injected 350 and a 4-speed automatic or the 4+3 overdrive manual. Their snubbed by 'Vette collectors for the '85-91 "Tuned Port Injected" models, but they ran pretty damn good-six second 0-60 times and high 14 second 1/4 mile times and they can be hopped up easily. I have seen these as low as $3995 on used car lots. Corvette and Cheap aren't usually synominous-but here they are. # 5 1984-86 Ford Mustang SVO. These had 16" wheels, Recaro seats, and a 4-cylinder Turbo engine with between 175 and 205 hp. The problem was the "5.0" V8 models were both faster and several thousand cheaper. However-now you can buy them relatively cheap. # 6. 1994-95 Mustang GT. For these two years you could get the "New" for '94 Mustang body with the "Old-school" "5.0" V8. '96 and later models had the 4.6 that didn't have as much power regardless of hp ratings. Maybe you'll find a diamond in the rough. Mastermind    

No, you don't have the right to desecrate a rare classic.....Leave them for those of us who want them the way their supposed to be!!

Got a lot of flack from people after the last post-saying "Its my car and I'll Goddamn well do anything I want with it." Yes, that's your Constitutional right. The government hasn't figured out how to legislate away people's God-given right to be assholes. But think about how selfish these people are. Here's a few examples of people who should have been dragged out into the street and shot. # 1. This guy-I won't use his name-but I remember it well-is the King Kong of Assholes who destroy classic cars. He bought a pristine, restored, show-winning Fuel-Injected 1963 Split-Window Corvette for something like $30,000 in 1988 dollars. Then he gutted it and put a roll cage in it, a narrowed 9 inch Ford rear end with huge slicks, and replaced the FI 327 / 4-speed powertrain with a Tunnel-Rammed 454 and a TH400 with a 5,000 rpm converter and a trans-brake. Blaspemy most foul!!!  If he wanted to "Pro Street" a Corvette-he couldn't buy one of the millions of '68-82 models that no one cares about and cut that up. If he had to have the early '60's bodystyle-there was a Kit Car company that was selling Gran Sport 1964 Corvette replica bodies-that could be transplanted onto the later C3 chassis. Or he could have bought any basket-case '64-67 'Vette out there and bastrdized that and no one would have cared. But no,you have to pick the rarest, most valuable Corvette ever built-( unless one of the 116 1969 L88 owners wants to argue ) and cut it to pieces.  # 2. This guy should actually be # 1A" instead of number 2.  He managed to mortally offend both the musclecar crowd and the Import tuner crowd. How did he accomplish this?  By destroying not one, but two valued classics!! This genius took the engine and drivetrain out of '98 Toyota Turbo Supra and put it in a '67 Camaro. He was genuinely surprised when everyone called for his beheading. The '90's Toyota Supras are as sacred with the Import Tuner drift crowd as, well-a '67 Camaro is to the musclecar crowd!!  Why would you think this is a good Idea in any way, shape or form?  # 3. This clown offended both GM and Ford guys by putting a 389 Pontiac V8 into his 1957 T-Bird. Yes, I'm sure it was quite a bit faster than the 292 / 312 Y-Block it came with. But couldn't he have just swapped in a later model 289 / 302 or 351W or even a 390 Ford?  Who wants a classic T-Bird with a Pontiac engine in it???  # 4. This moron was on the cover of not one, but two magazines. He bought a show-quality one of 458 455HO / 4-speed 1972 Trans-Ams ever built. Then he gutted it and put an LS motor and a six-speed automatic in it and extensively modified the interior and the body and the suspension. He couldn't buy one of the 275,000 T/As built from 1977-79 alone and fuck that up? Or any of the millions of beater '70-81 Camaros and Firebirds out there that no one cares about and use that? Hell, why use one of the 1,286 '72 models built-why didn't he get one of 88 1970 RAIV models and butcher that??  Not!!!  # 5. This clown is worse because like #2-he destroyed two classics instead of one. He put a Superhcharged 5.4 Mod motor and six-speed tranny out of a 2007 GT500 and put it in-wait for it-A 1969 Boss 302!!!  Not one of the 70,000 plus fastback Mustangs that Ford sold in 1969 made to look like one-no this was a for-real one of 1,603-Boss 302s ever built!!!  Now no one with common sense is going to say that they agree that any of these projects was the right thing to do. And this rule applies to old and new classics as well-if you want to yank the 231 Buick V6 or 307 Olds V8 and put a 572 inch Chevy Rat motor into a black '81-87 Buick Regal no one cares. But don't do it to a pristine '85-87 Grand National!!  You want to put a modern 5.0 Coyote and a six-speed into one of the 400,000 plus '66 Mustangs built, no one cares-but don't do it to a GT350H!!!  Are we clear on my position now?? Mastermind                  

 

No I didn't....Or to Quote the dictator from "Team America" "Why is everybody so F$%*ing Stupid??!!!

