More "Gotta Haves" that you don't really need.....

Here's some more tips on getting the most bang for your buck. Like I said in the last post the buff magazines have their way of doing things and often they are giving good advice-if your building an all-out race engine. If your building a street machine that might go to the drags one weekend a month you don't need 3/4 of the "Gotta Haves." Here's a perfect example-a while back one of the major mags-I think it was Hot Rod was chronicling a small-block Chevy buildup. They went down the list-you "gotta have" a 4-bolt main block, a forged steel crank,forged "pink" rods, forged pistons, screw in studs in the heads etc, etc. Their half-right. Yes, if your building a NASCAR Nextel Cup engine that has to go 7,800 rpm for 500 miles at Daytona, you need all the beef you can get. But if your building a street engine that will never see the high side of 6,000 rpm you don't need any of that. In fact-even if your building a circle track "Hobby" stock or "Street Stock" car that won't go over 6,500-your good with standard stuff. Two-bolt main blocks and cast cranks are fine for this kind of use. I would only recommend forged pistons if your were planning to run a blower or nitrous. And then my question would be-if you have that much money and need to go that fast-why aren't you building a 454 instead of a 350?  I know people that have run small-block Chevys in circle track and 1/4 mile drag cars for 20 years that have NEVER had a stud pull out of a head. Hot Rod tested some Trick Flow aluminum heads on a ZZ4 crate engine. If you don't know-the ZZ4 is a 350 V8 rated at 355 hp and 405 lbs feet of torque. What makes it such an awesome street rod or hot rod engine is it makes over 350 ft lbs of torque from 1,800 to 5,200 rpm. They also added a bigger cam and a different intake in the search for more power. Here's the funny thing. The Trick Flow heads cost $1,400, and did net a 40 hp gain-at 6,100 rpm. Now if it's a drag racer or a circle-track car thats run wide-open all the time-that's a worthwhile gain.  However-on the dyno test the "antiquated" factory L98 heads were within 5 hp and 5 lbs ft of torque at every rpm up to 4,700. Now in a daily driver or a street / strip machine how often are you going to be above 4,800 rpm?  And for $1,400 you could buy a carb and intake, a cam kit, a higher-stall converter,some gears-a variety of things that will gain a lot more than 40 hp in a 1,400 rpm window from 4,700-6,100 rpm!! This is not an isolated example. Car Craft tested identical 454 Chevy engines with standard oval port heads and high-performance rectangular port heads. The rectangular port heads did not show a noticeable gain until 6,300 rpm. Now how often are you going to be above 6,200 rpm??  Here's another one-Edelbrock has been very successfull with their Performer and Performer RPM power packages-i.e.-heads, intake and cam. The Performer Pontiac package tested on a 400 makes 387 hp and 439 lbs ft of torque and has 15 inches of vacuum at idle. A perfect street combo-glass-smooth idle and 400 lbs of torque from idle on up. The Performer RPM package-which is basically a replica of the factory RAIV package. It makes 422 hp and 441 lbs ft of torque. However, it only has 10 inches of vacuum at idle and most of the power gain is above 4,500 rpm. Your trading quite a bit of idle quality and low-end  and mid-range torque for top-end rush. Honestly-is a car with 422 hp really going to be that much faster than a car with 387 hp?  Does 35 hp really do that much? Especially when you consider traction,gearing, etc. Before you spend your hard earned dollars just look carefully at how much bang for your buck your getting.  Mastermind    

"Gotta Haves"....That you don't really need if your trying to go fast on a budget...

