Coolest cars have to be production cars...And Cool!!

Someone posted on the internet about the coolest movie and TV cars. I had to disagree with the poster on a lot of them. The reason is he had stuff like the "Batmobile", the Monkees GTO based surfmobile, the Munsters coach, etc. These were all one-off customs built by customizers like George Barris. They were definitely cool, but there's no way "Joe Average" could ever duplicate them. On the other hand-stuff like the General Lee Charger, the Starsky & Hutch Torino, even the "California Kid" '34 Ford built by Pete Chapouris would be pretty easy to duplicate. And I think a lot of the guy's picks were just because he like the shows. Colt Seavers' '82 GMC pickup from "The Fall Guy?"  Really? An '82 GMC Pickup? The Van from "The "A" team?  An '81 GMC Van??  Those belong on a list with the Iconic Mustang and Charger from "Bullitt", the Supra from the 1st "Fast&Furious", the Badass '55 Chevy from "Two-Lane Blacktop and American Graffiti,Kowalski's Challenger from "Vanishing Point"?  No way. I know some of those were modified, but they were modifications that the average guy could duplicate. I also don't think ultra-exotics should be on the list. Yes the Audi R8 from "Iron Man" and the Aston-Martin DB9 from "Casino Royale" were definitely cool but 99% of us movie goers can't ever afford a $150,000+ sports car!!  A list of cool stuff for working class people should be stuff that they could buy if they wanted to!! Elvis Presley's personal Jet-the "Lisa Marie" is a cool airplane, but I wouldn't it put it on a list of cool Hobby or Race planes!!  But that's just my opinion.  Mastermind

Availability and "Bang for the Buck" are factors to consider when choosing a powertrain...

While people fight with machetes for premium models, a lot of people build really cool cars from base models. And often they swap engines and transmissions. Here's some guidelines on which ones are easy to do and offer a big performance gain for minimal dollar outlay. # 1. Lets say you have a 1964-67 Chevelle, LeMans,or Olds Cutlass, or Buick Skylark. GM had a rule that no intermediate could have a standard engine over 330 cubic inches. ( The 389 Pontiacs, 396 Chevys and 400 Olds and Buicks were options. Semantics,but thats GM back then. ) If you have a LeMans with the 326 / ST300 powertrain the way to go would be get a 400 and a TH350. The reason is Pontiac engines are externally identical from a 326 to a 455, so it's literally a bolt-in swap. 400's were used in almost every model from '67-78, and make a ton more power than a 326. A 326 ( or a 350 for that matter ) isn't worth hopping up because the big-port,big valve heads needed to make serious power can't be used because of their small bore design. The valves will hit the block. People talk about notching the block for clearance, but why? For what you'd spend on machine work,you could easily buy a 400 or 455 that will still make way more power for less money than a hopped up 326 or 350!!  As for the tranny-I've said before a 3-speed TH350 is the exact same size and uses the same rear trans mount and driveshaft yoke as the Powerglide / ST300. It's also a bolt-in swap and will give a huge performance increase over the 2-speed autos. Now if you have an Olds Cutlass or Buick Skylark it's slightly different. For the Cutlass the way to go would be a 403. They are externally identical to a 330 or 350, but have 53-73 more cubes! Although they were only used from '76-79, their are millions of them around as they were used in almost every GM model outside of Chevys. With the Buick you should chuck the 300 or 327 V8 and get a '68-77 350. The reason is there are zero replacement parts out there for the 300 / 327 and the 350s, while being much easier to get parts for, also make way more power and torque than the obsolete ones. Now if you have a Chevelle or El Camino, there's two ways to go. If the car has a 283, I'd pull it and save it in case you ever want to sell the car to someone who wants it totally original, and just drop in a 350 or a 383 stroker. A 350 or 383 would cost no more to build than a 283, but would easily make way more power and torque. That's the beauty of a small-block Chevy-major hp for very low bucks. If the car has a 327, the shoe is on the other foot. A 327 is a great performance engine, and changing to a 350 would be a waste a time. Stock or modified, a 350 will only make about 20hp more than 327. That's not worth messing with. And swapping the "Powerslide" for a TH350 is the just what the Dr ordered here as well. These guidelines can be applied to other makes as well. If you've got an AMC Javelin ( or a Hornet or Gremlin-their short wheelbase and light weight makes them great drag racers ) with a 304, a 360 is a bolt-in swap. And since they were used in Jeep Grand Wagoneers until 1993, they are plentiful in junkyards. If you've got a Mopar with a 318-a 360 Magnum would be the way to go. They were used in millions of Dodge trucks and vans and Jeep Cherokees, so their plentiful in jumkyards. And the "Magnum" heads breathe better than any other factory head and many aftermarket ones. And Edelbrock makes intakes to run a 4bbl carb on them. If you've got an early Mustang or Fairlane or Falcon / Comet with a 260 or 289, I'd get a later model 302 and build that. And with a small-block Ford,you could build a 347 easily and cheaply that would make way more power and torque than a 289. All of these swaps offer huge improvements in performance for very low bucks and and hassle-free installations! Something to think about. Mastermind      

