Go ahead and love your "Factory Freak"....Just don't expect the rest of us to!!

I got some hate mail over the last couple of posts from people who owned these weird cars. If you like it,great. I'm sure somewhere there's someone who loves their Edsel or Nash Metropolitan!!  When I worked at an Import / Specialty / Performance store we had a lot of customers hot-rodding VW engines for dune buggys and sand rails,guys restoring old Porsches and Datsun 240Z's,a lot of people doing British sports cars-MG's and MGB's,Triumph Spitfires and TR4's and TR6's. All noble pursuits if that's what floats your boat. We also had a few people who were upset that we couldn't find parts for a Morris Minor or a Renault Caravelle!! There's a reason for that-no one besides that one person gave a shit in hell about a Morris Minor or a Renault Caravelle!!!  No one made any replacement parts because there was no demand!!  Anyhow-"Rare" doesn't automatically mean "Valuable". Is the 301 powered Trans-Am and 305 powered Corvette I mentioned in the last post worth more than a 455HO T/A or an LT1 Stingray? There's fewer of the 301 / 305 models so they must be more valuable right?  No!!  All these weird combos-two-speed automatics, three-speed sticks,column-shifted bucket seat cars, bench seat 4-speed cars,two-barrel step-down engines,radio and heater delete models,etc aren't collectible, their just weird. However these people think this weirdness makes them priceless. Here's some examples. # 1. 1971 Dodge Demon. This one is for sale on a website that specializes in old musclecars. This is supposed to be 1 of 1. Its a 340 Demon that Mr Norm's Grand Spaulding Dodge put a Six-Pack setup on. It also has no power steering, manual drum brakes, a 3-speed stick and the ugliest tartan-plaid vinyl upholstered bench seat you've ever seen. Asking price is $69,995!!!  70 grand for a 340 Demon???!!!!  On the same site their selling one of 44 1965 A990 Hemi Belvedere's for less than that!!! Their selling a restored, numbers-matching '69 440 GTX for less than that!!!  Really think about this-I'm not slamming the website / dealer-a lot of their stuff is there on consignment and it's the car's owner that's asking the insane price. But you want more for a 340 Demon than someone is asking for a for-real one of 44 ever built, restored, 4-speed Hemi Belvedere??  Or a numbers-matching 440 GTX?  And you wonder why you don't have any offers?  # 2. 1979 Trans-Am. This one was supposedly bought new and never driven. It has 65 miles on it having spent it's entire life in storage. The owner is asking $160,000 for it!!!  And it's a 403 / Olds TH350 model!!! Is he on glue? The reason I say that is the same day on different websites I saw a '79 400, 4-speed, WS6 10th Anniversary model with 8,000 miles for sale for $43,995!!!  I saw another 400,4-speed, WS6 10th Anniversary model with 66,000 original miles for $14,900!!!  What makes this idiot think that his T/A is worth 4 to 10 times what these other, better optioned and similar condition cars are???  # 3. 1969 Trans-Am. Yes the car is numbers-matching, and it is one of 697 ever made. The ass-clown that owns it thinks it's extra valuable because it's one of 13 that were built with a 3-speed stick. ( All the others were 4-speeds or TH400s ). He's asking $140,000 for it. Ok. You say-'69 T/A's sell for that all the time,much more if it's a Ram Air IV. All true. Except this thing is a piece of shit that I wouldn't pay $14,000 for!!!  He's got balls enough to post pictures of it. The car has been sitting for like 20 years. The master cylinder and brake booster are covered in rust. The radiator support is covered in rust. Rust and oil and antifreeze has puked out of the valve covers and permanently rusted them. The engine hasn't been started in 20 years. It doesn't even turn over, and may be locked up. The car needs a full, frame off restoration. Like I said I saw on another website-a numbers-matching for-real '69 T/A that had a TH400 and factory A/C and had just had a complete restoration sold for $129,000. I saw another pristine RAIII / 4-speed model go for $119,000. Most reputable resto shops charge $100 per hour or more for labor plus the parts. This asshole wants 140K for a car that needs 100 grand worth of work!!!  Because it's "Rare". Puhleeze. # 4. 1966 Corvette. I mentioned this guy before- he's bewildered that every Hot August Nights he tries to sell this car and gets zero offers. Its 390 hp 427 model with a Powerglide. Rare and weird. Still, any 427 Stingray has some value, right? Not $250,000 that this asshole is asking!!!  By comparison I saw a pristine,Tri-power 427, 4-speed '68 model sell for $52,000. I saw RK Motors in North Carolina has a Tri-Power, 4-speed, 427 '69 Convertible for sale for $79,000. I saw a for-real one of 116 '69 L88 models for sale in Hemmings for 150K. I see other big-block '65-67 Stingrays all over the 'net for 75K-120K. Think this guy is a little whacked on his pricing? I don't know what he paid for it, but he could probably sell it pretty easy for 50 grand. Maybe even 75 is the buyer absolutely had to have that color combination and maybe wanted to drop in a TH350 for a huge performance boost. ( TH350's are the exact same length as a Powerglide and use the same rear trans mount and driveshaft yoke. Exept now you'd have 3 gears instead of 2!! ) But a quarter million??  Because it's so Rare. # 5. 1970 Tempest T-37. This one is a 350 / 3-speed. And the guy is shocked that he can't get 100 grand for it. Really-when I saw a '70 Ram Air IV, 4-speed Judge selling for $79,000?  When I saw a 455HO '71 GTO selling for $59,000? A for-real RAIV '69 GTO with 4.33:1 gears, the "OW" code TH400 and 69,000 original miles for $45,000? I know it's a T/A-apples and oranges-but I saw a numbers matching, flawless RAIII, 4-speed '70 T/A with 39,000 orignal miles on it for $59,000.  And people aren't lining up to pay 100K for a 350 Tempest? I'm shocked. Go ahead and love your weird car-just don't expect somebody to pay you 5 or 10 times what it's worth!!  Mastermind            

A "Step Down" car isn't cool, it's just weird!!

In the same vein as the last post every once in a while I get in an argument with some idiot that tells me how rare and valuable their "Step Down" model is. They may be rare-but that's because no one wanted them in the first place!! They definitely aren't valuable. Here's some I've had to de-bunk many times, and they still make my head want to explode when someone brings them up. # 1. 1967-68 Pontiac GTO / Olds 442 "Turnpike" edition. At the height of the musclecar era when gas was 29 cents a gallon some marketing genius at GM decided it was a great idea to replace the GTO and 442's 350 hp 400 4bbl standard engines with 2bbl versions rated at 265 hp and replace the standard 3.36:1 axle ratio with 2.93:1 gears, and lower the price a couple hundred bucks. Shocker!! They didn't sell. That's because the GTO and 442 models were substantially more expensive than the Tempest / LeMans and Cutlass / F85 models that they were based on. If you wanted a LeMans or Cutlass that wasn't a hot rod-you'd buy the base model with it's 326 or 330 inch 2bbl V8. ( In 1968 Olds and Pontiac bumped these up to 350 inches. ) No one wanted a GTO or 442 with no balls that couldn't outrun a 289 Falcon from a light and got 16 mpg instead of 12!!!  If you find one today, even if it's pristine-they aren't worth anything other than being a clean GTO or 442 body. If you can buy one cheap it would be very easy to install a factory or aftermarket 4bbl carb and intake and change the rear end gears to regain the lost performance. But I wouldn't pay any extra money for one-in fact in my opinion-just like when they were new-their worth less than a "Standard" 350 hp model!! I mean who in the hell want's a GTO or 442 that can't outrun a Honda Accord or Toyota Camry from a light??  Yet-I've seen idiots advertsing them and asking Judge or Hurst / Olds money for them!!  Because their super-rare!  Ugh.  # 2. 1970 Olds Rallye 350 Cutlass. In the late '60's and early '70's insurance companies were really jacking up the rates on musclecars, especially on anything with engines over 350 cubes. This is why Chrysler came out with the wildly successfull 340 Duster in 1970, and in '71 began offering the 340 in the Charger and Road Runner lines. Pontiac came out with the T-37 Tempest. The buff magazines called it the "Poor Man's GTO." Anyhow-Olds came up with the Rallye Package for the Cutlass. Only 3,527 were built. It had a super-loud Sebring Yellow paint job, body-colored bumpers and Rally Wheels and a "Judge" type rear spoiler. Power was a 350 V8 backed by a 3-speed manual, a 4-speed manual or a TH350 automatic. These were NOT "Almost the 1970 Hurst Olds" as idiots have said for decades. The car was built entirely in Lansing, and the only Hurst component on it was the shifter on manual trans models!!  Other idiots contend that "10 or 12" were built with the vaunted W31 350 V8. However-again-I have never seen a window sticker or build sheet for one and no magazine or Olds executive has ever verified a W31 Rallye. Here's the weird part. They have a "cult" following, and people ask exorbitant prices for them. However they are not a 442 in any way shape or form. Their a base-model Cutlass with an odd paint job and a bolt-on spoiler!!  I mean if you want a 1970-72 350 Cutlass there's a ton of them out there. But these people ask prices that would would buy you a W30 442 or a Hurst / Olds.  # 3. 1971-72 Small-Block SS Chevelle. From 1966-1970 the letters "SS" on a Chevelle threw fear into the hearts of the competition, because it meant that their were at lest 396 cubes under the hood, and in 1970-maybe 454. Maybe to fight the rising insurance rates-I don't know but starting in 1971-yes you could still get a 402 or 454 Rat motor in an SS Chevelle. But some genius decided to offer the SS package on any V8 Malibu coupe. This means you could have a badass looking SS Chevelle with the blacked-out grille, Domed hood,"SS" emblems, and 15" Rally wheels with fat F60-15 white letter tires that had a 2bbl 307 inch V8 that wheezed out 130 hp, or a 2bbl 350 that wheezed out 165!!  Now why would anyone want one?  I guess if the price was right, and you were going to swap in a stompin' GMPP 383 crate engine or a 454 anyway they might be an ok deal. But I've seen idiots trying to sell these for more than what people ask for numbers-matching SS396's!!  # 4. 1972 Olds 442. Same thing here. From 1965-71 the numbers 442 on the fender meant there was 400 or 455 cubes under the hood. In 1972, the 442 was no longer a separate model, but now an "Appearance and Handling" package on the Cutlass. Yes you could still get the vaunted W30 455 monster that even with 8.5:1 compression still made 300 net hp and 410 lbs of tire boiling torque with Ram Air and a Rock-Crusher 4-speed or a TH400. But that was an extra cost option. The base engine was a 2bbl 350 that wheezed out 160 hp!!  Oh, yeah I gotta have a badass looking 442 that can't outrun a Vista Cruiser station wagon!! Porsche did the same thing with the 912-the feared 911 body with a 4-banger VW engine in it!!  # 5. 1973-74. Plymouth Road Runner. For the first 5 model years of it's existence the name "Road Runner" meant at least 383 cubes. In 1971 the 340 became a no-cost option if you wanted it, but the mighty 383 was still standard, as it had been since 1968. In '72 the 400 was the standard engine-it was just a bored-out 383. And the big motherthumper 440 was still optional. For some perverse reason, in 1973 the standard engine was now a 318 with a 2bbl that wheezed out 150 hp. Yes you could still get a 340 ( 360 in '74 ) or a 400 or 440 as an option. But as with the ill-fated GM offerings previously mentioned-it was possible to have a fearsome looking machine with 150 hp that couldn't outrun mom's station wagon. # 6. 1979 Pontiac Trans-Am. Another GM marketing genius came up with the Idea that the Trans-Am-already the hottest-selling car in america because of "Smokey and the Bandit"-would sell even more if you replaced the standard 400 Pontiac and 403 Olds engines with a 301 inch Pontiac that wheezed out 135 hp, and lowered the price $150. On a car that stickered for over 10 grand??  I've seen idiots trying to sell these "Rare" birds for more than what people ask for 400, 4-speed, WS6 models. I've seen them asking more than people want for documented RAIII models!!  Puhleeze.  # 7. 1980 Chevrolet Corvette. This one should probably be # 1, but I just went by model years. For a short time in 1979-1980 Chevrolet did not have a 350 V8 EPA certified for California. And no V8's were California certified with a 4-speed. This meant for a while the only powertrain you could get in a 1980 Corvette was a 305 that wheezed out 145 hp and was mated to a TH350 automatic. Enthusiasts and the buff magazines howled to the high heavens. Chevrolet worked quickly and got the 190 hp L48 350 certified with both a 4-speed and a slushbox, and the 230 hp L82 with the automatic, and the great disturbance in the Force was quelled. However every once in a while I see a want ad for a "Ultra Rare" 305 1980 'Vette with an asking price more than L82 / 4-speed Pace Car models; I've seen them with asking prices more than a numbers-matching Tri-Power 427 Stingray!! Are you kidding me??  No, sadly their not. Anyhow-if you decide to buy one of these, don't unless it's dirt cheap!! Mastermind          

Why do people persist with these "Area 51" car stories??

