Don't pass on a great car because of one option that it does or doesn't have...

A lot of people liked the "No Used Car Factory" post. It's just common sense. Yet I still talk to people almost every day that whine about not being able to find a decent car at a decent price. Then, they'll tell me about some screaming deal they passed on because the car had or didn't have one thing!!  UGH!!  Here's some stupid things that these people pass over great cars for. # 1. 2bbl Carburation. Back in the '60's and '70's a lot of base models and even mid-level models had V8s with 2bbl carbs as standard equipment, and the 4bbl and premium engines were optional. There's a lot of 289 and 351 Mustangs and Cougars with 2bbl carbs,a lot of 350 Camaros, Firebirds,Chevelles, and Cutlasses with 2bbls on them. And it's not just small-blocks either. I've seen 390 Mustangs, T-Birds, and Fairlanes with 2bbls, 383 and 400 Chargers, Coronets, and Satellites with 2bbls, and 400 Firebirds, LeMans and Gran Prix models with 2bbls. And again-it's not just base models. I've seen Mach 1 Mustangs with full regalia-i.e. front and rear spoilers, blacked out hoods, stripes, "sport slats" ( rear window loovers ) and Magnum 500 wheels that have a 2bbl 351W or 351C under the hood, that's numbers-matching!! I've seen for-real SS Chevelles and Olds 442s with 2bbl 350s under the hood. I've seen GTOs and 442s with 2bbl 400s under the hood. ( GM's "Turnpike Specials"; whose Idea was that? ) The point I'm making is, are you really going to pass up a great deal on a great car because it has the wrong carburator??!!  And seriously-An Edelbrock Perfomer intake costs about $200 for most popular engines and a matching Edelbrock carb is about $350 from Summitt. So for less than $600 you can have the tremendous power and drivability upgrade of a 4bbl carb and intake. If your an anal type and want to keep the car more or less "all original" junkyards and swap meets are full of people selling Chevy, Pontiac,Olds, Ford and Chrysler factory Iron 4bbl intakes, for sometimes as low as $50!! New or used, or rebuilt-finding a Quadrajet for GM, or Carter AVS or Thermo-Quad for Mopars is easy, as is finding a Holley or Carter AFB for Fords. ( Or use an Edlebrock-their identical to the AFB. ). I can't imagine anyone in their right mind wanting an Autolite 4100 or 4300 carb on their worst enemy's car, but if you do their out there. The point is factory or aftermarket, changing from a 2bbl to a 4bbl is an easy, cheap fix. Yet I've seen people pass up great 2bbl cars, and pay 3 or 4 grand more for a 4bbl model that isn't as nice. Are you kidding me?  Serial numbers on the CARBURATOR are worth 4-grand to you??  # 2. 3-speed Sticks. A lot of cars had 3-speed manuals as standard equipment and the 4-speeds and automatics were extra-cost options. Popular Hot Rodding's 1969 GTO Judge test car was a Ram Air III, with a 3-speed!!  