I can't save people from themselves....

In the last few posts I've talked about people taking on projects that are not feasible because of the time and money it would take to do them, or that the things their attempting are beyond their mechanical ability. I'm not trying to piss on anybody's dreams, but over the years I've seen it a million times. A guy gets a "deal" on some car that needs major work. Then he realizes he's bitten off more than he can chew, both mechanically and financially. The car sits,rotting in his driveway or garage for a year or two, until he finally admits he's never going to restore it the way he wants to and usually sells it to someone else at a loss. Here's some good advice on how to avoid this problem, and I'll also tell you about a couple guys who insisted on taking on projects that would be hard for a professional shop, much less some poor slob in his garage with hand tools. Luckily I was able to talk them out of it, but they almost made a HUGE mistake. Anyhow-here goes. # 1. If at all possible, just start with the car you want, with the equipment you want. I've said it before, but a car with major body or rust damage is not a deal at any price, nor is something missing the engine and transmission. 99.9% of the time in these cases, your way ahead of the game by just spending more money and starting with a much better car. I mentioned it before, but I knew a guy who was going to buy an engineless, transmissionles, radiatorless, gas tanklesss, interiorless, 1970 Firebird because it was "only" $500. I convinced him to buy a slightly rough but running and all-there 1973 Firebird for $2,500. As I explained-by the time he chased down a used engine and tranny,and all the inerior trim and all the parts the "basket case" needed-he'd have way more than $2,500 invested, and the car would still need a ton of work to get in the drivable and registerable condition of the other one. As it's plain to see-the $2,500 one was the much better deal-even though it was 5 times the price of the other one!  # 2. Search harder, and spend a little more money and get the engine and or drivetrain you want. If you want an SS396 Chevelle, then wait until you find one in your price range, or realize your going have to up how much your willing to spend. Don't buy a small-block Malibu with the intention of "dropping" a 454 in it at some later time. And that's one of the feasible ones-think your going to buy a 302 powered '69 Mustang and "drop" a 428 in it? Think again. EVERYTHING is different on Windsor and "FE" Ford engines. I mean everything-all the accessories, bellhousing bolt pattern,motor mounts, etc. Ditto for transmissions. If you want something with a 4-speed then don't buy an automatic and think you'll "swap it out" later. Or Vice-versa. It's too much trouble, and you'll never do it. You think you will, but you won't. I know a guy who got a great deal on a 1964 Olds 442. It was all there, except for the fact that it was powered by a later model 350 Olds engine. He was excited, and couldn't decide if he wanted to try to find a 330 V8 and go the Concours route, or drop in a 455 and make it really badass. Five years and one paint job later, he still drives it on weekends and during Hot August Nights with the "unoriginal" 350, "Because it runs so damn good and is so much fun to drive, that I can't bring myself to tear it apart." He may be happy with it, but he did not do what he said he was going to do with it, in five years!!  Anyhow the other guys who almost jumped into the fires of hell.....# 1. I mentioned this guy before. He asked about putting a GMPP 620 hp 572 inch crate engine into an '85 IROC-Z Camaro. I told him it could be done,as Hooker sells motor mounts and headers to put a Rat Motor into '82-92 F-bodies, but he'd need a custom radiator, and depending on whether it was a stick or an automatic he'd need a new bellhousing and a Muncie M21 or M22 4-speed, or he'd need a new crossmember and a TH400, and a custom driveshaft and a Currie 9 inch rear with GM mounting points, since a T5 five speeds bellhousing won't bolt up, and they only have a 280 lb torque rating, and they wouldn;t hold up to a 600 hp Rat. Ditto for a 200R4 or 700R4 automatic and the 7.5 inch rear end that breaks with 215 hp LB9 305s!! Then he asks-"What if I didn't lean on it too hard?"  Huh?  Your going to spend $15,000 on a 600 hp engine and then not put yout foot in it??  # 2. Had a nice 318 powered '69 Satellite. He wanted to build a Hemi Road Runner clone. 1st off-a Mopar Performance 426 Crate Hemi is $15,000. Then he'd need a big-block crossmember, big-block Torsion bars, a bigger radiator, a 727 transmission, and an 8 3/4 or Dana 60 rear end and big block leaf springs to replace the 8.25 stocker that won't hold up. I told him, by the time he was done he'd have 40 grand in it, over and above the purchase price of the car, and that's if he could do all the labor himself, which he couldn't. I suggested a 360 crate engine if he wanted to go real fast, but he nixed that. I told him-sure the math works. Once it's done, a "clone" Hemi powered '69 Road Runner could easily sell for 50 grand or more. But are you looking to just get your money back-after 1000's of hours of work?  And how, in your driveway with no lifts and hand tools, are you going to change the whole front suspension, engine, transmission and rear axle? You'll buy the parts and have a shop do it? Most competent shops charge $100 per hour or more, so it's pretty easy to run up a $10-$20,000 labor bill on a big project like that. You have 50-70 grand laying around? If you don't are you going to mortgage your house to play with a car? And if you do, how are you going to get the money back? Again, if it's nice enough a Hemi clone could go for 80K, but I thought you wanted to drive it and race it, not sell it just to get your money back!!  I told him if he had 50-70k and Just "Had to Have" a Hemi clone-to spend 40 on a pristine 383 or 440 car-which would already have the big-block suspension, radiator,x-member,tranny and rear end-and dump the Hemi crate motor in that!!  The cost would be the same, but the "Grief Factor" would be way less than trying to build one from a 318 Satellite!!!  Anyhow-do some research before you buy something that needs major work!!!  Mastermind      

