Tuning and testing is a lost art....

This past Hot August Nights I saw a bunch of musclecars that were definitely all show and no go. I've touched on it before-but I'm amazed at the number of cars I see with $5,000 paint jobs and $2,000 worth of tires and wheels that can't pull 5,000 rpm in low gear!  The owners will tell you how much money they have in the car, but they can't tell you the last time they changed the points and plugs and wires, or the fuel filter!!  Even on a bone-stock engine-bad tuning or simple neglect can cost you 40-50 hp. I see it all the time guys will have a supposedly frame-off restoration. Yet-the engine idles rough-and the car won't run properly-because the points are closing up,the vacuum advance is unplugged or inoperable, the timing is way too advanced or way too slow, the carburator is way too rich or too lean. I had a guy come into my shop once with a 396 powered '65 Impala SS that couldn't spin the tires on dry pavement. Because-I kid you not-he had all the above mentioned problems and more. I replaced the points, condenser,rotor, cap and plugs and wires. I put a new vacuum advance canister on it, and hooked it up properly. I set the timing for factory specs. He had a Carter AFB 4bbl on it-and I set the float at the proper level and leaned out the jetting ( it was way too rich ). He also had a sticky throttle linkage that wasn't allowing the 4bbl to fully open. I cleaned and re-adjusted the throttle linkage. His kick-down linkage wasn't working either-and I fixed that. When he picked up the car he was flabbergasted. Now it would literally spin the tires as long as you wanted to stay on the throttle. It would lay 30 feet of rubber on the 1-2 shift. "What the hell did you do?" he asked "Put a whole new engine in it?"  "No." I said and laughed. "I just made the one you had run the way it should." He was esctatic and tipped me 50 bucks over the price I'd quoted him and took a bunch of my cards to give to his friends. In the '80's a couple of friends-one had an LB9 IROC-Z Camaro and the other had an L98 Tuned Port Injected Corvette. They both had the same problem. The cars ran great when they were dead cold. When they got up to operating tempurature they would cough and spit, and stumble under full-throttle load. The Chevy dealer couldn't ( or wouldn't ) do anything about it under warranty. They brought the cars to me. I figures out the problem quickly. The cars had a 195 degree thermostat from the factory, and the electric fan didn't come on until 225!!  This is the way the cars were set up for smog. But they were practically vapor-locking becuase they were running so hot. I hosed down the radiators and put wet towels on the intake manifold, and then went for another drive. Cold engine-rocket ship. Hot engine-slug. Now I knew what to do. I installed a 160 degree thermostat and changed the fan switch to one that would kick the fan on at 185. No more stumbles-now they would rocket off the line-and lay 10-15 feet of rubber when the 700R4 snapped off its 1-2 shift! With the engine running at 180 instead of 220-the cooler, denser fuel charge it was now getting vastly increased performance. Another guy with a carburated L69 Trans-Am had the same problem. Same fix-change the thermostat and the fan switch-and instead of stumbling under load it now pulled hard to 5,500 rpm. I've spoken several times how changing from AC R46SZ plugs ( an .080 gap ) to R45S ( one range colder and a .040 gap ) caused my 403 Olds powered Trans-Am that previously ran out of wind at 4,700 rpm to pull hard to 5,400. A gain of 700 rpm on the top end!  So here's some advice on how to get top performance from your musclecar, even if it's stock. # 1. Do a compression test. Even an 8:1 "smog" motor will have 120 psi or so of comprssion. Higher performance engines will have 150 psi or more. The main thing is the readings should be uniform on all 8 cylinders-within 5-10 psi of each other. If one or more cylinders only has 80 psi-you could have bad rings, or burned valves or a blown head gasket. You'd be amazed at the number of musclecars limping around on 6 or 7 cylinders. # 2. Make sure you've got good wires, the timing set properly and no vacuum leaks. # 3. This is the number one offender here. Guy spends a ton of money building a killer motor. But he's so damned afraid of blowing it up that he drives it like grandma on prozac. I mean the car literally never sees the high side of 3,000 rpm. Then the second it fouls a spark plug-he starts screwing around with the carburator(s ). Pretty soon it won't even start. Here's the cure-like the GTO song says-once in a while you gotta "Turn it on, wind it up, blow it out". I'm not saying powershift at 7 grand and risk a picture window in the side of a numbers-matching block. But occasionaly running it full-throttle up a freeway on-ramp, or running it up through the gears to say 4,500 rpm once in a while-will keep carbon from building up and keep you from fouling plugs. The other option if you insist on driving like my grandmother-is go a range or two hotter on the plugs. They won't foul as quickly in low-speed driving. If you decide to take a road trip or go to the drags-changing to the colder plugs is an easy thing to do. # 4. If the car is an automatic-make sure its full of fluid-clean fluid. Make sure the vacuum modulator is hooked up and working properly. Make sure the kickdown linkage is hooked up and working properly. # 5. If it's a stick-make sure the clutch is working properly and that the shift linkage isn't binding up. These simple things can make a HUGE difference in a car's performance. Mastermind      

Building cool stuff with junk....