I've touched on this before but after a few conversations I had last week,I think it's worth re-visiting. I don't know why but people continue to perpetuate myths about cars that don't exist. It just drives me up the wall, because even if I show irrefutable proof that their wrong,these idiots insist that these cars exist. Ugh!!  Anyhow here's the list of the ones that just won't die. # 1. 1964 Olds 442 Sedan / Station Wagon. Surprised by the incredible sales success of the Pontiac GTO-Olds engineers scrambled to put together a performance package for the Cutlass. The name 442 stood for 4bbl carb,4-speed transmission and dual exhaust. However all the 330 inch 442 was going to see of a 389 engined GTO was the taillights. Anyhow in 1964 Olds sales literature and the GM order book the 442 package was listed as available on any Cutlass / F85 model-including 4-door sedans and wagons. The key word is "available". This happened a lot in the '60's. Just because something was on the option list doesn't automatically mean that some or any cars were ever built with that option. According to Oldsmobile reps all 442s were 2 dr models. I have never seen a 4 door / wagon with 442 equipment, I have never seen a window sticker or build sheet for one,and no magazine or GM representative has ever verified one. # 2. Tri-Power 1967 GTO. The 3-2bbl option had been a Pontiac Performance Staple since 1959. In late 1966 GM brass said that all multi-carb options had to be cancelled. Zora-Arkus Duntov and Chevrolet defied the order keeping their 3-2bbl option on the Corvette until 1969. The other divisions toed the line. Also In 1967 Pontiac completely revamped their engines. Displacements were increased from 389 to 400 inches, and from 421 to 428 inches. The cylinder heads were completely re-designed with bigger intake and exhaust ports and had large 2.11 / 1.77 inch valves and breathed much better than the "bathtub", 1.96 / 1.66 small valve '59-66 heads. The intake manifold was improved and the new 750 cfm Rochester Quadrajet carburator replaced the old 500 cfm Carter AFB. The new engine had actually had MORE power than the ones it replaced. However, enthusiasts and the buff magazines cried bloody murder when the Tri-power option was cancelled. The '65-66 setup was available through dealership parts departments and it would bolt onto the new engine. Some dealers like Royal Pontiac would have their service departments install it if you paid extra. So technically someone who says their father or older brother bought a '67 GTO brand-new off the lot with Tri-Power on it may not be lying; however their was NEVER a factory built version. # 3. 1972 440 / Six-Pack Charger / Road Runner. The 440 Six-Pack option was listed in very early 1972 sales literature with 9:1 compression and 330 hp. Much tamer than the 10.3:1 and 385 hp of the '71 model. However they had trouble passing '72 emissions standards and the option was scrapped, leaving the 280 hp 440 4bbl as the top engine option. Rumors persist that 10 or 12 '72 Six-Pack models "slipped out" , but I have never seen one, I have never seen a window sticker or build sheet for one, and I have never read of any magazine or Chrysler representative ever verifying one. To this day Edelbrock sells the manifold, Holley sells the carbs and Mopar Performance sells the air cleaner and throttle linkage, so it wouldn't be hard to put the setup on a 4bbl car. If someone can produce a window sticker or build sheet or fender tag proving me wrong I'll take this one off the list. But until then I stand by the fact that there was never a factory built model. # 4. 1971 LS6 Chevelle. In 1970 the mighty 450 hp LS6 454 was slated to be optional in the Camaro SS and the Nova SS as well as the Chevelle. Since the 396 was already an option on those cars it would have a bolt-in. Further, Zora-Arkus Duntov-chief Corvette engineer, fully expected the much more radical LS7 to make production as the 'Vette's "King Kong" engine, so he didn't offer the LS6. The brass decided at the last minute to cut down on "model proliferation"-whatever that means-and ultimately the LS6 was only available in the Chevelle line. You could get a 1970 Corvette with a 454; but it was the LS5 hydraulic-cammed 360 hp "station wagon" version. This left the 370hp LT-1 350 small-block as the 'Vette's top performance option. In 1971 for some perverse reason, the roles were reversed. The LS6 was listed as optional in the Chevelle in early sales literature with 9:1 compression and a 425 hp rating. However, the option was cancelled and no '71 LS6 SS Chevelles were ever built. You could get the LS6 in a Corvette and over 1100 of those were sold. Further muddying the waters-the LS6 was sold as a crate engine through dealership parts departments until 1991. So again, some clown could have a '71 SS Chevelle with an LS6 in it that he says he bought in 1972. But there was never, ever a factory built version. # 5. 1971-72 GTO Station Wagon. You could get the "Endura" ( read GTO ) front end and scooped hood on any LeMans model, including wagons. You could order Rally II or "Honeycomb" wheels on a wagon if you wanted. You could also get the 400 4bbl and 455 4bbl V8s. However the 455 was the garden-variety 250 hp version. The vaunted 455HO ( which had RAIV heads and intake and exhaust manifolds paired with the "068" cam ) was only optional in the GTO,Trans-Am and Formula Firebirds and the Tempest T-37 / LeMans GT. It was NEVER available in wagons. So if some clown is claiming to have a GTO wagon-he's full of shit. It's a LeMans Sport. Period. # 6. 1973 Super Duty Pontiacs. In early 1973 sales literature the SD-455 was listed as available in the LeMans, the GTO,the Gran Prix,and the Grand Am as well as Trans-Am and Formula Firebirds. Cars magazine even goofed and named the '73 GTO "Car of the Year". In reality the SD-455 had trouble passing emissions with the hot RAIV cam. It was swapped for the much milder RAIII cam, and the hp was down-rated from 310 to 290. They also had trouble with the connecting rod supplier and with EGR valve function. Only the tireless efforts of Herb Adams and the buff magazines raving about it kept it from being cancelled altogether. Finally in April 1973 the engine was EPA certified in the Firebird line only. 295 were built, 252 in Trans-Ams and another 43 in Formulas. Another 943 were put in 1974 Trans-Ams. Parts were so scarce that if you wanted to buy any SD-455 replacement parts-rods, oil pumps, heads, whatever-you had to produce a title or car registration with the vin number on it!!  So any asshole claiming to have a Grand Am or Gran Prix or anything other than a T/A or Formula with an SD-455 is just that-a lying asshole. They simply don't exist. I hope this clears these myths up, but I doubt it. There's always some idiot willing to believe wild stories. Mastermind              

You can have a "Movie" car without spending 100 grand....

In the same vein as the last post I had some people lamenting that buying or building a "Movie" car is so expensive that the "Average Joe" could never afford it. I think this came from someone advertising one of the "Eleanor" Mustangs from "Gone in 60 Seconds" ( To quote Tracie Thoms from "Death Proof-"That Nic Cage / Angelina Jolie bullshit, not the original" ) for $150,000. Anyway this person's "doom and gloom" attitude is unfounded. If you want a black and gold '77-78 T/A-ala' "Smokey and the Bandit"-I see nice ones on the internet all the time for around 20k. Or you could just buy a "regular" '77-78 T/A for about 12-15K and paint it!!  I'll admit that if you want a '70-71 'Cuda Convertible ( "Nash Bridges" ) or a '68-70 Charger ( "Bullitt", "Dukes of Hazzard", "Blade", "Drive Angry" and the "F&F" series ) then your going to have to step up and just pay the price.  However,there's quite a few other Iconic cars that you can build surprisingly cheap. Here's some of my personal favorites. # 1. "The California Kid". Pete Chapouris built this black and flamed '34 Ford for the 1974 TV movie of this name. It was set in 1958 and starred a young Martin Sheen as a Korean War vet who comes to town to investigate his brother's murder. Sheen thinks correctly that the crooked sheriff who runs the town with an iron fist may have run his brother off the road deliberately. The sheriff was played with wicked glee by Vic Morrow, and Michelle Phillips was a smokin' hot but lonely waitress who befriends Sheen. The final duel on a country road between the "Kid" and a '58 Fury Hemi Cop Car is still thrilling today. I'm not suggesting that anyone try to find and build a '34 Ford. However Factory Five Racing sells complete '33 Ford hot rod kits that start as low as $12,000. The "Turn Key" kit that comes with everything but an engine and tranny is $19,995. The suspension is from '79-2004 Mustangs so that's easy to find-and you can have the frame and motor mounts set up for a small-block Chevy,a small-block Ford, or a 4.6 liter Ford Mod Motor. For 25 grand you could have a badass "California Kid" replica. These cars only weigh about 2,200 lbs, so even with a stock 302 out of a "5.0" Mustang you'd have a 12 second ride. # 2. "Bullitt" Mustang. If you want to be really anal and absolutely have to have a 390 / 4-speed model, then your going to have to pony up the big bucks. Otherwise 15 or 20 grand will buy you a decent '67-68 289 fastback, and adding Torq-Thrust mags and Dark Highland Green paint is pretty easy. If you want more oomph there's more speed equipment for a small-block Ford than anything on the planet except a small-block Chevy. You could pump up the 289, or invest in a 347 or 363 inch stroker motor. Bottom line for about 25 grand you could have a pretty cool "Bullitt" clone. If you "gotta have" a 390-the price is going to go up substantially. # 3. "Rockford Files" Firebird. James Garner had a hit TV show about an L.A. Private Eye that ran from 1974-1980 and is still popular in syndication to this day. The first car was a Gold '74 Formula 400. Through the series run they went through later '75-78 models, all gold with Rally II wheels. Some were Formulas, some were Esprits. It's said that James Garner hated the restyled front end of the '79-81 Firebirds, so producers bought extra '78 models and used those through the series finale in 1980. This one is pretty easy. Find any '74-78 base model, Esprit or Formula Firebird and paint it gold. If it doesn't already have Rally II wheels their easy to find. # 4. "Death Proof" Nova. The sinister Nova that Kurt Russel's psychotic stuntman drove in this Quentin Tarantino homage to '70's "Grindhouse" action flicks is pretty easy to do. Get a '68-72 Nova ( you could use a '73-74 as well, but they have larger 5-mph bumpers. How anal are you? ) paint it primer black, get some Rally Wheels, jack up the rear end with air shocks or longer shackles and you've got the look. If you want to go further, you could put in the 8-point roll cage and fiberglass racing seats, and if want the sound and fury and performance their's more speed equipment for a small-block Chevy than anything else on the planet. # 5. "Mad Max" / "Road Warrior" Interceptor. Mel Gibson's Iconic ride was actually a tricked-out Australian 1973 Ford Falcon XB Sport Coupe. Although Ford made over 200,000 from '73-76-I'm not suggesting you go to Australia and have a 40 year old, right-hand drive Falcon shipped back!!  There's two ways you can do a "Mad Max" tribute. If you watch the movies the car sometimes looks like a '70-71 Torino and sometimes looks like a '71-73 Mustang. That's because the Australian Falcon took styling cues from both cars. I'd get a Torino or Mustang of the proper years and remove all the chrome trim and paint it monochromatic black. Some Black wheels and 50-series tires are easy to do, and there's a few companies that sell the upswept "Zoomie" chrome side-pipes. Or any competent muffler shop could make you some. Forget the fake blower that turns on and off-I'd use a real blower and have the power to back up the image!! Weiand, Magnussen, and Edelbrock and other companies sell Roots-type blower kits for small-block Fords. This one would certainly be unique and a head-turner if you did it right, and you wouldn't break the bank. # 6. "White Lightning" Ford LTD. Burt Reynold's "Whiskey Runner" was supposed to be a 429 with a 4-speed. If you've got the mechanical ability and the bank account to do that, more power to you. If you want to do it cheap, you buy a '71-72 Ford Galaxie / Custom / LTD 4-door sedan. Paint it Chesterfield Brown and put some black wheels with chrome lug nuts and white letter tires on it. Most will have 351C or 400C engines with a 2bbl carb and an automatic trans. An Edelbrock Performer intake and matching carb, and some dual exhausts with loud glasspacks will give you the sound, and the oomph to do smoky burnouts. A Hurst Auto / Stick 1 shifter will give you the look inside. It's that simple. If you want more power-Edelbrock and Trick Flow offer hi-performance aluminum heads for these engines and Crane, Lunati, etc offer cams. Or like I said you can go hog-wild and do a 429 /460 with a 4 or 5-speed if you can afford it.  The point is if you want to replicate some of your big-screen idols, it's not that hard or expensive. Mastermind        

If you can't afford your dream car....Build it!