I've seen quite a few 389 and 400 GTOs with 3-speeds, and quite a few 383 Road Runners, 'Cudas and Challengers with 3-speeds. I've seen a lot of 340 Dusters and Darts with 3-speeds, and more than a few 350 Camaros and Firebirds. I've seen a few Formula 400s with 3-speeds. I've seen a lot of 289 and 302 Mustangs with 3-speeds, and even a few 390 Mustang and Fairlane models.  You can address this one of two ways. If you just "Gotta Have" a 4-speed-thankfully the factory did most of the work for you. The clutch linkage and pedals, etc are already there. Most Saginaw,BW, and Muncie 3-speeds are the same length and share a common rear trans mount with their 4-speed cousins. Ditto for Ford and Chryslers. Swapping a 3-speed for a 4-speed is practically a no-brainer if you have any mechanical ability at all-or even if you don't most shops would only charge you the "R&R" labor time-less than 4hrs on most cars-if you had all the parts. The other way to look at it would be you have a 3-speed auto with a high-stall converter and a badass shift kit. Think. You can launch at whatever rpm you want. If you pop the clutch at 2,500-3,500 rpm-isn't that going to give you a spectacular launch? If you have a good Hurst shifter, you can powershift at whatever rpm you desire. Doubtless a 383 Road Runner or 400 GTO would be more fun with a 3-speed stick than it would be with a slushbox, right??  And it would fall under the "weird, but kinda cool" option packages that a lot of '60's and '70's cars had. The point is, I wouldn't pass up a screaming deal on a car I wanted because of the transmission!! # 3. GM cars with 2-speed automatics. For some reason in the '60's GM was lagging behind on automatics. Fords had the excellent C4s and C6s, and Chryslers had the excellent Torquflites-all 3-speed autos that performed flawlessly. However, for some insane reason, ( although the TH400 was introduced in "big" cars in 1965 ) up until 1967 or '68 depending on model-if you wanted an automatic, you got the awful 2-speed "Powerglide". Even in a 396 Chevelle or 389 GTO, or-gasp-in a 427 Corvette!!  Luckily-the solution is easy. A TH350 is exactly the same length and has exactly the same rear trans mount and driveshaft yoke as the Powerglide / ST300. That means a TH350 is a bolt-in swap. You can even use the stock shifter. ( You won't be able to manually engage low gear, but with a good shift kit that's not a problem ). The difference in performance will be stunning. The reason is Powerglides had either a 1.76:1 or 1.82:1 first gear and a 1.00:1 second. TH350s have a 2.52:1 first gear,a 1.52:1 second, and a 1:1 third. Even with the same rear axle ratio, your 0-60 and 1/4 mile time will drop substantially. Save the old tranny in case you ever want to sell the car to a "just as it left the factory" type, and if he wants to change it back, he can after he buys it!!  But don't let one option stop you from getting a great deal on a great car. Mastermind