Sometimes it's better to just "Run What You Brung"...

Talked to some more people this week who wanted to take the path of "Most Resistance." I tried to talk some sense into them, and as usual I might as well have talked to the wall.  Masochist #1 had a 1977 Pontiac Firebird that had a 350 Chevy in it. ( GM played musical engines due to smog laws in the late '70's. From '77-79 depending on where you lived, you could get a Firebird, Formula, or Trans-Am with a 301 Pontiac, a 305 Chevy,a 350 Chevy,a 350 Olds, a 350 Pontiac, a 400 Pontiac or a 403 Olds. ) He wanted to know what it would take to put a 455 Pontiac in it. I told him it would be too expensive and too much trouble. He'd be better off financially and in terms of less grief to just hop up the 350 Chevy, that there was more speed equipment for a Small-block Chevy than anything else on the planet. "But what would it entail exactly?" he pressed. Ugh. "Okay." I said. "1st off you have to find a running or at least rebuildable 455 Pontiac. They've been out of production since 1976. That's 40 years. Not easy to find, and their not going to be cheap." "Secondly,none of the accessories from the Chevy engine will work." "That means a new starter,a new fuel pump, a new water pump, a new distributor, a new alternator, a new power steering pump,and all the brackets." "You'll need a bigger radiator to cool the bigger engine. and you'll need new motor mounts, and new exhaust manifolds or headers,and all the tin-valve covers, oil pan etc-unless the engine you bought was complete from carb to oil pan." "Then your going to need a new transmission because BOP engines ( Buick, Olds, Pontiac ) have a different bellhousing bolt-pattern than Chevy engines." "Investing 1/3 the money and time that would take would give you a totally badass ride with the Chevy engine." "Or sell the car and use the money to buy another Firebird or T/A that already has a 400 or 455 Pontiac engine in it."  The response? "I'll go on-line and start searching for Pontiac parts."  Good luck with that.  Masochist # 2 had a 1973 Challenger that had been a 340 car, but some previous owner had yanked the 340 and it now had a 318 in it. He wanted to know what it would take to put a 440 in it. "Too expensive and too much trouble." I said. "If you want to go real fast, get a hot 360 crate motor from Mopar Performance or Blueprint engines." They come complete from carb to oil pan, with a 3 year warranty and they have 375 or 400 hp, depending on which one you get, and a 360 is a bolt-in swap for a 318." "Or if your on a tight budget, go to a junkyard and get a '90's 360 Magnum out of a Dodge truck or Jeep Cherokee." Edelbrock makes Performer intakes to run a carb on them and hot roller cams." "They run like a scalded cat stock." "And honestly, unless you spend a ton of money hopping it up, a stock 440 isn't going to be as quick as a warmed-over 360 Magnum or one of the crate engines."  "But what would it entail?"  Double Ugh. "Ok, 1st off you have to find a complete 440." They've been out of production since 1978." "That's 38 years. Their not going to be easy to find, and their not going to be cheap." "Your going to need a big-block front crossmember, a bigger radiator, big-block Torsion bars to make it handle properly,and if the tranny behind the 318 is a 904 Torqueflite instead of a 727, your going to need a new transmission." "And unless the used 440 you buy is totally complete-your going to have hunt down alternator brakcets, power steering pump brakcets, and a fuel pump, water pump, power steering pump,etc.". "Trust me, the 360 swap is the way to go." "Low cost and big gain." "Or if you just "Gotta Have" a big-block E-body-sell the car, and look for another Challenger or 'Cuda that has a 383 or 440 already in it from the factory." The response? "So it is possible." Ugh! "Manned space flight is possible, but it isn't cheap or easy!!  