Don't bite off more than you can chew....

I talk to so many people who say they got a great "deal" on some car that they have grand plans for. Usually a year or two later, their totally disillusioned and disgusted and end up selling the car for less than what they paid for it or less than they have invested. There's two reasons for this. One is they picked the wrong kind of car. How can you pick the wrong kind of car?  For example-you can get anything you want for a '55-57 Chevy, up to and including a brand new whole body, authorized by GM. That's great if your restoring a '55 Chevy. But what if you have a '57 Pontiac Bonneville or a '55 Olds 88? Where are you going to find a 1/4 panel or a grille and front bumper for those?  If your restoring a Chevelle, GTO or 442, or a Camaro, Firebird or Mustang you can get anything you need. Dynacorn is selling all-new Mustang and Camaro bodies authorized by GM and Ford. But what if your restoring a '62 Pontiac Gran Prix? Or a '66 Riviera or a '69 T-Bird? Do you know that no one makes a replacement grille for a 1972 Gran Torino? So if you have one, or a same-year Ranchero-( Ford's version of the El Camino that was based on the Torino platform from 1968-76 ) with a broken grille, your shit out of luck-no matter how much money your willing to spend-because no one makes the parts!!  Where are you going to get a replacement rear glass for a '71-73 "Boat Tail" Riviera? The same goes for Mopars. If your restoring a '68-70 Charger or Road Runner or a '70-74 Challenger / Barracuda you can get pretty much anything you want-body parts, suspension and brake parts,interior trim pieces etc. But where are you going to find that big rear glass for a '65 Barracuda? Or a fender or 1/4 panel for a '64 Dodge 330?  What if you want to do a "Christine" tribute or the cop car from the "California Kid?" Where are you going to find anything for a '58 Fury? Or for that matter a '70 Sport Fury or a '75 Road Runner? ( The Road Runner was based on the Sport Fury platform for one year only, 1975 ). What about bigger "niche" cars that are still cool? Where are you going to find a rear door skin for a '61 Continental convertible with the "suicide" doors? Or a grille? Headlight doors for a '66 Toronado or a '67 Eldorado? A 1/4 panel for a '63 "Bullet Bird" Thunderbird?  God help you if your doing an AMC Javelin or Rebel Machine. So if your thinking of buying a car for a project-that's not a Camaro or Mustang or Chevelle, etc.-do some research and check parts availability. A trunk lid for a '70 Mustang is a no-brainer. A '72 Mercury Montego GT-that's some more "unobtanium". Not available at any price. The second mistake people make is they take on projects that are beyond their mechanical ability. If your a bodyman by trade, then something with minor or even major body damage may not faze you at all. You might whistle while you work. Someone who is not a bodyman would be better off passing up that car and just spending more money and getting a better car to start with. Ditto for running gear. If your a professional mechanic-something with a blown engine, or even missing the engine and tranny may not be a big deal to you. You may have say-a 403 Olds V8 and a TH350 that you took out of a wrecked Trans-Am on your garage floor that will bolt right into that engineless '71 Cutlass you just bought. But for "Joe Average" who has never replaced an engine or done any heavy-duty repairs-again it might behoove him to pass on this "deal" and get a running car. And choose running cars wisely. A '77 Firebird Formula with a 350 Pontiac and a 4-speed and T-Tops is a great find. 350 Pontiacs respond well to basic hot-rod tricks-headers, cam, carb and intake. You can make 325-350 hp and 400 lbs of torque pretty easy with bolt-on parts. Beyond that-you'll need a 400 or 455-which is a bolt-in swap. By contrast a '77 Firebird with a 301 V8 is not a good deal no matter how cheap the price is. The reason is the 301 was a lightweight "economy" motor, and except for the tin and the motor mounts, virtually nothing interchanges with the "traditional"-i.e.