Don't dismiss a great car because it's not all original....

A lot of people pay a lot of money-and many overpay I think for cars that can be documented as "numbers matching". That's well and good-especially if your looking at buying something really special like a Boss 302 Mustang or an LS6 Chevelle or a W31 Cutlass, or whatever where the engine or other major components were something rare and special. But what if your buying say a 69 GTO. Not a Ram Air IV or Judge model, just a basic GTO. The 350 hp 400 in those cars was the same engine used in Gran Prix's, Catalinas, Bonnevilles, etc. Nothing special. So if the car your looking at doesn't have a numbers-matching 400 in it, does it at least have 1968 or 1969 date codes? That would make it "Correct" if not original. You have to remember that musclecars led hard lives. I've told this story before, but it's worth re-visiting. A buddy of mine in high school had a nice '69 440 / Six-pack Super Bee. One night while drag racing it he missed a shift and grenaded the engine. I mean rods out the side of the block, grenaded. We went to a junkyard and got a used 440 out of a '73 Chrysler Imperial for $250. The only reason he did that, instead of taking a free 383 from another friend is he wanted to keep the tri-power on it, and the intakes don't interchange on "B" and "RB" engines. He drove the car another three years before he sold it. If that car still exists today I'm sure the current owner or whoever is restoring it is cursing us for not at least getting a '69 vintage 440 block!! But this was 1978. They were just old gas-guzzlers back then that no one cared about. Why do you think teenagers could afford them?  He paid $1,500 for the car when he bought it. My other friend had a gorgeous 4-speed SS396 Chevelle that he paid $1,300 for. I paid $900 for my '68 SS396 El Camino and $2,400 for my RAIII / 4-speed Judge!!  You have to realize this happened a lot. So a guy with the above mentioned GTO blew the original engine about 1975. Since it's not an RAIII or RAIV or 455HO-what does he do-he goes to a junkyard and gets a 400 out of a wrecked '71 Catalina or whatever-puts it in the car and keeps driving. He doesn't care that the engine's not original because it was nothing special to begin with-400 Pontiacs were a dime a dozen back then. And he certainly doesn't give a shit what someone is going to think 40 years hence!!  No one knew that the market was going to go so shithouse crazy. Especially on base models. If your looking at a '69 Camaro-not a Z/28 or SS396-just a plain old 350 model-does it really matter that the 350 in it came out of a '74 Monte Carlo?  The L48 350 was Chevy's workhorse engine in the '70's. It went in everything from Camaros and Corvettes to Impalas, and Monte Carlos, and 1/2 and 3/4 ton pickups, Blazers and Suburbans, everything. And people bought them both new and used when they needed a replacement engine. The "Targetmaster" crate engine that dealers sold in the '80's and the base model 350 that GMPP sells to this day, in 2018, is the good ol' L48!!  So if your buying any Chevy built from 1968-1986-chances are it's going to have this engine in it, regardless of whether or not it's "numbers-matching". So even if your looking at a '72 Corvette-guess what? If its not a 454 model or an LT-1, it's an L48!!  So does it really matter that this 8.5:1, 1.94 headed 350 with a lazy cam and a Quadrajet on an iron manifold, is a '72 or a '73 or a '79?  Now on the other hand-I saw a 1970 L78 SS396 Chevelle for sale and the owner had reciepts showing that the original engine was replaced under warranty in 1972. He had the warranty booklet for the replacement engine that the dealer installed. So even though it wasn't numbers matching, it certainly was the "correct" engine for the car-especially since the original was blown up in 1972!! I saw a 1971 Trans-Am for sale-with the same deal. It was a for-real 455HO-but it was a warranty block that was installed in 1972-apparently the over-enthusiastic 1st owner had blown the first one in less than 6,000 miles! In these cases the documentation was critical in the owners getting the price they should for the cars. But that's because L78 396s and 455HOs have a lot of special equipment-forged pistons,special heads,cam and intake, etc. Now if the Chevelle was an L34 or L35 model, or the T/A was a non-SD '73 model-I could give a shit what 396 or 455 it has. Because the L34 / 35 was the oval-port headed, hydraulic-cammed Q-jet carbed workhorse 396 / 402 that was put in hundreds of thousands of Impalas, Caprices, Monte Carlos, Chevelle wagons, pickups and suburbans, and just about every Chevrolet model except the Vega from 1965-1972. And the 455 in a '73 T/A that's not a Super Duty is the same one used in every Bonneville, Catalina, Grand Ville, Grand Am, and Gran Prix built that year, and every other year from 1970-74!! See what I'm saying??   ( You could still get a 455 in 1975 and '76, but they had 7.6:1 compression, and a restrictive intake manifold.)  So use your judgement. If your buying a 1970 Challenger T/A I certainly would want it to have the original 340 / Six-Pack engine. But if your buying a '68 383 Road Runner, and it has a 383 from a '71 Sport Fury in it, I wouldn't panic, and not the get the car!!  However-I've seen people pull this shit over minor parts. I saw a guy walk away from a nice LS5 454 Chevelle because it had an HEI distributor!!  I saw a guy turn up his nose at a for-real Boss 351 Mustang because it had a 750 Holley on it!! Which is why it ran good-the Autolite 4300 is the WORST carb ever made!!!  In fact if I ever bought a Boss 351 Mustang-the 1st thing I would do is rip off that Autolite doorstop-( all their good for ) and replace it with an Edelbrock!!  Same thing for those awful Muncie shifters that Camaros and Chevelles had. Forget powershifting at 6,000 rpm; they wouldn't shift at half-throttle, or above 3,000 rpm if you had your foot in it. So I would definitely be installing a Hurst shifter in any Camaro or Chevelle I bought. I guess I could keep the Muncie in case I ever wanted to sell the car to someone really anal. Would you really not buy a pristine SS396 / 454 Chevelle because it had a Competition Plus?  Remember these cars are 40-50 years old. Just like now-stuff breaks and goes bad-and do-it-yourself mechanics and even professional shops sometimes just get a generic replacement part.  So don't deprive yourself of a really cool car because someone didn't keep it "just as it left the factory" 38 years ago!!  Mastermind        

More on recognizing a great deal....

Got a lot of positive feedback on the last post about realizing a screaming bargain is in front of you and having sense enough to grab it. I don't know why, but gearheads always seem to be looking for the bigger better deal and often miss out on great stuff, and then regret it later. Here's a few more stories of what NOT to do. Bonehead # 1 wanted to build a 1969 Trans-Am clone. With only 697 built it's hard to find one for under  100K. But Pontiac sold 115,000 other V8 Firebirds that year and they can be bought reasonably. This guy found one for $2,500. It had a straight body, but the red paint was badly oxidized and the front seats needed recovering and probably new padding, and the dash was cracked. On the upside it had nice Center Line wheels and T/A radials on it, and a 350 and a 4-speed. I suspect it may have originally been a six-cylinder / 3-speed model. I say this because it had a flat hood-no scoops and no "350" or "400" emblems like the V8 models had. It also had a Saginaw 4-speed that was controlled by the terrible Vega shifter with the pull-up trigger for reverse. This wasn't a bad thing-those Saginaw 4-speeds in the late Vegas were tough-they'd stand up to a mild V8 and they had a 3.11 1st gear and a 2.02 second, which really helped you rocket off the line if you swapped one into a Camaro or Nova or Firebird with a V8. And the car had a 350 Pontiac that ran good, didn't smoke, didn't use oil, was pretty solid. I told him to buy it. All he'd need to make a clone T/A would be the hood, fender air extractors and spoilers and a white and blue paint job. I'd scrap the crappy Vega shifter for a Hurst unit.  And maybe a dash pad and seat covers. Including the purchase price of the car he could have had a '69 T/A clone for like six grand!!  He hemmed and hawed, because "real" T/A's had 400s, not 350s!! Puhleeze. It's a fake anyway!!  