And the real kicker, the "Catch-22"? Neither of these guys is a mechanic by trade, and neither of them have the tools or the ability to complete the monumental jobs they were considering attempting. If they were professional mechanics and had the tools and the skills, they'd know what I'm saying is right, and they wouldn't attempt a project that even if they completed it would cost way more money and time than it would ever be worth!!  What's the old saying-"You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink..."  Mastermind      

More on the path of most resistance....

Like I was saying yesterday gearheads seem to go out of their way to make their own lives difficult. I was talking to a couple people who wanted to build "Tribute" or clone cars of rare muscle. The thing I don't understand is if it's a fake anyway, then it doesn't have to be correct to the nth degree!!  Here's some examples. # 1. This guy wanted to build a Yenko Camaro clone. Simple enough, right?  Buy a '69 Camaro, swap in a Rat Motor, and get the decals / stencils from Phoenix Graphics. His lament was he couldn't find a 427 with 1968 or 69 date codes. Really?  I'd just buy a 454 out of a junkyard truck and rebuild that. If you "gotta have" a 427 you can buy a 427 crank, rods and pistons, and the proper balancer and flywheel from Summitt or GMPP very cheaply and put it in a 454 block. It's a fake anyway, so who cares if the block has '70's or 80's date codes??  # 2. This guy was building a 1962 Catalina Super Duty Tribute. He was griping that he couldn't find a 421, or an original dual-quad intake. He was aghast when I suggested that he put an Eagle 4.00 inch stroke crank / rotating assembly in a 389 or 400 block and "make" a 421, and use an Edelbrock or Offenhauser dual-quad manifold. "It won't be correct!" He whined. He was totally devastated when I pointed out that any pristine 1962 Catalina he found as a base, wouldn't be totally correct because "real" Super Dutys had aluminum hoods, front fenders and bumpers!  # 3. This guy wanted to do a Thunderbolt Fairlane clone, but couldn't find a 427!  Really?  All "FE" engines look alike externally, and 390s were used in millions of Ford cars and trucks from 1961-76.  Edelbrock claims 451 hp and 434 lbs ft of torque from their dual-quad "Performer RPM" package on a 390. That would give you the look and the performance at a fraction of the cost of buying a 427 that needed to be rebuilt! Again, it's a clone,so it doesn't have to be correct down to the hose clamps!!  Get over yourselves, people. If you want to clone a '69 Z/28 and you "gotta have" a high-winding 302 Chevy, don't mortgage your house and search the galaxy for a "DZ" code 302. You can use a 350 block and buy from GMPP or Eagle a 3.00 inch stroke crank and pistons and make your own 302. If you want to clone a Boss 302, Edelbrock and Trick Flow both make "Cleveland" style aluminum heads that bolt up to Windsor blocks, and Edelbrock offers an "E-Boss" intake manifold thats compatible with them. Or do you think you can find a complete, "real" Boss 302 engine for sale at any price?? If you stuff a Mopar Performance 426 Crate Hemi into a '71 Charger, it's still a cool ride, even though it's not "Correct!!!"   I don't get it. If it's not the real deal, then who cares if some of the parts are not totally correct or have the wrong date codes?  Mastermind      

