Curing "Smog Dog" angst.....

I hear a lot of people griping that some of the buff magazines say what a great base for a hot rod the 1978-88 GM "G" bodies are, Except the engines are anemic "Smog Dogs", and GM was playing musical engines because of regional smog laws.  If you live in a cave-in 1978 GM downsized the "A" bodies-i.e.-Chevelle, Monte Carlo, Cutlass, Buick Regal, Pontiac Gran Prix etc. They were about 600 lbs lighter than the models they replaced and for whatever reason the moniker was changed from "A" body to "G" body.  If you want to hot rod one of these you just have to have a little ingenuity and take advantage of GM's famed parts interchangeability.  If you can, avoid the V6 models because you'll have to change EVERYTHING if you want to swap in a V8. There is one instance where you can use a V6 model, and I'll touch on that later. For starters let's look at the V8 models.  Here's the ones to look for.  # 1. 305 Chevy Models. Whether it's a Malibu or a Gran Prix or a Cutlass, or whatever-this is easy as pie. A stompin' 350 or 383 or 400 small-block Chevy is a bolt-in swap. Depending on model year the transmission will either be a TH350, a TH200R4 or a TH700R4, all of which can handle up to 500 hp with only the addition of a cooler and a shift kit.  # 2. 301 Pontiac models. These were dropped after '81 but you see a good number of GP's and Regals with 301s. I've even seen a Monte Carlo with a 301 under the hood. The downside is there is zero aftermarket parts available for the 301. The upside is a 400 or 455 is a bolt-in swap. The motor mounts are in the same place on the larger engines and they share the same oil pan and tin and water pump. A 3,200 lb "G" body with a 467 inch Pontiac under the hood?  That's a monster sleeper.  # 3. 307 Olds models.  These have great potential because a 350 or 403 Olds is a bolt-in swap.  Edelbrock claims 397 hp and 400 lbs of torque from their "Performer RPM" package on a 350. 400 honest hp in a 3,200 lb car?  That sounds like a rocket to me.  # 4. 231 Buick V6 models. These will be dirt-cheap because nobody wants them.  If you have one, or can buy one cheap, this is what I'd do. Go to a junkyard and find a late '90's Buick Riviera or Pontiac Bonneville SSEI or GP SSEI and get the supercharged 3.8 V6 out of it. These cars had sequential port fuel-injection with a roots-type belt driven blower on the engine. Get the wiring harness if you can, otherwise you'll have to contact Painless wiring. Ditto for the fuel pump. Anyhow they were under-rated at 240 hp stock-which is double what the normally aspirated V6 wheezed out, and you can get over 300 hp easily by changing the pulleys on the blower. Slap some 3.73:1 gears into the rear end and You could give those smug Grand National owners a run they wouldn't forget!  Ford and Mopar and AMC guys really cry the blues. But they just need to think outside the box.  There's quite a few '83-88 T-Birds and Mercury Cougars with 302 V8s under the hood. Anything that fits a Fox Mustang will fit these cars so there's tons of hot rod parts available.  1989-95 T-Birds could be had with a Supercharged 3.8 V6 or a "5.0" V8.   AMC engines are like Pontiacs-from a 290-401 they are externally identical. That means you could buy a late-'70's Hornet or Gremlin with a 304 V8, and a 401 would be a bolt-in. If you can't find a 401-there are millions of 360s in junkyards in Jeep Grand Waggoneers built through 1993. Edelbrock claims 433 hp from their Performer RPM package on a 360. In a Hornet or Gremlin that weighs 2,800 lbs?  Like Jules's wallet it's a Bad Mo#$%*ucker!!  Mopar guys could buy Dodge Diplomats and Chrysler Fifth Avenues from the late '80's and early '90s dirt cheap. Granted, their not sexy-but most have 318 motivation, which means a 360 Magnum out of a Dodge Truck or Jeep Grand Cherokee would be a bolt-in. A Diplomat with dog-dish hubcaps and a 408 inch 360 Magnum-based stroker?  Mastermind           

"You can't always get what you want..."

That was a big hit for the rolling stones. The chorus finishes with "But if you try sometimes,you just might find, you get what you need."  That applies to old cars as well.  I'm getting really tired of people bitching that they can't find a deal on a decent car, yet they've passed up ten absolute steals because they weren't "Exactly what they were looking for."  You have two choices you can search the galaxy for your dream car-and then pay way more than it's worth when you find it.  Or you can be reasonable and you may find a fantastic deal on a great car you'll love.  #1 Consider less than the premium model. This should be a no-brainer.  It isn't.  I know an idiot who wanted a 400 / 4-speed disco-era T/A. He passed up a 400 / 4-speed, T-Top equipped '77 Formula ( For $2,300 in 2006 dollars!!! )  That ran like a scalded cat and only needed a paint job. Guess what he said?  "It's not a Trans-Am"  I beg to differ-it damn well is except for the bodywork!!  The engine and drivetrain and suspension are the same. The interior is the same except the Formula has a wood grain dash panel instead of aluminum, but the guages are the same. Dumb ass. A Camaro lover did the same thing. Passed up a beautiful 350 / 4-speed, '78 Rally Sport Camaro because it "Wasn't a Z / 28".  If you just "Gotta Have" a Boss 302 I hope you've got $50-80K handy, because Ford only built 1,600 in 1969 and another 7,000 or so in 1970.  By contrast-Ford built over 70,000 fastback Mustangs in 1969 alone, most of which had 351W power, which is a much better street engine anyway. I've seen really nice '69-70 Mach 1s for $12-15,000. Anything over 20K is usually amazing. About 1/3 or 1/4 of what you'd pay for a restored Boss 302.  I saw a Pontiac enthusiast pass up an awesome '69 GTO Judge clone for $16,000!!!  Because "It's a fake".  Now mind you-this wasn't a gussied up LeMans-it was a for-real GTO-it just wasn't a Judge originally. The owner had added the spoiler and stripes and emblems. This car was in great condition, had a numbers-matching 400 that ran great and the hood tach and factory Air.  Regardless of paint-this car was easily worth the $16,000 asking price. For a numbers-matching '69 GTO with factory air?!!!  "It's still a fake!"  I told the guy what Patrick Swayze said to Marshall Teague in "Roadhouse" before their fight scene. "You are such an asshole."  # 2 Consider less than the ultimate engine. This too, should be a no-brainer.  There's a lot more 396 Chevelles out there than there are SS454s.  There's a lot more GTOs and Firebirds with the base-model 400 than there are Ram Air IV's.  There's way more 383 Road Runners and Chargers than there are 440 / Six-Packs or Hemis.  I touched on it in an earlier post-I've seen quite a few Chargers with 2bbl carburated 383s and 400s.  Especially the '71-74 models. I think there was an "SE" package option that featured opera windows, a vinyl top, and upgraded upholstery and the larger 383 / 400 V8 in place of the 318.  I see quite a few '69-73 Mustangs and Cougars with 2bbl 351s.  A carb and intake is an easy swap.  A 340 / 360 'Cuda / Challenger / Charger is still a good performer and way cheaper than the 383 / 440 models.  # 3. Consider an automatic transmission. 4-speeds are great fun, I agree. However the cold, hard facts are there are more cars out there with automatics. And honestly-with a good shift kit whether its a 340 Duster or a 396 Chevelle or a 455 Olds 442-the automatic is probably going to be just as quick or quicker on street tires because wheelspin is less on take off.  Even a "Smokey and the Bandit" T/A-swap the 2.56:1 axle ratio for some 3.23-3.42:1s, and your "slushbox" will show it's taillights to those smug 4-speed owners.  Even Corvettes have more autos out there than sticks.  I have seen early '70s Gran Prix's and Monte Carlos with factory 4-speeds, but good luck finding one!  The new for 1969 GP was a smash hit-with over 100,000 units sold.  Of those 100,000+ cars only 112 had a 428 and a 4-speed!  See what I'm saying?  # 4. Consider a 3-speed stick. A lot of musclecars had 3-speed sticks standard and the 4-speeds and automatics were extra-cost options.  You don't see a ton of them, but I've seen a few GTOs and Firebirds with 3-speeds, I've seen 340 Dusters and Demons with 3-speeds and a 383 Challengers and Chargers with them. I've seen quite a few 289 / 302 Mustangs with 3-speeds, and a few 390 models. I've seen some 350 Camaros with 3-speeds.  You can generally buy these cheap because their not really collectible, their just weird, and the public snubs them in favor of 4-speeds and automatics.  # 5. Consider how much your "Gotta Have" option is worth to you.  If it's tri-power on a Pontiac or Mopar or Big-Block Chevy  the swap is easy and maybe 2 grand in parts.  If it's a 426 Hemi or an LS6 454 that's an expensive one-probably 15K just for the engine, if you could find one for sale!!  Got a bench seat Charger or Chevelle and want buckets and a console?  Call Year One and get out your credit card.  Just do some honest thinking about what is or isn't a deal-breaker for you.  Mastermind           

Playing with junk can be cool....