Even though I sometimes write for the buff magazines It may seem that I'm awfully critical of them. On one hand I love reading them, and I realize it's their job to feature new and innovative things, and to push their advertisers products. That's how they stay in business. On the other hand It seems that every project car they build costs 40 grand or more and has to have state of the art everything. This is discouraging to younger people and those of us with families to support that would like to have a hot rod but can't invest 50 grand in a toy. I'd just like to show that you could build a fun, safe,cool car that runs 12 second 1/4 mile times or is a corner carving "G" machine without breaking the bank. The way to do it is to apply two simple rules of hot rodding-# 1. "Run What You Brung".  # 2. K.I.S.S. ( Keep It Simple Stupid ).  # 1. Is important because a lot of people think you need the latest and greatest and biggest and best of everything. Let's say you buy a '78 Camaro to play with. Yes, if you have the bank account to spend 20K on the engine alone, by all means swap in a 620 hp 572 inch GMPP rat motor or a 638 hp LS9 out of a ZR1 Corvette and enjoy it. If you don't have that kind of budget then you'll have to use the engine that came in the car which is most likely a 350 V8. You can't ask for a better base for a hot rod. There is more speed equipment available for the small-block Chevy than anything else on the planet. Magazines always rebuild their engines from the ground up. You don't have to do that. If the engine in the car runs good, has good oil pressure, doesn't use any oil, and doesn't smoke, why on earth would you spend the time and money pulling it out of the car and rebuilding it?  If you want more power-that's easy. The first two things are bolt-ons. Get an Edelbrock or Weiand performance intake manifold and re-jet the Q-Jet carb that's on the car. Or replace it with a new Edelbrock or Holley carb. Add a set of headers and a good dual exhaust system. These two simple mods will add at least 50-70 hp to your engine without affecting gas mileage or idle quality. In fact-because of the increased efficiency besides the power increase you'll probably get a 2-3 mpg increase in fuel economy. The next thing is mechanical advantage. Chances are, especially if the car has an automatic transmission-that is has Salt-flats gearing like 2.56:1 or 2.73:1. Swapping the 2.56:1 axle ratio for something in the 3.23-3.73:1 range will give you a HUGE increase in acceleration-more than 1/2 a second off your 0-60 and 1/4 mile time without adversely affecting drivability or freeway cruising speed too much. A TransGo or B&M shift kit in the TH350 will further maximize performance. Right now-assuming you can do the labor yourself-you've spent $600 for the carb and intake, $150 for the headers, $ 150 for the gears, maybe $250 for an exhaust system at a muffler shop and $50 for the shift kit. You've only invested $1,200-but I guarantee the improvement in the car's performance is stunning, and you haven't hurt drivability or reliability one ounce. If you want to go faster than that-the next steps would be maybe a hotter cam and slightly higher stall speed torque converter to complement the cam. You'd still be under 2 grand in dollars invested and you probably dropped the 1/4 mile time from somewhere in the 16s to somewhere in the 13s, and the car is still dead-reliable and easy to drive on a daily basis if you want to. If you "gotta" get it in the 12s-an entry-level Nitrous system will yank a 13 second car into the 12s easily, and your still under 3 grand in total investment. It's not sexy-but it's wicked fast and dead-reliable. Even if the engine did need to be rebuilt-Super Chevy built a 400 hp 350 from the ground up using all-new parts and it cost $2,600. Magazine writers spew numbers flippantly-but 400 honest hp will make any street car into an absolute rocket. "Run what you brung" also applies to the transmission, rear end and suspension and brake systems. Let's take our sample Camaro. Chances are it has a TH350 or if it's a 4-speed a Saginaw or Borg-Warner T10. All of those will be perfectly fine behind a 400 hp small-block. You don't need to spend 3 grand on a Richmond or Tremec 5 or 6-speed stick or a tricked-up 700R4 4-speed auto. Why? To say you have it, or to drop 500 rpm at 65 on the freeway?  Ditto for the rear end. The stock 8.5 inch 10 bolt rear will be fine. I have had 400, 4-speed Trans-Ams with this rear and popped the clutch at 4,000 rpm incessantly for five years street racing and drag racing and never broke the rear end. So you don't "need" a $3,000 custom Currie-built 9 inch Ford setup!!!  Ditto for the brakes. I have friends who have autocrossed '70s T/A's and used '70s Camaros and Firebirds in Circle-Track "Street Stock" and "Super Stock" classes and won many races with the stock front disc / rear drum setup. The only modifications needed were going to Bendix or Wagner or Ferodo D52 "Police Spec" semi-metallic pads and using Dot 5 brake fluid instead of Dot 3. With these simple things my buddys Camaro race car's brakes never faded, even in a 50-lap main event on a 1/4 mile or 1/2 mile track!!  So the stock brakes will certainly stop your car safely in daily driving and the occasional weekend trip to the drags!!!  You don't "need" a $3,000 Wildwood or Brembo 4-wheel disc setup worthy of a NASCAR Nextel Cup Champion!!  This brings up # 2....The KISS theory will save you money and grief. For example a lot of the buff mags have been testing and espousing aftermarket fuel injection systems that to me are both worthless and grossly overpriced. Let me be clear here-If your car is Fuel-Injected from the factory-say an '87-'93 "5.0" Mustang or a TPI LB9 or L98 '85-92- Z/28-Edelbrock, Trick Flow and other companies offer larger throttle bodies, ported intakes,larger runners etc that work in conjunction WITH the factory system. These are all worthwhile, reasonably priced upgrades that can add 40 or more hp to your car and stay emissions-legal. I'm talking about complete aftermarket systems for engines that originally had a carburator. These START at $2,000 and that's for a small-block Chevy. For anything other than a small-block Chevy they're over $3,000. You have to hook up oxygen sensors and other monitors, you have to get a laptop computer to program the fuel curve, it's not cheap or simple. And here's the real kicker-they don't make any more power than a simple $600 carb and intake combo. High-Perfomance Pontiac tested one of these systems on a hot 455 Pontiac engine that a staffer had in his '74 Trans-Am. With an Edelbrock Performer "RPM" intake an an 850 cfm Quadrajet the engine made like 469 hp and 544 lbs of torque on the dyno. With the $3,800 fuel injection system-which required using a Ford ECM and adapting a "5.0" Mustang Mass Air Flow sensor and other major mods-it made 455 hp and 505 lbs of torque. Huh?  That's right. The "State of the Art" $3,800 fuel injection system made 14 LESS hp and 39 lbs LESS torque than the "antiquated" $600 carb and intake combo!!!  Think about this-let's say you buy a '78 T/A to play with because you loved "Smokey and the Bandit" as a teenager. For $3,800 you could buy a set of Edelbrock Aluminum Heads,and matching intake, carb and cam, some shorty headers, some 3.73:1 gears and higher stall converter to put the 422 hp and 441 lbs of torque that Edelbrock claims your 400 will make with this package to the ground. Or you could put that fuel injection system on and make 14 hp less than the factory's anemic 220!!!  Gee, which line are you going to be in? This isn't an Isolated example. Take Roller cams for intance. Again-yes if you have a late-model Ford, Chevy or Chrysler V8 that had a roller cam from the factory-yes that is the only way to fly-and the aftermarket roller cams offered by Edelbrock, Trick Flow, Crane, Comp Cams, etc are all excellent. However- Mopar Performance tested a roller cam setup on a hot 440 they were building. Yes, it made like 20 more hp than the flat tappet setup. But the cost of the parts to convert an engine that didn't have a roller setup from the factory was $1,800!!! As opposed to about $300 for your normal cam and lifter kit. For that extra $1,500 you could have bought a lot of stuff that would make you a lot more than 20 peak hp on a dyno!!  The same goes for new-to-old engine swaps. Let's say you have a '68 Nova or a '72 Duster that you want to play with. Going to a junkyard and getting a low-mileage L31 "Vortec" 350 Chevy out of a wrecked '96 and later Chevy or GMC truck or van is a cheap easy, way to get a great performance engine at a low price. Ditto for getting a 318 or 360 "Magnum" engine out of a Dodge Truck or Van or a Jeep Grand Cherokee. Research has shown that the "Vortec" and "Magnum" heads breathe better than any factory head and many aftermarket ones. Now for me-Edelbrock sells carburated Performer intakes that fit the Vortec / Magnum engines for about $200. A new Edelbrock carb is about $350. So for less than $600 you can stuff this motor in you car and have big power for low bucks. Or you could rip the wiring harness out of the donor car or spend big dollars chasing down new stuff to hook up the crank sensors, cam sensor, 02 sensors, ad nauseum to keep it fuel-injected-which will make less power than the carb and intake!! And none of that crap is required to register a '68 Nova or '72 Duster, so Why in hell would you do all that??  Technology is great, but not just for technologies sake. Think carefully about getting the most "bang" for your bucks. That's all I'm saying. Mastermind                        