-326-455 Pontiac engines. Further-there is zero aftermarket parts available for the 301. None. Zero. Now I know people are going to say "Hey just "Drop" in a 400." It's true that a 400 will bolt in place of a 301, but where are you going to find one that hasn't been snapped up by GTO and Firebird restorers?  The last 400 Pontiac rolled off the assembly line in November 1977. That's 41 years ago. ( L78 400's were stockpiled for '78-79 T/A's and Formulas ). Not many people are going to have an engine that's been out of production for 41 years "laying" around. I've said it before, but I'll say it again. If you have or want to buy say a '71 Charger or a '73 'Cuda with a 318, and want to infuse it with big power, then I suggest getting a 360 Magnum out of a '90's Dodge truck or Jeep Grand Cherokee. Edelbrock makes intakes so you can run a carburator. Or if your a little more bucks up-get a Mopar Performance 360 crate motor-they have 390 hp and 445 lbs of torque. But don't think you'll just "Drop" in a 440. 1st off-they've been out of production since 1978-40 years. Secondly-you'd need a big-block front crossmember, you'd need a new transmission-a 904 Torqueflite won't bolt up to or stand up to a 440, so you'll need a 727, you'll need big-block torsion bars so it'll handle properly, a big-block radiator, and if the engine is warmed over you'll probably need a 8 3/4 or Dana 60 rear end. In the long run-you'd be better off just warming up the 318-carb and intake, headers, mild cam. Or swapping in the 360. If you "Gotta Have" a big-block E-body or B-body-then bite the bullet and pay the price for one that has a 383, 400 or 440 from the factory. You'll save yourself a ton of money and grief. Fords are worse. Don't get me wrong-I'm not slamming Fords-I'm just stating an irrefutable fact. Fords have nowhere near the easy parts interchangeability that GM and some Chrysler stuff has. A 390 in a Mustang has a different oil pan,different water pump, different fuel pump,different alternator and power steering pump brackets,different exhaust manifolds and different motor mounts than a 390 in a F100 pickup, and their both different from a 390 in a T-Bird, which is different from a 390 in an LTD!!  A 289 / 302 has a different bellhousing bolt pattern than a 351C. A 390 has a different bellhousing bolt-pattern than a 429 / 460. So no easy engine or tranny swapping. A lot different than buying a TH350 or TH400 out of a Buick and putting it behind any Buick, Olds, Pontiac, or Cadillac V8 from 326 to 500 cubes!!  Or buying a Chevy TH350 or 400 and bolting it place behind anything from a 283 to a 454!!  If no one tells you this stuff-then you don't know. And with later-model stuff-'80's and '90's cars have way more electronic controls and crap on them than '60's and '70's cars had. So if you want an '80's IROC-Z with a 5-speed-keep looking until you find one. Don't buy an automatic and try to convert it to stick. If you want a "5.0" Mustang-there's millions of them out there-don't buy a 4-banger or V6 model and try to swap in a V8. You'll just committ hari-kari in your driveway before you get it done. I'm not trying to piss on anybody's dreams-I'm just saying be honest about your own mechanical capabilities and careful which projects you choose. It'll save you a ton of money and grief in the long run. Mastermind      

A rare turd is still a turd...