I pointed out that even if he "HAD" to have a 400 and a Muncie 4-speed-this car was still a great deal because the Saginaw and Muncie 4-speeds are the same length, and use the same rear trans mount and driveshaft yoke. Swapping in a Muncie would be cake. And even if he bought a 400 somewhere that was just a block-Pontiac crank and piston kits are cheap and everything else-the heads, the tin, the water pump, fuel pump, belt pulleys, balancer, intake and exhaust, distributor, alternator, power steering pump, etc off the 350 would bolt right on!! He'd save a ton of money not chasing parts that he already had!!  He passed on it, and never again found another 'Bird close to that price or condition. He never did build his clone '69 T/A. Years later I saw him driving a "Smokey and the Bandit" '77 model-and he pissed and moaned and said he should have bought that '69 way back when!!  Bonehead # 2  Wanted an LT-1 Corvette. A 1970-72 model, not the '92 and later C4 with same moniker. Obviously any decent example was high-priced-25 grand on up, which was a bit above his budget. One day on a used car lot we run across a '76 Corvette with $3999 on the window. We go look at it, it's white, and the paint is kind of crappy. But the interior is in great shape, and it's an L82 / 4-speed model!!. If you don't know-the L82 had everything the LT-1 did-forged crank, rods and pistons, "202" heads, 4-bolt mains. The cam was hydraulic instead of solid-but it was the old L46 "350 hp" cam-that had 224 duration @ .050, and .450 / 460 lift. Actually a little hotter than the famous "Duntov" and "30-30" solid lifter cams used in previous 'Vettes, and about the same as the vaunted LT-1. L82s also used a Quadrajet on an iron manifold instead of a 780 Holley on an aluminum one. We checked the numbers on the block and heads and it was a for-real L82. And it ran good. I told him to buy it, add a set of headers and an Edelbrock Torker II intake and matching 750 carb, and paint it whatever color he wanted. ( It had black interior which goes with anything ). The salesman even said he'd take $3,600 cash!!  Now where in the universe are you going to find a decent, running L82 / 4-speed Corvette for $3,600??!!!!  Dumb ass passed on it, and later paid $7,000 for an L48 / TH350 '79 model!!  That wasn't any nicer!!   Bonehead # 3 wanted a '70-71  Monte Carlo SS with a 454. Hard to find, and pricey when you do. We did find a '72 model ( the bodystyle is identical, except for minor changes to the front grille, and the "SS" package wasn't available in '72, but otherwise the '72 is identical to the '70-71s ). This one had a 402 big-block and a TH400 and was in good shape. He whined that it had a front bench seat. He wanted buckets and a console. I pointed out that Year One, NPD, Legendary and other companies could hook him up with buckets seats and the "horseshoe" shifter console easy enough, if that was the deal breaker. I told him to buy the car, and that a 396 / 402 could make just as much power as a 454 with the right equipment. I told him-Rat-Powered Montes are hard to find. I jokingly suggested a '69-76 Pontiac Gran Prix-they have 400 power standard all years and a fair number of '70-76 "SJ" models have 455s. "I'm a die-hard Chevy guy." he grumbled. Well for a die-hard Chevy guy, he's pretty stupid. He passed up the car. He finally did buy a '70-72 Monte Carlo, but it was a 350 2bbl model! With a bench front seat!  Quite a compromise if you "gotta have" a Rat motor and bucket seats and a console!  Bonehead # 4 was a dyed-in-the wool Mopar guy. He had a nice '70 383 Charger, but he also wanted to get a big Mopar for a daily driver. He passed up a nice '75 Road Runner. For this one year only the Road Runner nameplate was on the Sport Fury platform. This one had bucket seats and a console, the "Tuff" steering wheel, power windows and A/C and a 400 that would smoke the tires at will. Even though it was a one-year model and only about 6,000 were built, it wasn't "Unique" enough. He also passed up a 1979 Chrysler 300. These were based on the Cordoba, but they had a slick pearl white paint job, a gorgeous red leather interior, Rally wheels, the E58 "Police Interceptor" 360 V8, a Torqueflite and a 3.21:1 Sure-Grip rear end. Not a Hemi 'Cuda-but if you want a nice Chrysler "driver"-you can't do much better than these unless you buy a 2005 or later Charger or 300!!  That wasn't good enough either. He eventually bought a '72 Charger with a 318, decided it needed too much work, sold it and bought a Toyota pickup. How is that a "B" body driver??!!  Mastermind        

Be smart enough to recognize a screaming deal when you see it....