The Path of Most Resistance Revisited....

Salesmen and Sports coaches talk about taking the path of least resistance-i.e doing something the easy way instead of the hard way. For some reason auto restorers think that a project is somehow better if it was hard to do. Not true. A lot of the advice I give people is to make their restoration project cost less, and be easier to do. Here's a list of things to consider when planning a project. # 1. "Bang for the Buck". This should be obvious. You want to get as much performance and value from your money as possible. For example I had a guy ask me what kind of car / engine combo would be best for an all-out top end run at Bonneville. I suggested an '82-90 Trans-Am powered by a 454 Chevy. The reasons I suggested this are simple. Like it or not, nothing makes more power for less money than a big-block Chevy. Yes, a Chrysler Hemi or Boss-Nine Ford can make as much or more power,but at two or three times the cost. Secondly, on an all-out top-speed run, aerodynamics count as much as horsepower. The '82-90 T/A is one of the most aerodynamic vehicles ever built, with a drag coefficient of .032. One with the "Aero" package actually drops to .028!!  A more aerodynamic vehicle can slice through the air and actually go faster with less hp, than one with a tall, blunt body and more power. That's why a 225 hp '91 Mustang GT has a higher top speed ( 144 mph ) than a 380 hp  '01 Ford Lightning Pickup ( 139 mph )!!!  Anyhow, the guy then says if he was going to run a T/A he'd want to do a '70's model with a "real" Pontiac engine. Arrrggghhh!!!!  I explained that a '70's T/A-while cool-looking and aerodynamic for a car that was actually designed in the late '60s-has a drag coefficient of .048.-substantially higher than the '82-90 model. Which means the "Bandit" model would actually need MORE power to go the same speed as the "Knight Rider" model. And the chance of a 455 Pontiac making MORE power than a 454 Chevy at any level of dollar investment is almost nil. So he'd be spending more money to go slower. Great Idea. Good Luck with that.  # 2. Parts availability / Cost. To restore or race anything, you have to be able to get parts for it. Like it ot not, parts for a Camaro / Firebird are going to be cheaper and more readily available than parts for a 'Cuda / Challenger, and the Mopar parts are going to be way cheaper and more available than parts for an AMC Javelin!  And sometimes, even if price doesn't matter, you just can't certain parts, period. No one makes a replacement grille for a 1972 Gran Torino. Yet, you can get pretty much anything you need for a '55 Chevy. Where are you going to get a grille, or a 1/4 panel for a '55 Oldsmobile?  # 3. Difficulty of the Work / Conversion. Some things are better just left alone, or you need to just get a different car. I had a guy with a 403 Olds / TH350 powered '79 T/A ask me how hard it would be to convert it to a 4-speed. "Too hard and Too expensive". I said. I told him if he wanted a 4-speed, '70's T/A that he should sell his car and go buy a T/A or Formula 400 that came from the factory with the 400 Pontiac / 4-speed combo. "But there's got to be a way to convert mine." He pressed. Arrrgghh!!  Yes there is. 1st you'd have to buy the pedals, the clutch linkage, the bellhousing, the clutch disc, pressure plate, throw-out bearing, pilot bearing, a T10 or Muncie 4-speed trans, a crossmember and the shift linkage. And you'd need a stick flywheel. However, since the 403 Olds was never offered with a manual transmission in any GM vehicle,no one makes an aftermarket flywheel. One from a 350 Olds would probably work, but Hays or Zoom, or Scheifer or no one else I know of offers aftermarket 350 Olds stick flywheels! And since Oldsmobile hasn't offered a car with a 350 V8 and a manual transmission since 1974-good luck finding a 42 year old usable flywheel!!  Another guy was going to buy his neighbors 4-banger '89 Mustang. He asked me how hard it would be to swap in a V8. Again-my answer was "Too hard and too expensive." I explained that since '83-93 "5.0" Mustangs were the proverbial "dime a dozen"-( I've seen rough, but running examples as low as $1,000 and anything over 2 grand is usually pretty decent ) that he just check the want ads or local used car lots and buy a nice, used "5.0".  The he asks about turbocharging the 4-banger. Again-I said he'd be better off in terms of money and grief to just look for an '84-86 Mustang SVO. ( If you don't know, these had 16" wheels, 4-wheel disc brakes, Recaro seats and a Turbocharged 4-cylinder engine that made between 175 and 205 hp depending on year. ) He uttered an expleteive I won't repeat and called me a "naysayer".  Excuse me for trying to save you money and frustration!!  Anyhow-talk to people who have done similar projects, and for God's sake, listen to their advice when they say something won't work or isn't worth the hassle. Mastermind    