The "California Kid" redux....It might fly......

Had someone send me a comment the other day about an old post about the "California Kid." If you don't know-the "California Kid" was a made for TV 1974 movie starring Martin Sheen, Vic Morrow and Michelle Phillips. It was set in 1958 and Vic Morrow was an evil small town sheriff who pushed speeders to their deaths with his hopped up cop car. Sheen was a returned Korean War Hero who's brother was killed by Morrow. Sheen's ride was a '34 Ford built by Pete Chapouris that was black with red,yellow and orange flames. The car and it's color scheme is so iconic that when I bought a new Harley-Davidson motorcycle a few years ago-you could pay extra and get a "California Kid" paint job. Anyhow the film was remarkably good by any standard not just TV. It had good acting and dialogue and a lot of suspense as it built to a fight-to-the-finish showdown on a curvy road between Sheen and Morrow. If you can find it on VHS or DVD it's worth gettting. However the conversation got me thinking-Hollywood is always wanting to re-make old classics and this would be a good one to do in the modern era. The evil sheriff could have a Hemi Charger cop car and the "Kid" could be a Roush Mustang or a Factory Five '33 Ford kit car with a supercharged "5.0" Coyote in it. Sheen's character could be a returning Iraq or Afghanistan vet. You could make the sheriff really evil-he's using returning vets to smuggle guns and drugs back and selling them to gangs. The "Kids" brother discovers this and threatens to go to the Justice Dept and of course has to be eliminated....Then big bro comes for retribution.....Don Johnson or Kurt Russell would be good as the evil sheriif. Bradley Cooper is super-hot right now and he could certainly play the Kid. Or they could think outside the box and get Kid Rock or maybe Lucas Black-he was the Quarterback in "Friday Night Lights" and was in a couple of the "Fast and Furious" movies. There was talk that Quentin Tarantino wanted to re-do the Burt Reynolds classic "White Lightning"-I posted about that a while back. But perhaps the "California Kid" would be a better vehicle.... ( Pun intended ).  Mastermind  

