You have to accept some harsh realities when your buying and restoring a musclecar....

I talk to a lot of people who don't want to accept the realities of classic cars and what it takes to restore or maintain them. They often take on projects that are too much for their finances or mechanical ability or both. Then their disillusioned and angry when they lose money on a project or can't finish it. Here's some good advice to avoid this problem. The first and foremost rule is: Don't expect to make a profit. If you want to go into the business of selling used cars-then do it. But if your buying or building your dream car-then resign yourself to the fact that your out "X" amount of dollars-whether it's $10,000 or $100,000. Chances are-you'll have more in the car than you can ever sell it for. But if you love it, and don't want to sell it, then that doesn't matter. That aside-here's some irrefutable facts that will save you a ton of money and aggravation. # 1. Like it or not-Chevys-and by proxy-other GM stuff are the most popular cars, and are the easiest and cheapest to restore. Nothing makes more power for less money than a small or big-block Chevy. 340 /360 Mopars, 351 Fords, 350 Olds, and 360 AMCs can make as much or more power than a 327 / 350 Chevy-at 1 1/2 times or double the cost. A Chrysler Hemi or Boss-Nine Ford can make as much or more power than a Rat motor-at 2 or three times the cost. A case in Point-the "454HO" GMPP 454 Crate engine makes 425 hp and 500 lbs ft of torque and retails for $5995. The Mopar Performance 426 Hemi crate engine makes 465 hp and 500 lbs of torque and retails for $14,995. You can get an extra 40 hp out of a 454 Chevy-with a better intake or a slightly larger cam-that would cost maybe 300 bucks, not 9 grand!! Pontiac engines are externally identical from a 326 to a 455. Olds engines from a 330 to a 403, and the 400-425-455 stuff all interchanges. Same for 400-430-455 Buicks. All BOP engines have the same bellhousing bolt-pattern. That means you can buy a TH350 out of a wrecked '73 Cutlass and put it behind a 389 Pontiac in a '66 GTO ( in place of an ST300 ) or a 400 in a 78 T/A and it will literally bolt in. Ditto for body and trim parts-a fender or hood, or 1/4 panel or whatever-is going to be cheaper for a Camaro or Chevelle, than it is for a "Cuda or Road Runner, and the Mopar parts are going to be cheaper than parts for an AMC Javelin! And because a lot of GM stuff interchanges- like suspension and brake parts, shocks, crossmembers, trans mounts, radiators, etc-anything that fits a Chevelle will fit a LeMans / GTO, a Cutlass, a Buick Skylark / Regal, and a Gran Prix or Monte Carlo. Anything that fits a Camaro / Firebird, will usually fit a Nova-and a Ventura, Omega or Apollo. Lust after, buy, and restore anything you want-but a Mopar is going to cost more than a Chevy or a Pontiac, and a Ford-especially anything other than a Mustang- is going to cost more than a Mopar. For example-a 302 Ford uses a different bellhousing bolt-pattern than a 351W, which is different than a 351C, which is different than a 390 / 428. And worse yet-unlike Chevys, Pontiacs and Mopars-where oil pans,water pumps, power steering pumps and brakcets, alternator brackets etc are all pretty much the same for many years for the whole line-or at least the small and big blocks-i.e-283-327-350-400, or 273,318,340-360 or 383-400-413-440, or 396-402-427-454, or 326-455-EVERY Ford is different!! In other words-a 390 in a Mustang uses a different oil pan than a 390 in an LTD, which is different than a 390 in a T-Bird, which is different than an F150 Pickup!!  I'm not bashing Fords-I'm just saying that they don't have anywhere near the parts interchangeability of GM and Chrysler stuff-which makes them harder and more expensive to buy parts for. It's just a fact of the business. If your a sports-car nut-it's going to cost less to restore a Datsun 240Z than it is a Porsche 911. The 911 is going to cost less than a Ferarri 308 GTS, and the Ferarri is going to cost less than a Lamborghini Countach!! Get the picture?  And being mad about it isn't going to help!  Mastermind