Still more "Replicars" that are way cool.....

I talked in the last post about building a copy of megabuck cars for a fraction of the price. Here's a few more that I thought of later. # 1. Baldwin-Motion Phase III Camaro. In the early '70's Joel Rosen opened Motion Performance and partnered with Baldwin Chevrolet to build some ultra badass Camaros. The Phase III models were guaranteed to run 10 second 1/4 mile times. Since they had LS6 or LS7 454s backed by a Muncie 4-speed or a TH400 with a high stall converter, 4.88:1 gears in the rear end ( a Hone overdrive behind the tranny reduced it to 3.42:1 for highway crusing ) traction bars and ultra sticky Mickey Thompson soft compound tires-it wasn't hard to back up that boast. They also had an L88 style hood scoop and two tone paint with wild stripes and graphics. Documented Motion cars are rare and bring a King's Ransom-100K on up. However to build a clone today you'd only need to find a '70-74 Camaro. ( Emissions laws caused Rosen to stop production in 1975 ). 10 grand will easily buy you a decent small-block Camaro of that vintage. GMPP's 454HO crate engine has 440 hp and 500 lbs of torque and sells for $5995. A TH350 will hold up behind a Rat with the proper cooler, torque converter or shift kit. If you "gotta have" a TH400-or a 4-speed-it's not that big a deal to change the rear trans mount and driveshaft yoke. A set of gears for the rear end is cheap-under $200-and the 8.5 inch GM 10 bolts are tough-I've had 400, 4-speed T/A's that I dropped the clutch on a lot and never had a problem. Harwood sells the hood scoop and the paint scheme is easy to copy. Depending on your mechanical ability you could do one up nice for under 25K easily. That's a lot better than 100+ for a "real" one. # 2.  Yenko Deuce. Don Yenko took a base-model 1970 Nova, stuffed an LT1 Corvette motor in it, added a Pontiac-style Hood Tach, and some cool graphics. I saw an original, documented Yenko Deuce for sale on the internet for $200k!!!  You can build a fun copy for 1/ 10th of that. Finding a six-cylinder or small-block '68-72 Nova isn't that hard. For less than five grand GMPP will sell you a complete from carb to oil pan, including a serpentine belt drive and the water pump, power steering pump, and starter and alternator included ZZ5 350 V8 with 400 Hp or a ZZ383 Stroker with 450 hp. These engines have 4-bolt mains, steel cranks, "pink" rods, Keith Black pistons, roller cams and "Fast Burn" Vortec heads. They rock, right out of the box. I had a ZZ4-that had L98 heads and was rated at 355 hp-and it kicked ass. A hood tach is easy to find from any Pontiac restoration vendor, and Phoenix Graphics has the stripe stencils. This one is so easy, it's almost criminal. ( Well only if you try to sell it as an original ). # 3. 1962-63 421 Super Duty Catalina. Again, rare, documented 421SD cars are priced in the stratosphere-100 grand on up. However-you find a generic Cat of this vintage. Get a 400 out of any '67-78 Pontiac and put a cut-down 421 / 428 crank kit in it. Kaufmann and Butler Performance sell these complete rotating assemblys ( crank, rods,pistons and bearings ) for about $1,699. Any aftermarket ( Crane, Comp Cams, Lunati ) RAIV cam has the same timing and lift as the McKellar # 10 cam used back then, and Edelbrock and Offenhauser both make dual-quad intakes for Pontiacs. The internet is full of 4-speed conversion kits for early '60's Pontiacs-( clutch linkage and pedals ) and a T10 or Muncie 4-speed is easy enough to find. Depending on the price of the base car, you could build an SD copy for under 20 or 25 grand easily. # 4. 1965-68 Shelby GT350. Try to touch an original Shelby of this vintage for under 100k. Like the kid in Christmas story-I triple-dog dare you. However-15 grand will buy you a decent 289 fastback in any state in the union,and Year One and Tony Branda have the scoops, spoilers, taillights, etc for the look. Branda also sells tri-y headers and the Shelby intakes and 715 Holley carbs if you want to go to the nth degree. Personally I'd buy a 345 hp Ford SVT 302 crate engine and World-Class T5 five-speed and use that-but to each his own. Anyhow-again you could have a badass looking and performing ride for less than 25 grand, which is 1/4 of what you'd pay for a "real" Shelby.  Anyhow, there's cool stuff that you can copy for a fraction of the price of an original-Yenko Camaros and Chevelles come to mind as do Factory Five Cobra replicas. Something to think about if you can't spare six-figures for a toy!!  Mastermind              

Building a replica of an ultra-rare car can be cool......