The title to this post may sound like an oxymoron, but it's not. There are a lot of cars out there that bring over $100K in original or restored condition. No one uses a vintage musclecar as daily transportation, so a vehicle that is the 3rd or 4th car in a household having a pricetag of a house anywhere except New York or California isn't really feasible for 95% of the population. However you can start with a base model and build a car that you could never afford to buy if it was a "for real" original. I'll give several examples of how you can do this for 1/2 or even 1/3 of what the model you want would cost. #.1 1965-68 Shelby Mustang. You can't touch a decent "real" one for under 100 grand. However 15 or 20 grand will buy you a nice 289 fastback in any state in the union. Year One, Tony Branda, Phoenix Graphics and other companies all sell the scoops and spoilers and body trim, and stencils to paint. Wheel Vintiques and other companies sell the proper wheels. Personally I'd use Hooker Headers and an Edelbrock Performer RPM top-end package ( Heads,Cam,Carb and Intake ) on the 289, or if I wanted to get really badass I'd get a Ford SVT 347 crate motor. Or if you want it to be as "correct" ( as correct as a clone can be, I guess ) as possible-Tony Branda sells the original Tri-Y style headers, Shelby aluminum manifold and 715 cfm Holley carbs. Crane, Lunati and other companies sell the original solid-lifter cam if you feel you need it. The point being for 25 to 30 grand you could have a great looking and performing Mustang that people would only know isn't original if they checked the vin number, or you told them!!  That's 1/4 to 1/3 what a "real" Shelby would cost. I don't know about you, but when I'm roaring up a country road or powershifting in a "stoplight gran prix" I'm not thinking about vin numbers!!  "Man this cool, but it would be so much sweeter If I'd paid another 70 grand for this car." I don't think so!!  # 2. 1969-70 Boss 302 Mustang. Same Thing here. 15 or 20 grand will you buy you a decent '69-70 fastback Mustang. ( Ford built over 70,000 in 1969 alone; their out there if you shop the internet or Hemmings, or the want ads diligently ). The above mentioned resto houses have the spoilers, stripes, louvers, etc. Edelbrock and Trick Flow offer "Cleveland" style hi-performance aluminum heads that bolt up to Windsor blocks. Edelbrock has "E-Boss" intake manifolds that will work with these heads to create a "Mock Boss" engine. You could do a 302, or you could do a 347 inch 302 based stroker, or you could do a "Boss" 351, or a 351W based 392 or 427 inch stroker. The point being you can have a totally badass ride for 1/3 of what a for-real Boss 302 would cost. And-be honest-if you had 100K+ to spend on a "real" Boss 302, you'd be so goddamnded afraid of blowing it up or wrecking it, that you couldn't have any fun with it anyway!!  # 3. 1968-71 Hemi Super Bee. 25 grand will buy you a nice 383 powered '68-70 2-door Coronet or '71 Charger. 15 grand will buy a complete Mopar Performance 465 hp 426 Hemi crate engine. 20 will get you a stompin' 500-600 hp 472 or 528 inch MP Crate Hemi.  Phoenix Graphics has the stripes and emblems. By the time your done you'll have 40 or 50 grand invested; not chump change. However that's way less than the 100-200K that "real" Hemi Super Bees of this vintage bring. That's a 50-75% savings. # 4. 1971 GTO "Judge". Pontiac only built 357 Judge models in '71 so they obviously command a King's Ransom. However there are a lot of '71-72 LeMans models out there with the "Endura" ( read GTO ) nose and hood. Year One sells the spoilers and stripes and emblems, as well as Rally II and "Honeycomb" wheels. Even a 350 model would have the look, and with headers and a factory or aftermarket 4bbl carb and intake ( or a stock 400 ) you'd have the performance to back it up too-you wouldn't have to take crap from little boys in Honda Civics or soccer moms in Hemi Cherokees. If you had to go all the way and have a pounder 455HO-Kaufmann, and Butler Performance offer crank kits to turn a 400 into a 455, Edelbrock heads are exact replicas of RAIV / 455HO heads, and Ames and NPD sell repro RAIV / 455HO aluminum intakes. ( Or you could just use an Edelbrock Performer or Torker II ). Crane, Lunati, and Comp Cams all sell repro RAIII / 455HO and RAIV cams. Hooker has the round-port headers. The point being you could have a very unique car for probably less than 30K, which is about 1/2 of what any "real" Judge of any year will cost. You could also do '69-70 models-but they'd cost a bit more as you'd have to buy the "endura" front bumper and grille from Year One or the Goat Farm. ( '69-70 LeMans / Tempest models had a steel front end that's different. )  # 5. 1969 Pontiac Trans-Am. Only 697 were built this first year and they command six figure prices easily. However-15-25K will buy you a nice base-model '69 Firebird. Year One has the hood,spoiler,side scoops and graphics. Year One and Wheel Vintiques have the Rally II wheels. Again-a warmed over 350 model or a stock 400 would have all the performance anyone really needs. But if you want to "Bad to the Bone" you can easily build an RAIII or RAIV-spec 400, or a stompin' 433 or 461 inch stroker. ( Depending on whether you use a 421 / 428 or 455 crank ). Bottom line for 25-35K you've got a car that will turn heads anywhere and would cost you 3 or 4 times that much for a "real" one.  # 6. 1967-69 Z/28 Camaro. Since only 602 were built in '67, 7,199 in '68 and a high of 20,000 in 1969, and they had a lot of special equipment they command a King's Ransom. However-since Chevrolet built roughly 700,000 Camaros in this same 3 year period there's plenty of base models to start with. 15 grand will buy a decent base model of this vintage. Year One has the spoilers and stripes etc. Harwood sells "Cowl Induction" type hoods and scoops. Wheel Vintiques has the Rally wheels. For power I'd go with a 383 stroker. But if you "Gotta Have" a high-winding 302 Chevy like the "real" ones it's easy. GMPP, Eagle, and other companies sell 3.00 inch stroke crank and piston kits to make a 350 block into a 302. Crane and Lunati sell the solid-lifter cam,and GMPP sells the aluminum intake to this day. This one is so easy to do it's almost criminal. ( Well only if you try to sell it as an original. ) I'm sure there's a few I overlooked, but you get the point. There's a few purists who will harumph and turn up their noses at this saying that clones hurt the value of the real deal. Really?  Because Factory Five Racing and other companies have been selling Shelby Cobra replicas since the '80's, and last time I checked a for-real, numbers-matching 427 Cobra still went for $250,000 on up.  So don't cry that you can't afford your dream ride-go build it. Mastermind                   

A "Great Deal" isn't always a great deal....

One of the cable networks has a show called "Property Virgins" where they help first-time home buyers avoid costly mistakes. Maybe I should start one for neophyte car restorers. Anyhow here's some good advice for anyone when buying a vintage car. # 1. Make sure the car has a clear title. This should be a no-brainer, but you'd be amazed how many people fall into this trap. Having a car that you can't register or sell is no fun. # 2. Avoid cars with major body damage or fire or rust or flood damage. These are nothing but money pits. They will cost you five times what you think it will cost to fix them properly, if it can be done at all. 999 times out of 1,000, your much better off by just spending a little more money and getting a better car to start with. I used this example before, but it's worth re-visiting. A guy I know was looking for a 2nd generation Firebird to play with. We looked at two. One was a 1970 Formula that was priced at $500. It was also basically just a body. I mean the car was an engineless, transmissionless,radiatorless, gas tankless, interiorless hulk. The other was a 1973 Esprit that was priced at $2,500. However, it was a complete, running car. The 350 V8 fired right up,idled smooth, didn't smoke, the TH350 shifted nicely when we drove it, the brakes stopped the car without drama. You know-as it should be. The body was rust and dent-free. The only work it really needed was the blue paint was oxidized and the front bucket seats needed recovering. Otherwise it was all there. I told him to buy that one. Even though it was five times the price of the other one, it was a much better deal. All it needed was a paint job and some upholstery work. And he could have added an aftermarket carb and intake and headers or a cam if he wanted more power. I pointed out that it would cost way more than $2,500 and a lot of time to chase down all the parts necessary to get the other one in safe, drivable condition-which this one already was. See the point I'm making? Which brings up # 3. A rare or premium car missing a major component is not a deal at any price. Obvious examples would be a Hemi powered Chrysler vehicle missing the Hemi engine, or a Boss 302 or 429 Mustang missing the "Boss" engine. Others would be Ram Air IV or Super Duty Pontiacs missing the engine,L88 'Vettes and LS6 Chevelles sans engine, W30 and W31 Cutlasses minus engine, as well as Stage 1 Buicks, and Thunderbolt Fairlanes, and 409 Impalas and a few others I'm sure I missed. But you get the drift. Right now your saying-"Well, Duh" Anyone with common sense would know that". Maybe so-but people still spend big dollars on cars that are missing unobtainable parts. I'm not talking expensive-yes if your restoring a 1963 Corvette-I'm sure somebody has a BW T10 4-speed trans with 1963 date codes that they will sell for the right price or a Pontiac Tri-Power setup for that '64 GTO your thinking about. No when I say unobtainable-I mean there aren't any, period. Did you know that no one makes a replacement grille for a 1972 Ford Gran Torino? Where are you going to find a rear glass for a '71-73 "Boat Tail" Riviera?  A hood for a 1974 GTO? Or a 1977 Can-Am?  I'm not talking about the "Shaker" scoop; T/A resto shops have them, and Junkyards have them. I'm talking about the hood itself with the hole for the scoop cut into it, for a Ventura,  or a LeMans not a Firebird. Guess what? No one makes them. Now you can probably pay a good body shop an obscene amount of money to custom cut the hole into a generic LeMans or Ventura hood, but that's going to be a pain. Where are you going to find vertical chrome exhaust stacks for a Dodge Li'l Red Express pickup? A Hurst "Lightning Rods" shifter for an '84 Hurst / Olds?  # 4. Avoid "Regular" cars missing body parts or major components. We just talked about the difficulty finding parts for rare birds. Now here's the same problem for not so rare stuff. Sure-you can get anything you want or need for a '55-57 Chevy. But where are you going to find a 1/4 panel or a grille for a '56 Oldsmobile 88 or a '57 Bonneville? You can get anything you want for a GTO or a Firebird but what about a '62 Catalina? Or a '68 Gran Prix?  You can get anything you want for a Mustang, but what about a '65 Galaxie? Or a '68 T-Bird? Ditto for Mopars. You can get just about anything for a '68-74 Road Runner or Charger or Challenger. But what about a rear glass for a 1965 Barracuda? Or any body or interior trim for a '64 Dodge 330? Or a '69 Sport Fury? # 5. Avoid old race cars like the plague, unless you want to actually race it on the vintage racing circuit like at the Monerey Historics and similar events. I say this because many people buy these things thinking they can restore the car to streetable status or to original race-car glory and show it. Either way-it's usually way above their mechanical ability and their bank account. For example-you buy a 1969 Pontiac Trans-Am race car. Does it even have a legible, original VIN plate? Is it a for-real one of 697 made Trans-Am, or is it a generic '69 Firebird that someone gussied up? Even if it is one of 697 ever built-it's a gutted race car now. It would cost so much to make it streetable that you'd be better off just buying another restored T/A! Where are you going to find a complete RAIII or RAIV 400 Pontiac engine with 1969 date codes for sale, at any price? How are you going to chase down all the little interior trim pieces, marker lights, body trim pieces etc?  If you decide to keep it a race car and "restore" it that's even worse. Even if your a personal friend of Herb Adams-how are you going to find a 303 Pontiac race engine? They were rare and practically unobtainable in 1970; That's why the SCCA allowed Firebird racers to run 302 Chevys; Canadian Firebirds had Chevy engines, and they were much more plentiful. But how are you going to find a "DZ" code 302 Chevy engine that hasn't been snapped up by Z/28 restorers?  You'd have the same problem with old NASCAR racers-you could put a modern 426 Crate Hemi into that '69 Road Runner race car that King Richard drove or the Charger that Buddy Baker drove-but do you really want to spend 20 grand on an engine for a car that you have to tow everywhere? Jon Kaase racing will sell you a Boss-Nine Ford to go into David Pearson's old Montego for about 25 large ( of course that's over and above the price of the car!! ). You can see why they'd be more trouble than their worth unless you've got Jay Leno's bank account and enthusiasm. Just trying to keep people from making costly mistakes. Mastermind        

Still more one or two year wonders....