When I was a teenager a lot of guys built cool stuff out of clunkers. One guy built "GTO" El Camino. He took a '66 El Camino  and he put a '67 GTO front clip on it. He put a Pontiac engine in it too.  I can't remember if it was a 389 or a 400, but it would sure smoke the tires!  My cousin bought it already built, but he a Datsun SPL311-a two seat convertible sports car that looks like an MGB-that someone had swapped a 215 inch aluminum Buick V8 into. Since it only weighed about 2,200 lbs it was really quick. We had a lot of fun in that car.  I had a V8 Vega for a while and another friend had a V8 Chevy LUV pickup that was really quick. A guy I went to school with had 304 V8 Gremlin-but since AMC engines are like Pontiacs-their all externally identical-he went to a junkyard and got a 401 out of a Matador Police car and stuffed it in the Gremlin. It was really fast. He smoked a lot of shocked big-block Chevelle owners and 383 and 440 mopars.  One kid should have went on to do custom work like George Barris.  He had the coolest Ford Maverick you ever saw. He made a custom blacked out grille, and some headlight covers so it looked like it had hidden headlights. He removed all the chrome and the door handles. He put some hidden Corvette type door handles on it, body colored. He radiused and flared the fenders and put 50 series tires on it. He added front and rear spoilers that he'd adapted from a Camaro but they looked right at home. It was jet black and sinister looking. The inside was cool too. He'd installed swivel bucket seats out of a Chevy Malibu and he had a Chrysler "Pistol Grip" Hurst shifter on the four-speed. The engine was a 302 but with headers and an Edelbrock "Torker 289" manifold and a 625 cfm Carter AFB-it really ripped on the street-especially in a car that didn't weigh 3,000 lbs.  He didn't have a lot of money in it, but it sure was cool.  Another kid had an '81 Firebird that he'd stuffed a 500 inch Cadillac V8 into that was damn quick. I think that's kind of a lost art nowadays. Everything you see in magazines some guy has 100 grand or more invested.  I'd like to see some cars featured where the limit was say $20,000-including the purchase price of the car.  Bring out some imagination in people instead of just a checkbook.  Mastermind

There's a lot more base models out there than you think...

Some people have asked me about some of the "Rare" cars I've been talking about lately. Except their not that rare. Only the top of the line models had the "Top Dog" engines. There are a lot of Camaros and Chevelles out there with 250 hp 2 bbl 350 V8s.  In 1972 they went to Net hp ratings-the 350 4bbl that was rated at 300 hp in 1969-70 ( with 10.25:1 compression ) and 270 hp in 1971 ( with 8.5:1 compression ) was now rated at 175 hp. The '72 cars didn't "lose" 95hp; the engines were identical. The rating system changed. The 2 bbl 350 that was rated at 250 hp in 1970 was now rated at 165. Anyhow-unless you got a Z / 28 or an SS model-chances are your Camaro had one of those engines. Although they were available with everything from a 250 inch straight six to a 454, most Monte Carlos had 350 power, and most of them had 2 bbl carbs. Most Firebird and LeMans models had 350 2bbl motivation. The Formula 400, GTO and Trans-Am were the big dogs. Quite a few Firebird Esprits had 2bbl 400s. The same for Olds Cutlasses-if it wasn't a 442 or a W31-the most popular engine was a 350 with a 2bbl.  Fords were the same. There are a lot of '65-73 Mustangs with 2bbl 289s, 2bbl 302s, 2bbl 351Ws, and 2bbl 351Cs. I've seen a few 1967-70 models with 2bbl 390s!!  Ditto for '67-73 Cougars. Chrysler was the same way. I have seen quite a few 2bbl 383 and 400 Chargers and Satellites, and Sport Furys. Even AMC was that way. There are a lot of 2bbl 304,343 and 360 Javelins out there.  Like I said-this is an easy fix-$600 will buy you an Edelbrock Performer Intake and matching 4bbl carb for most engines and almost anybody can change a carb and intake with hand tools. You'll have a huge increase in performance and sometimes better gas mileage. If you "gotta have" a 396 Chevelle or a 440 Road Runner or 455 Olds 442 or whatever and can afford it, by all means get it. But don't write off a base model just because it has a base model engine. A 351 Ford or 350 Chevy has more speed equipment available for them than anything else on the planet. 383 Mopars and 400 Pontiacs can make just as much power as a 440 or 455, just at a higher rpm. Mastermind    

More in the same vein.....Have some common sense!!

I'm sorry to be so cynical all the time, but like comedian Ron White says-"You can't fix stupid".  The reasons people don't buy cars that are a screaming deal just leave me shaking my head in disgust.  # 1. Carburators. I've talked to people who passed up great cars at reasonable prices because it had the wrong carburator on it!! Really??  Idiot # 1.  Passed up a pristine '72 Mach 1 Mustang because it had a 2 bbl on the 351C.  This car had a gorgeous red and black paint job, and the interior was also two-tone red and black, and it had fat T/A radials on Magnum 500 wheels. This same moron also passed on a nice '69 fastback because it had a 2 bbl 351W under the hood.  Idiot # 2. Passed up two '68 Chargers because they had 2-bbl  383s. One was a little old lady driven, unrestored but always garaged and exceptionally well-maintained unit with dog-dish hubcaps, and a bench seat. The other one had a gorgeous Torch Red ( a '90's Corvette color ) paint job and fat T/A Radials on Center Line wheels, and it had headers and a loud exhaust that sounded better than the General Lee. Summit Racing sells Edelbrock manifolds for about $200 for most engines. They also sell Edelbrock or Holley 4 bbl carbs for about $400. So for $600 and a couple hrs labor-you could have a huge increase in performance and drivability on a great car. Instead-these morons pass up these cars and either don't get one at all, or end up buying one not as nice for more money!!  Idiot # 3. Passed up a fantastic '70 Firebird Esprit that had a gorgeous bright blue metallic ( an '80's IROC-Z color ) paint job, a pristine white interior and matching white vinyl top, and Center Line wheels, because it had a 2 bbl on the 400!!  This is such a lame excuse, because changing a carb and intake is easy even for an amateur. Further-if you wanted to spend a little extra money, Mopar performance sells the throttle linkage and air cleaner, Holley sells the carbs and Edelbrock still sells the manifold if you want to put a "Six-Pack" setup on your 440 Charger or Road Runner. Edelbrock discontinued the small-block manifold a few years ago-but there's plenty of them in circulation if you wanted to put a "Six-Pack" on a 340 / 360.  If you can't find a Pontiac Tri-Power setup for sale you aren't looking past the end of your nose. This adds value to the car, not the other way around.  Ugh! #2. Vinyl Tops. I touched on this in a previous post. Whether you do or don't want one, it's a pretty easy fix. There's shops everywhere that for a few hundred bucks will add or remove a vinyl top. Honestly-I don't care that much. If I had my choice-I don't personally like vinyl tops. I think they distract from the lines of the car. That aside-If I found a 400, 4-speed  GTO or Firebird, or SS396 Chevelle I really liked, I think I'd just live with the vinyl top if it had one. Ditto for a Charger or Challenger or GTX. This doesn't matter enough to be a deal-breaker for me. Yet I saw a Pontiac Guy walk away from a pristine for-real, numbers-matching RAIII 1970 Judge because it had a vinyl top!!  A white vinyl top-on a white car with white interior!!!  That's the most ridiculous thing in my opinion. Again-this clown ended up paying MORE for an ugly green vinyl topless '69 base model than the guy was asking for the RAIII Judge!!!   # 3. Wheels. This one really blows my mind, because it's such an easy fix. Yet I've seen Pontiac guys turn up their noses at spectacular 400, 4-speed T/A's and Formula Firebirds because the car had Honeycomb wheels instead of Rally II's, or Snowflakes, or because the car had aftermarket wheels.  I've seen Mopar guys walk away from pristine Chargers or GTX's becaue the car had Rallye wheels instead of Magnum 500s, or Cragars or ET mags. I saw a Chevy guy turn up his nose at a totally badass Z / 28  Camaro because it had Minilite wheels ( which I thought looked fantastic ) on it. The stupid thing is-you can usually sell the wheels you don't like and cover most or all of the cost of getting the one's you do want!!.  Don't pass up your dream car for some trivial option that's easily changed!!  Mastermind      