I've talked to a lot of people who lust after certain cars but complain they could never afford one unless they won the lottery. That's true if you "gotta have" a numbers-matching Boss 429 or something similar. But there's a lot stuff that you can build for 1/ 10th of what a "real" one would cost. I'll list them in no particular order. # 1. 1969 Pontiac Trans-Am. Only 697 T/A's were built in 1969-so a "real" one in decent shape will cost you over 100k. However, Pontiac built 113,000 Firebirds in 1969, most with V8 power. 15 grand will buy you a nice one in any state in the union. Year One,Ames Performance and NPD all offer the hood,scoops and spoilers to duplicate the bodywork. The white and blue paint job is a no-brainer. Even if you did just that to a 350 model-you'd have the look. If you went with the Edelbrock Performer RPM package-( heads, intake, cam ) on a 400-you'd have a non numbers matching RAIV. Probably for less than 25 grand, which is a lot better than 100K+.  # 2. Thunderbolt Fairlane. 289 Fairlanes can be bought relatively cheaply. No, I'm not suggesting you search the galaxy and mortgage your house for a 427. But all "FE" engines look alike externally and 390s were used in just about every Ford car and truck built from 1961-76. Edelbrock claims 451 hp and 434 lbs of torque from their dual-quad Performer RPM package on a 390. You'd have the look, and I've said it before-magazine writers spout numbers flippantly, but 450 honest hp will make any street car into an absolute rocket. You can find BW T10 4-speeds on line or from Summitt, or you can buy a Top-Loader used. Or-it's a fake anyway-and a C6 with the proper torque converter and a good shift kit would give you better 1/4 mile times and greater consistency if you did want to drag race it. The "Teardrop" hood scoop is easy enough to find-Harwood sells them. You could build a cool Thunderbolt copy for a fraction of the price of the real deal.  # 3. Hemi Dart. You can buy a '68-69 Dart relatively cheaply. 340 versions are getting a little pricier, but 318 models are still reasonable. Mopar Performance and Summitt sell the big-block crossmember. That and a 727 Torqueflite are easy enough to chase down.  A 465 hp 426 Mopar performance crate Hemi is 15 grand. That's not cheap, but if you figure 10 grand for a nice 318 base car, 15 for the Hemi, a couple grand for a TCI built 727, 3 for a Dana 60 or Currie 9 inch rear end and you've got 30 grand in the whold shebang. A lot more attainable than the 250K+ that people ask for the few remaining "real" ones.  # 4. Boss 302 Mustang. Ford only built 1600 in 1969 and 7113 in 1970 so these bring a King's Ransom-usually 80-100k. However Ford built over 70,000 fastback Mustangs in 1969 alone, most with 302 or 351W power. 15-20K will buy you a nice one. The graphics and spoilers are easy enough to get through Tony Branda or Phoenix graphics. Edelbrock and Trick Flow offer "Cleveland" style heads that will bolt up to Windsor blocks and Edelbrock sells an "E-Boss" manifold so you could build a "Mock Boss" 302 or 351. Depending on the price of the base car and how much work you can do yourself, you could easily have a "Boss" clone for 25-30K. A savings of 50 grand over a "real" one. And since it's a fake anyway-why not build a stompin' 347 or 392 inch stroker and back it with a Richmond 5-speed?  There's others you could do, but I think you get the picture. With a little imagination you can have a super-cool ride at a fraction of the cost.  Mastermind    

"Day Two" modifications are ok...even if you add them 40 years later...

A lot of musclecars had what the buff magazines call "Day Two" modifications-i.e. aftermarket upgrades done immediately after buying the car. Good examples would be 4-speed Chevelle or Camaro owners installing a Hurst Competition Plus shifter in place of the awful Muncie unit. ( They were body mounted and were pratically impossible to shift above about half-throttle. GTO's,Firebirds, and Olds 442s had Hurst Shifters from the factory. Why Chevys didn't, I don't know. ) Another would be Ford guys replacing the awful Autolite 4300 4bbl with a Holley. Others would be Accel or Mallory distributors. GM cars had decent points-they'd go 6,000 rpm or so. Fords and Mopars? Theirs tended to "sign off" about 4,500 rpm and start to bounce. It was rare in the '70's to see a Mustang or Charger at the strip with a stock distributor. If you did, the guy had extra sets of points in his tooldbox! And they were usually aftermarket-like Accel. So be a little flexible when looking at a 40 or 50 year old car. A '69 Camaro with headers and traction bars and a 650 Holley on an Edelbrock Tarantula manifold is just as "right" today as was in 1971. A '60s or '70's 'Vette with headers and chrome sidepipes is just as cool today as it was in the early-'70's. Ditto for a Sun tach on the steering column or a set of Cragar S/S or American Racing Torq-Thrust mags. Much better than an LS motor, and 20 inch Center Lines!!  Just had to vent that. Mastermind  

More on adding options....