Here's some more one or two year wonders that might be fun and not break the bank.  # 1. 1982 Corvette. This one year had the "old" C3 bodystyle that had been around since 1968 and the "new" "Cross-Fire Injected" 350 V8 and 4-speed TH700R4 automatic powertrain that would power the totally new for 1984 C4 Corvette.  Performance was decent-sub 7 second 0-60 and 15 second 1/4 mile times-but the buff magazines had been saying the "aging" 'Vette needed a redesign for years and didn't review it well. They make a nice cruiser and they are unique.  # 2. 1982 Mustang GT. These had a 302 V8 with a 2bbl carb rated at 157 hp and a 4-speed manual or a 3-speed automatic. "5.0" collectors snub these cars in favor of the '83-86 models that had a 600 Holley 4bbl and were rated between 175 and 210 hp depending on year, and had either a 5-speed stick or a 4-speed automatic. On the upside I have seen decent running examples for as low as $1,000, and a 4bbl carb and intake is a very easy upgrade. # 3. 1983 Z/28 Camaro / Firebird Trans-Am. For this one-year only a lot of these cars had the "Cross-Fire Injected" 305 V8 backed by the 4-speed TH700R4 automatic. With a 3.06:1 low gear and a 3.23:1 axle ratio-the torque multiplication was equivalant to having an old Muncie Rock-Crusher and 4.56:1s. The overdrive 4th gear gave easy cruising on the highway. A buddy of mine had one of these, and it was pretty quick. It would lay 8-10 feet of rubber on the 1-2 shift. F-body afficionados snub these cars in favor of the carburated L69 "HO", and Tuned-Port Injected LB9 and L98 models, so you can buy them cheap, and the "Cross-Fire" system can feed a healthy 350 or 383 with a little tuning, if you need more oomph than the 305 has. # 4. 1984 Corvette. The all-new C4 was introduced as an '84 model in April 1983. ( There was no '83 model ). Power was the Cross-Fire Injected 350 backed by a TH700R4 or a T10 4-speed manual with an electric overdrive in the top 3 gears-effectively giving you 7 gears. It was called the 4+3. 'Vette collectors snub these cars in favor of the '85-91 "Tuned Port Injected" models. The upside is I've seen nice, running examples on used car lots for as little as $2995. The words "Corvette" and "Cheap" aren't usually in the same sentence, but these are a bargain. #5. 1987-91 Lincoln MKVII LSC. Often called a "5.0" Mustang in a Tuxedo. These cars had the 225 hp 302 V8 out of the "5.0" Mustang backed by a 4-speed automatic, 4-wheel disc brakes, 50 series tires on 16" wheels, Recaro seats, and a sinister monochromatic black paint job. Any performance parts that fit a Fox Mustang will fit these cars-so your only limited by your wallet and imagination. Dynamite if you can find one. Mastermind 

More one or two year wonders....

Here's some more one or two year wonders that might be fun to play with. #1. 1975 Plymouth Road Runner. For this one year only the Road Runner name was put on the Sport Fury platform. You got special badging, the trademark "Beep-Beep" horn and Rally wheels. 318 versions are dogs, but the 360 and 400 models can be made to run. Over 6,000 were built so their not a moon rock. # 2. 1977 Pontiac Can-Am. Trying to cash in on the Trans-Am's immense popularity, Pontiac came up with this performance / appearance package for the LeMans. You got a Cameo White paint job with multi-colored "Judge" style striping, a "ducktail" rear spoiler, a Trans-Am style "Shaker" hood scoop,front and rear sway bars, and body-colored Rally II wheels. Power was either a 400 Pontiac V8 in 49 states or a 403 Olds V8 in California backed by a TH400. They only lasted one season because GM downsized the "A" bodies-Chevelle,LeMans, Cutlass, Monte Carlo, Regal, and Gran Prix for '78. Pontiac collectors have driven the price up a little in recent years. Any suspension or brake upgrades that fit a Chevelle will fit these cars, and their are a million ways to build power into a 400 Pontiac. They make a nice driver or base for a kick-ass hot rod, if you can find one.  # 3. 1978-79 Dodge Li'l Red Express pickup. These were a 1/2 ton 2wd short-bed pickup with a trick red and gold paint job,wood trim on the bed,Chrome wheels and semi-style vertical chrome exhaust stacks. Power was a 360 V8 backed by a Torqueflite and a 3.55:1 Sure-Grip rear end. They have kind of a "cult" following, but they are a cool, fun to drive truck if you can find one at a reasonable price. # 4. 1979 Chrysler 300. These were basically a hot-rodded and gussied up Cordoba, but they did a nice job. You got a special white paint job and grille, 15" Rally wheels, and a special red leather interior. Power was the E58 360 "Police Interceptor" V8 rated at 195 hp backed by a Torqueflite and a 3.21:1 Sure-Grip rear. # 5. 1984-86 Ford Mustang SVO. These had Recaro seats, a special suspension, 16" wheels and 50 series tires,4-wheel disc brakes, and a Turbocharged 4-cylinder engine that made between 175 and 205 hp depending on model year. The reason they didn't sell well was the "5.0" V8 models were both faster and several thousand dollars cheaper. They are a fun car if you can find one.  # 6. 1989 20th Anniversary Trans-Am. Only 1,555 of these were built so they command a king's ransom, but if you want one, their worth it. Pontiac took a WS6 Trans-Am GTA, and swapped in the Turbocharged, intercooled V6 from the ultra-badass Buick Grand National GNX. Not only were these engines more powerful than the LB9 and L98 TPI 305 and 350 Chevy V8s they replaced, they were about 150 lbs lighter. Taking that much weight directly off the front end helped the car launch better and handle better as well. A 4.6 second 0-60 time, and a 162 mph top speed backed up it's image in spades. Dynamite if you can find one, and afford it.  Mastermind

Some great one or two year wonders redux....

Had some people ask about some one or two year wonders I talked about in the past. There's many reasons why a certain model or option package only lasts a year or two-low sales, public didn't know about it, model changed or bean counters said it wasn't viable, whatever. Anyhow-here's a list of some very cool one or two year wonders that aren't priced in the stratosphere. That's why there's no Boss 429s or 302s or Hemi Darts on the list. I figured people would want to read about stuff that the average guy could afford without winning the lottery or mortgaging his house. # 1. 1970-71 Tempest T-37, 1972 LeMans GT.  The buff magazines called these the "Poor Man's GTO". It was a strippy Tempest coupe with bench seats, a 350 V8 and a 3-speed stick. However the 400 and 455HO engines were optional, as was a 4-speed or a TH400. For some reason in 1972 the name was changed to LeMans GT, but the package was basically the same.  # 2. 1970 Olds Rallye 350 Cutlass. These featured a super loud Sebring Yellow paint job, body-colored bumpers,a "Judge" type rear spoiler and a 350 V8 backed by a 4-speed or a TH350. 3,527 were made so there's a few out there. However-except for the paint job and the spoiler-their just a garden-variety 350 V8 Cutlass coupe-which you can buy a lot cheaper than these. Rumors persist that 10 or 12 were built with the vaunted W31 350 V8; however I have never seen a window sticker or build sheet for one, and no magazine or Olds engineer or sales rep has ever verified one. # 3. 1971-72 "Heavy Chevy". These were a two-door Malibu with a domed SS-style hood,a blacked out grille, slotted 14" Rally Wheels and "Heavy Chevy" emblems on the front fenders and trunk. Most are 350 powered which certainly isn't a bad thing. The 396 / 402 was an option, but expect to pay substantially more for a Rat-Motored version. 6,727 were built in '71, and another 3,000 or so in '72. # 4. 1971-72 Dodge Demon. Following the incredible sales success of the 1970 340 Plymouth Duster, the Dodge boys decided they wanted a piece of the action. These were basically a Duster with a Dart grille, a scooped hood, and cute little "Demon" emblems- a smiling little Devil holding a pitchfork, and the high-winding 340 V8. Chrysler caved into pressure from christian groups and the name was changed to "Dart Sport" for 1973. Since Chrysler later went bankrupt-where were all these "Christian" buyers then? # 5. 1971 Dodge Super Bee. For this one year only, the Super Bee was an option on the Charger instead of the Coronet. Hemi and Six-Pack models are priced in the stratosphere, but 383 versions are still reasonable. Over 6,000 were built so you might be able to find one. # 6. 1973-75 Pontiac Grand Am. Touted to have the Performance of a Trans-Am and the luxury of a Gran Prix. Except luxury buyers bought GP's and performance buyers bought T/A's. Based on the LeMans chassis-these had wrist-thick front and rear sway bars, front disc brakes, and 400 or 455 power. Dynamite if you can find one. With 34,000 built in '73 alone, you should be able to. # 7. 1974 Pontiac GTO. Often called the best Nova ever built. That's because for some reason Pontiac decided to move the GTO nameplate from the "A" body LeMans line where it had been since 1964 to the "X" body ( read Nova ) platform. They had front and rear sway bars,a Trans-Am style "Shaker" hood scoop and a 350 V8 backed by a 3-speed, 4-speed, or a TH350. They weren't bad performers for the time-15 second 1/4 mile times-but the buff magazines howled to the high heavens and derided the car. A GTO with an engine under 400 cubes? Blasphemy!!  7,058 were built-and the upside is a 400 or 455 is a bolt-in swap since Pontiac engines are identical from a 326 to a 455.  All unique cars if you find them. Mastermind

More on the point of diminishing returns...