Robert Prosky said it in the movie "Christine". "You can't polish a turd". My friend that owned an import / specialty / performance auto parts store had a similar saying-"A rare turd is still just a turd." Of course they were making fun of people who were investing a ton of time and money in cars that would never be worth their effort or dollar investment. Like the '58 Fury in the movie or a Morris Minor. I see a trend on a lot of the classic car for sale websites. A lot of them are featuring ultra-low mileage "survivors"-i.e.-cars that are unrestored, but have been kept in a garage for 40 years, and their asking insane prices for them. I don't know if any of these actually sell for the insane prices, but I laugh at some of them. One was a 1979 Trans-Am with 65 miles on it. That's right 65. Asking price was $150,000. For a 403 Olds / TH350 model!!!  To put this in perspective-Trans-Am specialties of Florida had a 400, 4-speed, WS6, 10th Anniversary model with 25,000 original miles and new paint that they were asking $49,000 for. They had a 400,4-speed red and black '79 model with a killer motor-Edelbrock heads and intake, a Comp Cams cam, Hooker headers, MSD ignition-for $29,999, and for the same price a restored, documented by Dennis Mecham, '78 "Macho T/A" that had a killer 455 in it. They had a numbers-matching frame-off restored, 4-speed, RAIII 1970 model for $59,000, and a 455HO / 4-speed Lucerne Blue '71 model with 33,000 miles on it for $79,000. If you "gotta have" a badass T/A-any of those other cars are much better choices for half or even 1/5 of the money their asking for the "survivor".  Do they really think someone is going pay 150K for a 403 / TH350 model? Let's be real and expand beyond T/A's.   I've seen numbers-matching Hemi Road Runners and LS6 Chevelles going for less than that!! I've seen Boss 302, Boss 351 and Shelby Mustangs selling for less than that!! I've seen Tri-Power, 4-speed, 427 Stingrays selling for less than that. For half that!!  Another had an '86 IROC-Z Camaro with 30,000 miles on it, that they wanted $30,000 for!!. And it was an LG4 model!!! You know the carburated 305 that wheezed out 150 hp!!  Not even the 190 hp L69, or the 215 hp LB9, or the 240 hp L98 350!!!  And even if it had one of those other engines it's still not worth 30 grand!!  Guys I know are still buying '80's and early '90's Camaros and Firebirds dirt-cheap. I have seen rough, but running examples as low as $1,200-and anything over 3 grand is usually pretty nice. But 30K??  To put this in perspective-RK motors in South Carolina is advertising a restored, big-block, '74 Corvette Convertible for $35,000!! Their also showcasing a 350 / 4-speed, 1981 Corvette with 47,000 original miles for $24,000, A 19,000 mile Buick Grand National for $35,000 and a numbers-matching 302, 4-speed, '68 Z/28 for $49,000!!!  But you should pay 30K for an LG4 305 '86 Camaro!!!  Puhleeeze!  Some other offensive ones-some guy was advertising a 350 powered '72 Cutlass for $45,000. Not even a 442, a base-model Cutlass, with bench seats and a column-shifted TH350. By contrast- RK motors has a numbers-matching, frame-off restored 400 / TH400 1969 442 CONVERTIBLE with front disc brakes,power steering, power windows, tilt-wheel, and factory A/C for $62,000. For the same price they have a restored, numbers-matching 1968 4-speed, SS396 Chevelle, and a restored 400 / TH400 '67 GTO Convertible with factory A/C and the Hurst Dual / Gate shifter. Trans-Am specialties has a restored, numbers-matching, triple black loaded-and I mean loaded-the hood tach, power seats, power windows,factory a/c, posi rear end, 400 / TH400 powertrain, 1969 Gran Prix for $25,000!!  But you should pay 45K for this nothing Cutlass coupe? I've seen it in my hometown. A guy was heartbroken because he got no offers on his pristine '68 Chevelle. A bench seat, post coupe, drum braked, strippy 307 model!!  That he was asking $30,000 for!! It was a clean Chevelle body-and would make someone a nice project-but not with a 30K start price!! I know another guy who just sold his '72 Chevelle for 25K-but it was a 454 SS model!!  Another guy was crushed that no one was interested in his strippy automatic, 2bbl 262 V8 powered '76 Camaro. For $12,000. When a local classic car dealer has a pristine, 350 / 4-speed, T-Topped, Cowl Induction equipped 1980 Z/28 for $14,900!!!  