Here's something that purists need to get over-If someone puts Super Bee graphics on a 383 powered '69 Coronet-it doesn't reduce the value of a numbers-matching "real" Super Bee one ounce!!  No matter how many Cobra replicas Factory Five sells-guess what? A "real" 427 Cobra is still worth $250,000!!!  I say this because I was talking to a guy who loved the DKM "Macho" T/A's, but every one he located for sale was priced very high-$25,000+. I told him that's because DKM-based out of Mecham Pontiac in Arizona-only built 2-300 cars a year from '77-79. They are rare. However-I told him-you could buy one of the 93,000 T/A's sold in 1978 alone, and buy the stencils from Phoenix Graphics to duplicate the "Macho" paint scheme. Adding Hooker Headers and dual exhausts is easy, as would be re-jetting the Q-jet carb and maybe even adding a Performer intake. ( '75-79 Pontiac factory intakes have a restrictive throttle opening which limits power above 4,500 rpm. Switching to the factory '67-74 intake or an Edelbrock Performer offers a huge improvement-it will now pull hard to 5,700 rpm. ) As long as you don't try to sell it as DKM built car-( Dennis Mecham has all the vin numbers for people who want to authenticate a "Macho" ). What harm is done? The same goes for putting "Judge" graphics on a '69-'71 GTO. If you want to paint a '69 Mustang fastback like a "Boss 302" and use Trick Flow or Edelbrock "Cleveland" heads and the "E-Boss" intake to create a "Mock Boss 302"-who have you hurt? If you put a Hurst Dual / Gate shifter and Hurst / Olds graphics on a '72 Cutlass, does it affect the value of the 629 "real" H/O's built that year?  No!!!  So if you want to make you LeMans into a GTO clone or your Camaro into a Z/28 your not hurting anyone. Mastermind

You can add options to a car...

The last few posts I've talked about buying an already finished car and trying to find the options you want. Like I said before the chance of you finding a car with every single thing you desire is pretty slim. However-a lot of things can be easily changed. For example-if you have or want to buy a '60's GTO or Firebird, and you just "gotta have" the hood tach, that's a pretty easy add-on. Year One, NPD and other places sell them. Another one is a vinyl top. Whether you do or don't want one-it's a pretty simple process to add or remove one. Another is wheels. If your disco-era T/A has Rally II wheels and you want "Snowflakes" or vice-versa, Year One, Wheel Vintiques, and others can help. Ditto for Chevelles,Corvettes and Camaros and the various Rally wheels Chevy offered over the years. These companies also offer Chrysler Rallyes, and Magnum 500s that were used on various Ford,GM and Mopar offerings. Other stuff takes a little more work, but is not a major undertaking. For example if you want to add a "Six-Pack" setup to a Mopar-Edelbrock sells the manifold, Holley sells the carbs and Summitt and Mopar performance sell the air cleaner and throttle linkage. The whole setup will cost you about 2 grand-but with "real" six-pack cars getting almost as pricey as Hemis-it might behoove you to buy a 440 4bbl Charger or Road Runner,etc for 10-15K less money and then add the induction setup! Pontiac Tri-Power setups are all over the internet. A lot of companies sell front disc brake conversion kits for most popular cars. Summitt sells new steering boxes and power steering pumps for most popular bodies. So if you found your dream car except for the fact that it had drum brakes and manual steering-those are easy upgrades. ( If your a mechanic, and if your not, most shops wouldn't charge more than a couple hrs to do simple stuff like that ). A little harder, but not insurmountable is certain transmission swaps. For example, if your car has a 3-speed, and you want to swap in a 4-speed, it's pretty simple. For GM guys,most Saginaw or Borg-Warner 3-speeds are the same length and share a common rear trans mount with Saginaw, BW or Muncie 4-speeds. You wouldn't even have to shorten the driveshaft. Mopar 4-speeds and 3-speeds are usually the same length and have a common rear trans mount. If your GM car has a Powerglide or ST300-a TH350 is exactly the same length and shares a common rear trans mount and driveshaft yoke!! You could even use the stock shifter if you wanted to. ( You wouldn't be able to manually engage low gear, but with a good B&M or TransGo shift kit-you won't need to-the trans can be programmed to automatically downshift to low gear below 15-20 mph.)  And if you ever sell the car, most people would much rather have a 4-speed stick or 3-speed automatic than a 3 speed manual or 2-speed auto!! Why does everyone care so freakin' much what something will be worth if or when they sell it?? If your prospective buyer has to have a 2-speed "Powerslide" in a 396 Chevelle or 389 GTO instead of the "unoriginal" TH350-then let him change it back after he buys the car, and SLOW Down his 0-60 and 1/4 mile by 1/2 a second or more!!  The point I'm making is don't pass up a great deal on a great car because it doesn't have some easily added feature. Mastermind      