Lower your sights a little and you might find a screaming deal...

I get a lot of thumbs-up from people about a post from a couple years back. It was titled "There is no used car factory" to order from. Many people need to hear that statement. The chance of you finding a 40 or 50 year old car with the engine and transmission you want, the interior color you want the outside color you want, the axle-ratio you want, the wheels you want, etc, etc is almost nil. You have a better chance of being struck by lightning or winning the lottery. You have to be reasonable. I can understand saying "OK, I want an SS396 Chevelle with a 4-speed and front disc brakes." There's hundreds of thousands of them from 1966-70 with those options. If you can't find a car with those options, you aren't looking past the end of your nose. However if it has to be a 1970 model with a cowl induction hood, a tilt steering wheel, A/C, power windows, a white interior, and a white vinyl top and white stripes over a cranberry red paint job-your going to have a rough time. You have to be flexible-If you want a '70's Monte Carlo most are 350 powered. A 402 or 454 model is going to be rare and expensive. However-Pontiac Gran Prix's from 1969-76 have 400 power all years and a fair number of "SJ" models have 455s.  If you want a 1969-76 Pontiac Gran Prix with a 400 or 455 V8 that's pretty easy to find. If it has to be a 1969 model with a 428 and a 4-speed, or a 1971 Hurst SSJ with a moonroof, that's going to be much harder to find and much more expensive! If you can live with a 340 or a 383 'Cuda or Challenger it will be much easier and cheaper than if you "gotta have" a 440 or a 440 Six-Pack. A Hemi-hope for a powerball win. And recognize a steal when you see it. I missed it, but a neighbor of mine recently sold a 1977 L82 / 4-speed Corvette for $3,000!!  The paint was faded, but the interior was perfect, and it ran like a top. A paint job and a set of tires and this car was ready to go. It was that nice. The guy could have easily got 7 or 8 grand for it-but he didn't want to wait and go through 50 tire kickers to get a real buyer. Another guy I know bought a '67 T-Bird for $1,000. It needs to be restored-but the body is clean and remarkably dent and rust free. The 390 needs to be freshened and it needs paint and interior work, but I bet he won't have 10 grand in it when he's done.  So don't despair and be reasonable in your expectations. Mastermind

Dealers order what the other 99% will buy....

Having spent a good portion of my life working in the car business I learned a few things. One is the dealers want to please the masses. They order cars that have the most appeal to the most people. For example a lot of people won't buy black cars. Their hard to keep looking clean and their hotter in the summer than other colors. I personally would love to have a black Hellcat Challenger with the widebody option and monster tires. But that's me. There's people who won't buy red cars. The same goes for options. The Kelley Blue Book actually deducts value if a car has a manual transmission. Now you may want a 5-speed in your Mustang or a 6-speed in your 'Vette, but since 95% of the general public want automatics-a stick is a detriment in the value guide. Anyhow-why do you think so many cars in the '60's and '70's had vinyl tops? To pad the stickers with high-profit options!!  In my opinion nothing looks good with a vinyl top. On some cars-particularly '70's Camaros and Firebirds a vinyl top really screws up an otherwise great-looking car. But dealers ordered them in droves, because it made money and most people would tolerate them. It was a rare person who walked off the lot or demanded that they dealer trade or special order another car WITHOUT the damned vinyl top. So somehow-a vinyl top became a "popular" option. Remember the phony wood trim on the sides of Ford wagons?  That was the ugliest crap ever put on a car-but it was rare to see a wagon without it!!  GM and Chrysler had that crap too but Ford was the worst offender. They only ordered for stock and promoted the high-end, high profit models. Everyone did. For example in the late '70's you could get a Rally Sport Camaro with a 350 and a 4-speed. You could get a base-model Camaro with a 350 and a 4-speed. Did you ever see one on a dealer's lot?  Hell no!!  You want a hot rod Camaro, you are damn well stepping up and buying a loaded Z / 28!!  That's the mentality the dealers had. Same for Pontiac. You could get a 400 or a 455 in a Formula Firebird through most of the '70's. How many 455HO Formulas have you seen? Or 400 Formulas? Or 350 / 4-speed models?  Yes Pontiac made a "Formula 350" with the scooped hood and the trim of it's bigger brothers, but you rarely see one. That's because the dealers wanted you to buy a Trans-Am. In the late '70's GMC Trucks had a cool option called the "Street Coupe". Never heard of it? I'm not surprised. Anyhow it was an option on 1/2 ton 2WD pickups. You got multi-colored tape stripes down the sides,Bucket seats in the interior,special "Street Coupe" badging and 15X8 Rally Wheels shod with fat, LR60-15 white-letter tires. Engine choices were anything from a 2bbl 305 to a 454. A friend of mine had a 454 stepside with a TH400 and a 3.73:1 posi, and he showed his tailgate to many shocked Camaro, Firebird and Mustang owners!! It was on the option list from '77-81, but you almost never see one. GMC also had an option for the Caballero ( GMC's version of the El Camino, somewhere around '77 the name was changed from "Sprint" to "Caballero" ). That was called "Diablo" and had a big devil decal on the hood much like the T/A's screaming chicken, special striping, and body-colored slotted Rally Wheels. One of the buff magazines tested one with a 350 and a 4-speed. In the downsized for '78 intermediates that combo really moved, ( Yes you could order that combo in 1978 but not many dealers did ) and they raved about the burnouts it could do. Outside of that magazine test and a salesman I knew in Springfield, Missouri that had one, I have never seen another one. I didn't know the Li'l Red Express option existed on Dodge Pickups until I read about one in Car and Driver and then went to my local dealer to see one. They also had a cool "Macho" package for 4x4's. Since the largest engine you could get in Ford F150 was a 2bbl 351M / 400M and GM offered an anemic 400 small-block Chevy that wheezed out 170 hp in a K10-that 440 powered D150 was a very "Macho" ride indeed!  But they weren't promoted. Same thing with the Ford Lightning, GMC Cyclone and Dodge Dakota R / T pickups in the '90's. What were the bean counters thinking? "Okay, lets build 3,000 or so obscenely fast but totally useless trucks that will appeal to gearheads, but don't promote them in the magazines or in sales brochures."  "People might want to buy them". Huh?  If I hadn't worked in dealers, I never would have known that Buick Grand Nationals existed, or that in 1989 you could get a Trans-Am with the GN motor!!  They weren't promoted in factory literature or the buff magazines. Ditto for 2003-2004. The Mercury Marauder was a cool car based on the Crown Victoria Police car platform. But it went beyond the "Police Interceptor" package. These had wrist-thick front and rear sway bars, fat, ZR-rated tires on 18" wheels, a special interior with Auto Meter guages, a 4-speed automatic with a high-stall converter and the snarling 302 hp V8 out of the Mustang Cobra. They wren't promoted in the brochures, and I can't find a single magazine road test of one. They have a "cult" following now, and Ford bean counters are wondering to this day why they didn't sell when GM sold every Impala SS they could make. Because for once-GM did some promotion. "Hey guys-we took a Caprice Cop car, stuffed a Corvette engine in it, beefed up the suspension and the brakes, put some fat tires and chrome wheels on it and gave it a badass monochromatic paint job." "What do you think?" "You love it?" "Great!!" "We'll sell the shit out of them until we stupidly stop making rear-drive Caprices". Check the option lists carefully-If you want a "Bullitt" Mustang or a Hellcat Challenger by all means buy it. However-the Challenger R / T Scat pack or T/A options are pretty cool, and so is the base model Mustang. You don't always have to buy the big dog that the greedy dealers are pushing. Mastermind              