See what I'm saying?  I've said it before-"rare" doesn't automatically mean "valuable". Who wants a 305 powered 1980 Corvette? Or a 301 powered '79 Trans-Am? Or a 255 V8 powered '81 Mustang?  My personal, all-time favorite for sheer Chutzpah was the guy whose ad said you could live out your "Kowalski" Vanishing Point fantasies. It was a 1970 Challenger he was selling, but it had 4-wheel drum brakes, no power steering, an automatic, and it was powered by a 225 inch Slant-Six!!!  A far cry from a 440 / 4-speed R/T model, don't you think??  Anyhow-two-barrel step-down engines, column-shifted bucket seat cars, bench seat 4-speed cars, two-speed automatics, 3-speed sticks,heater and radio delete cars aren't valuable-their just weird. Like the guy who was asking something like a $125K for a 1970 Trans-Am becuase it was "one of one". Apparently the only TH400 T/A Pontiac ever built with no console and a column shifter. That's right-this wasn't one of the 88 RAIV models ever built, or one of the 252 '73 SD-455s,or the ONE 455, 4-speed '76 model that Pontiac put a '77 front clip on for promotional purposes, that caused Burt Reynolds and Hal Needham to want a black T/A for "Smokey and the Bandit". No-this one has a crappy, ugly column shifter!! And that's why it's worth more than a condominium!!  Not!! as Wayne and Garth used to say on SNL. So buyer beware-and remember my friend's quote-"A rare turd is still a turd."  Mastermind                  

A badass, cool,low-budget "Junkyard Jewel.....

A guy I know showed he me a toy he's been working on all spring the other day. I was impressed because it's definitely "Old School" and definitely cool, and he doesn't have $3,500 in the whole project!!  He bought a '69 Buick Skylark 2 door from his neighbor for $500. The body was straight and in good shape, but the interior needed work and the 350 was very tired, running on 6 or 7 cylinders and smoking badly. Another friend of his sold him a '75 Pontiac Gran Prix for $1200. The G/P had a body that didn't really have a straight piece of metal on it, but it had a 455 that would smoke the tires at will and a good-shifting TH400. He took the 455 / TH400 powertrain and dropped it in the Buick using the G/P motor mounts. He also used the G/P rear crossmember and trans mount, having to drill a couple holes in the frame. He spent a little at a driveline shop getting the G/P driveshaft shortened and re-balanced. ( Although their both technically "A" bodies, Skylarks have a 112 inch wheelbase and G/P's have a 118 inch wheelbase ). This was and easy and cheap procedure. He took the G/P's front spindles and added the 11" front disc brakes, calipers, master cylinder and booster, which greatly improved the stopping power over the Skylark's 9.5 inch 4-wheel drums! He also transplanted the G/P's wrist-thick front and rear stabilizer bars to the Buick as well as the G/P's steering box and P/S Pump. The Buick had power steering-but it was a 17.5:1 ratio box. The G/P's "Radial Tuned Suspension" box had a 14:1 ratio-which greatly quickened steering response. He added KYB gas shocks as well. A set of Hedman "Shorty" headers and dual exhaust went on as well as an Edelbrock Torker II intake he had laying around topped with a 750 Edelbrock carb. He had the 6X heads milled .060 at a machine shop to raise the compression one full point and new valvesprings installed. He also added a matching Edelbrock Torker cam.  A TransGo shift kit was added as well. The car is awesome. It handles like a '70's Trans-Am, and runs like a '60s GTO!!  It will literally spin it's tires as long as you want to stay on the throttle. He's got about $3,500 in it now. He plans to paint it, and add some 17" wheels and modern ZR rated tires to further improve handling. When he's done, he'll have maybe 6 grand in the whole thing, and it's totally badass. I'd put it up against a new Hemi Charger or a Mustang G/T in a drag race or the twisties any day of the week. Some people will gripe that it's a "Hybrid"-that it doesn't have a Buick powertrain-but the fact remains that it's a cool car that was built for almost nothing. This is the kind of projects my friends and I did all the time back in the '70's and '80's.  Anyhow I thought it was cool, and wanted to share it. Mastermind

There's more choices than ever for engine builders....If your not stuck on date codes!!