I was absent-mindedly chatting with an acquaintance the other day and said that I'd like to build a real low-budget "Rat Rod." That maybe I'd find an old Maverick and get the "5.0" engine and T5 tranny and 8.8 rear out of a wrecked '87-93 Mustang and make a nice, cheap hot rod. Maybe even put a blower on it and make it real quick. He instantly went ballistic. "You hypocrite!" "Your constantly railing on your site about the assholes who put LS motors in classic GM iron and modern Hemis in classic Mopars and you come up with that?"  Excuse me?  How is putting the engine, tranny and rear axle out of say-a wrecked '89 Mustang that no one gives a shit about, into say- a '74 Maverick that no one gives a shit about-the same as putting an LS motor and a 4L80E into a one of 1,286, numbers-matching, 1972 455HO Trans-Am? Like Samuel L. Jackson told John Travolta about the difference between giving a woman a foot massage and performing oral sex on her-"It's not the same ballpark; it's not even the same fuckin' sport!"  Yes-I have screamed until I am blue in the face-It turns my stomach every time I read about some asshole who puts an LS Motor and a six-speed into a one of 3,797 1970 GTO Judges. Now if he did it to one of the 200,000 plus beater LeMans / Tempest models that Pontiac produced in 1968 alone-I wouldn't give a shit. Nor would I care if someone put a 720 hp 572 inch GMPP Rat Motor backed by a trans-braked TH400 and a narrowed 9 inch Ford rear with wheel tubs and 33 inch slicks to complete the "Pro Street" look into one of the 400,000 '78 Camaros that Chevrolet built. Now if he did it to one of the 2,200 LT1 powered 1972 Z/28's ever built-I'd want him drawn and quartered and his entrails cut out and burned. See the difference? If I proposed putting the 5.0 / T5 / 8.8 powertrain into a 4-speed, "Q" code '73 Mach 1 or a "K" code '66 Mustang GT-yes you would be justified in wanting to storm my house with torches. But taking the guts out of one of the millions of '87-93 Fox Mustangs and stuffing it in one of the millions of '70-'77 Maverick / Comet beaters languishing in junkyards or in people driveways-Does anybody really give a shit in hell??   That's the difference. Taking a 360 Magnum out of a wrecked '97 Jeep Cherokee and stuffing it in a '75 Duster is not the same as taking an SRT8 Hemi out of a 2011 Charger and putting it in numbers-matching, for real  440 / '69 GTX!!!  Taking the Supercharged 3.8 V6 out of a 2000 Bonneville SSEI and putting it in a beater 1981 301 "Turbo" Trans-Am is not the same as putting it in a Tri-Power, 4-speed, '65 GTO!!!   Is everyone clear on that?  Mastermind              

How about a contest...To build "Project Badass" of 1968...Both Small-Block and Big Block....