Some options were costly....And marketed wrong....

A lot of people ask me why their aren't more ultra-premium musclecars around, especially since nowadays with a Honda Accord or Toyota Camry's sticker topping $30,000-the old musclecars seem cheap by comparison. You have to remember-a house that costs $500,000 today was $25,000 50 years ago. The reason there aren't more premium musclecars is three-fold. # 1 Cost. For example the base price of a '68 Road Runner was $2,800. That included a 383 V8 and a 3-speed manual trans. Now if you wanted the mighty 426 Hemi-the Hemi was a $1,200 option!! Just for the engine. And checking the Hemi box on the order form added a bunch of other "mandatory" extra cost options-like a 4-speed or an automatic, a heavy duty radiator, a Dana 60 rear end instead of an 8 3/4, and heavy duty suspension. Pretty quickly the tab could rise to over $5,000. Which is double the base price! Secondly-a Hemi only had a 1 year / 12,000 mile warranty. Every other engine had a 5 year / 50,000 mile warranty. For a young guy-who maybe had a wife and kids-that warranty was very important to a lot of people. If you wanted more punch than the 383 had to offer-the 440 4-bbl was like a $200 option. A lot less than $1,200, plus the "mandatory" stuff.  This isn't an isolated example. The base price of a 1969 Mustang was $2,848!!  The base price of the Boss 429 was $4,798, and again with very few options-some "mandatory"-the sticker price easily climbed past $6,000!! More than double the base price. The LS6 454 was an $1,100 option on the Chevelle. The Ram Air IV was a $558 option on the GTO-and again-required other "mandatory" options like a 4-speed ( a 3-speed was standard ) or a TH400, 3.90:1 or 4.33:1 gears, a posi, and front disc brakes. The price rose quickly on these cars to where some people just couldn't afford it. # 2. Excellence of the base model. The base-model SS396 or 400 GTO or 383 Super Bee or whatever-was so fast and so nice to drive-that after test driving one-you may decide that you don't really need more power. Especially for the extra $1,200+ that a Hemi or an LS6 cost. Like it's big brother-the price of a Boss 302 went over $5,000 pretty easily. And they were only available with a 4-speed, Air Conditioning wasn't available, and they were peaky and had very little torque below 3,000 rpm. Now a "standard" Mach 1 had a 351W for power-which had 385 lbs of torque, could be had with a stick or an automatic, could be had with A/C, and with it's gobs of low-end torque, was a much better street engine with much better manners in most driving situations. Plus the styling and striping options were very close to the Boss's, yet the 351W Mach 1 was hundreds or even a thousand or more dollars cheaper!!  So "Joe Average" test drives a peaky Boss 302 that doesn't really impress him. Then he drives the Mach 1-which will fry the tires off-idle, purrs like a kitten when your not hot-rodding it, and I know it sounds-chauvinistic but it's a reality-maybe he wants an automatic because his wife or girlfriend either can't or doesn't like to drive a stick. And the car is $1,000 or more LESS?  Which one would you buy? Especially not knowing that 40 years hence one would be worth the price of a house? Again-you drive a Charger that has the $200 440 Magnum on the sticker. With 375 hp and 490 lbs of torque that pavement ripping 440 will spin the tires as long as you want to stay on the throttle, and is really long-legged on the highway. Especially if the car has 3.23:1 or 3.54:1 gears. Are you going to spend another 2 grand for a Hemi? Hell no!!  Just like now-in 2019. Let's say you want a Hemi Challenger to live out your Kowalski fantasies. Great!-A base-model Hemi Challenger R / T is $35,000. Like we said earlier not much more than a Honda Accord!!  So, Are you going to spend 70K+ for a Hellcat? Probably not. See what I'm saying?  # 3. Bad Marketing.  For whatever reason, sometimes the manufacturer's didn't push certain options, or they overlapped with other models. For example there aren't many 350HO '68-69 Firebirds. The reason is they cost as much as the 400 models. In 1971-72 Chevy marketed a Chevelle called the "Heavy Chevy". It had a domed SS hood, blacked out grille, slotted Rally wheels,"Heavy Chevy" graphics and was available with any V8 up to and including the 396 / 402-which was marketed as a "400". However-the "SS" package could now also be had on any V8 Malibu model, including small-blocks. So depending on how the dealer ordered each car-it was possible to have the cooler, more sought after "SS" model for the same or less money than the` "price beater". Ditto for the 1970-72 Tempest T-37 / Lemans GT. Labeled by the buff magazines as the "Poor man's GTO" they were a good deal with the standard 2bbl 350 V8 and 3-speed stick and bench seats. But if you added bucket seats, and a 400 or a 455 with a 4-speed or a TH400, the price quickly rose to GTO levels. So why not get the real deal? Not many people knew about the awesome W31 350 option on the base-model Cutlass. The dealers wanted to sell the higher profit 442 models. Unless you were a gearhead and knew exactly what to ask for-you might not even know these options exist. Like Chevrolet rating the Tri-Power, 11;1 427 at 435 hp and the 12.5:1 much more radical L88 at 430!!  So while 6 or 7 grand may seem like a steal for a Hemi Charger now-in 1969 it was big dollars. Kind of like the Hellcat now. Mastermind          

Save the Manuals....Please!!