I talked to a guy the other day who was trying to build a Z/28 clone. He had secured a nice, solid, '69 Camaro and most of the trim pieces-emblems, spoilers, etc he had gotten from year one. He was griping that he couldn't find a "DZ" code 302 block, and he was having trouble finding an M21 or M22 Muncie 4-speed with 1968 or 69 date codes. You think?  My 1st suggestion since the car is a clone anyway-was to buy a GMPP 425 hp 383 crate engine and back it with a Tremec 5-speed. My 2nd suggestion-if he's just "Gotta Have" a 302 / 4-speed combo was get a 350 block and put a 3.00 inch stroke rotating assembly in it. GMPP, Eagle and other companies sell them. Now you've got 302 inches. I also suggested buying a Richmond Super T10 from Summitt. The 2.64 or 2.88 low-geared model would be much better for acceleration with a 302 than the M21 / M22's 2.20:1 low.  He says-wait for it-"But that's not correct." It's a clone-the whole freaking car isn't correct!!  I understand trying to build something to get the look and feel of your dream car without spending 100k. But honestly when he's winding his car through the gears-is he going to be thinking-"This is awesome, but it'd be so much better if the block had the proper numbers and this tranny was a Muncie instead of a T10."  Puhleeeze. Anyhow-the point I'm trying to make is you can build just about anything with the help of the afrermarket. Dart is offering brand-new 400 inch small-block Chevy blocks. You want to build a 427 Chevy Rat Motor? Get a 454 block out of an old truck and GMPP or Eagle can hook you up with a 3.76 inch stroke rotating assembly. And a new flywheel and balancer of course. ( 454s are externally balanced, 427s are internally balanced ). Want a 421 Pontiac? Eagle and Butler or Kaufmann Performance can hook you up with a 4 inch crank assembly to make your 389 / 400 into a 421. Edelbrock and Trick Flow have aluminum "Cleveland" style heads and intakes that bolt up to Windsor blocks so you can build your own "Boss" 302 or "Boss" 351. With stroker cranks, you could build a "Boss" 347 or a "Boss" 392 or 427!!  How badass would that be?  The point is the stuff is out there to build virtually anything. So stop griping and build that killer motor you've been dreaming of.  Mastermind  

Build the biggest engine that you can afford...The key word being AFFORD!

The buff magazines are constantly featuring mega-inch monster motors, and the manufacturers are in the game as well. GMPP will sell you a 572 inch Rat motor, Mopar Performance will sell you a 528 inch Hemi or a 505 inch wedge, and Ford SVT will sell you a 514 incher. They all have over 600 hp and they all cost 15-20 grand. If you can afford that and want or think you need that much power-by all means buy one. But the reality is a lot of us can't put 20 grand in the whole car-much less just the engine. And a lot of people don't want or need some killer motor-they just want a little more power than stock. I'm going to give some good advice here on how to get the most bang for your buck. The buff magazines always say "Build the biggest engine you can afford". This is generally good advice, with heavy emphasis on the "afford" part. But different engine lines have different characteristics and what applies to one line may be totally wrong for another. Here's a perfect example. If your building a small-block Chevy-a 350 costs no more to buy or build than a 305, yet makes substantially more power and torque. That's a no-brainer. Anyone would say go with the 350. Further-if the engine needs a new crank or pistons-stroker kits are so cheap for small-block Chevys-I've seen 383 crank, rod and piston kits with rings,bearings and the oil pump for as low as $399!!. It would certainly behoove you to build the 383, which is going to have more oomph than the 350. Now let's say you have a 400 Pontiac. The buff magazines all tell you to put a stroker rotating assembly in it and make a 455. ( Or a 461 / 467 if the block is bored .030 or .060 over ). However stroker rotating assemblys for Pontiacs start at $1799!!  