Can we please stop calling all-out race cars "Street Machines?" 7 second 1/4 times?? Really??

I don't know about you, but I am sick to death of all the buff magazines featuring articles on "Real Street Heroes" or "Ultimate Street Challenge."  Yes, anything is drivable depending on what the driver is willing to tolerate. But let's be reasonable. A car with an 8 or 10 point roll cage rolling on 29 inch slicks with a 12:1 compression, nitrous-fed 500 inch, 700 hp engine backed by an automatic with a 5,000 rpm converter and a trans-brake that runs the 1/4 in 7 seconds at 160+ mph is not a street car, it's a race car. If you want to argue-consider these points.  Even if the car has 4.56:1 gears the 60 mph cruise rpm is going to be well below the 5K converter's stall speed. How far can mom go toward soccer practice before she burns up that $3,000 trans-braked TCI or B&M tranny? And how does she secure the kids? "Be careful climbing over the roll cage, honey and don't step on the Nitrous bottle."  Most tracks require anything that runs quicker than 11.50 to have a full cage and a driveshaft safety loop. Most states require anything built after 1978 to have some kind of safety and / or smog inspection that requires checking for equipment like Catalytic Converters, EGR valves,AIR pumps etc. How does one get say-a 572 inch 720 hp '86 Monte Carlo SS legally registered?  Even if you go old school-i.e a '68 Road Runner or a '72 Chevelle-paying 12 bucks a gallon for a 5-gallon jug of 110 octane race gas to feed that 12:1 528 inch Hemi or 572 inch Rat that gets 5-8 mpg is going to get old real quick. And those big fat slicks or Drag radials are going to be awesome in the rain or snow. Here's a little checklist-if your car can't make a 150 mile trip without stopping for gas,idle for ten minutes in rush-hour traffic in 90 degree weather without overheating, enter or exit a driveway or parking lot or go over speed bumps without denting the oil pan or exhaust system, and safely drive ten mph over the posted speed limit on a curvy road in the rain-things that any 15 year old Honda Accord can do-then guess what?  Your car is NOT a "Street Machine!!!"  Calling some of these 6,7 or 8 second cars street machines is like calling an armored, Hummer H1 with an M60 mounted on the roof and anti-tank missiles and Law's Rockets in the cargo area a "Sport Utility Vehicle"!!!  Right? All the upscale soccer moms in Baghdad want one of those!!  Especially now-a new Mustang GT or Camaro SS runs 12s right off the showroom floor. A shot of nitrous and some drag radials would put you in the low 11s or high 10s. And it will get 20 mpg on the highway, idle all day in summer rush hour traffic and start in 10 degree winter weather. If you really "Need" to go faster than that-honestly then you need a Top Fuel dragster, a competent therapist, or a cage. Don't get me wrong-I'm not saying you can't be-as Dennis Rodman used to say-"As Bad as you want to be". You want a 6 second car-if you got the bank account and the ability to build it-more power to you-and enjoy it ON THE TRACK where it belongs. Think about this-do you want your wife or teenage son or daughter to innocently pull out of a driveway or shopping center in front of some fool who's just put the hammer down on his 7 second alchohol-burning Rat-Motored Nova on what he thought was an empty street and is going 135 instead of 35? Will he be able to stop that sonofabitch before he kills your family member and probably himself and anyone else nearby? I think not. If the buff mags want to feature these monsters that's fine, but don't call a race car with liscence plates a "Street Machine". Robby Knieval's Jump Bike is a motorcycle,but it isn't a "Street Cruiser".  A stripped down-P51 race plane is an airplane, but it's not a "Passenger Plane!"  Mastermind                    

Blasphemy Most Foul....Again!!!