Had a great Idea the other day. Maybe we can get one of the buff magazines to sponsor it and run articles on it. Everyone has spoken ad nauseum how sick they are of '69 Camaros with LS motors and 20 inch wheels etc. I was thinking what if a group of people got together to build several street machines like you would have in say-1968-the height of the musclecar movement. Everything would have to be period correct-no modern fuelie engines, no MSD ignitions etc. I'd have two classes-one big-block and one small-block. For big block cars I'd say limit cubic inches to 400. This would save money-we don't need $15,000 crate Hemis or stroker Rat Motors-that stuff wasn't available in 1968. You could run a 396 Chevy, a 383 Mopar, a 400 Pontiac, and a 390 Ford, or maybe even a 400 Olds if someone wanted to play with one. Feasible swaps would be allowed-i.e a 383 into a Dart or a 396 into a Nova. Cross-breeding would be allowed-a 400 Olds in a Buick Skylark body for example-or a 400 Pontiac in a '66 El Camino. You could run any compression ratio or any cam ( no hydraulic rollers-not invented yet, remember? ) or any induction-but it would have to be period-correct. For example you could run a P65 Edelbrock Dual-Quad manifold on a Pontiac-but not a Performer RPM or Factory RAIV piece-they weren't invented yet. This also means no aftermarket aluminum heads-they weren't invented yet. Iron heads and period correct parts would keep the costs down and the competition firece. The same goes for trannys. You could run a 4-speed or a TH400 or a Powerglide in GM stuff, a 4-speed or a 727 Torqueflite in Mopar stuff, and a 4-speed or a C4 or C6 in Ford stuff. No five or six-speed sticks, no 700R4's or 4L80E's. For small-block cars we could limit cubes to 350. And I mean 350-no stroker kits to build a 427-they weren't available yet! However-I have seen some fierce 289 Falcons and Comets that surprised a lot of big-block cars. I've seen some badass 327 Novas. I have seen really quick 273 Valiants and 340 Barracudas. Engine swapping and cross-breeding would be allowed here. A '64 Buick Skylark would run a lot stronger with a W31-spec 350 Olds under the hood than it ever would with the obsolete 300 inch Buick V8 it came with-and that's a swap some enterprising hot-rodder may have done back in the day. Or a small-block Chevy into a Studebaker.  Exotic stuff-for the time period-but still correct- would be allowed-Paxton Superchargers and 4-Weber setups for small-block Chevys and Fords. How about a Factory Five Cobra replica with a 4-Weber carbed 289 Ford? I think it would be way cool and would take some talent on the part of the builders to make the fastest car-not just who could write the biggest check. If you agree sound off-and write the buff magazines as well and tell them to check this site. Mastermind.  

How about some early '70's Pro Stock compact tributes?.....

In 1972 Bill "Grumpy" Jenkins blew everyone away at the Winternationals when he upset the dominating Chrysler Hemi 'Cuda of Sox&Martin with his 327 powered Vega. Through out the '70's and early '80's V8 Vegas were very popular-my dad and I built one when I was in high school. Other drag racers followed Jenkins lead-Bob Glidden had a wicked 351 Cleveland powered Pinto that won a bunch of races. V8 Pintos weren't quite as popular-but they were out there, and were actually easier to build than the Vegas-they required less fabrication.  I dated a girl who had a 289 Pinto that was a rocket. Other guys didn't use the subcompacts-but they went the compact route. Sox&Martin had a Duster and "Dyno" Don Nicholson had a Maverick that won a bunch of races in the early '70's. The reason I bring it up is I was looking through a magazine and they had a "40 years ago today.." article that had pictures of a lot of these cars. It got me thinking-nobody's fighting with machetes for old Mavericks or Pintos, Vegas or Dusters-( unlike Camaros and Firebirds, Mustangs and 'Cuda / Challengers ). So you could build one really cheap. A Maverick rear end will bolt right into a Pinto / Mustang II and will handle up to 400 or so hp, as will a C4 automatic. So if you build a hot 302 combo your covered. A V8 Monza rear will bolt right in a Vega. 8 3/4 rears are easy enough to find for a Dart / Duster. An besides the possibility of building a hot 360 Magnum stroker, Mopar Performance makes crossmembers to install a 383 / 400 / 440 / Hemi.  Other possibilities are other GM "X" bodies. Any Pontiac Ventura with a 350 Pontiac can accept a 400 / 455 as a bolt-in swap. Any Olds Omega with a 350 can accept a 403 as a bolt-in swap and 53 extra cubes definitely helps-all other things being equal. Radiused fenderwells, missing front bumpers, primer finishes, loud exhaust- these cars can be Jules' Wallet from Pulp Fictiion- a bad mofo-because no one cares about them to begin with. Others would be late 70's or early '80's Ford Fairmonts, late '70's Dodge Aspens and Plymouth Volares. Cheap Modern day "Rat Rods."  Mastermind
 

The car is 45+ years old and it's not completely original? Shouldn't have to explain,but here's why....