A while back Car&Driver had an article and started a campaign called "Save the Manuals." Their writers were concerned that everything being built whether an econobox or a Supercar, had an automatic transmission or a CVT. Some models had no manual transmission option. Especially among high-performance cars and sports cars, they encouraged people to buy the manual trans models, citing that regardless of numbers, the manuals were much more fun to drive. I have to agree. A big part of what makes a Honda S2000 or a Mazda Miata so damn much fun to drive is their slick-shifting, close-ratio six-speed manual transmissions. Ditto for the Nissan 370Z. The "Z" boasts 332 hp from it's V6 engine, which moves the sleek two seater along with quite a bit of alarcity. I have driven the 7-speed automatic models and the six-speed manuals. Without electronic timing equipment-i.e.-using the "seat of the pants" barometer-I'd say any difference in performance is negligible. In a 0-60 or 1/4 mile drag race it would probably be too close to call. However the fun factor of the manual is off the charts. Especially with the "rev-matching" feature. Normally I hate any electronic device that intrude's on the driver's control, but I like this one, because it can make any slob look and sound like the long-lost Andretti brother. When the driver downshifts quickly, the car automatically "blips" the throttle to make the shift smoother. Back in the day-experienced Porsche 911 drivers and even Triumph and MG drivers would brag about their ability to do this when driving fast and using the "heel and toe" method to work the pedals. It sounds cool and really does make the shift smoother if you do it right, but it takes a lot of practice to get good at it. With the 370Z, the car helps you look like Denny Hamlin. Now-wait for it-guys are going to bluster-"Yeah with any 4-banger or V6 the stick is going to be more fun, but with a big V8...."  Nope, sorry guys the sticks win there too. I had two "Smokey and the Bandit" T/A's back in the early '80's. The 400, 4-speed model was way more fun than the 403 / TH350 model. Of course-you say-the 3.42:1 geared 4-speed Pontiac could smite the 2.56:1 geared slushbox Olds model in biblical fashion. In bone-stock trim, yes. But the 403 model had headers and real dual exhausts, a Holley "Street Dominator" intake, and a TransGo shift kit. It would run 14.9's all day, and my all-time best was a 14.78. Using magazine road tests from '77-79 as a guide-1/4 mile times for the 400, 4-speed models ranged from 14.61 ( Hot Rod ) to 15.30 ( Car&Driver ). My car obviously fell smack-dab in the middle of those times, so the stick wasn't really noticeably faster in a drag race, but it was way more fun. In fact- a friend had a DKM modified "Macho T/A" at the same time. It was a 400 Pontiac / TH350 model. It had the "Macho" mods of a re-curved distributor, opened hood scoop and re-jetted carb, and Hooker Headers and real dual exhausts ( with 2 Catylitic Converters ). It also had a TransGo shift kit, but it had a 3.23:1 axle ratio. It would walk away from a stock 4-speed model by two or three car lengths in a drag race. Yet, the owner of the "Macho" freely admitted the stick was more fun, and wished his car had one!  I concur. My brother's GTO is probably every bit as fast as my Judge was, but it's an automatic. Speed ? Too Close to call. Thrills ?  Judge, hands down, end of story.  That 4-speed, 4.33:1 geared monster would rip your head off in any gear any time you punched it. I had a couple of friends in high school-both had 1970 SS396 Chevelles. One was a 4-speed, the other a TH400. They drag raced a lot, and it was usually too close to call, unless one of them spun the tires too much on launch. Both driver's agreed the Rock-Crusher was more fun than the slushbox, even though it wasn't any faster. I knew two brothers who were both Mopar guys. One had a neat 273, 4-speed '67 Barracuda Convertible. The other had a '70 340 / Torqueflite Dart. The 340 Dart was quicker in drag race, but the Barracuda was much more fun to drive. The same goes for modern cars. Car&Driver raved that Aston-Martin built a V12 Vantage with a 7-speed stick and no electronic nannys. It would spin the tires in 3rd gear at 60 mph, and was an absolute blast to drive. Yes the automatic equipped, electronic nanny-laden Porsche 911 and Nissan GTR were both quicker in a drag race and around Willow Springs Raceway-but they felt dead and antiseptic even if they were blisteringly fast. The Aston-Martin made you feel like Richard Petty or A.J. Foyt. I drove my friend's 2015 ZO6 Corvette. It is undgodly fast. And the 8-speed automatic transmission works flawlessly. Depending on speed, it will snap from 6th to 3rd or whatever with eyeblink speed when you punch it. I've driven 416 hp Lexus ISF's that run high 12's in the 1/4. Do we really need 8 or 10 gears? Yes, it delivers the power seamlessly, and the car is really fast.  A 414 hp six-speed manual BMW M3 has performance numbers almost identical to the Lexus. However the BMW blows it away on the fun factor. The transmission shifts flawlessly, and the sound of a V8 when you bang a shift at 7,500 rpm??? ( It's redlined at 8,400!!! ). The BMW rips ass and revels in it; the Lexus acts like it's annoyed at such shenanigans, even though it's capable of them. A buddy of mine is a Service Writer in a Dodge Dealership. He says the 375 hp base-model 5.7 Hemi Challenger with a six-speed manual is an absolute blast to drive, even more fun than the automatic 465 hp SRT8 model, even though it has nearly 100 more hp. In fact-he says-although the 707 hp Hellcat versions of the Charger and Challenger are defintely "King Kong" when it comes to speed-away from the track where can you safely open one up?  He honestly says if he won the lottery tomorrow he wouldn't buy a Hellcat; he'd get a Challenger R/T with the base Hemi and a six-speed or maybe a Challenger T/A with the 392 and a six-speed so he can live out his Kowalski fantasies. I can't argue with that. A guy I worked with had a '69 Gran Prix with a 428 and a 4-speed. It had A/C, power windows, locks, seats, etc. When you drove it it felt like a GTO!  Another guys 454 / TH400 Monte Carlo was nearly as fast-but it felt like an overpowered Cadillac Coupe DeVille. Not the same feeling. So whether your buying an old car or a new one, save the manuals!!! Mastermind    

RIP Patricia Fenton Scott...A "Musclecar Mom" if there ever was one...

Sad News on Valentine's Day Feb 14th after a nice dinner with my dad and my sister and I my mother passed away suddenly from a heart attack. She was 75. She always said she went out with my dad the first time simply because he had a cool car. That "Cool" car was a Jet-Black 1959 Pontiac Catalina with the 345 hp Tri-Power ( 3-2bbl ) 389 V8 and a Warner T85 3-speed. They spent many nights drag racing on the great highway by the beach in San Francisco where they lived. I remember that car from when I was a little kid. I also remember her Blue and White '58 Chevy Impala. That one was a 283 / Powerglide. She had chrome reverse wheels with baby moon hubcaps and big whitewalls on it. She loved that car. She was furious when, without discussing it with her, my dad traded it in on a 1965 Pontiac Catalina. As a protest she refused to drive it, commandeering his beloved '64 GTO, which had replaced the '59 Catalina. I have to say mom handled the Rock-Crusher equipped, 4.33:1 geared Goat exceptionally well through the streets of SF, although it used to drive my grandmother bonkers when we'd back out of her driveway on 29th Street ( A VERY STEEP SF Hill ) roll backwards, and then light up the tires all the way up the hill!!  Those 7.75-14 Uniroyal Tiger Paw redlines would smoke forever!  She finally agreed to drive the Catalina and give dad the Goat back, scolding him with "How'd you like it if I traded your GTO without asking you?" Needless to say, Dad bought, sold and traded many cars, trucks and motorcycles in the ensuing years, but HIS, never again Mom's!  My dad's friends were all gearheads so we always had ton's of cool cars around. Paul and JoElla had a '63 Split-Window Corvette Stingray, Jan and Paula had a for-real 289 Shelby Cobra, Sonny had an SS396 Chevelle, and Dave had a 400, 4-speed, '67 Firebird Convertible. Bryan Adam's sang about the "Summer of '69"; I remember it too but not because of teenage romance. I was only 7 or 8. But my mom had a '67 Olds Delta 88 convertible. We always had the top down on that car. She used to take me and my friends to the movies, to the park, roller-skating. Our favorite day trips were to Marin County where my dad owned a Shell Station. There was a Burger / BBQ place next door called "Booby's". Their Burgers were awesome. My dad would let me and my buddies "work" a couple hrs pumping gas and washing windshields, emptying trash cans, etc. Then he'd give us a few bucks and my mom would take us to "Booby's" for lunch. For a little kid that was into cars-could you have a better day than that?  Our house was party central. No matter how many people dropped by on Saturday or Sunday to bench race or watch football mom always managed to feed everybody and make sure every body had a good time. She didn't even really get mad when I set the top of the Olds on fire with a bottle rocket on the 4th of July. My dad was pissed-but my mom was more like-"Isn't that a beautiful fire he started?" My first car was a Ram Air III, 4-speed, 4.33:1 geared '69 GTO Judge. How my dad convinced mom that buying that for a 16 year old was a good idea, I don't know. Needless to say, I lost my driver's liscence in less than a year. I have to say mom was better than F. Lee Bailey at arguing with Juvenile Traffic Judges, and somehow keeping us ( I have a brother and sister as well that drove like they were on the "Dukes of Hazzard" ) liscenced and out of jail most of the time. She loved my brother's GTO, my dad and I's Trans-Ams, and my Hurst / Olds in later years. She always hated my SS396 El Camino however. I don't think she hated the car-more the circumstances in which she drove it. For whatever reason her car was down and she needed to borrow mine. She was in her early '40's then, but still very trim and attractive-she could easily pass for 30. She came home perplexed that all over town guys from 16-60 were waving and honking at her and trying to pull her over, and she didn't know why. She was mortified when, while gasping for breath and rolling on the ground with laughter, my sister pointed out the Bumper Sticker on the Elky which read: "Certified Sex Instructor" "First Lesson Free". She wanted to murder me, but I have to say I honestly forgot I had that on the car when I lent it to her. I was only 21 or 22 at the time-of course I had an obnoxious sticker like that!!  My dad died laughing when he got home. Mom did not find it entertaining. Anyhow she loved her children and later her granchildren, some of whom are gearheads, fiercely. She always made Christmas, Birthdays, 4th of July, Labor Day, tons of fun. She will be sorely missed by everyone who knew and loved her. Especially me. Mastermind    

Other "Rodney Dangerfields" that could be badass sleepers....