"Cross-Breeding" is not Blasphemy.....

I was pleased to read in a buff magazine about a guy that bought an unrestored '57 Chevy race car that had a blown 389 Pontiac in it. By blown, I mean supercharged. Apparently the car was first raced in 1962, with a Pontiac engine, and was raced clear up until the '80's always with a Pontiac engine. Refreshingly, the new owner says he's going to restore the car as it was raced, and keep the Pontiac powertrain. Very cool. Much cooler than spending umpteen thousands trying to make it "original".  Purists rage against cross-breeding as blasphemous, but that's how hot rodding started. In the '50's many people put Cadillac V8s into Studebaker Coupes and ran them at Bonneville. Tons of guys put small-block Chevys into '32-34 Fords. I remember in the '60's and '70's seeing a lot of engine swaps. Ford guys hated it, but I have seen many '53-56 Ford F100 pickups with Camaro or Chevelle front clips-( which gives modern power steering and front disc brakes ) and small or big-block Chevy motivation. I saw a lot of '60's Chevy / GMC pickups with 389 / 400 / 421 / 428 Pontiac engines under the hood. Car Craft and Hot Rod featured a '64 Cutlass with a vicious tunnell-rammed 454 Chevy in it, and a '64 Tempest with a Mondello-built 425 Olds that ran high 10s. For a while in the '70's and '80's V8 Vegas and V8 Pintos were all the rage. Popular Hot Rodding had a project car that was a Chevy Luv pickup with a 350 V8 swapped in. My cousin bought a Datsun SPL311 ( the two-seat roadster that looks like an MG ) that had a 215 inch Aluminum Buick V8 in it. It was seriously quick. A couple guys I know put 500 inch Cadillac V8s into a '78 Monte Carlo and an '81 Firebird respectively. They were low-budget, and really quick. Sometimes you have a car laying around, and an engine and tranny laying around, and you think hmmm....Now granted, I still think anyone who puts a modern LS motor into a numbers-matching SS Chevelle or GTO, or a Ford Coyote into a numbers-matching Mach 1, should be crucified. However, if they do it to a beater Malibu or Tempest or Fairlane, who cares?  If you want to buy a '69 Cutlass-( not a 442 or H / O!! ) that someone previously swapped a Rat Motor into, and the price is right, go for it. It's a piece of hot rod history too. Mastermind