A friend of mine owns a junkyard and we talked about building fun stuff with junkyard parts. His "parts runner" delivery truck is a Chevy pickup with an Escalade front clip on it. You'd be surprised at the number of people that ask how many "Cadillac" pickups were built. It's a fun ride, and he just combined a pickup that had been hit in the front with the front end of an Escalade that had been badly rear-ended. We got to talking and came up with several others that you could build cheaply. # 1. GTO / 442 / GSX El Camino. You find a beater '68-72 El Camino and put a GTO, Cutlass, or Skylark front clip on it. Swapping in a 455 Pontiac or Olds or Buick engine would be easy. '73-77 models you could put a Monte Carlo or Gran Prix or Cutlass front end on them-but they wouldn't be as cool as the earlier models. # 2. 1968-72 GTO / 442 / SS454 Station Wagon. The GTO / 442 wagons would be easy to do because there are a lot of LeMans and Cutlass wagons out there that already have 400 or 455 cubes under the hood. A good number of LeMans models already have the "Endura" ( read GTO ) front end. The Chevelle SS model would be harder because most Chevelle wagons are small-block powered. You'd have to swap in a Rat-but that's relatively easy. Because of their long wheelbase and excellent weight distribution a wagon actually makes a good drag racer. # 3. 1977-79 Lincoln MK V Ranchero. In 1977 Ford moved the Ranchero from the Torino platform that it was on from 1968-76 to the LTD II platform which the downsized Lincoln MK V also shared. You could very easily put the sleek, hidden headlight MK V front clip on a Ranchero of this vintage. # 4. 1968-70 "Super Bee" wagon. Most Coronet wagons of this vintage will have 383 or 440 cubes under the hood. Phoenix Graphics sells the Super Bee graphics. You could even put a Six-Pack setup on it, or if you have more bucks to throw away-you could drop in a Mopar Performance crate Hemi. You could also do a "Road Runner" wagon off a Belvedere / Satellite wagon. # 5. 1972-74 Challenger T/A / 'Cuda AAR. Mopar fans will fight with machetes and give blood and a first-born child for the '70-71 E-Bodies but the '72 and later models are way cheaper to buy, probably becuase the Hemis and big-blocks were dropped after '71. From '72-74 the largest engine was the 340 /360. However-you can buy the Six-Pack manifold and carbs-Edelbrock made the manifold until just a couple years ago-places like PAW and Summitt still stock them. If you can live with a 4bbl-and you have or are considering buying a 318 version-I've said it before there are millions of 360 Magnums in junkyards in '92-2003 Dodge trucks and Vans and Jeep Grand Cherokees that would give you a massive power infusion for low bucks. Edelbrock makes 4bbl intakes that work with the "Magnum" heads, which breathe better than any factory head and many aftermarket ones. The graphics are easy to do. You'd have a cool high-performance, T/A style E-Body for a fraction of what a "real" one would cost. # 6. 1981-87  Grand National clone. Find a 2 dr Buick Regal of this vintage with the 307 Olds V8. A 350 or a 403 is a bolt-in swap. The black paint and trim is easy enough to do, and "Vector" style wheels are easy enough to find. Or you could use Center Lines or something else that was cool in the '80's. Or if you had a 3.8 V6 version you could get the Supercharged 240 hp 3.8 out of a wrecked '90's Bonneville SSEI, Gran Prix or Riviera and drop that in. # 7. 1978-87 Malibu / El Camino SS. Honest Charley and other places sell the '83-87 Monte Carlo SS front clips that would bolt onto the Elky / Malibu bodies. Any other cool ones I overlooked?  Mastermind.      

A "Muscle Truck" can be a fun hot rod....

