Sunday, July 16, 2017
I miss low-budget engine swaps and home-built nasty hot rods.....
It seems that people can't get enough of megabuck projects-if you believe the buff magazines-even Street Rodder who always clung to "old school" hot rodding is doing more and more features on high-dollar stuff. I get that they have to do what's popular to stay in business and please their advertisers but the same-old cookie-cutter cars every month gets old. I remember back in the '80's a lot of guys built low-buck hot rods that were really quick. I built a V8 Vega and I knew a girl who had a V8 Pinto. My cousin had an SPL311-The Datsun 2-seat convertible that looks like an MGB-that someone had put a 215 inch aluminum Buick V8 and a Muncie 4-speed into. It had homebuilt, fenderwell exit headers, and a 600 Holley on an Offenhauser intake. It sounded badass, and it was blisteringly quick. And, since the aluminum V8 only weighed about 20 lbs more than the 4-banger it replaced, it handled good too. Another guy we knew had a '65 GMC pickup with a 389 Pontiac under the hood that was really quick. Sometimes guys would just stuff an engine they had into a car they had. One guy I knew stuffed a 472 inch Cadillac V8 into an '81 Firebird. It was fast. Another guy put a 440 Chrysler into a '73 Javelin. AMC's used Torqueflite transmissions anyway-so he didn't have to swap trannys-it was relatively easy and the car was a LOT faster than it was with the 360 AMC that spun a bearing. I saw a Camaro with a 455 Olds under the hood, and an El Camino with a 455 Buick in it. If I remember correctly the 455 Buick powered Elky won the burnout contest at Hot August Nights one year. Another guy I worked with had a 2wd '78 Chevy Stepside pickup that was lowered and looked mean. With a 500 inch Cadillac V8 under the hood, it was mean. People might say these cars were "bastardized" but they were unique and a lot of fun to see, drive and drag race and bench race with. And who or what did we hurt? It's not like we cut up the trunk of a Hemi 'Cuda for wheel tubs, or chopped up a '63 Split-Window Stingray. Someone stuffed a Cad V8 into a Chevy pickup-who cares? Carroll Shelby did it when he stuffed a 260 Ford V8 into an AC Ace and made the first Cobra. Plenty of guys my dad knew had 327 Chevys in Austin-Healey 3000s. The buff magazines called them "The Poor Man's Cobra". I'd like to see more homebuilt engineering like this. Just a thought. Mastermind
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MM . . . who do you think is involved with Hot Rods/Muscle Cars today? Is it the 18 to 23 year olds? Or is it the 50 to 60 year olds? The former have no money while the latter have plenty.
ReplyDeleteKeep that in mind as you pine for "the good old days."
You make a very valid point. However-I'm missing the ingenuity and inventiveness. Not every thing I built when I was young was junk. Nowadays it seems even more than cubic inches, people just throw cubic dollars at projects. For example-Jay Leno's '66 Toronado that's converted to rear-wheel drive and has a Z06 'Vette underpinnings. Really? I knwo he's got more money than god-but why didn't someone suggest a '66-67 Riviera-they have the same bodystyle-cleaner I think-and are already rear-wheel drive-they could have put a Rat motor or an LS motor and a corner-carving suspension under it for a lot less than a whole new frame and converting a front-wheel drive car to rear drive!! That's all I'm saying. Thanks for reading!
DeleteComparing what Leno did with his 66 Toronado versus taking a Z06 drive train and installing it in a 1966 Riviera is attune to comparing a 6 year old's finger painting to Michelangelo painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. No comparison! Who in his right mind would want to tackle a build like that unless he had tons of time and more money then Croesus? And the best part is . . . Leno didn't build it to compete for the Riddler Award. he built it so he could drive it which he does all the time.
DeleteWhen it comes to home built hot rods and muscle cars there are IMO two kinds of people. The first: QDD (Quick, Down & Dirty). Buy a 1969 Camaro with a 307/TH350 combo, pull the 307 and put in a 350 GM Crate Engine. You can do the swap over in a single Saturday easily. The other type of person is one like yourself. Take that same 1969 Camaro and pull the complete drivetrain and install a 455 Olds with an M20 Muncie 4 speed. That's going to take a bit longer than a single Saturday. And it's going to require a different skill level to accomplish along with a whole lot of parts that have to be acquired.
Maybe that's it in a nutshell . . . we have become a society of QDD people.