Got some flack over the last post from the type of people I hate. The type that turn up their nose at a great car because it has aftermarket wheels on it or a different carburator or gasp!-a non original engine. What these idiots don't realize is first off-the car is 40 or 50 years old. Secondly-these were cars that people drove to work and raced and wrecked and abused, just like to you do your Chevy truck or whatever it is you have for a daily driver. Since '60's and '70's cars didn't have all the electronic dreck that they have now-a lot of guys worked on their own car. Some still do. If you had a 2011 Mustang GT right now-and it blew a radiator hose on Friday night would you go to Autozone and get a replacement or would you park the car until Monday when the dealer opened so you could get a "Genuine" Motorcraft hose and clamps? If you bought that same Mustang new-would you keep it "Just as it left the factory" until you sold it?  No-chances are you might put a Flowmaster exhaust on it, a K&N Air filter, some aftermarket wheels, maybe even a performance prom chip or a Hurst shifter. That's what guys did 40 years ago. And think about this-when I was in high school in 1978-a friend had a 440 Six-Pack '69 Super Bee. It was only 9 years old. That would be like having a 2006 Hemi Charger now. One night he missed a shift and grenaded the engine. I mean, rods out the side of the block grenaded. What did we do? We went to a junkyard and got a used 440 out of wrecked Chrysler Imperial for $250. And the only reason he did that instead of taking a FREE 383 from a buddy was he wanted to keep the Tri-Power on it and "B" and "RB" intakes don't interchange. The car ran great-it seemed as fast as it ever was-and when he sold it five years later-doubtless the person who bought it was miffed that the engine wasn't numbers-matching. I had a '68 SS396 El Camino and the 396 blew up one night. My cousin gave me a 327 out of my aunt's wrecked '67 Impala. The 327 actually made it a nicer car-it handled better with less weight on the front end and it was still pretty quick-but it didn't fry the tires at the slightest touch of throttle like the Rat motor did. This happened a lot to a lot of people. Think about this. Your a working class, do-it-yourself kind of guy. It's 1977. Your '72 Chevelle SS454 is long out of warranty-but it's still a nice, fairly new car and you love it. One day on the freeway it throws a rod. You can't afford to pay a professional shop to rebuild it so you go to a junkyard and get a used 454 out of a '74 Impala wagon and install it over the weekend, so you can drive to work Monday morning. In 1980 you get married and your new wife has twins. The musclecar has to go for a family sedan. Again-did the guy you sold it to grind you on the price because it wasn't "Completely Orignal?" Probably not-because back then no one except us hardcore gear heads cared about musclecars. To everyone else they were just old gas-guzzlers. That was before the craziness started-I.E.-people paying a million dollars for Hemi 'Cudas. So if you look at a nice '69 GTO and it's got a 400 out of a '73 Catalina I wouldn't be surprised. And if it was otherwise nice and rust-free and the price was reasonable-why not buy it? Honestly-one Pontiac 400 is as good as another-unless your looking at Ram Air IV Judge-yes then I would definitely want the original engine. Ditto for a '69 Z/28-if I'm going to pay top dollar for it it damn well better have a "DZ" code 302 in it. But If I'm buying one of the 243,000 '69 Camaros that AREN'T Z/28s and came originally with a garden-variety L48 350-is it a deal breaker that a previous owner put a GM "Targetmaster" replacement 350 in it in 1981??  If your looking at one of the 1,603 '69 Boss 302 Mustangs-yes you absolutely need the "Boss" engine. But if your looking at one of the 70,000 plus '69 Mach 1s that had a garden-variety 351W to begin with-is it catastrophic that the car has a 351W out of a '73 Mercury Montego?  No. See what I'm saying?  I can see wanting a numbers-matching engine-if it's something special-an LS6 454, a W30 Olds 455,an RAIV Pontiac,a 340 Six-Pack , Boss 351, etc,etc-but if the original engine was garden variety-like a 300 hp L48 350 in a '70 Camaro or an L78 400 in a '70 Firebird Formula 400-I mean the same engines could be had in a Malibu or Impala or a Catalina or LeMans station wagon-for god's sake-does it really matter that much that it's not numbers-matching?  In my mind it doesn't. What really irks me about these people-is they'll pull this shit over a carburator or a distributor. Really?  Do you really expect a 45 year old carburator to work flawlessly?  This is why the Pure Stock drags, MusclePalooza, and many Concours show organizations have amended the rules to include "Original Type." In other words- your '71 Z/28 is legal if it has a 3310 Holley 4bbl on it. It doesn't have to have 1970 or 71 date codes. Your '57 Corvette is legal with a late-model T10 4-speed trans. It doesn't have to have 1957 date codes!!!  I hope this clears some things up. But probably not. However-I swear the next time someone says a pristine SS396 Chevelle is "Ruined" because it has radial tires, a Hurst shifter ( instead of the horrible Muncie ) and an HEI distributor-I'm going to kick him in the nuts so hard he'll have to part his hair differently!!  Mastermind    

The "Cult" of serial numbers......I just don't get it.....