While I was saddened at the lack of premium cars-i.e.-Superbirds,Thunderbolt Fairlanes,Boss 429s,409 Impalas,Super Duty Pontiacs, etc,etc at this years Hot August Nights-I did see quite a few very nice hot rod pickups. Besides the usual '53-56 Ford F100s and 1960-66 Chevy / GMC's there were a lot of other cool ones in attendance. The good thing about a truck project is they already have heavy-duty suspensions and rear ends, and their engine bays will swallow anything. Here's my list of trucks that can be very quick for relatively low bucks. # 1. 1967-79 Chevy / GMC 1/2 ton. The '67-72 models already have kind of a cult following, but you can still find them at reasonable prices if you look hard enough. Most will have 350 power which certainly isn't a bad thing. There's a million ways to build power into a small-block Chevy. 396 / 402 models will be pricier but you'll have Rat power. Chevy purists will howl-but I've seen many of these trucks with 500 inch Cadillac V8s under the hood, as well as 428 Pontiacs and 455 Olds V8s. Hey-massive torque is cool, regardless of where it comes from, right? The '73-79 models will have more luxury options and the 454 was available all years. Again most will be 350 powered, and 454 models will be pricier. The good thing is-there is a ton of suspension and brake upgrades and performance parts for these trucks out there.  # 2. 1972-78 Dodge D100 / D150. These came with everything from the 225 inch slant six to a 440 V8. 318 models make nice drivers and get good gas mileage, but are a little underpowered. Obviously the 400 and 440 models are the most desirable from a performance standpoint, but 360s can be made to really run as well. Again-if you have or are buying a 318 model and want a massive power boost-like I said in the last post-junkyards are full of Dodge trucks and vans and Jeep Grand Cherokees with 360 Magnum V8s in them. Edelbrock sells 4bbl intakes that work on the "Magnum" engines. # 3. 1967-79 Ford F100 / F150. These were available with everything from a 240 inch six to a 460. The upside is a lot of them will have 390s. Edelbrock claims 452 hp and 434 lbs of torque from the "Performer RPM" package on a 390. Obviously the later models with 460s would be the most desirable, but quite a few will have the 400M. These got a rep as "dogs" because they were saddled with 2bbl carburation, single exhaust, and a lazy cam, and in the cars at least-salt-flats gearing. ( Trucks had reasonable axle ratios like 3.25:1 ) However-a 4bbl carb and intake and headers and dual exhausts really "wakes up" a 400-and if you need serious power Edelbrock and Trick Flow offer hi-performance aluminum heads and Crane, Comp Cams, Lunati etc offer cams. Some may have 302s-which again make nice drivers and get good mileage but the trucks are too heavy to go fast with only 302 cubes. Also avoid the 360 V8s. They are an "FE" engine-but they are a small-bore design and had the dual attributes of no power and crappy gas mileage. Stock or modified they don't make anywhere as much power as a 390.  Anyhow any of these trucks would be a good base for a street machine and your limited only by your imagination and your wallet. Mastermind  

Some '70s "clunkers" that make great modern rat rods....