In the last post I talked about how to get the car you want at a reasonable price. It involves some compromise. But sometimes you just have to grab a good deal when it's right in front of your face. I get so tired of listening to people complain that they can't find their dream car, yet they've passed up several awesome cars because they weren't "Exactly what they were looking for". I said it in a previous post-there is no used car factory where you can order exactly what you want. The chance of you finding a 40 or 50 year old car that is the exact color you want with the exact color interior you want,the engine, transmission, axle ratio and wheels you want is almost nil. You have a better chance of winning the lottery or being struck by lightning on the golf course. The best you can do is narrow it down to a few key things-say you want a big-block Chevelle-I want a 4-speed, and bucket seats, and front disc brakes. That's easy enough-if your looking for say a 68-72 model-there will be a lot of them that have that equipment. Now if it has to be red with white interior and a white vinyl top and have factory A / C and a tilt steering wheel and power windows, your going to have a much harder time finding one, if at all. And you have to be somewhat flexible. I know a guy that wanted an LT-1 Z/28 Camaro. He passed up an unrestored, but exceptionally well-maintained '70 model because it was an automatic. He passed up a 4-speed '71 model because it had traction bars, Cragar S/S mags, headers, and a 750 double-pumper Holley carb instead of the stock 3310. He said he didn't want a "Butchered" car. Excuse me? How was this car "Butchered?" The traction bars could be unbolted, Year One sells reproduction Rally Wheels if he didn't like the Cragars, Summit, Jeg's and even Pep Boys will sell you a 3310 Holley Carb. If for some insane reason he didn't want the increase in performance that the headers offer-theirs several companies that sell the famous "Ram's Horn" exhaust manifolds. That stuff is so easily fixed-it's laughable. Yet he passed up the car. He also passed up a gorgeous 4-speed '73 model becuase it was an L82. If you don't know-an L82 has a hydraulic cam instead of solid lifters and uses a Quadrajet on an iron manifold instead of the 3310 Holley on an aluminum one. When I suggested he buy the car and that swapping in a solid-lifter cam and the carb and intake would be pretty easy-he sneered "But's still not a real LT-1". I pointed out the other two he turned his nose up at were "Real" LT-1s. That was several years ago, and as far as I know-he still hasn't found a Camaro that meets his exacting standards. Another idiot wanted a '65-66 Shelby Mustang. He passed up a '66 GT that had front disc brakes,the Rally-pac guages, factory air, the "Pony" interior, and the original "California Megaphone exhaust with date-coded mufflers intact, because "It's still not a Shelby". I'm not even a Ford guy-and I bought the damn thing and sold it for a tidy profit a couple months later. Two other idiots I know did the same thing. One wanted a '68-70 GTO with the 400 / 4-speed powertrain. He passed up a gorgeous '68 model because it didn't have the hood tach, and it didn't have front disc brakes. He passed up a nice '70 455 model because it was an automatic. When he turned his nose up at a triple white, 400, 4-speed, '71 LeMans Sport convertible done in full "Judge" regalia-because "It's a fake". I wanted to slap him. The seller freely admitted it was a gussied-up LeMans-he wasn't trying to decieve anyone or get "Judge" money for it. And with or without the spoiler and "Judge" stripes and emblems-the car was worth every penny he was asking. The price was reasonable, the car was gorgeous and it ran like a scalded cat. If I'd had the money at the time I'd have bought it. This guy still doesn't have a GTO, and that was 8 years ago. The other one wanted a 400, 4-speed Disco-era T/A. He passed up a 400, 4-speed, '77 Formula with T-tops-for $2,300 in 1996 dollars-still a screaming bargain-even back then. "Its not a Trans-Am"  UGH!  He also passes on a beautiful, for-real, documented by Dennis Mecham '78 "Macho T/A" that sounded absolutely evil, and would smoke the tires as long as you wanted to stay on the throttle because it was an automatic. What does he do after passing up both of these diamonds?  He buys a 4-speed '81 T/A that has a 305 Chevy in it that wheezes out 145 hp, and will barely smoke the tires 30 feet if you pop the clutch at 4,000 rpm!!  He's severely disappointed in the car's performance.  He poo-poos my take-the-path-of-least-resistance-suggestion of swapping in a stompin' 350 Chevy, finds out how much trouble it would be to put in a 400 Pontiac, and sells the car at a loss. Then dejectedly laments to me-"I should have bought that Formula or that "Macho." You think?  Anyhow-this is the message I'm trying to get across-recognize a screaming deal when it's staring you in the face. Mastermind      

Within reason, just get the car you want!!