Sometimes you gotta grab what's there.....The old saying-"You snooze,you lose....

I talked in the last post about there being no "used car factory". Even knowing that, I have had many friends and customers over the years pass over great cars at reasonable prices and then regret it later. Why people do this, I don't know. But I knew a guy who wanted a '70's Trans-Am. He passed on a 400, 4-speed, T-topped '77 Formula at a dirt-cheap price-( the owner had multiple DUIs and needed the money for a lawyer to try to stay out of jail ) because it "wasn't a T/A".  He spent more money for a hardtop '79 403 Olds / TH350 T/A that he was disappointed in, and then bitched that he should have bought the Formula. I had no sympathy for him. "Yes, you should have bought that Formula, you dummy." I know another guy who wanted a '67-69 302 Z/ 28 Camaro. He found one a '68 model-and it was numbers-matching and gorgeous. And it was the color combination he wanted, a dream come true. He didn't buy it. Why? He started haggling with the owner over the price. He walked over $500. I said at the time-"Don't be an idiot." "You'll never find another one that nice that has everything you want." "And honestly-your not $5,000 apart-I could see that-but $500??"  "If you can afford $24,500 then you can afford $25,000!!!  No, his ego got the better of him, and he walked. And after looking at several more cars that were just as high priced or more and not as nice, or not equipped like he wanted-he sighs-"Damn you were right." "I should have bought that blue one." "In the scope of my whole life, what does $500 bucks matter?"  I'm not saying lay down and overpay for an overpriced car, but if something is exactly what you want, and you can afford it, why not get it? I'll never forget back in the '80's a guy I knew wanted a Datsun 240Z. He found one that was the color he wanted, everything, in good condition. The asking price was $3,000-all they were worth back then. He offered the guy $2,500. They haggled back and forth. The owner said he'd take 2,800. My friend offered him $2,650. The guy said no-2,800 take or leave it. He decides to walk-he tells me-"I'll call the guy back in a couple days-he'll take the $2,650." I tell him-"That's a nice car-it won't be here in a couple days." "If you want it, you better step up."  Before we get to the car-someone else walks up and hands the guy $3,000 cash and drives off in the car. My pal is devastated. I know it was mean, but I couldn't help it. "How's that $150 dollars you wanted to save looking now?"  "F&*k  you!" was the response. But he still didn't have the car. And he had to look for a several weeks before he bought one, that wasn't as nice as the one he let slip away.  Don't let that happen to you over a piddling amount of money. Mastermind        

There is no "Used Car Factory" to order from....You need to lower your sights a little if you want to find a car....