I just saw a 1968 Shelby Mustang GT500KR Convertible for sale for $210,000 AND IT DOESN'T HAVE THE ORIGINAL ENGINE!!!!!!   Really???  The ad says how the original owner grenaded the motor-and it has a "Date Correct" "Police Interceptor" 428 in it. Double-speak for "The Asshole 1st owner put a rod through the side of the block back when these cars weren't worth anything,and it's been through 12 different small and big-block block Fords in its lifetime, but the last owner tried to restore it and found a 428 block out of an old cop car that had 1968 date codes." We want you to overlook that and pay almost a 1/4 million for a NOT-NUMBERS MATCHING SHELBY MUSTANG!!!!  Really????  I saw a '57 Chevy for sale for $69,000 That had a 1964 327 in it with an Edelbrock dual-quad manifold on it, a 3-speed stick, and steel wheels with dog-dish hubcaps. Excuse me? 50K for a car with a non-original engine, an Earl Schieb paint job and dog-dish hubcaps???  They couldn't even sell it as a "Hot Rod" or "Gasser Tribute"-because if it was a '60's style "Hot Rod" it would have had a 4-speed with a Hurst Competition Plus shifter, American Racing Torq-Thrust or Cragar S/S mags,a straight front axle and radiused fenderwells!!!  This was a clunker that some gearhead cobbled together with crap he had laying around, and he wants 70 grand for it???  When I saw a 69,000 mile, numbers-matching 1969 RAIV GTO with an "OW" TH400 and 4.33 Posi for $45,000 in Hemmings????  Like Smokey Robinson said-"You better shop around". Mastermind      

Some "Clunkers" that could be great "Rat Rods".......

There are a lot of '70's and '80's beaters that would make great "Rat Rods"-i.e.-not pretty, and not expensive but wicked fast.  Here's a few that could go major fast for very low bucks. # 1. 1975-79 GM "X" body. This includes Chevy Novas, Pontiac Venturas,Olds Omegas, and Buick Apollos. They have front disc brakes standard and any suspension or brake upgrades that fit a Camaro / Firebird fit these cars-so you could build a drag racer or a corner carver. Their engine bays will swallow any GM engine-small or big-block Chevy,Pontiac V8, and Olds and Buick V8s. The '68-74 models have kind of a "cult" following-but these are snubbed, which means you can buy them cheap. # 2 1975-80 Chevy Monza / Pontiac Sunbird / Olds Starfire / Buick Skyhawk. Forget the 4-banger and V6 models-the ones to look for are the Chevy V8 models. They jad a reputation as dogs-but only because they were saddled with 2bbl carburation, single exhausts and salt-flats gearing like 2.29:1. Swapping the 305 for a snarling 350 or 383 is a bolt-in, and getting some 3.42:1 or 3.73:1 gears will put all that power to the pavement. With a curb weight of about 2,700 lbs-it wouldn't take much to turn one of these into a rocket. # 3. 1975-79 Ford Granada / Mercury Monarch. These have 302 or 351W V8s under the hood, and 9 inch rear ends. A little work-carb and intake, headers and dual exhausts, and an axle ratio change could make one of these really run for low bucks. # 4. 1975-78 Ford Mustang II. Forget the 4-cylinder or V6 models, get the 302 V8 models. They were dogs when new because they were saddled with 2 bbl carburation and salt-flats gearing. However-they don't weigh any more than a Pinto and there are a million ways to build power into a small-block Ford. # 5. 1975-78 Chrysler Cordoba / Plymouth Sport Fury / Dodge Magnum. The ones to look for are 400 and 440 versions; however a 360 version could be made to really run, or you could swap in a 360 based 408 stroker. # 6. 1975-79 Dodge Aspen / Plymouth Volare. These replaced the beloved Duster / Dart models and they had a reputation as slugs-like a lot of '70's sedans-the engines were choked with emission controls and they had salt-flats gearing. However-they can be bought dirt-cheap, their light enough that 318 versions could be quick, and could really rock with a 360 V8. Even if it was a 360 Magnum out of a wrecked Jeep Cherokee.....# 7. 1983-88 Ford Thunderbird. Forget the 4-cylinder and V6 models; get the 302 V8 models. Almost any speed parts or suspension parts that fit a Fox Mustang will fit these cars-so there's tons of potential. This is the one Bill Elliott won the NASCAR title in. # 8. 1987-92 Lincoln MKVII LSC. Often called a "5.0" Mustang in a Tuxedo-these cars have the 302 V8 from the Mustang GT, Recaro seats, 16" wheels and tires and sport suspension. Anything that fits a Fox Mustang will fit these cars so there's plenty of potential. They might not be sexy-but they could be wicked fast for very low bucks. Mastermind