I was talking with a guy the other day who was lamenting how nowadays average guys could never afford an ultra-cool musclecar. I begged to differ-"Now it's easier than ever-if your mechanically inclined and want to build it."  "For example-$5,000 will buy you a nice "little old lady" 318 '68-70 Dodge Dart in any state in the union." "Mopar Performance sells the crossmembers to put B / RB / Hemis in Duster / Darts." They also sell the 465 hp 426 Hemi crate motor for $15,000." "You'd have to chase down some other parts-a 727 tranny, a bigger radiator, etc-but you could do it for under 25K."  "You can't touch a "real" "original" Hemi Dart for under 100K." "Same deal-$10,000 will buy you a very nice small-block '70-'73 Camaro." "GMPP sells 440 hp 454HO crate engines for $5995." "With the right torque converter, shift kit, and cooler-a TH350 can stand up to 500 hp-so you won't even have to change trannys." "Cragar mags and Lakewood traction bars are available through Summitt, and it'd be pretty easy to copy the Baldwin-Motion paint job." For 20K you have a unique, badass looking and running car." "You cant touch a "Real" Motion car for under $50K." "You just did it for less than half that." "$15,000 will buy you a nice, restored '65-68 289 Mustang Fastback in any state in the union." "Tony Branda and other companies sell the taillights, hood and side scoops,reproduction wheels etc." "They even sell Tri-Y headers and reproduction Shelby intakes and 715 cfm Holleys." "Or you could buy a 345 hp 302 Ford SVT crate engine." "For under 30 grand you'd have a badass GT350 or GT350H clone."  "You can't touch a "real" Shelby for under 100K." "You got it for less than 1/3."  The guy says-"You just said it-it's not real." "What's not real?" I asked. "When your smoking the tires for 200 feet and banging through the gears or blasting down the 1/4 are you thinking about serial numbers?" "When you pass someone on the freeway at 75 mph-is the guy in the other car going to turn up his nose and tell his passenger-"That's a fake." "How would he tell without checking serial numbers?"  "The upside is you'd drive it like it was meant to be driven and actually have some fun with it." "If you'd spent 100 grand on it you'd be so goddamnded afraid of wrecking it or blowing it up that it would never see the high side of 3,000 rpm or 60 mph." "It still isn't the real deal." He protested. "Yeah but only you know that-unless you tell everybody or let people check your vin number." "The guy who won the Pure Stock drags last year did it in an L88 Corvette."  "Except it's not a "real" L88." "The rules say you can run any combination that was an option that year." "So you could put a crate Hemi in a 383 '71 Road Runner and race it because the Hemi was an option in '71." "Anyhow- since the L88 was an option in 1969-this guy took his garden-variety 390 hp 427 'Vette and rebuilt the motor to L88 specs." "When he's ripping off blistering 11.54 1/4 mile times at more than 120 mph- and winning the tournament and getting his picture in Hot Rod or Musclecar Review-do you think he says-"Damn! This is cool, but it would be so much more fun if this car was numbers-matching."  "Puhleeze." "You don't understand." the guy said. I had to agree-I really don't. I've said it before-I don't buy anything-a house, car, motorcycle,jet-ski, guns,sports memorabila etc-with the primary deciding factor being what it will be worth if or when I decide to get rid of it!!  If I like it-I don't care what it costs-If I don't like it, you can't give it to me for free-no matter how great a "Deal" it is. I've said this before and I'll say it again-Did you marry your wife because you thought she'd give you an easier divorce than the other women you dated? The average Joe CAN have an ultra-cool car-like an L88 spec Corvette or an RAIV spec GTO ( with Edelbrock's help ) or a Thunderbolt Fairlane ( with a pumped up 390, not a 427 but all "FE engines look externally identical-duh ) or a Boss 302 Mustang or whatever-if you have a little ingenuity and can get over the "It's not numbers-matching" fetish. I'd like to find a disco-era T/A and put a snarling Edelbrock headed 455 in it backed by a Richmond 5-speed. If I get the stencils from Phoenix Graphics and paint it like a "Macho T/A" I don't think Dennis Mecham is going to sue me. And when I'm blowing the doors off a little boy in a rice-rocket or an old man in a new Corvette with a big smile on my face-I won't be thinking about how my car isn't "Original!!!"  Think people just how important are those little numbers on the cowl??  Are they worth an extra $20,30 or $50,000 or even $100,000??  If they are-then you have a much larger bank account and a much smaller brain than I do. Mastermind