A lot of the buff magazines are featuring old "rat rods"- 30's, 40s and 50's cars that are ugly, but wicked fast. There's a lot of '70's iron that you can buy cheap that has a ton of potential to have major speed for low bucks. Here's a few that you may not have thought of, in no paticular order. # 1. 1971-77 Ford Maverick / Mercury Comet. ( V8 models ) These "Economy" cars make great drag racers. Their light-around 3,000 lbs, and their short wheelbase gives them good weight distribution and traction. And their are a million ways to build power into a 302 Ford. A buddy of mine with a 440 Road Runner got his doors blown off by a hot 302 Maverick. Their not sexy-but they can be lightning fast for low bucks. # 2. 1971-77 Pontiac Ventura. Pontiac's version of the Nova. Some may have small-block Chevys in them-which isn't a bad thing-you basically have a Nova-and their's more speed equipment for a small-block Chevy than anything else on the planet. The real gems are the 350 Pontiac powered models. 350 Pontiacs respond spectaculary to basic hot-rod stuff-4bbl carb and intake, headers and dual exhausts, gears and a mild cam. Or if you want to be really badass-Pontiac engines are externally identical from a 326 to a 455. That means a 400 or 455 is a bolt-in. And any suspension parts that fit a Camaro / Firebird fit these cars so you could build a front-wheel pulling drag racer or a corner-carving "g" machine. # 3. 1973-77 Olds Omega ( Olds V8 models ). This was Oldsmobiles version of the Nova. Again-because of GM playing musical engines because of smog laws some of these may have Chevy straight sixes, or Buick V6's, or 305 Chevys. The 305 Chevy models would be ok if you wanted to swap in a 350 / 383 / 400 small-block. The ones to look for are the 350 Olds models. Edelbrock claims 397 hp and 400 lbs of torque from their "Performer RPM" package on a 350. 400 honest hp would make the light "X" body an absolute rocket. And a 403 would be a bolt-in swap-and stock or modified 53 extra cubes would be worth a sizable boost in hp and torque. Special note-some of these will have 260 inch Olds V8s. These are a lightweight "economy" motor that wheeze out about 120 hp. Their only good use would be as a boat anchor. However-the motor mounts and all the tin-i.e. valve covers, oil pan, etc, and the accesories-p/s pump, alternator, water pump, fuel pump, etc-do interchange with a 350. This means a 350 or a 403 would be a bolt-in swap. # 4. 1975-77 Chevy Monza ( California Emissions Model ). The Monza was built from 1975-1980 and most had 4 cylinders, 3.8 V6s, and 305 Chevy V8s. However-the real gems are the '75-77 "California" V8 models. For some reason-the 305 wasn't certified for California-so if you got a V8 Monza with California emissions it had a 350!!  The buff magazines called these the "Factory V8 Vega ". They weren't rockets because they had single exhausts, 2bbl carburation and salt-flats gearing. However-those are easy fixes-some dual exhausts, a factory or aftermarket 4bbl carb and intake and swapping the 2.29:1 gears for some 3.42:1s will have you showing your taillights to those smug late '80s / early '90's "5.0" Mustang owners.  # 5. 1975-79 Ford Granada / Mercury Monarch. ( V8 models )  These cars were marketed as compact luxury cars. Again-like a lot of '70's Fords-2bbl carburation, single exhaust and salt-flats gearing made them dogs. However-they have great potential. Some had 302s and some had 351Ws under the hood, and they had 9 inch rear ends-some with rear disc brakes. Their light-about 3,300 lbs-and theres a ton of speed equipment for Small-Block Fords. Their not sexy-but with the right equipment could be very quick. # 6. 1975-79 Dodge Aspen / Plymouth Volare. ( V8 models ) These were supposed to replace the Duster and the Dart. Their light-around 3,000 lbs-and the 318 models can be made to run strong. The real trick would be find a 318 model, and go to a junkyard and find a '92-2003 360 Magnum out of a Dodge Truck or Jeep Cherokee. Their's millions of them out there. "Magnum" heads breathe better than any factory head and many aftermarket ones. Edelbrock sells 4bbl "Magnum" compatible intakes. You'd have big power for very low bucks. # 7. 1975-78 Ford Mustang II. ( 302 models ) Even a young Farrah-Fawcett-Majors, braless and barefoot in shorts and a tank-top on the hood of one of these ( Ford shamelessly used promo shots for "Charlie's Angels" in their ads ) couldn't make them cool. Again-with a 2bbl carb and salt-flats gearing they couldn't break out of the 17s in the 1/4. However-with very little work-intake, exhaust and an axle-ratio change-these light-around 2,700 lbs "Factory V8 Pintos " can really rock. # 8. 1975-78 Plymouth Sport Fury / Dodge Monaco ( 400 and 440  models ). For those who want to live out your Elwood Blues fantasies-it's got cop tires, cop shocks,....Seriously-the 2 door models are even nice-looking, and their's a ton of speed equipment available for B / RB Mopar engines. If your short on cash this may be the only way you can experience big-block Mopar thunder-definitely way cheaper than any Road Runner or Charger you'd see. None of these cars are sexy-but they can all be wicked fast for low bucks. Mastermind      

Where did all the cool cars go? Or are their owners sick of the way we treat tourists?