In the last post I talked about the point of diminishing returns. Here's some more examples of people searching for the "last ounce" of performance that it backfired on. I may have touched on these before but their worth re-visiting. A guy I knew had an '81 Trans-Am that had a 305 Chevy V8 and a 4-speed. The first thing he did was swap in a stompin' 350. Nothing wrong with that-that's exactly what I'd have done. Then he got some 17" Snowflake wheels from Year One and some 275 / 40ZR17 BFG Comp T/A tires. That would have been my next move. Then he went overboard. He installed a roll cage and subframe connectors and braced the front subframe to the firewall, and then installed solid bushings throughout the suspension. The car went faster than a Porsche 911 Turbo around Reno-Fernley Raceway. However, on anything but glass-smooth pavement it was undrivable. Every little ripple, every little bump was transferred to the drivers seat or the steering wheel with bone-jarring force. I mean you'd piss your pants in a mile because it jarred your kidneys so much! Now if he'd gone with urethane bushings instead of aluminum, it might have been a little stiff, but it wouldn't have rattled your fillings loose! He sold the car to a guy who made it into a race car-because you couldn't drive it on the street without beating your brains out. And the guy who made it a race car put rubber and urethane bushings back in it, so it wouldn't beat him to death on the track!  I also talked before about a guy who had a '74 Malibu with a strong 454 in it. The car ran 12.80's with 2.73:1 gears. He figured he'd swap in some 4.11:1s and run low 12s or high 11s. He was severely disappointed when after changing the gears the car only ran 12.40s. Further-now instead of easily cruising at 2,500 rpm or so at 75 on the freeway and having major top-end speed-5,500 rpm with the 2.73:1 gears was something like 143 mph-now the motor was buzzing at 3,500 rpm on the freeway and the top-end was all done in by like 115!!  How can this be? Well, for one thing-because he had the 2.73:1 gears-the guy who built his engine built it for max torque. When you've got 500+ lb ft of torque right off idle, you don't need to rev to 6,500 or 7 grand. So the 4.11:1 gears didn't help that much because the car had enough torque to launch the car with alarcity in low gear regardless of gearing, but because his cam and carb and intake and everything else was geared to make maximum low-end and mid-range torque, he ran out of rpm toward the end of the 1/4. And that's why his top speed was so diminished. To go 140 mph with 4.11:1s the engine would have turn about 7,000 instead of 5,500, and his combo wasn't set up for that. So now he faced a real dilemna. To get the 1/4 mile speed he wanted, and to take full advantage of the 4.11:1 gearing he'd need a bigger cam. But, going to a bigger cam that would allow him to make power to 7 grand, would mean he'd need a higher stall speed torque converter, and would be giving up quite a bit of idle quality and low-end and mid-range torque for top-end rush. And he'd still be buzzing at 3,500 rpm on the freeway. He decided to switch back to the 2.73:1 gears and enjoy the car the way it was-it would blow off  99% of the stoplight challengers he'd encounter anyway-12.80s is pretty damn quick-and the hell with the other 1%.  Another thing I may have talked about before was the buff magazines raving about the Edelbrock "Air Gap" Performer and Performer RPM manifolds when they came out. By raising the plenum and allowing air to flow under it, they gained 15-20 hp over the standard design. This worked great in sunny California. However-many readers in the midwest and Rocky mountain states who ran out and bought these manifolds after reading the article-because hey-you "gotta have" that extra 15-20 hp-were furious. Their cars absolutely would not start and run in cold weather. Many had problems with carburator icing, and many said they had to let the car idle for 20 minutes before driving it or it would cough, spit, stumble and die. That 15 hp didn't look so good then!!  The point being think carefully and make sure the "Pros" of your proposed addition outweigh the "Cons". Mastermind      

The point of diminishing returns.....

I know gearheads are always looking for "every last ounce" of performance, but sometimes in chasing that last ounce you actually end up losing performance and drivability,and / or spending hundreds or thousands of dollars on parts that give a negligible gain, or even a loss of performance. For example I wrote in an earlier post about Hot Rod magazine hopping up a ZZ4 Chevy 350 crate engine. The ZZ4 was an awesome street engine. It was rated at 355 hp and 405 lbs of torque. However-what made it such a killer was its broad torque curve. It made more than 350 lbs of torque from 2,200-5,200 rpm! The engine was pretty hopped up to begin with-10:1 compression Keith Black pistons, L98 aluminum heads, a hydraulic roller cam with .474 / 510 lift, and a 770 cfm Holley on an aluminum Z/28 / LT1 style intake. They picked up about 25 hp with a single-plane intake and a larger carb, and another 30 or so hp with a bigger cam. That put them over 400 hp easily and the package still had good drivability. To me-mission accomplished-you got 50+ hp out of an already hot package. They wanted more-so they installed a set of Trick Flow aluminum heads. They picked up another 40 hp-at 6,100 rpm. The noticable gain-more than 20 hp didn't occur until above 5,000 rpm.  However-this info was printed clearly on the dyno sheet-the "antiquated" L98 heads were within 5 hp and 5 lbs of torque at every rpm from idle to 4,600 rpm!! At some rpm levels there was no gain, or the difference was only 1 or 2 hp!!  Now in a daily driver or even a weekend street / strip machine-how often are you going to be above 4,700 rpm?  Further-the Trick Flow heads cost $1,400!! For a lot less than $1,400 there's plenty of things that would give you more than a 40 hp gain in a 1,000-1,400 rpm window!! The first thing that comes to mind is a well-thought out nitrous system. Then maybe a higher stall speed torque converter, some stiffer rear end gears, or some traction bars. I had a ZZ4 in my Hurst / Olds for a while. On street tires it ran mid 13s and got 16 mpg. Some buddys suggested-( correctly ) that if I invested in a hotter cam and a bigger carb and intake and maybe a higher stall converter I could easily drop into the 12s. That's true-but in doing that the car wouldn't have been nearly as pleasant to drive-the larger cam would have a much rougher idle-which would have necessitated the larger converter-and the car would have gotten 8 mpg instead of 16. Plus I'd have traded quite a bit of low-end and mid-range torque for top-end rush.  The other thing is drivetrain and brake upgrades. I'm all for safety-but the magazines go total overkill. Why does every single project car have to have a custom Currie 9 inch Ford rear end??  Never mind a Dana 60-I've never, ever seen anyone break a Chrysler 8 3/4 rear!!! Not even my buddy who has a Duster with a nitrous-fed 505 inch stroker that runs in the 9s!!  I have had 400, 4-speed 70's Firebirds and popped the clutch at 4,000 rpm and powershifted through 30 hard 1/4 mile passes a weekend for 5 years and never broke the 8.5 inch GM 10 bolt posi!!!  I know Fox bodied Mustang racers that run 10s who have never had an ounce of trouble with the stock 8.8 inch rear end. Ditto for brakes. Why does every project car have to have a Brembo or Wildwood 4-wheel disc brake system worthy of a NASCAR Nextel Cup champion?  Are they saying that the front disc / rear drum or 4-wheel disc systems that came stock on 70's, 80's and 90's cars isn't adequate to safely stop the car in daily driving or on a weekend trip to the drags? Puhleeze. Again-I autocrossed some of my '70's T/A's. My friends and I discovered that if we used Bendix or Wagner or Ferodo "Police Spec" semi-metallic D52 front pads and Dot 5 fluid that the brakes never faded-even on back to back to back runs. Ditto for a friends "Street Stock" circle track Camaro. I've seen him run an 8 lap heat race, a 20 lap semi, and a 50 lap main event back to back to back on a 1/4 mile track that had the rotors glowing red at the end of the main event and the brakes never faded!! In fact-sometimes if the race car needed front pads and we couldn't get the "Police Spec" pads-we'd just run generic, auto parts store D52 pads, and as long as we used the Dot 5 brake fluid-we had no problems. The cheaper pads would wear out quicker-but the car still stopped properly. The main thing was the fluid. Dot 3 fluid would boil and then you'd get a mushy pedal. While on the subject of circle track racing-I know guys who have raced small-block Chevys and Fords for 30 years and I have never, ever seen a stud pull out of a head!!  I've seen broken rocker arms, broken pushrods, broken valve springs, and jumped timing chains-but in 30+ years I've never seen a stud pull out of a head. Ditto for a broken crank. I've seen spun bearings,and I've seen rods out the side of the block,but I've never seen a crank break-like in pieces!! So just think hard before you spend your hard earned money on some "Gotta Have" that you don't really need!!  That's all I'm saying. Mastermind

More on "Slower" cars beating "Faster" ones....

Following up on the last post I wanted to add a few things. There's more to winning a drag race than just horsepower. Besides power to weight ratio and gearing, there's a lot of other factors that come into play that people don't think of. The state of tune of the cars,traction, driver ability and how much testing has the driver done to maximize his car's performance. Here's a few more real-world examples or how supposedly "slower" cars walked away from "faster" ones. A friend of mine had a 1970 340 Dart Swinger. It had a Torqueflite and 3.55:1 gears. Being a light car-about 2,900 lbs, it was really quick. He worked on his launch and driving technique. He figured out the car launched quickest if he just punched it from a stop. If he "powerbraked" it-i.e. loaded the converter against the brakes-it would do an impressive burnout but that wasn't conducive to a quick 0-60 time. By just flooring it off-idle it would spin the tires for maybe 30 ft, just enough to get the engine up on it's torque curve and the car moving with alarcity. He also found it ran quickest if he shifted manually between 5,800-6,200 rpm. He beat a lot of big-block cars like SS396  Chevelles, 400 Firebirds, and even a 428 Mustang because the drivers of those cars totally fried their tires off the line. By the time they were done smoking the tires, he had a two or three car length lead that they couldn't get back. The 428 Mustang actually pulled almost even with a serious top-end push, but still couldn't overcome the "holeshot" to pass him! Another guy we knew had a 304 Gremlin that he stuffed a 401 out of a wrecked Matador police car into that was really quick, and he got beat by the Dart for the same reason. He fried his tires on launch and couldn't make it up on the top-end. My 403 Olds / TH350 powered '77 T/A beat many a shocked "5.0" Mustang driver in stoplight gran prix's. My T/A did have headers and a Holley Street Dominator intake and a TransGo shift kit which helped-drop the T/A's 1/4 mile time from something like 16.3 stock to consistent 14.9s. However-if you read old road tests of '87-93 "5.0" Mustangs Hot Rod was the quickest with a 14.72 and Road and Track was the slowest with a 15.29. My T/A's time falls smack-dab in the middle of those. I should have got beat once in a while. I never did-and it's the same reason. The Mustang drivers would pop the clutch about three grand,incinerate their tires for 200 feet, and shift at or near their 5,700 rpm redline. By the time their wheelspin stopped, I was too far ahead. Give anything 400 cubes a 2 or 3 car length lead and unless you've got something REALLY strong-i.e.-427 Stingray,LS6 Chevelle, Hemi 'Cuda-your not getting it back. I even told a couple of these guys to read Car Craft's test of a "5.0". CC testers discovered that if you popped the clutch at anything over 2,500 rpm, you were going to fry the tires. They found they got the best launch by slipping the clutch at 1,800-2,200 rpm and then hitting it. They also discovered that while the 302 would rev to 5,500 or so,it's tractor-like torque curve gave the best times when they short-shifted about 4,800-5,000 rpm. These Mustang driver's wouldn't listen-they'd continue to fry their tires anytime they raced someone, and if they got beat they'd talk about getting a performance prom chip or a bigger cam, or swapping the 3.08:1 gears for some 3.73:1s. They weren't grasping the problem. It doesn't matter how much power you have, if you can't put it to the ground!! Another guy I knew had an LB9 TPI 305 IROC-Z. He blew the doors off many shocked "5.0" owners, and gave some Corvette and Grand National owners a run for the money they'd never forget. How? The first thing he did was get a Hypertech High-Performance PROM chip-which bumped the timing and upped the fuel curve. He also installed a 160 degree thermostat and a fan switch that kicked the fan on at 185 degrees instead of 220. These two simple mods made a HUGE improvement. Stock LB9's with 195 T-stats and the fan not kicking on until 220-would run ok cold. When they got hot-they'd be on the verge of vapor lock-sometimes stumbling on acceleration. Swapping the t-stat and the fan switch allowed the engine to run cooler, and take full advantage of the cooler, denser fuel charge. He also had a TransGo shift kit that made a HUGE difference. Stock Camaros and Firebirds with LG4 / L69 /LB9 305s and TH700R4's had a problem. The transmissions would not upshift from 3rd to 4th above about 2/3 throttle. This prevented you from making a balls-out top-end run. If you had your foot to the floor, the trans would stay in 3rd gear. Let off, and it would upshift into 4th. Ugh! Further, they would only kick down to second from third. The only time the trans would go into low gear is if you came to a complete, dead stop. If you were going 5 mph-and punched it, you'd still be in 2nd!!  The shift kit solved this and allowed automatic kickdown into 1st gear below 15-20 mph, and it allowed full-throttle upshifts into 4th. It may sound simple-but if you drove a stocker-and then drove this car-you'd swear it was a chipped L98 350 model, not a 305!!  It ran that good. In fact-he beat some utterly shocked stock L98 IROC / T/A owners. I had a guy who came in my shop with a nice 396 / TH400 '66 Impala SS. He just bought the car, and was very disappointed in the car's performance. He said it couldn't even spin the tires on dry pavement. My dad and I had the rep as "The" musclecar guys to go to, so he came to us. I assured him we could fix his Ills. Upon inspection I found that the car was suffering from major neglect. The points were closing up, the vacuum advance was unplugged, the timing was way too slow,the carburator was way too rich,the kickdown wasn't hooked up. All simple fixes. I put new points in and set the dwell, cleaned and hooked up the vacuum advance,set the timing to factory specs,and leaned out the carb, and hooked up the kickdown. The difference was huge. Now the car would smoke the tires as long as you wanted to stay on the throttle,lay 15-20 ft of rubber on the 1-2 shift,and pull hard to about 5,500 rpm. The owner was blown away. "What did you do?" "Swap in new 427 crate engine?" He was so happy that he tipped me $100 over the bill I charged him. The point I'm making is-if someone spends the time to fine-tune their car and their driving technique, they are going to be very hard to beat. Especially if their opponent in the "faster" car has neglected his car's state of tune, and / or just punches it and has no idea what shift points or launch technique is best for his car. Mastermind      

It's all about power to weight ratio and mechanical advantage...