Comedian Rodney Dangerfield always joked that he got "No Respect" . In the last post I talked about the GM "X" bodies and what great hot rod potential they have. Well, there's some others out there that are treated like Rodney that could really run with very little work. # 1. 1970-76 Plymouth Duster / Dodge Dart. Obviously the 340 versions are the most sought after, and prices are rising on those. However there's millions of 318 models that can still be bought cheap. In these light cars-maybe 3,000 lbs-a 318 can really rock. They respond well to basic hot rod tricks-4bbl carb and intake, headers and dual exhausts, mild cam. '91 and later "Magnum" heads will bolt up to earlier blocks for an even bigger boost. You'll need a "Magnum" compatible intake, but Edelbrock has you covered. A shift kit in the Torqueflite, and some 3.55:1 or 3.91:1 gears, some sticky tires and traction bars or a pinion snubber and you'll show your taillights to many a shocked big-block musclecar owner. Some of these cars had a 318 backed by a 3-speed manual. Get you a Hurst shifter ( the stock ones are balky even when not driving hard ) and look at it this way-you have a torqueflite with a high-stall converter. You can pop the clutch at 3,500-4,000 rpm for a jack rabbit launch. Or you could swap in a 4 or 5 speed if you wanted to.  # 2. 1971-77 Ford Maverick / Mercury Comet. While a lot of these have six-cylinder motivation, the 302 versions are the ones to have. Weighing in about 2,900 lbs-these make great sleepers. A friend of mine's 440 Road Runner got his doors blown off one night by a hot 302 Maverick. Their short wheel base makes them good drag racers and there's more speed equipment for a small-block Ford than anything but a small-block Chevy. You could go "Pro Street" radiused rear wheelwells, huge meats, a hood scoop hiding dual quads. I'd go the other way-skinny tires, dog-dish hubcaps, the whole granny look to really blow people away when you eat their lunch. # 3. 1975-79  Dodge Aspen / Plymouth Volare. These replaced the Duster / Dart line. Ever-tightening emission standards kept them from having a performance version. Dodge had an R / T model, and Plymouth even shamelessly put the Road Runner name on a Volare which caused Mopar guys to vomit,and howl blasphemy to the heavens. But they are light, ( about 3,200 lbs ) and most have 318s although there are some 360 versions. How badass would one be with a "Magnum" headed, 360 based 408 stroker?  # 4. 1975-78 Ford Mustang II. A lot had 4-banger or V6 motors but the ones to get are the 302 versions. The buff magazines called them "dogs" but that's because they were saddled with 2 bbl carburation, single exhaust, and salt-flats gearing like 2.75:1. With a curb weight of about 2,700 lbs-it would only take a 4bbl carb and intake, some dual exhausts and some 3.50:1 gears change to make one of these really rock. Or going further-a nasty 347 stroker?  # 5. 1975-79 Chevy Monza / Pontiac Sunbird / Olds Starfire.  A lot of these had 231 V6 power, but quite a few had 305 Chevy V8's. Some '75-76 "California" models had 350s!!  ( For some perverse reason, the 305s weren't certified for California emissions. If a customer ordered a V8 in California they got a 350 ). Like the Mustang II 2bbl carburation and axle ratios like 2.29:1 made them slugs. But even a 305  model can really run with 4bbl carb, dual exhausts and some 3.42:1 gears and you'll have a rocker. They weigh less than 3,000 lbs.  These aren't sexy, but they can go real fast for very low bucks. Mastermind    

"X" could be the ultimate sleeper...

Kiss had a hit several years ago titled "Let's Put the "X" in Sex".  I thought of that and thought about an often neglected car that has great potential-The 1968-79 GM "X" body. The '68-74 Chevy Nova already has kind of a "cult" following-you see tons of them in the buff magazines. However almost all of those are done in the '90's "Pro Street" style-i.e.-looking like Pro Stock drag racer-narrowed rear ends with huge tires in the rear, a nasty small or big block Chevy with a blower or tunnel ram protruding through the hood. And that's Ok. My vision is a little different. "X" bodies have great potential for two reasons. # 1. Their engine bays will swallow anything from a Chevy straight six, a Buick V6, a 350 Chevy, Pontiac, Olds or Buick to a 454 Chevy or a 455 Pontiac or Olds or Buick. # 2. The basic platform is the same as a Camaro or Firebird. That means any suspension or brake upgrades that fit a Camaro / Firebird will fit these cars. You could build a drag racer that will pull the front wheels on take-off, a corner carver that can run with a Z06 'Vette in the twisties, or anything in-between. The first word of advice I would give any X-Body builder is first off-get the one you want. Chevy Novas are the most popular and will be pricier than the other versions, but compared to a same-year Camaro or Chevelle their still dirt cheap. If you want a Pontiac Ventura, get one. Ditto for an Olds Omega. Not many Buick Apollos around, but there's a few. Secondly try to get one with the engine line you want. Because of GM playing musical engines in the '70's because of smog laws a lot of these are going to have small-block Chevys in them, which is if anything a plus factor. There's more speed equipment for a small block Chevy than anything else on the planet. Even if it has anemic 262 or 305 that's not a deal breaker because a 350 or 383 stroker would be a bolt-in. However-if you "gotta have" a "real" Pontiac engine in your Ventura-their are a lot of them with 350 Pontiacs under the hood. The good thing about this is 350 Pontiacs respond well to basic hot rod tricks-carb and intake, headers and dual exhausts, mild cam, etc. You can make 325-350 hp and 400 lbs ft of torque pretty easy. If you need more than that-a 400 or 455 is a bolt-in swap. Their are Omegas out there with 350 Olds V8s under the bonnet. Of the "other"-i.e.-non-Chevrolet 350s the Olds has the most potential. Edelbrock claims 397 hp and 400 lbs of torque from their "Performer RPM" package on a 350 with stock heads. 400 hp will turn a 3,200 lb "X" body into an absolute rocket. If you want more than that-a 403 would be a bolt-in swap-53 extra cubes will give you a big torque boost. You'd need special pistons-but you can use 455 heads on a 350 / 403 if you want to build a real stomper. Or you could swap in a 455. As for Buicks-if you find one with a 350 Buick they make nice drivers-but their isn't much speed equipment available for 350 Buicks. There is quite a bit for 400-430-455s-Edelbrock makes heads and intakes, Crane, Lunati, etc make cams, Hooker makes headers. If you find a 231 V6 model here's a thought-though it might be a little pricey. Find a wrecked late '90's early 2000's Buick Riviera or Pontiac Bonneville or Grand Am / Gran Prix SSEI with the Supercharged 3.8 V6. They have 240 hp stock, and could easily make 100-150 more by changing pulleys on the blower. Scarcer still and more expensive would be the vaunted Turbo V6 out a wrecked Grand National or Regal T-Type. Dynamite if you could find one. My personal choice would be a '71-74 Ventura.  As for suspension I would use WS6 Trans-Am sway bars and KYB shocks. I'd use an '84-92 WS6 Trans-Am steering box. These have a 12.7:1 ratio which is even quicker than the '70's T/A's 14:1. Some Year One 17X9 "Snowflake" or "Honeycomb" wheels shod with 255/ 50ZR17 tires. I'd use a 400 Pontiac stroked to 467 inches with aluminum Edelbrock heads. Besides the hp boost, the reduced weight on the front end will help handling too. I'd radius and flare the wheel wells to clear the big tires, and put front and rear spoilers on it. I'd cut a hole in the hood and use a Trans-Am "Shaker" scoop-like a '74 GTO. Paint would be either Monochromatic Sinister black, or Diamond White pearl with Diamond Blue pearl stripes like a '70-'72 Trans-Am or maybe a '78-79 "Macho" T/A. Any body else have ideas for a badass "X" body?  Mastermind    

"Brand Loyalty" and hating the others is just counter-productive....