Hot August Nights is here again, and for the third or fourth year in a row I feel the same way. The big hotel-casinos all have their Show-n-Shines and other events. But it's dull. The GM section is all Camaros and Chevelles, with a few GTOs thrown in. No 409 Impalas, no 421 Catalinas, no 442s or Hurst / Olds, no Buick GSX's or Rivieras, no 427 'Vettes. A few '55-57 Chevys-but all those were "Just as it left the factory"-with hubcaps and big whitewalls and ugly colors like turqouise, and six-cylinder or 265/ 283 / Powerglide motivation. No badasses like the "Two-Lane Blacktop / American Graffiti" car. No "Gassers" with the front bumpers removed and radiused rear wheelwells, and a snarling 327 small-block with a 4-speed or a 396 or 427 Rat Motor.  Hell I'd even settle for seeing a nice small-block Nova or a "Bandit" Trans-Am! Nope. The Ford section is all Mustangs. Generic Mustangs. I've seen one Boss 302, no Boss 429s, no Shelby GT350s or 500s. No T-Birds, no Thunderbolt Fairlanes,no Torinos. I've seen a few '67-70 Cougars. No Cobras-real or replicars, no Mercury Cyclones or Marauders. At this rate I'd rejoice if I saw a Maverick "Grabber" or a 289 Falcon!!  Same for the Mopar camps. All '68-70 Chargers and Road Runners. I saw one Superbird. Very few Challengers and 'Cudas-and most of them 340 and 383 models. No Hemis or 440 Six-Packs, no Challenger T/A's or 'Cuda AARs. No Max Wedge cars, no Super Bees. No 50's Hemi 300s, no '58 Furys-( "Christine" ,and the cop car from "California Kid" were both '58 Furys ). No '70s Sport Furys. I'd jump for joy if I saw a 340 Duster. Not happening. Where have all the cool cars gone?  Sadly,I think it's the way the Reno City Management screws everyone during HAN. Last week any motel or Hotel-Casino in town would rent you a room for $29.95. Now they all want $150-300 per night. And I'm not talking a "honeymoon suite" at the Atlantis-this is Motel 6!!  The highway patrol had a bunch of cars out by Boomtown-which is 7 miles west of Reno just before the California state line-writing tickets left and right!!  Yeah that's a good way to greet people coming to town to spend money and have a good time-here have a $200 ticket-and if you don't want to pay it you have to come back a month from now to go to court and fight it. You have a nice day now. And the entertainment sucks. We used to get people like Jerry Lee Lewis and Bill Medley, and John Kay from Steppenwolf, John Fogerty, Paul Revere and the Raiders, and Gary Puckett and the Union Gap, the Guess Who,Three Dog Night and the Beach Boys. You know-people that had hits on the radio in the '60's and '70's and that people actually want to see. No more-now it's all a bunch of people you never heard of and don't care about if you did. Now were lucky to get "Rain"-a group of local guys who impersonate the Beatles. And 1/16 mile drag races in a Casino parking lot? Really? The big-block cars spin the tires farther than that!! I could be grand champion in my Subaru-and it's not a WRX STI!! I mean who wants to see cars race for 330 feet??!!! What do they get up to? 35-40 mph? Puhleeze.  Used to they'd have real 1/4 mile drag races at the Old Stead airport. If that's not available Reno-Fernley Raceway-that's 29 miles from Reno has a for-real dragstrip as well as a circle-track. Why not use that?  Because the casino owners and managers are a bunch of cheap bastards, that want to soak the tourists for as much as possible, while spending as little as possible. So I answered my own question-if I had a $100,000+ Hemi 'Cuda or Boss 429 or L88 'Vette-I'm not going to drive or tow it to Reno to pay $250 a night to stay at a Days Inn and see shitty entertainment and and get a ticket every time I start the car. If I want to drink and gamble big bucks- I'll leave the car at home go to Vegas and see Celine Dion or Elton John or some other real star-and be treated like a king at the Bellagio or Mandalay Bay. Maybe if the city fathers would try to make it a fun thing like it used to be instead of just seeing a cash cow-the high-rollers will come back. If not, greed will kill another golden goose. Sad. Mastermind  

More cool cars that were nixed before they made production...