For $1800 you could buy a complete cam kit-cam,lifters, springs, timing chain, rockers, pushrods etc-from Comp Cams or Crane or Lunati, an Edelbrock carb and intake, a set of headers, and still have a little left over for rings, bearings and oil pump and maybe minor machine work-i.e.-turning the crank .010 under, re-sizing the rods etc. If the short block was in good shape-you could build your whole engine for that. The 400 in my brothers GTO cost $1900 to build and dyno'd at 381 hp and 430 lbs of torque. Not bad for a junkyard engine with a few bolt-on parts. To make a 400 a 455-you'd have that much in the rotating assembly-and you still have to buy all the other parts you'd need. You'd end up having 4 grand in the motor instead of 2. And it wouldn't make THAT much more power. One of the buff magazines built a 455 that cost "only" $4,400. They were happy that it made 440 hp and 460 lbs of torque. Guess what? If my brother wants another 59 hp and 30 lbs ft of torque-I think we can get it for a lot less than another $2,500!! A 400 can run just as hard as a 455 with the right equipment. The same goes for making a 383 / 400 Mopar into a 451. It requires all kinds of custom machine work,-including relieving the block for clearance- and the parts are expensive. I'd just stick with the 400 cubes and spend the money on heads, cam, carb and intake, ignition, etc. Where your going to get the most gain per dollar. Here's another scenario where like the Pontiac-less is more. Let's say your Mopar project has a 318. The easiest way to big power is swap in a 340 or 360. However, 340s were only built from 1968-73,and are pretty scarce and usually expensive. 360s were used in zillions of Dodge, Plymouth and Chrysler cars and trucks and vans from 1971-1991. And there are millions of "Magnum" engines in junkyards in Dodge trucks and vans and Jeep Chrokees from 1992-2004. I'd get a 360 Magnum. The Magnum heads breathe better than any factory head and many aftermarket ones. Edelbrock offers "Magnum" compatible intakes. And the Magnum heads and intake will bolt up to older "LA" blocks. The small-block Mopar is an awesome base for a hi-performance engine. The hot setup for Small-block Chevy racers is 6-inch rods. ( Stock is 5.7 ). A 360 Mopar has 6.123 inch rods from the factory. Now Eagle and other companies sell rotating assemblys to turn a 360 into a 408. I've even seen Blueprint Engines and others selling 408 Mopar crate engines. One made 375 hp; the other made 415. Big Deal. Mopar Performance's 360 crate motor made 380 hp!!  And cost a lot less. You can get 400 hp out of a 360 Magnum pretty easy with the right parts. In my opinion, stroking it isn't worth the extra expense. Now here's another scenario where the shoe is on the other foot. If you have a 350 Olds and want some more "bang" for your buck, I'd get a 403. Everything interchanges with a 350. Although they were only used from 1976-79 they were used in every GM "Big" car-Catalinas, Bonnevilles, Olds 88s and 98s, Buick Rivieras, and Electras and all the wagons, as well as Pontiac Trans-Ams and Formula Firebirds. There are millions of them out there. And 53 extra cubes will certainly help, all other things being equal. Edelbrock claims 397 hp and 400 lbs of torque from their "Performer RPM" package on a 350. 53 more cubes would put you well over the 400 hp mark. Magazine writers spout numbers flippantly; 400 honest hp will make any street car an absolute rocket. Another "Rodney Dangerfield" ( "No respect" ) is the 400C / M Ford used in millions of cars and trucks from 1971-82. The reason they got a rep as "dogs" was they were saddled with 2bbl carburation, single exhaust, a lazy cam, and were put in heavy cars with salt-flats gearing like 2.75:1.  Their "Cleveland" style heads breathe exceptionally well. Give him a decent cam, headers and a 4bbl carb and intake, and swap the gears for something in the 3.23-3.73:1 range and you'll swear it's a 460. Every year in the engine masters challenge someone has a 400 Ford with over 500 hp. If you have or want to buy a car with this engine-you don't need to swap in a 460-just give this one it's vitamins!  So do some research before you start spending your hard-earned money on the latest "it" fad. Just because something is possible doesn't mean it's good. Mastermind