I get a lot of things I say quoted back to me, usually when people are pissed off or trying to prove me wrong. "But on July 23, 2012 you said..."  Lately it's been that in some posts I've told prospective first-time musclecar buyers to lower their sights so they can find a car at a reasonable price. In other posts I've said-"Just get the damn car you want."  The question is which way should they go?  The answer is "Both". When I said  "Lower your sights a little" I meant that unless you had Jay Leno's bank account it might behoove you to "settle" for an SS396 Chevelle instead of trying to get an LS6 454 model; If you want a '69-70 Mustang it will be a lot easier and cheaper to get a 351W / 351C model than it will a Boss 302. A '68-'70 GTO with the base model 350 hp 400 is going to be a lot easier to find and much less expensive than a Ram Air IV Judge!! Those are irrefutable facts. A lot of you are probably going-"Well, duh anyone knows that." In addition to initially lowering your sights, my second piece of advice is lower them some more. Here's why. Our Chevelle enthusiast has come to grips with the fact that barring a lottery win, he's never going to get an LS6. But is he still stuck on the 1970 model?  Granted-Chevrolet made 49,826 SS396 Chevelles in 1970; exactly 10 times-( 4478 ) the production of the LS6. However-If he'd consider a '68-69 model he just increased his chances of finding a car by 58,000 ( 1968 ) and 86,000 ( 1969 ) units. And what about '71-72 models? They were basically the same bodystyle, except for the grille and taillights. The only other difference was the 402 and 454s had low-compression engines. But this will make the price substantially lower as well. Would this guy really pass up an LS5 454,M22 4-speed, 3.31:1 posi rear end, cowl induction hood equipped '72 model at a great price because he just "Had" to have a '70 model?  Or an L78, 4-speed, 4.11 geared '68 model? Remember-the L78 396 had everything the LS6 454 does-11:1 compression,forged crank,rods and pistons,hot solid-lifter cam, aluminum intake with a 780 Holley, etc, etc. Is that 1970 front clip that godamnded important???  See what I'm saying?  What about a Mopar guy who's searched far and wide for a "Bullitt" Charger or "Vanishing Point" Challenger?  Because he's "Gotta Have" a 440-how many spectacular deals has he passed up on 383 models?  If you want a 455HO or SD455 Trans-Am your pretty much out of luck without a powerball win. Pontiac only built about 4,000 of them from '71-74. ( 2,116 in '71, 1,286 in '72, 252 in '73 and 943 in '74 ). However from 1974-79 there's over 400,000 Trans-Am and Formula Firebirds out there, nearly all of them with 400 power under the hood, that with very little work-intake and exhaust and an axle-ratio change-could easily equal or surpass the performance of the earlier, much more expensive models. Think about it-a 400, 4-speed, 3.42:1 geared '78 model will rock pretty good with an Edelbrock Performer intake, matching cam and a set of headers. Edelbrock claims 387 hp and 439 lbs of torque with this package on a 400; that's a bit more than the 300 / 310 hp of the vaunted 455HO / SD models!!  I think your getting the drift on "Lower your sights". How do I reconcile that with "Just get the damnded car you want."  Here's how. Let's say you've decided on a "Smokey and the Bandit" era T/A. Ok. If you want T-Tops, why even look at a hardtop model?  I mean if one thing really, truly is a deal-breaker, then don't compromise. If you "Gotta Have" T-tops, then get one with T-Tops. There's enough of them out there that you can find one. Same thing if you wanted a 4-speed. Yes, it'll cost more than an automatic model, but their still affordable. And you definitely don't want to buy an automatic model and try to convert it to stick. Our previously mentioned Chevelle enthusiast-in '71 and '72 for some insane reason the "SS" package was available on any V8 Malibu. Which means you could have a badass-looking machine in full "SS" regalia with a 2bbl, 130 hp 307 or 165 hp 350 under the hood!!  Now here is where the "buck" would stop. I would continue searching for a big-block model. I'm a mechanic with 40 years experience, and I've swapped dozens of engines, and I wouldn't buy a small-block Chevelle, no matter how cheap it was with the intention of  "Someday" "dropping" a 454 into it. Because "someday" will never come. You'll never do it. Our "Vanishing Point" enthusiast-would he accept a 340 Challenger? Many people say the 340 models are the best handling, best balanced, best all-around performing models. If he'll accept a 340 model, he might find happiness for way less money than he'd have spent on a 383 / 440 model. But should he buy a pristine, dirt-cheap 318 model?  No!!!  It won't run near as strong as the 340, he'd have to swap in a 340 / 360 to get that level of performance,and if he wanted a big-block he'd have to change the crossmember, the transmission, the torsion bars etc, etc.  See what I'm getting at?  And be honest about what your going to do with the car. If it's a show car or a race car-then do anything you want. But if your going to drive the car at all-you might want to give some thought to certain options. We've all seen stripped-down, badass street fighters. No power steering, no power brakes, no a/c. That's fine if all your doing is drag racing. If you live in a city and you have to parallel park a lot-you really appreciate power steering!!  If you live somewhere where it gets to be 100 degrees in the summertime, it might behoove you to get a car with working or repairable A/C!!  If you live in a big city like San Francisco or Los Angeles that has a lot of stop and go traffic, an automatic might be a better choice than a 4-speed!  If you live in the country 30 miles from the nearest town, a car with 3.23:1 gears might make a lot more sense than one with 4.10:1s; unless you enjoy the motor buzzing at 3,800 rpm at 75 mph!!  Hope this clears things up. Mastermind                  

Experience is a great teacher.....