I get so tired of seeing jacked-up Dodge Ram pickups with a sticker of "Calvin" ( of the comic strip "Calvin&Hobbes ) pissing on a Chevy Bow-Tie or Ford emblem. I'm really tired of 50 year old men acting like their 12 at car shows. "Chevys suck!" "Mopars Rule" "Fords Suck" etc, etc. Get over yourselves guys. Like it or not the Small-block Chevy is THE engine of the 20th century and is still relevant today. You can buy mega-hp crate engines for very reasonable prices. Introduced in 1955 It quickly eclipsed the flathead Ford that had ruled the 40's and 50's as "The" hot rod engine. Vic Edelbrock Sr. got started in 1938 by making hot rod parts for Flathead Fords. However, if that's all he ever did he'd have eventually went out of business and the company wouldn't be the Juggernaut it is today. Vic Sr and Vic Jr, visionaries that they were,introduced new products and changed with the times. Now 75 years later they are a power in the automotive aftermarket industry. However if when Bob Joehnk approached Vic Jr about making a high-performance manifold for the Small-block Chevy-instead of doing it and marketing it-if he had sneered "My dad built this business on Flathead Ford parts, that's our specialty." "And I hate those goddamn Chevys". His business would have went down the tubes. Get an increasing share of a shrinking market. Sure-fire way to bankruptcy. Thank god he was smarter than that. Years ago I worked in an Import Performance Specialty store. We sold high-performance parts for VW's, Porsches, MGs, Triumphs, Jaguars, and Datsuns amd Toyotas. Headers, cams, Weber Carbs, stroker kits, cylinder had we had it all. I loved the job and I enjoyed talking to our customers and helping them build their cars. I had one guy that ran a "Mini-Stock" a Toyota Corolla in dirt track races. It had a 2TC overhead cam 1600cc engine. It had a Weber carb and a header and a hot cam in it. For a little car it was really fast. And he won a lot of races with it. Another guy did road races with a Datsun 510.  Other guys hot rodded VW's-one guy had a wicked Karmann Ghia that suprprised many musclecar owners. Then there was the British enthusiasts with the Triumph Spitfires and TR6's, MGBs and Midgets. And these guys hated each other. The brits would walk barefoot over hot coals rather than drive a "rice rocket". The Japanese enthusiasts would deride the VW owners, the Porsche owners would deride them all. It was hilarious. Sometimes we'd damn near have fistfights in the lobby as these guys hurled insults at what a piece of shit the other guy's car was. In reality they were all nice cars that people had put a lot of time and money into. They should have got together and formed a big racing club and let people see who was better on the track. Instead there was the British clubs, the German clubs, the asian clubs. And they'd never co-operate, even if someone did suggest a big "Show-n-Shine" or "Track day".  Sad. However-musclecar guys act the same way. Although I've owned just about everything-I even briefly had a 302 Maverick "Grabber"-I'm a Pontiac Guy. I can't remember the number of times I've left a speed shop and been walking to my GTO or T/A or Ventura or Gran Prix, or whatever Pontiac I owned at the time and some asshole has to yell at me "Get a ( fill in the make-"Mopar, Chevy, Ford, Olds, AMC" ) . To which my response is always "Why would I want to Downgrade and drive a piece of shit like that?"  That usually shuts them right up. I must admit-that if this provokes further belligerence, I'm happy to go there too. I fought Golden Gloves in college and even turned pro for a while. Call me immature, but if some 40 year old adolescent wants his ass kicked because he said my car sucked and I said his sucked worse then I'll be happy to oblige. And that's a sad state of affairs. We all ought to appreciate a nice car regardless of make or model. So next time you see a hated Ford or Chevy or whatever that's done really nice, grit your teeth and politely say "Nice Car." If we all do that maybe the world will be a little nicer place.  Mastermind    

Consider all the facts before you deem something "GOAT" ..