I've had a lot of people call me out for telling stories about "slower" cars beating "faster" ones in a drag race. These people are often abusive and insulting in their language, and it's kind of funny, because they don't realize how ignorant they sound. Most of them are only going on factory hp ratings and nothing else. Any experienced racer knows that the real formula is power to weight ratio. All other things being equal-a 3,000 lb car with a 300 hp engine will run just as fast as a 4,000 lb car with a 400 hp engine. The "all other things being equal" is important too. What about mechanical advantage? What if the 3,000 lb car had a 4-speed and 4.11:1 gears and the 4,000 lb car had an automatic and 3.23:1 gears?  Or vice-versa?  Remember when I talked about the L79 327 '66 Nova beating the W30 455 1970 442?  That's a perfect example. Here's a couple about mechanical advantage. One of these geniuses said I was lying when I said my dad's 1965 376 hp Tri-Power 421 Catalina 2+2 beat a friends 1967 390 hp 427 Impala SS in a drag race, both from a light and from a 20 mph roll. Why would I lie? 1st off-the power was totally equal-( 14 hp won't make any difference in real-world conditions ) 421 cubes vs 427 completely equal. Weight? Both cars weighed about 4,400 lbs. However-the Impala had 3.31:1 gears and the 2+2 had 3.90:1 gears. Both cars had TH400 automatics. However-the 2+2 had a TransGo shift kit. Not only would it shift automatically at 5,600 rpm under full-throttle acceleration, it would automatically kick down to low gear if you floored it under 15-20 mph. This made a huge difference if you were coming up to a red light, preparing to stop,and the light suddenly turns green and you punch it. Most other cars with stock automatics will drop from 3rd to 2nd under these conditions. It's simple-the 2+2, being in low gear is going to accelerate harder than the Impala which is still in 2nd. That's exactly how the race from a 20 mph roll went. When we tried again from a dead stop, I jumped him a car length and a half off the line. At the top of second gear-by now both the 421 and the 427 were pulling like locomotives on the mountain of torque they both posessed and he made up about half of that. And that was it. I held on to that half a car length lead until well over 100 mph when we both let off. That's the 3.90:1 gears advantage over the 3.31:1s. People don't realize it-but gears give you a boost all through the range, not just off the line. I learned this when I swapped the 3.23:1 gears in my Hurst / Olds for some 4.10:1s. I honestly didn't notice a difference in low gear. The 455 had enough torque to launch the car regardless of gearing. However-the difference was HUGE in 2nd and 3rd!!  So hopefully-anyone with common sense can see how the 2+2 could beat the Impala. The other one was probably the same idiot who said there was no way My Ram Air III 400 1969 GTO Judge could beat my buddy's 1969 440 Six-Pack Super Bee. The GTO was rated at 366 hp, the Super Bee at 390. Again-not enough to make a difference. Both cars weighed about 3,700 lbs. However-my GTO had a 4-speed and 4.33:1 gears. The Super Bee had a Torqueflite and 3.23:1 gears. Any racer would say that right there gives me the win. But wait-I also had N50X15 Mickey Thompson "Hot-n-Sticky" tires on the back of my car, and I had Lakewood coil-spring traction bars. The Super Bee had stock suspension, and GR70-15 Sears Radials. Stiffer gears,larger, stickier tires,and a drag-race oriented suspension would give me a substantial advantage. But wait-my engine wasn't stock. I had a larger than stock Crane Cam, Hooker headers,and an Offenhauser dual-quad intake with two Carter AFBs. So yeah,buddy-I'm lying. There's no way my hopped up,traction barred,4.33:1 geared, 4-speed GTO could beat a bone-stock, automatic, 3.23:1 geared Super Bee!!  As Ditka said- "Come on Man!!"  Some Ford guys I know had a drag race and I had to laugh at the loser. He had a nice 1972 Mustang Mach 1 with a 351CJ, rated at 266 hp, an automatic and 3.00:1 gears. He talked trash incessantly to his buddy-who had a nice 1966 Mustang GT with the 225 hp 289, a C4 and unkown gearing.       They finally raced, and the '66 beat him by about two car lengths. How? Power to weight ratio. The '66 Mustang weighed about 2,900 lbs. The '72 weighed about 3,700. 41 rated hp wasn't enough to overcome 800 extra pounds!!! Further-the '66 launched with very little wheelspin. The '72 lit up the tires off the line which also hurt. Any way-the owner of the '72 was fixated on two things-351 cubes vs 289, and 266 hp vs 225. He didn't think of anything else while he was trash-talking. Like a weight difference of 800 lbs, and traction!!  So think of the total packages before you start trash talking based only on hp ratings! You might be surprised and embarrased.  Mastermind

Mick, Waylon and Dennis and why musclecar drivers get in trouble....

"Please allow me to introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and taste...."  The opening line of "Sympathy for the Devil." sung by Mick Jagger...                                                                                                                      ""Not guilty I said" "You've got the wrong man, no one touched that pistol but the Devil's Right Hand..." Excerpt from "The Devil's Right Hand" sung by Waylon Jennings.                                                                    HR relations counselor-"So what seems to be the problem, Mr. Leary?" "My boss thinks I'm having trouble getting along with my co-workers." "You fuckin' asshole!"  Comedy skit by Dennis Leary.                   These three things will tell you how musclecars have their irresistable allure,and why they can't be driven slow, and why-Stephen King's "Christine" aside-they are definitely male, and malevolent, and "Jules Wallet" from "Pulp Fiction". ( The one that says "Bad Mo$#%6ucker on it ). It doesn't start when your 16 or 25 or 45. It starts when your about six or eight. All little boys are aware of and interested in cars, and if their dad or big brother or uncle or cousin is a gear head-their cursed for life. I remember my dad's 1964 GTO. It was green, which wasn't particularly cool. But it had black interior with bucket seats and those round guages in that engine-turned panel, and that chrome console with the chrome Hurst shifter sticking up through it. It had American Racing Torq-Thrust mags on it, and glasspacks and loud exhaust. That thing sounded SO nasty. It wasn't a tri-power-just the 325 hp 4bbl 389, but with the Muncie 4-speed and 4.33:1 gears it was ungodly fast. All the boys in the neighborhood wanted to ride in it. When my mom drove it and picked me up from school sometimes she'd work the clutch and let me shift it. That was so damn cool!!  I've driven all kinds musclecars and sports cars over the course of my life, and nothing gets my blood up like the feel of Hurst-shifted "Rock Crusher". The feeling of power is like racking the slide on a 12-guage shotgun. A lot of my dad's friends were gearheads. His buddy Paul had a 340 hp / 4-speed '63 Split Window Corvette Stingray. Dave had a 400, 4-speed '67 Firebird convertible that I thought was awesome, even though the GTO could beat it in a drag race. ( I think the 'Bird had 3.36:1 gears; no match for the Goat's 4.33:1s in a drag ) and his pal Jan had a for-real 289 Shelby Cobra. My mom's best friend's brother had a 409 Impala. I remember when my dad's pal Sonny got a brand-new 1970 SS396 Chevelle. It was silver with black stripes. I loved how the "Cowl Induction" hood flap would open and close when he revved the engine. It was an automatic, but I loved that chrome console and the "Horseshoe" shifter. And it would smoke those F70-14 Firestone Wide Ovals as long as he wanted to stay on the throttle. So cool. I said in an earlier post that my dad was an expert on multi-carb setups and that people brought him GTOs,Hemis, 406 Galaxies, and Porsche 911s and Datsun 240Z's-anything with multiple carbs-he had the rep as "The Man" to bring it to for maximum performance. I wrote about staying at the shop with him til midnight tuning a 440 / Six-Pack GTX and a Hemi Road Runner that were going to have a match race the next day.  Growing up around those guys-there was no way I was going to be a VW or Toyota driver!!  And the Movies-"Bullitt", "Vanishing Point","The Seven-Ups", "White Lightning", "The Last American Hero". "Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry". What boy could watch those flicks and NOT fantasize about being a badass-with your foot to the floor  and a hot chick beside you? When I got my Judge I lost my driver's liscence in less than a year. "No one touched that Hurst shifter but the Devil's right hand...."   Musclecars are so sexy.....Just sitting in one idling-it's like your holding the leash on a 120 lb Rotwieler who wants to run. You can barely hold it back. And god help you if another musclecar or a rice-rocket or BMW pulls up next to you at a light and gives you a look of disdain. Mick's word's ring in your ears-"If you meet me, show some courtesy, some sympathy and respect." "Use all your well learned politics, or I'll lay your soul to waste!!"  Dennis Leary's mouth starts going. "You gonna take that shit?"  "Blow that yuppie scum's doors off."  "Your not?" "Then trade me in for a Honda Civic you pussy." "Maybe someone with balls will buy me." Then he starts quoting Jules from "Pulp Fiction" "I will strike down with great vengenance and furious anger, anyone who threatens the righteous man who is my driver...." Your left foot slams the clutch to the floor, cha-ching-the shifter slams from neutral into first, your right foot brings the revs up,Dennis and Sam Jackson start high-fiving each other.....The light turns green and you smite the infidel challenger in biblical fashion. If your lucky. If your not lucky their will be sirens coming up behind you, and you'll have to explain about the Devil's right hand. But going to court and traffic school and paying the fine won't stop you the next time.....Mick and Dennis and Sam and Waylon won't let you.....Mastermind      

One Piece at a time...

Johnny Cash had a hit song about an auto worker who stole parts over his long career and built a car for no cost. It was called "One Piece at a Time." I've always thought it would be cool to build a hot rod with various parts and not worry about what was "correct" or "original."  Like maybe a Pontiac Ventura ( Pontiac's version of the Nova ) built with a snarling 455 Pontiac under hood with Trans-Am suspension and 4-wheel disc brakes-( any suspension or brake parts that fit the F-bodies-Camaro / Firebird will fit the X-bodies-Nova / Ventura / Omega ). I'd also put cool stuff in the interior like swivel bucket seats out of '73-77 "A" bodies, a Formula steering wheel and a Mopar Pistol-Grip Hurst shifter stick on the Muncie 4-speed or Richmond 5-speed. Some radiused and flared fenders to clear huge tires all around, and some front and rear spoilers, and maybe a Trans-Am style "Shaker" hood scoop, and a sinister monochromatic black paint job. Or maybe a '70-71 Ford Torino with all the chrome removed and hidden door handles and front and rear spoilers, with huge tires and side-exit exhaust and a snarling 351C under the hood-sort of a "Mad Max" interceptor tribute. Or a '71-74 AMC Javelin done in red, white and blue with side-pipes and Minilite wheels like Mark Donohue's Trans-Am champion. With an Edelbrock headed, nasty 360 AMC V8 or a 440 Mopar swapped in-AMC's use Torqueflite trannys anyway. Or a '67-70 Cougar done in Nascar style with a "Mock Boss" 351 ( Edelbrock and Trick Flow offer hi-performance aluminum heads that fit Windsor blocks and Edelbrock makes a compatible manifold so you could build a "Boss" 302 or 351 ) under the hood and a 5-speed manual, a Shaker Hood and some monochromatic paint. A change from the cookie-cutter Chevelles, Camaros and Mustangs, etc. Mastermind

More on taking advantage of the "Original Type" rule...