I think it was Vince Lombardi who said "Good judgement comes from experience, and experience is usually past bad judgement."  This is so true in the gearhead world. Those of us who have swapped engines and transmissions,have built race cars, and restored cars and trucks definitely have an advantage over those who haven't-we know what NOT to do!!  This can be very important in saving you time, money and frustration. Those of us who have strong opinions on what parts to use or not use, is usually learned the hard way. For example I only recommend Hooker or Hedman Headers to my customers. The reason is this-many moons ago I had a performance shop where we did a lot of high-performance work for people. Sometimes I supplied the parts, sometimes the customers did. Didn't matter if was a Chevy or a Ford, or a Pontiac or an AMC or a Chrysler-"Off-brand" headers leaked and cracked incessantly, the flanges didn't seal, they were awful. Blackjack,Flowtech,Doug Thorley, whatever-they were all terrible. Hooker and Hedman-I never had a problem, they sealed perfectly and never cracked, they were bulletproof. I got to the point where I was so tired of tightening header bolts, and arguing with customers that the problem was not with my installation, but with their sub-par headers that I would refuse to install any header other than Hooker or Hedman. Problem solved. The same with Holley carburators. I know other people have had great success with them, but in 40+ years of hot rodding and racing, I have never had much luck with Holleys. They bleed over, they blow power valves,they do not hold a tune. Even the new "Street Avenger" model that came with a ZZ4 crate engine I bought brand-new-ran good for about three weeks and then became hard to start,stumbled, blew power valves the usual. I replaced it with a Quadrajet and it ran flawlessly until I sold the car five years later.   I have had great luck with Edelbrock carbs. They flat work, usually right out of the box. Ditto for Carter AFB's. There's no gaskets below the float level,jets can be changed without removing or disassembling the carb. On Mopars I've great luck with Carter AVS's, and ( as long as the bakelite body isn't cracked or warped ) I've had good luck with Thermo-Quads. As for Fords-the Autolite 4100 and 4300 are the worst carbs ever built, bar none. My dad and I both worked for Ford back in the '70's and if you had a 351C Mustang or a 460 T-Bird and bitched hard enough about hard starting, crappy gas mileage-I mean 5-8 mpg on a new car-Ford would replace it with a 600 Holley and warranty it. Whenever I did a Ford project for someone I always used a Carter AFB or an Edelbrock. The same for cams. Other than factory cams-i.e.-GMPP, Mopar Performance, Ford SVT- I only use Crane or Lunati cams. The reason is every other brand-and I don't just mean "off-brand" or "house brand" stuff-I've had it happen with Edelbrock, Iskenderian,Competition Cams, Howards, etc-they go flat prematurely and pop and spit, even if you follow the the break-in procedures to the letter. Crane or Lunati-I've never had a problem. Even tune-up parts can cause you to pull your hair out. This is why on GM stuff I only use AC-Delco points or Accel. Ford and Chrysler I use genuine Motorcraft or Mopar or Accel. The reason is these parts have brass contacts and tougher plastic and flat work. Wells-Ampco,Napa,Borg-Warner, and other "parts house" brands use aluminum or pot metal contacts that corrode easily and the plastic is like an eggshell. I've broken distributor caps tightening them down with a 1/4 inch drive socket!!  As for spark plugs I use Autolite in american cars and NGK in foreign cars. Champions, Bosch, Nippondenso-they all foul-especially if the carb(s) are a little rich, or the driver drives it like grandma on prozac. Autolites and NGKs-never a problem. Don't take this wrong-I'm not slamming certain companies products-I'm speaking from experience and avoiding performance problems with sub-par parts. So If you brought your car to my shop and wanted me to build you an engine-I'll tell you up front-your getting Hooker or Hedman headers, a Crane or Lunati cam, and an Edelbrock carb!  And it'll run like a scalded cat for years to come, and we'll both be happy.  