Stop whining and either lower your sights a little, or build one!!!

I get so tired of people whining that they can't find a deal on the classic car they want.  Usually these people want some unobtainable moon rock. Yes, if you want an LS6 Chevelle and don't have a hundred grand laying around, your pretty much out of luck. However-you can buy a nice, restored 68-70 SS396 Chevelle for about $30,000 in any state in the union. Or you could buy a '68-'72 Malibu, go to a junkyard and get a 454 core out of a wrecked truck, and build an LS6 spec motor pretty easy. Merlin and GMPP sell the heads,Crane sells the cam, and GMPP sells the intake. Or you could use Edelbrock stuff. They claim 540 hp from their Performer "RPM" Package. If you want a Boss 302-again figure on 80K on up. However-I have seen nice, rust-free 351W / 351C '69-70 fastbacks for sale for as low as $12,000. Or with help from Edelbrock and Trick Flow you can build a clone "Boss" engine.  If you want  an SD-455 T/A-your going to pay huge there was only 252 built in 1973 and another 943 in '74. However you can buy a '75-79 T/A relatively cheap. Butler Performance and other comapnies sell crank kits to turn a 400 into a 455, and Edelbrock has the round-port RAIV-style heads. Or Butler will sell you a 455 Pontiac guaranteed to have 550 hp and 570 lbs of torque, and run on 89 octane gas for $7,500. Want a badass "Gasser" style or "Two Lane Blacktop / American Graffiti" style '55 Chevy? Woodyz Hot Rods is selling brand-new '55-57 Chevy bodies and chassis. Hot Rod magazine built one for 25K including the Rat motor,muncie 4-speed, 9 inch Ford rear end and Disc-braked front suspension. People want more than that for rust-bucket tri-fives that need a ton of work!!  427 Cobra?  Factory Five's complete kit-( everything you need except motor and tranny ) is $19,999. Another 5K will buy you a 345 hp 302 Ford SVT crate engine and "World Class" T5 five-speed to put behind it. With a curb weight of less than 2,500 lbs-you'll do 0-60 in 4 seconds and the 1/4 in the high 11s-for about 25 grand. You'll need ten times that to touch a "Real" 289 or 427 Cobra. An L88 Corvette will cost you over 100 grand. I have seen nice, running '74-79 Corvettes on used car lots as low as $2995!!. A 480 hp 427 GMPP crate engine will run you about ten grand. Or you could start with the 425 hp 454HO for $5995 and do some upgrades. Either way for about 15K you've got a 'Vette with L88 performance and rumble.Any 427 Stingray will cost you 50K on up.  So think outside the box and quit lamenting that there's no deals out there. There are, you just have to have a little imagination. Mastermind