The last couple posts weve talked about the Pure Stock drags,Musclepalooza, etc and how people maximize their performance and still stay within the rules. Once you've made your decision on a car-a '71 Chevelle might be a better choice than a '68-since you could get a 454 in a '71 model and the largest engine available in a '68 was a 396. On the other hand-a 3,400 lb '65 GTO with a 389 bored to 404 inches,a hot cam and ported intake and exhaust manifolds,and reworked 3-2bbls with mechanical linkage,a 4-speed and 3.90:1 or 4.33:1 gears will probably run a lot quicker than a 4,070 lb '71 GTO with a 455HO, a TH400 and 3.55:1s!!  Weve been over that-let's assume you've chosen a car-whatever it may be-and now you have to get it race-ready. There's several areas where a little tweaking can net you big gains. # 1. Induction. The rule saying the carburator has to be the original type allows you some room. For example the Carter AVS 4bbl that came on 383-440 Mopars from 1966-71 had very crisp low-end throttle response and good drivability. However-they only flowed about 585 cfm. A 440 V8 with a 585 cfm carb is like a 250 lb man trying to run while breathing through a straw. Fortunately Edelbrock's Thunder AVS series will fit nicely inside the rules and their's an 800 cfm version available. Simply switching to the 800 cfm carb will help you pick up as much as 25 hp and 30 lbs of torque. You can also play with spacers and jetting. Some cars run best with no spacer-some run better with a 1" or 2" spacer under the carb. Some cars run better with an open spacer, and some run better with a 4-hole spacer. You just have to invest the time to see what combination gives you the best e.t. The Carter AFB 4bbl that was on many 389 and 421 Catalinas and '64-66 GTOs, 409 Impalas, and many Ford and Chrysler applications in the '60s only flowed 500 or 625 cfm. Switching to a 750 cfm AFB or Edelbrock Performer ( which is an AFB under the Edelbrock name ) will give you a substantial gain. Ditto for dual-quad applications. Your 409 Chevy, 421 Pontiac or 426 Hemi will breathe better by switching the 500 or 625 cfm carbs for 750s. Especially for 4-speed applications-switching from vacuum to mechanical linkage on dual-quad and tri-power setups is usually good for a few tenths. The second part is the intakes. For example if you have a disco-era T/A or Formula Firebird with a 400 Pontiac-the 1975-79 intakes have a very restrictive throttle opening-the EGR valve intrudes so much that a spread-bore Holley carb won't bolt on. They severely restrict power above 3,500-4,000 rpm. The rules say the intake has to be the original type. That's easy-an Iron manifold that mounts a Quadrajet. Their are millions of Pontiac Q-jet intakes in junkyards and swap meets of '67-74 vintage that will bolt right on and allow the engine to pull hard to 5,700 rpm. This isn't an isolated example. Since the LS6 454 was slated to be available in the Camaro and the Nova as well as the Chevelle-the intake was lowered to clear the low hood of the new for 1970 Camaro. The intake is so flat that fuel has to flow UPHILL from the carb to the intake ports!! Since the early '70's stock class LS6 racers figured out that the taller '66-69 aluminum intake used on L78 and L72 396s and 427s is worth 20 hp and 25 lbs of torque over the flat LS6 intake. And their easy to find-GMPP sells this rectangular port high-rise intake to this day. If your building a "Tribute" or clone-remember cars don't have to be numbers-matching-you can run any engine / drivetrain combo that was optional on that model that year. Like I said in an earlier post you could put a Mopar Performance 426 crate Hemi into a '68 Dart if you wanted to. Let's say your building a Super Duty 421 Catalina clone. The chances of you finding a running or rebuildable 421 with 1962 or 63 date codes is almost nil. You have a better chance of being struck by lightning on the golf course. However their are millions of 400 Pontiacs out there and Kaufmann and Butler performance and others sell cranks and rotating assemblys to turn a 400 into a 428 or 455. Your allowed 15 inches from stock. You could easily build a 434 inch Pontiac with 6.8 inch rods ( stock is 6.675 ) and custom pistons. The heads have to be the original type-cast iron. You don't have to run '59-66 "Bathtub" heads with tiny ports and 1.96 / 1.66 valves. You could run 6X's ( which breathe better than any factory head except RAIV's ) with 2.11 / 1.77 valves. Your never going to find an original dual-quad Super Duty intake. However-Offenhauser made an excellent dual-quad Pontiac Intake up until a few years ago-I had one on my Judge back in the day, and I have one in a box in my garage right now. And Edelbrock still sells their excellent P65 dual-quad Pontiac intake. Either of these would fall under the "Original Type" rule. So would an Edelbrock Dual-quad intake for 348 / 409 Chevys or one for Chrysler Hemis. If you were building a Thunderbolt Fairlane clone-you could use a 390 instead of a 427 ( FE engines are externally identical ) and put a pair of Holleys on an Edelbrock intake. See what I'm saying?  # 2. Cylinder heads. Original type means exactly that. So if your car had iron heads from the factory-you can't use aluminum ones. But like I pointed out-you could put 6X heads off a '77 T/A on a 389 in a '64 GTO if you wanted to. Their both cast iron-but the 6X's breathe way better than the '64 heads!!  Like I mentioned the guy wanting to build a Nova-you can use Vortec heads on a small-block Chevy. You could use '92 and later "Magnum" heads on a 340 or 360 Mopar. ( They will bolt up to '91 and earlier blocks. You will need a "Magnum" style intake. ) Ford racers have known for years that "Explorer" heads-that came on late '90's and early 2000's 302 powered Explorers breathe better than any factory 289 / 302 head-even "GT40s" sold by Ford SVT. These would give your '60's 289 Mustang or late '80's "5.0" quite a boost. If you have a T/A or Formula Firebird with a 403 Olds V8-you can use the heads off a '68-72 350 Olds. Their 70cc combustion chambers will boost compression from 7.9:1 to 9.0:1 ( 403s have 83cc chambers ), and the earlier heads have larger 2.00 / 1.60 valves. You'll have to re-tap the bolt holes-'75 and later Olds 350 / 403s use larger bolts than '74 and earlier models but any machine shop can easily handle that. I think the difference is either 7/16 to 1/2 inch, or 1/2 inch to 9/16; I'll have to look it up. Also the Edelbrock catalog and Mondello Performance's catalog has this information as well. You'll have to use an Electric fuel pump if you do this-but you can also put 455 heads on a 350 / 403. ( You'll need custom pistons to get any kind of compression however, but it's do-able ) You can see regardless of manufacturer-you have a lot of leeway with cylinder head choices to make maximum power. # 3. Cams. This is easy-if the car had a hydraulic cam originally you have to run a hydraulic cam, no solid lifters. If the car had a solid-lifter cam from the factory you can't run a roller. That's it. Their's no limit on lift and duration. So you can run as radical a cam as your combination can handle. Because you have to run stock exhaust manifolds a lot of guys run dual-pattern cams-that have more duration and lift on the exhaust side to compensate for the restricted exhaust.  # 4. Exhaust. You have to run "stock type" exhaust manifolds which usually means cast iron. But their are several companies that sell "Ram Air III" exhaust manifolds for Pontiacs, and ported and extrude-honed manifolds for small-block Chevy, Ford and Chrysler stock class circle track racers. Any machine shop can port-match your manifolds to the heads. After that-you can run 2 1/2 or 3" inch pipes with a crossover and any mufflers you like. The exhaust won't be nearly as restricted as you think. # 5. Drivetrain. If you have an automatic-you can run a higher stall speed torque converter and still be legal. You can also run any axle ratio as long the rear end is the stock type. So let's say you had a '69 SS396 Chevelle with a TH400. Your saying it's an L78 spec car. You've already got the good aluminum intake and 780 Holley, and since you can run a solid lifter cam you've upgraded from the mild L78 cam to the super-hot L88 cam. To take full advantage of these changes you'll also need a 3,500 rpm converter and some 4.56:1 gears. Trust me-trying to run an L88 cam with 3.31:1 gears and a stock converter-the car would fall flat on it's face-it would actually be quicker stock!!  The entire combination has to be coordinated. See what I'm saying?  # 6. Driving technique. Here's where you have to do a lot of trial and error. If the car is a 4-speed does it launch better by dropping the clutch or by slipping it? At 2,000 rpm? or 3,000? or more? If it's an automatic-does it launch better by just floorboarding it, or by loading the converter against the brakes?  You have to play with shift points and see what gets you the best times. I know with one of my 403 Firebirds it ran fastest if I shifted the TH350 manually at 4,900 rpm ( 1-2 ) and 4,400 rpm ( 2-3 ). A buddy had a "5.0" Mustang. It would rev to 5,800 rpm or so-but he found he cut quicker 1/4 mile times by short-shifting it at 5,200. My brother's GTO would shift automatically at 5,400 rpm, but he went quicker if he held it in gear to 5,800-6,000 and shifted manually. So you can run just as fast as the guys in the magazines-but you'll have to put in a lot of work. Mastermind            

Choose your car carefully if you want to win at Muscle Car drags...

After the last post I had some people ask me what car I thought would be the best to run at the Pure Stock drags or MusclePalooza, etc. The fact is there's no easy answer. The main thing is to read the rulebook carefully on what is and isn't allowed. And sometimes it's just simple math-power to weight ratio. I remember a few years ago I was at one of these events and a guy in a '66 L79 Nova was matched up against a guy with a '70 W30 442. Even the announcer made a joke-"A small-block Nova tugging on Superman's cape?"  The crowd,the announcer, the 442 owner and everyone but me was shocked when the Nova won easily. I said before the race that the Nova was going to win. My friends grilled me, thinking I had some inside information. I didn't. I just did the math. A 1970 442 W30 has a 455 V8 rated at 370 hp and weighs about 4,000 lbs. A 1966 L79 Nova has a 327 V8 rated at 350 hp and weighs about 3,000 lbs. All other things being equal-the 350 hp 3,000 lb car is going to run faster than the 370 hp 4,000 lb car. 20 hp isn't enough to overcome 1,000 lbs of extra weight!!  Now factor in a couple of things we didn't know before we talked to the owners of the cars-the 442 was an automatic with 3.42:1 gears and the Nova was a 4-speed with 4.11:1s-it really comes into focus. Unless the guy in the Nova redlighted or missed a shift, the 442 had no chance. The Nova had the same amount of power, 1,000 lbs less weight to pull and the mechanical advantage of 4.11:1 gears. I talked with the Nova owner for a bit. His car was a for-real, numbers-matching L79. He said however that he was going to buy another '66-67 Nova-maybe even a six-cylinder car-and build an even nastier racer for the next year. He explained that he knew the rulebook backwards and forwards, but he didn't want to modify the L79. He said he could build another 327 to the letter of the rules that would easily have 450+ hp instead of 350 and still be legal. I asked him to explain. Like we discussed in the last post-the rules allowed quite a bit of leeway. Since the cars didn't have to be numbers-mtaching-he was going to get a 350 block and use a 3.25 inch stroke crank with 6 inch rods ( stock is 5.7 ) and custom pistons. The heads have to be the original "type"-which means Iron-no aluminum. However he could get a set of Iron Vortec heads-their 64cc combustion chambers would give him 11:1 compression with his custom pistons, and we all know that Vortecs breathe better than any other factory head and many aftermarket ones. The heads alone would be worth 30-40 hp over stock 327 / 350 heads. He'd need a Vortec bolt-pattern intake-but again the rules say the manifold has to be the original type. He's claiming to build an L79 spec car-they had aluminum intakes from the factory. And GMPP sells aluminum high-rise Vortec bolt-pattern intakes for small-block Chevys. He could probably slip an Edelbrock or Weiand through-the original "type" rule doesn't dictate brand-and Mopar guys with 340 and 440 Six-Packs have Edelbrock intakes and Shelby Mustang owners have Shelby intakes-but with a GM part number there'd be no argument whatsoever. L79s had Holley 4bbls from the factory-so he could run a 780 cfm 3310, or he said-since the rules again said-"Orignal Type"-he could get away with running an 850 cfm Double-Pumper!!  The rulebook said nothing about how many accelerator pumps the carb could have!! Ditto for the cam-it would have to be a flat-tappet hydraulic design-no rollers-but he could a super-hot Comp Cams 292H Magnum-that would make quite a bit more power than the old "350hp" 327 factory cam. To take advantage of all this extra power he was going to use 4.56:1 gears instead of 4.11s. Now that would be one badass ride that would smite a lot of big-block cars in biblical fashion!!  Am I saying that a '66 Nova is the best choice? No, I'm saying think of the total package-always remembering power to weight ratio. Think of this-cars don't have to be numbers-matching as long as the engine / drivtrain combo was optional on that car that year you can build it-so-you could put a Mopar Performance 426 crate Hemi into a '68 Dart-think that would dominate??!!!  Also-think of this-a 1971 Formula Firebird would be a much better choice than a 1970 model. Because the body is exactly the same-the car is pretty light for a Pontiac-about 3,600 lbs-less than later models with heavy 5-mph bumpers-and the 455 was available in '71. The largest engine available in 1970 was a 400. Remember the rules-15 inches-think a 'Bird with a 470 inch Pontiac V8 with longer rods,12:1 compression,a stompin' cam and ported intake and exhaust manifolds with a TH400 and a high-stall converter and some 4.33:1 gears wouldn't be Jules' Wallet?  ( For those who haven't seen "Pulp Fiction-that means "Bad MotherF$%er" )  And a lot quicker than a 416 inch '70 model?  Or how about a 1969-1970 Nova SS? A 396 Rat motor was optional those years-'71 and later, a 350 was the biggest engine available. For Ford guys a '69-70 Mustang might be the best choice-the mighty 428CJ was the top dog. ( No one is going to build or buy a Boss 429 for this stuff ). In '64-66 a 289 was the big V8. In 67-68 you could get a 390-and most '71-73s have 351C's. ( The 429 was optional in '71, but it would be hard to build one. ) So in my mind the '69-70 would be the first choice. And the 15 inch rule goes both ways-so you could get a 390 truck block bore it .060-.080 over and use a custom crank and pistons and have like 415 inches-within 13 of 428-so still legal. A lightweight '71 340 Duster might be a better choice than a heavy 440 '74 Charger. See what I'm saying?  So read the rules religiously and then decide-the "bigger is better" axiom isn't always true. Mastermind      