Here's some more cool rides the manufacturers thought about, and then never built. Too bad, they'd have been fun. # 1. 1971 Charger Daytona / Plymouth Superbird. Chrysler considered offering the slope-nose and big rear wing on the redesigned '71 Charger and Road Runner. However-like I said in the last post-Ford cut way back on their racing programs, and Chrysler knew with ever-tightening emissions laws that the Hemi's days were numbered and that they wouldn't be seriously competing in NASCAR-Richard Petty and other big names would get some back-door stuff-but their wouldn't be officially factory backed teams. Ultimately they decided it wasn't worth the effort to produce a limited run of cars with special bodywork, especially if they didn't have to sell a certain number to homologate them for racing. Too bad they would have been cool. # 2. 1971 Challenger T/A / 'Cuda AAR. This package and the 340 Six-Pack engine was listed in early '71 sales literature, and I even saw advertisements for the Challenger T/A in Car Life and Motor Trend. However the "ad car" was a '70 model with the '71 grille airbrushed in. For whatever reason-emission standards, or Chrysler pulling out of Trans-Am racing, the car's never made production, leaving 1970 the only model year. Too bad-if Chrysler hadn't given up on the E-bodies-they might have made a huge comeback in the later '70's like the Camaro and Firebird did. The 340 Six-Pack would have fell by the wayside because of smog laws-but the 400 and 440 V8s were available in the big cars through '78. Think a 440, 4-speed, Challenger T/A could have competed with the Trans-Am and Z/28?  Does a bear crap in the woods?  # 3. 1971-73 429 Mercury Cougar. Since you could get a 454 in a Monte Carlo and a 455 in a Pontiac Gran Prix-GM's top-selling "Personal Luxury / Performance" coupes-Ford engineers thought it might be a good idea to offer the 429 in the Cougar. The bean counters nixed the idea-saying that the Thunderbird was the competitior for the Monte Carlo and the GP, not the Cougar. The largest engine available in the Cougar was a 351C.  Huh? We all know that in a drag race or the twisties all a big, heavy Lincoln MKIV based T-Bird-429 / 460 power aside-would see of the much lighter 454 and 455 GM A-bodies ( Chevelle / LeMans based ) would be the taillights!!  Ford engineers knew this-and a 429 Cougar would have been awesome. But it wasn't allowed. Cougars did get a 460 in 1974-but this was after the sister Mustang was downsized to a gussied-up Pinto / Capri-and the Cougar was now based on the much heavier and uglier Lincoln MKIV platform. Even a pre-"Charlies Angels" Farrah-Fawcett-Majors advertising them barefoot in a bikini couldn't sell them. # 4. 1974 Pontiac GTO. Initially-the '74 GTO was going to still be LeMans based-and offered with the SD-455 that had made such a splash with the buff magazines in the Trans-Am in '73. Pontiac hoped this would re-energize sales. Then the engineers got the idea to put the name on the X-body platform ( read Nova ) Ventura. They even discussed putting the L78 400 that was standard in the Trans-Am into the Ventura based GTO ( Pontiac engines are externally identical and the 350 V8 was already available in the Ventura; so it would have been a bolt-in. )  and since the X-bodys shared underpinnings with the F-body Camaro / Firebird they could have put a T/A style suspension on it and revived the "Judge" nameplate as a special performance package. However the bean counters nixed that. The T/A was now the flagship-and even with an SD-455 under the hood-the 3,800 lb T/A would have got it's lunch eaten by a 400 powered, 3,200 lb Ventura. So instead the Ventura / GTO got a T/A style shaker hood and a 7.6:1 350 V8 that wheezed out 200 hp. And they wondered why they didn't sell. The 400 / Judge idea would have been great. I know-I put the 400 out of my wrecked '77 T/A into a '71 Ventura and it was really quick. With disc brakes and a WS6 suspension-the proposed factory version would have been totally badass. But I guess-like the LS6 Nova-GM couldn't have anything that cool out there. # 5. 1987 Fiero GT Turbo. Even with the 140 hp 2.8 liter V6-the light, mid-engine ( 2,600 lbs ) Fiero scooted pretty good. Pontiac engineers discussed putting a Turbo on it. GM had the technology-the blisteringly fast Buick Grand Nationals proved that. They even discussed putting the GN powerplant in the Fiero. 3.8 Buick V6s are not that much larger than the Chevy 2.8s. It was feasible. Once again-Chevrolet brass threw a tantrum. A Turbo Fiero would hurt Corvette sales. Pontiac engineers fought hard. Ok-scrap the Grand National engine swap-that probably would have been too much work anyway-we were just bench racing. But turbocharging the 2.8 that was already in the car would be easy, and that would make the Fiero a competitior of the Mazda RX-7, the Nissan 300ZX ,the Toyota Supra and the Porsche 944, not the Corvette. Were RX-7s cutting into 'Vette sales?  Would the upcoming Mazda Miata hurt 'Vette sales? Chevrolet brass wouldn't back down an inch, and like always-the other divisions toed the line and the project was nixed. Too bad. It would have been a fun little car. I know a guy who put the Supercharged 3.8 out of his wifes wrecked Bonneville SSEI into a Fiero. It will literally spin the tires as long as you want to stay on the throttle, and run off from just about anything but a Hellcat Charger or a Z06 'Vette. Now we know what the GN engined version would have done!  Thankfully-the big 3 seemed to have learned. Chrysler is ballsy enough to release the Hellcat and the Demon, GM has the Z06 'Vette and ZL1 Camaro, and Ford has the GT350 Mustang. Too bad they didn't learn 30 or 40 years ago. Mastermind