There is no "Used Car Factory" to order from. If your looking for a musclecar-the chance of you finding a 40 or 50 year old car with the exact engine, transmission, axle ratio,instrumentation, interior color, etc. is almost nil. You'd have a better chance of getting struck by lightning on the golf course. So when you hear some clown whining that they can't find their dream car, and they've been looking five years, blah,blah,blah-it's because they're too picky. I've touched on this before, but's it's worth going over again. I personally know several people who passed on very cool cars in good condition at fair prices because it wasn't "Exactly what they were looking for". These idiots are why I came up with the "There's no used car factory" line. Idiot # 1. Wanted a '68-70 GTO with the 400 / 4-speed powertrain. He passed on a nice 400 / 4-speed '68 model because it didn't have the hood tach or disc brakes. He passed on a gorgeous, loaded 455 powered '70 model because it was an automatic. When he turned up his nose at a gorgeous, triple white, 400 / 4-speed, '71 LeMans Sport CONVERTIBLE that was done like a Judge-"Because it's not a real GTO" I wanted to kill him.  Idiot # 2. Wanted a '70-'72 LT-1 powered Z / 28 Camaro. He passed up an unrestored, but exceptionally well maintained '70 model because it was an automatic. He passed up a nice 4-speed '71 model because it had headers on it and traction bars and Cragar mags-which made it "Unoriginal". Ugh! He also passed up a fantastic, all original 4-speed '73 model because it was an L82 ( which has a hydraulic cam, an iron intake and Q-Jet carb, instead of the LT1's solid cam, aluminum intake and 780 Holley!! )  As far as I know, this moron still hasn't found a Camaro up to his standards. Idiot # 3. Wanted a '68-'70 "Bullitt" / Dukes of Hazzard" Charger with a big block. He passed up a decent '69 model that had a KILLER 440 in it, Cragar mags and brand-new T/A radials, because the 440 wasn't "numbers-matching". He passed up a pristine, all original '68 models because it had bench seats and a two-barrel carb on the 383!!. He also passed up a 440 / Six Pack '70 model that should have been on the cover of Hot Rod magazine because the 440 wasn't numbers matching. Idiot # 4. Wanted a '65-68 Shelby Mustang, preferably a GT350 or GT500. He passed on a gorgeous'68 390 GT done in "Bullitt" style-highland green paint and Torq-Thrust mags-becsuse "Its not a Shelby". He also passed on a '66 GT with the 225 hp 289, the rally pac guages, the pony interior,factory air, factory front disc brakes, and the "California Megaphone" exhaust with date-coded mufflers intact- for $2,300!!!!!  Because "It's still not a Shelby". I wanted to slap him.  I'm not even a Ford guy and I bought the damn thing and sold it for a tidy profit a few months later. The point I'm trying to make is realize a good deal when you see it, and snap it up!!  Mastermind  

Get the damn car you want....Even if you have to pay more for it or search longer...