As "Harry Hogge" said..."There's nothing stock about a stock car..."

I've had a lot of people ask me how participants of the Pure Stock Drags and other similar events run such blistering times-often a full second or more quicker than any road tests from magazines back in the day. There are many reasons for this and I'll explain them. In the Tom Cruise racing blockbuster "Days of Thunder"-grizzled crew chief "Harry Hogge"-brilliantly played by Robert Duvall-said-"There's nothing stock about a stock car." Truer words were never spoken. # 1. The Rules. Often the rules for these events are based on the NHRA's Stock Class or Super Stock class rules. These guidelines give builders quite a bit of latitude. I'll use a couple of recent champions to illustrate. One was a Ram Air IV Firebird. The rulebook says that engines have to be within 15 cubic inches of original. Pontiac 400s are actually 401 cubic inches. So he can build an engine 416 cubes and still be legal. 400 Pontiacs have a 4.12 inch bore and a 3.75 inch stroke, and connecting rods 6.675 inches in length. He achieved 416 inches by boring the block .030 over and by using a custom 3.79 inch stroke crank. He also used 6.800 inch connecting rods and custom pistons. This may sound like small "technicalities" but experienced engine builders will tell you that a longer stroke and longer connecting rods build a lot of torque all through the range. This why small-block Chevy racers in NASCAR have used 6 inch rods for years. ( Stock length is 5.7 ). So already-with a little machine work on the bottom end this car has a substantial advantage. All other things being equal-do you think an engine with 15 extra cubes and longer rods is going to run harder than a bone-stock one?  The rulebook say the cam has to be the "Original Type". What this means is if the car had a hydraulic cam from the factory then you have to run a hydraulic cam-no solid lifters. If the car had a solid-lifter cam from the factory, you can't run a roller. The loophole is their are no limits on duration and lift. An RAIV from the factory has a cam with 308 / 320 advertised duration ( 231 / 240 @.050 ) and .470 lift with 1.5:1 rockers. ( .520 with 1.65:1 rockers.) This guy was running a cam with 253 duration ( @.050 ) and .575 lift with 1.5 rockers. Think an extra .105 in lift will make some extra power? Especially on the top-end?  The rulebook says that cylinder heads have to be the original type. Meaning if the car had iron heads, you can't run aluminum ones. For Pontiacs it says the minimum combustion chamber volume allowed is 62cc. 1969-70 RAIVs had 10.75:1 compression with 72cc combustion chambers. By milling the heads to get to 62cc-he effectively raised compression to roughly  12:1. The intake manifold has to be the original type. RAIV's had an aluminum intake-so he can run a factory RAIV / 455 HO piece or run a repro RAIV intake from AMEs or NPD or other Pontiac resto houses. However-the intakes can be port-matched, and the only limitation is the stock hood has to close-no scoops or bulges allowed. That means he can use a 1" or 2" inch spacer under the carb as long as the air cleaner clears the hood. The carb has to be the original type-a Quadrajet-but he's running a custom one that flows nearly 1000 cfm ( stock is 750 cfm ) and has a larger .149 needle and seat so he can run extra fuel pressure-9 psi. ( Stock is 5-6 psi ). He's running a 4,300 rpm torque converter and 5.14:1 gears. Now do you see the difference? Of how this car, with 15 extra cubes,a much hotter cam, higher compression ratio, a ported intake, a larger carb,extra fuel pressure, a high-stall converter and 5.14:1 gears can run low 11s while a stocker with 3.90:1 gears can only run in the 13s?  The other example is an L88 Corvette. This one also runs low 11s. Now L88s were pretty radical from the factory-they had 12:1 compression, a hot solid-lifter cam and an 830cfm Holley on an aluminum intake. However- the rules allow up to 13.5:1 compression for L88 spec cars!!  Again-the cam has to be a flat-tappet solid lifter design-but there's no limit on lift or duration. The Chevrolet "off-road" cam has something like 258 duration ( @.050 ) and over .600 lift! He's got a port-matched intake, and the custom Holley carb flows over 950 cfm. He's also running a 4,500 rpm converter and 4.88:1 gears. That's how he rips off consistent 11.40s while the stocker tested by Hot Rod with a TH400 and 3.36:1 gears back in the day ran mid 13s. ( Another L88 / 4-speed 'Vette test car with 4.56:1 gears did run in the 12s; but that's still a far cry from 11.40s ). Are these guys cheating?  No-they are within the rules to the letter. Are their cars "Pure Stock?"  Hell no!!!  # 2. The second factor is tuning and testing. These guys spend umpteen hours tuning and testing. The grand champion a few years ago was a 428CJ Mustang. Musclecar Review had an interview with him. He had changed cams a lot and found that Lunati's version of the factory CJ cam gave him much more power than the stock Ford cam or the Crane "Blueprint" series or the Comp Cams version, epecially above 5,000 rpm. That's costly and time-consuming, but the edge it gave him was undeniable. His intake and exhaust manifolds were port-matched and extrude-honed for maximum flow. He re-jetted the carb for altitude and specific conditions at each track he raced on. He had changed leaf springs many times- and found that a set originally off a 390 Cougar gave him the best launch. He played with shift points and found that the car ran hardest if he shifted the C6 manually at 6,200 rpm ( 1-2 ) and 6,500 rpm ( 2-3 ). All this work will definitely give him an edge over another 428 Mustang or LS6 Chevelle or Six-Pack Road Runner or whatever-who just goes to the event, pulls to the line and punches it!!!  So you can go that fast-if you want to invest the time and money. But don't feel bad if your lovingly restored stocker can't come close to these "Ringers".  Mastermind         

Be honest with yourself about what you really want....You'll be much happier in the long run...

Maybe my last few posts confused some people. I'm not saying don't get an ultra premium model, and I'm not saying "settle" for something lesser. I'm saying be reasonable about what your actually going to do with the car. If you want a $100,000 piece of garage jewelry that's only driven on and off the trailer or to shows then get whatever you want. If your not driving it, then it doesn't matter what equipment it has. If you only want a race car-it's only use is going to be at the Pure Stock Drags or similar events-then you can buy or build anything you want. For example-you could put a Mopar Performance Crate Hemi in a '71 Charger and run that because a Hemi was AVAILABLE that year. They don't require that cars be numbers-matching. That's how the current champ got his "L88" 'Vette in. It was a 390 hp car, and he rebuilt the engine to L88 specs. On the other hand you couldn't run a 454 in a '69 Chevelle or a 455 in a '69 GTO because those engines weren't optional in those cars. You could however run an L72 spec 427 in a '69 Chevelle because their were a few 427 cars built in the COPO program, and Don Yenko and Nickey Chevrolet built a few. You could run a Ram Air IV spec 400 in the GTO because the RAIV was an option. Under these circumstances the sky is the limit. But if your going to drive the car at all-I know no one is using these cars as daily transportation-but a lot of people like to take a 200 mile trip on a Sunday, or after drving an econobox or an old pickup to work all week-just want take the hot rod out and like the GTO song-"Turn it on, Wind it up, blow it out" up a country road. For those people-you need have some common sense. I've touched on it before it's worth re-visiting. If you live in Arizona or Florida or Las Vegas or anywhere that it gets 100 degrees in the summer-it might behoove you to get a car with working or at least repairable Air Conditioning. If you live in a big-city with a lot of stop-n-go traffic like San Francisco or Los Angeles-an automatic transmission might be a better choice than a 4-speed. If you live out in the country 30 or more miles from the nearest town-and do a lot of highway driving-a car with 3.23:1 gears is going to be a lot more pleasant to drive than one with 4.10:1s!!  And a base-model may make a nicer driver. For example a '69 GTO with properly tuned 350 hp 400, a TH400 and standard 3.36:1 gears or a 4-speed and 3.55:1s is going to be plenty fast. The engine will idle smoothly and it will literally spin the tires as long as you want to stay on the throttle. If you really, truly "need" something faster-then you "need" a top fuel dragster, a competent therapist, or a cage. Now a Ram Air IV model is going to be a handful. There's a reason they were only available with 3.90:1 or 4.33:1 gears. They have a rough idle,if you launch below 2,500-3,000 rpm itll bog; 3,000 or more and you'll fry the tires. ( Automatics had a special 2,800 rpm converter from the factory; you still have to be careful-"powerbrake" it too long and you'll fry the tires badly ). Your giving up quite a bit of low-end and mid-range torque for top-end rush. Yeah, it's faster in a drag race. Under any other conditions it's a pain in the ass. This is not an isolated example. Like I said in an earlier post-a Boss 302 is peaky-has very little torque below 3,000 rpm, and isn't any quicker than a 351W or 351C Mach 1. The 351W that's the standard engine in a 1969 Mach 1 is rated at 290 hp-the same as the Boss-yes I know the "Boss" was under-rated just like the 302 Chevy in the Z/28-but the 351W has 385 lbs of torque. It's a much better street engine, idles smoother, has gobs of torque, is perfect with an automatic and really sweet with a 4-speed. If your going to drive the car at all you'll be much happier with the 351 Mach 1. A lot of people don't realize that the Chrysler 426 Hemi was invented to do one thing-go 200 mph at Daytona. Nascar rules back then said if you wanted to race them, you had to sell a certain number to the public. Either in Nascar or NHRA Drag Racing-no one disputes the Hemi's "King Kong" status. But a 440 or even a 383 is a much better street engine. Read old road tests-often the 383 and 440 models are quicker in the 1/4 and have much better drivability. The huge Hemi ports and valves that helped attain that incredible speed at Daytona are actually a hindrance in a street car. Popular Hot Rodding tested a '69 Charger with a Hemi and a Torqueflite and 3.23:1 gears. They said it was like running with one flat tire. They couldn't break out of the 14s and went through the traps still in 2nd gear. They said the car needed a 4-speed and some 4.30:1 gears to really run to it's potential, or at least a higher-stall converter and some 4.10:1s. Meanwhile-the 440 GTX they tested was raved about as was the 383 Super Bee. They said both were better street machines than the Hemi Charger, and were quicker even though they too had 3.23:1 and 3.54:1 gears. Ditto for the Boss 429. It was invented strictly as a Hemi Fighter for Nascar. In street trim,with muffled exhausts-they don't run as fast a the 428 wedge. They don't run as fast as a 390!!  Be brutally honest with yourself about what you really want, especially since your spending major bucks. Mastermind