The other thing I've learned is you have to look at the entire combination. The whole combination is power to weight ratio,gearing,suspension setup,and traction. A Pontiac enthusiast I know was shocked at a club drag meet when his 455HO,4-speed '71 GTO was beaten in a drag race by a '64 389 GTO. A 325 hp 4-barrel model-not even a Tri-Power. Oh, the pain and humiliation. The '71 GTO's owner was only looking at engine size-455 cubes vs 389-no problem. However-the '64 GTO weighed 3,400 lbs, the '71 weighed 4,070. That's almost 700 lbs of extra weight. They both had Muncie 4-speed trannys, but the '71 model had 3.31:1 gears, and the '64 model had 3.90:1 gears. And the difference in launch. The '64 driver would pop the clutch about 2,800-3,200 rpm. This would give him just enough wheelspin to get the car moving quickly, without frying the tires. Anything over 3,500 rpm and he'd fry the tires. The '71 driver had a tougher time. A 455HO has 480 lbs of torque, at 2,700 rpm. The only way he could avoid frying his tires was to slip the clutch at 1,800-2,200 rpm, walk it off the line, and then still spin most of low gear. What happened was the '64 got a car length or two off the line, and with the mechanical advantage of the 3.90:1 gears and pulling 700 lbs less weight-was able to hang onto that lead until the end of the 1/4. Ironically-even with the extra weight the 455HO should have had enough power to take the win. The big problem was traction. If he'd had drag radials and could launch at 3,500-4,000 rpm-it would have been a different story. If he'd had a TH400 and 3.31:1 gears it might have been different because the traction problem wouldn't have been as severe. Doesn't matter how much power you have if you can't put it to the ground. I remember back in high school I had a '68 SS396 El Camino. Of course, I blew up the 396. Being a kid with very little money but good mechanical skills-I was saved by my cousin. He convinced his mother to give me the 327 out of her wrecked '67 Impala. We put the small-block in that weekend, and I was able to go to school Monday. Funny thing-the Elky was actually quicker with the 275 hp 327 than it was with the 350 hp 396! With the Rat motor-it just fried the tires if you looked at the throttle. With the 327 it would spin the tires if you wanted to, but not excessively. It would lay maybe 30 feet of rubber and then go. And with less weight on the front end it handled better too. It was actually much nicer to drive with the 327 than it was with the 396. I never forgot that. When I was in college I had a '74 Pontiac Ventura-just like the one Roy Scheider drove in the "Seven-Ups". It had the 350 Pontiac / TH350 powertrain. I swapped the 2bbl for a Edelbrock P4B intake and a Quadrajet that my dad had laying around. I also put a B&M shift kit in the trans. The car was really fast. I mean it easily beat a buddy's 327 / 4-speed '66 Chevelle in a drag race, and beat another friends 350 powered '70 Chevelle. I gave another kid in a 454 Monte Carlo a run he'll never forget. My friends and relatives had driven 350 LeMans and Firebirds before-and they weren't nearly as quick as my Ventura. My dad speculated that maybe a previous owner had dropped in a 400. No,I checked the numbers on the block. It was a 350. But I always wondered why my car had a trailer hitch on the rear bumper. Turned out the previous owner had bought the car new and ordered it with a towing package because he intended to tow his fishing boat with it. The towing package included a bigger transmission cooler, a bigger radiator, and a positraction rear end with a "special" towing axle ratio. The reason it was so damn quick was it had a 3.42:1 posi rear end!!  Most other '70's Venturas had 2.56:1 or 2.73:1 gears. The gears were why it ran so good. I honestly think it was quicker than the '71 I had later that got the 400 out of my wrecked '77 T/A. Another thing is don't shy away from Old parts when restoring something. Especially if you want a period correct vibe. Back in the '70's Edelbrock had a line of intakes for small-block Chevys-there was the Torker, the Tarantula and the Scorpion. They were all single-planes. The Torker and Tarantula were street / strip models and the Scorpion was the competition one-kind of like the Victor Jr now. A buddy had a Scorpion on his Nova-and from 3,000-7,000 rpm it was a rocket. Weiand had one called the X-celrator, and Offenhauser had a line they called Port-O-Sonic. As long as their not cracked-they'll work just as well today. A modern Performer RPM might make a few more ponies on a dyno-but won't look nearly as badass on a '66 Corvette or whatever. Mastermind