Like I said in the last post, I blame the buff magazines for a lot of the grief unsuspecting car enthusiasts get themselves into. Hot Rod, Car Craft, Popular Hot Rodding, Truckin', all of them do it. Every month they have at least one article, and sometimes several saying how "Easy" it is to swap engines, transmissions, install dropped spindles or convert a car from drum to disc brakes, etc, etc. If your a professional mechanic working in a state-of-the-art shop and have $20,000 worth of your own tools, and access to two post lifts,engine hoists, transmission jacks, frame jigs, welding equipment / cutting torches, alignment machines, brake lathes, etc-yeah you can do pretty much anything with a minimum of hassle. But for "Joe Average" who's not a mechanic and has only basic hand tools-have you ever tried to change a clutch in your driveway? It's a bastard, and that's if your just replacing the disc, pressure plate and throwout bearing on say-a '73 Firebird with stock replacement parts. Have you ever tried to hold up a Muncie 4-speed while laying flat on your back, while your buddy tries to stab the input shaft into the bellhousing? Not fun, or easy. And that's a simple "R&R"-remove and replace, don't get me started on switching from a 4-speed to a 5-speed, or from a stick to an automatic. That's why I'm telling people don't fall into the trap set by the buff magazines. If you want a big-block Chevelle-then step up and buy one. Don't buy a small-block Malibu with the intention of "I'll just drop a Rat Motor in it next summer." Really? First off where are you going to get the "Rat" motor? Junkyards want $1,500+ for 454 "cores" out of '80's trucks that need to be rebuilt. You'll top 5K easy buying and building a "junkyard" Rat. Not me, you say-GMPP's 454HO crate engine that has 425 hp and 500 lbs ft of torque starts at $5995. Right there-depending on the purchase price of your small-block Malibu-I bet another 6-grand could have gotten you a decent SS396!!  But wait-theres more-you've spent six grand for the engine. Now what about a starter, alternator, water pump, power steering pump, fuel pump, all the belts and pulleys and hoses? What about a bigger radiator to cool it? Different front springs to support the additional weight of the big-block. With a good shift kit and proper cooler a TH350 will probably hold up for thousands of miles of daily driving-but if your going to seriously drag race the car even once a month, or put nitrous on it, or just upgrade the cam and heads-to get 500 hp-eventually it's going to break-and then you'll need to upgrade to a TH400. Which means a different crossmember, different rear trans mount,different driveshaft yoke and U-joint,different kickdown linkage,different torque converter. And that's on a Chevy-which is the easiest and has the most interchangeable parts line. God help you if your buying a Ford or a Mopar. I'm not slamming Fords and Chryslers-I'm just stating an irrefutable fact. Let's say just like the above mentioned Chevelle enthusiast-you get a great deal on a 318 powered '71 Challenger-because your going to "drop" a 440 into it. Well guess what?  First thing you'll need is a big-block front crossmember. That's right "A" and "B / RB" engines have a totally different front crossmember. Mopar Performance and Summitt Racing sell them-but it's a pretty big job to change them-better done in a body shop than your driveway. Your also going to need a bigger radiator, heavier front springs, and if you want the car to handle properly-big-block Torsion bars. Basically upgrading the whole front suspension. Chances are the 318 model has 4-wheel drum brakes. Your going to put a 500 hp engine in a car with drum brakes? There's more expense for a front disc brake conversion.  And where are you going to find a complete, from carb to oil pan 440? They've been out of production since 1978. You'll just buy a Mopar Performance 505 Wedge Crate engine? Ok, thats 10 grand.  And guess what? The 904 Torqueflite won't bolt up to or stand up to a 440 / 505. You need to buy a 727 Torqeflite and different trans crossmember, and probably have a custom driveshaft built. And if your going to lean on it-the 81/4 rear end won't hold up. You'll need to upgrade to at least an 8 3/4-and if your changing it anyway, you might as well get a Dana 60. Not cheap. by the time you get done with the suspension, brakes, tranny change and crate motor-you'll rack up a 15K bill easily-and that's in just parts, if you can do the labor yourself.  Again-depending on the purchase price of the 318 model-I'll bet an extra 15k would have easily gotten you a decent 383 or 440 Challenger / Cuda if you looked hard enough. Fords are even worse. A 351W has a different bellhousing bolt-pattern than a 351C. And their different from a 390 / 428, which is different from a 429 / 460!!  So just thinking you'll buy a C6 from B&M or TCI-is not that simple!!  All the tin and accessories are model specific. So-unlike you GM guys who can take a 350 out of a '78 Chevy C10 and drop it in a '72 Camaro, or take a 400 out of a '71 Catalina and drop it in a '77 T/A and not even change the belts-you'll committ hari-kari with a Ford. That's because a 390 in a pickup has a different oil pan, water pump, power steering pump, fuel pump, and alternator, and exhaust manifolds than a 390 out of a Mustang, and the Mustang and the pickup engine are different than a 390 from an LTD, which is different from a 390 in a T-Bird!!  So-the best thing to do is search for the damn car you want, within reason-Don't be an idiot like a guy I knew who passed up a one-owner, contantly garaged, low-mileage, pristine, little old lady owned since new '68 Charger because it had a bench seat and a two-barrel carb on the 383!!!  An Edelbrock Performer intake and matching carb is what-$600 bucks and a couple hours to change,even in your driveway!!  And if he just HAD to have bucket seats and a console-I think Year One could have helped!!!  Dumb ass!!!  Hope this helps everyone out. Mastermind