I get really tired of sportswriters and car writers over-using the acronym "GOAT"- Greatest of all time."  There are very few people or things-( cars, motorcycles, etc)  that can be truly labeled the greatest in their own time, but all time?  No. The loudest coming from New England Patriots fans. On one hand I agree-Bill Bellicheck has done a spectacular job in his tenure there. Six Super bowl wins and ten appearances in 19 years-that's awesome. And he's done it with a revolving door of players in the free agent era. And certainly Tom Brady deserves a ton of credit. However-think of this-when Peyton Manning was in his prime with the Colts-and got hurt-the Colts went 4-12 that year. The year Brady blew his knee out-the Patriots went 11-5. That's coaching. However-People forget that Tom Landry took the Cowboys to the playoffs 16 out of 17 years from 1966-83, and played in 10 NFC Championship Games, and 5 super bowls, with two wins. Vince Lombardi's Packers won 5 NFL championships in 8 years, including the first two Super Bowls. Lombardi's Packers also won the 1965 NFL Championship-making them the only team to ever "Threepeat". Win-3 consecutive championships. Should Lombardi's accomplishment be discounted-simply because the game wasn't always called "Super Bowl?" Chuck Noll won 4 Super Bowls in 6 years with the Steelers and took them to the playoffs almost every year from 1972-1989. Don Shula won NFL Championships with the Colts,then took the Dolphins-and expansion team-and had them in the Super Bowl in just 3 years. They went 3 years in a row-"71,72, and '73-winning the last two. You think Bellicheck is good for going 11-5 without Brady?  In 1972-the unequaled, unbeaten season-The Dolphins star QB-Bob Griese broke his leg in the first game of the regular season. So the Dolphins went 17-0 with their backup QB-Earl Morrall. The Dolphins went to a couple more Super Bowls in the '80's losing to the Redskins and 49ers, and made the playoffs almost every year until Shula's retirement in 1995. As for Brady-yes he definitely is the best in the modern era. But if you look at the QB nowadays you get a 15 yard roughing the passer penalty. I'd like to see Brady take some of the hits that Terry Bradshaw took-Super Bowl 10-the winning TD pass to Swann?  The Hate Crime with Jerry Shirk that still makes people cringe today?? Or the hits that Roger Staubach, Joe Namath, Ken Stabler, Len Dawson and Jim Plunkett took on a daily basis with no flags thrown. Ditto for Randy Moss and Chad Johnson and Jerry Rice and all these Diva Recievers. I'd like to see what these candy-asses could do when you could hit them all the way down the field, not just the first five yards!  And conversely-How awesome would Lance Alworth, Bob Hayes,Paul Warfield, Drew Pearson and Lynn Swann have been if you couldn't touch them without a flag after 5 yards?  Now Patriot fans are going to sneer "6 Super Rings" No Debate."  If Super Bowl rings are the only measurement were using then yes there's no argument. But what about level of competition? Who they beat in the playoffs to get there? And who they beat once there? Let's compare the '70's Steelers to the modern Pats.  Are you going to say with a straight face, that this years Chargers were better than the 1978 Houston Oilers that had an awesome defense that rivaled Pittsburgh's Steel Curtain, the leading rusher and arguably one of the greatest running backs ever-Earl Campbell, and Dan Pastorini at QB and Mike Renfro and Kenny Burroghs as recievers?  Can you say that with a straight face?  Your going to say that this years Chiefs are better than the 1974 Oakland Raiders that had Ken Stabler, Cliff Branch, Fred Biletikoff, Mike Siani, Clarence Davis, Gene Upshaw and Art Shell, and a stingy defense that had killers like Jack Tatum and Willie Brown and Phil Villipiano?  The team that ruined the Dolphins run to four straight Super Bowl appearances in the "Sea of hands" divisional game?  Are you going to say that last year's Eagles were better than the 1978 Cowboys that had Roger Staubach, Tony Dorsett, Drew Pearson, Tony Hill,Preston Pearson, and the "Doomsday Defense?"  This year's game with the Rams was a defensive struggle? How about Super Bowl IX?  It was 2-0 at halftime. The Steelers eventually won 16-6, beating a tough Vikings team that had Carl Eller, Jim Marshall and Alan Page on the defensive line, Fran Tarkenton at QB, Chuck Foreman and Ed Marinaro for running backs and John Gilliam at Reciver. You think this year's Ram's were tougher than the 1974 Vikings? The '74 Vikings didn't have losing games that went 54-51 or 43-40!!  The same for Boxers. Yes Floyd Mayweather is great. But could he have beaten Sugar Ray Leonard in his prime? Or Roberto Duran, or Thomas Hearns, or Alexis Arguello, or Aaron Pryor or Hector "Macho" Camacho?  On any given sunday-maybe one of them. But two or more?  Uh-Uh. Tyson Fury, the Klitschko brothers, even Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson, non of the modern heavyweights would have even been contenders if they fought in the same era as Ali, George Foreman ( Foreman gave Holyfield hell and damn near took his title at age 42; at 27 he'd have destroyed him like he did everyone else ) Ken Norton, Joe Frazier, Earnie Shavers, Larry Holmes, Ron Lyle, Floyd Patterson, Oscar Bonavena, Bob Foster. And just like the rules changed in football-they didn't stop fights back then like they do now. You hung in there till you were down or your trainer threw in the towel. Travis Pastrano is going to break Evel Knieval's records? I'd like to see him do it on heavy Harley XR-750 instead of his 250 lb Motorcross bike!!  What does all this have to do with Musclecars?  I was talking to a guy the other day and I said if I ever built another project it was going to be a corner-carving '70's T/A with a snarling, aluminum headed 434 inch Pontiac and a Tremec 5-speed. He asked why I wanted such an "Antiquated" car. I explained that I had owned them before, and added that Car&Driver's road test of a new Camaro SS and a new SRT8 Challenger said the Challenger pulled .85g on the skidpad, and the Camaro .88. I pointed out that C/D's 1979 Trans-Am test car pulled .82g on 225/70R15 Goodyear Polysteel Radials. If the old T/A had been shod with the modern cars 245/45ZR17, and 275/40ZR17 rubber, it would have easily surpassed those numbers. Doesn't take a mathmetician to figure that out. Ditto for drag tests. I'd like to see what a for-real '60's L88 427 Corvette would do in the 1/4 with the 335/35ZR20 tires that a modern Z06 has!!  Lets' run an LS6 Chevelle on something fatter and stickier than F70-14 Coker tire Wide Oval repros shall we?  Or a Hemi 'Cuda on something other than repro Polyglas GTs!!  Anyhow I just had to vent that-sick of hearing the "Greatest Ever" label put on some person or thing that is really just "cool now" not the "greatest ever".            

Some alternative bodystyles that can be way cool....

There's a lot of cool cars that everyone overlooks when their searching for their "dream car."  Here's a few I thought of.  # 1. 1960-68 Full-size Pontiacs. While 99% of Chevy Impalas,Caprices, and Biscaynes of this era are small-block powered, and 396, 409 and 427 versions bring a King's Ransom-the Pontiacs are a steal. Every single Catalina, Bonneville and Gran Prix built has at least 389 cubes under the hood, and depending of year-some have 400, 421 or 428!! 1965 and later models with automatics will have the excellent TH400.  Any suspension or brake upgrades that fit an Impala will fit these cars. # 2. 1963-69 Full-size Fords. The '63 Galaxie hardtop is still a great looking car 50+ years later, and the later models are cool too. '60s Fords had luxurious interiors, and most have 390 cubes under the hood. Later LTDs had hidden headlights and 428 or 429 motivation. # 3. 1969-76 Pontiac Gran Prix. While Rat-Powered Monte Carlos are rare and expensive, GPs had 400 cubes standard all years and a fair number of "SJ" models had 455s. Wrist-thick front and rear sway bars made them amazing handlers for a big car. # 4. 1967-69 Thunderbird. I personally think this is one of the best-looking cars Ford ever produced. 390, 428 or 429 cubes for power, and luxurious interiors. I like the 2 dr models, but the 4-door versions with the "Suicide Doors" have a following too. # 5. 1966-69 Buick Riviera. These had the swoopy, fastback,hidden headlight styling of the revolutionary Olds Toronado, but were still rear-wheel drive. With 430 cubes under that long hood they move pretty good too. # 6. 1969-72 Plymouth Sport Fury. Peter Graves drove one of these on "Mission Impossible". With 383, 400 or 440 cubes under the hood they have great potential. # 7. 1967-69 Cadillac Eldorado. These cars styling still looks futuristic today. And with 429, 472 or 500 cubes they've got the torque. A little heavy to be a hot rod, but man what a great cruiser. # 8. In the same vein-I really like the 1972-76 Lincoln MKIV. Hidden headlight styling,luxurious interior and 460 cubes for motivation. Too heavy to be a serious hot rod, but a great, comfortable cruiser that looks cool.  Mastermind

Some overlooked gems...

There are a lot of overlooked gems out there with potential that people don't think of.  # 1. 1976-77 Olds Cutlass 442. The last W30 455 went away in 1972, and by '73 the 442 became an "Appearance and Handling" package on the Cutlass. The "Station wagon" 455 hung around til '76-but their rare and wheezed out 190 hp-a far cry from the 370 of the of the '70 model and the 300 of the '72. However-the graphics were cool, and the suspension, with wrist-thick front and rear sway bars made the cars handle better than anything except a Pontiac Trans-Am. The body was so aerodynamic that Richard Petty switched to a Cutlass after his 1974 Charger body was outlawed. Their fenderwells will accomodate huge tires-up to 275 / 60 R15 on 8 inch wheels. The 350 and 403 models are the ones to look for. Edelbrock claims 397 hp and 400 lbs of torque from their Performer RPM package on a 350. On a 403 you'd be well over 400. The other thing you'll need is an axle-ratio change. These cars came stock with 2.41:1 gears. Switching to something in the 3.23:1 to 3.73:1 range will give you a huge improvement in performance. So much that this should be your first step, or the only step even if you leave the motor bone-stock.  # 2. 1977-81 Z/28 Camaro. Seeing the monumental sales success of the Firebird Trans-Am-( Pontiac sold nearly 50,000 in 1976 alone; and another 68,000 in '77. "Smokey and the Bandit" was released in May 1977; that sales bump wouldn't be felt until the '78 model year when they sold 93,000 ). Chevrolet hastily resurrected the Z/28 which had been on a 2 1/2 year hiatus since 1974. It was a good package featuring T/A style spoilers and graphics, and upgraded suspension with front and rear sway bars. Power was the ubiquitous 350 V8 backed by a T10 4-speed manual or a TH350. 4-speeds got 3.73:1 gears and automatics got 3.42:1s which really put the power to the ground and put some "Right Now!" into acceleration. '78 models got Firebird style urethane bumpers replacing the ugly steel ones of the '77.  1980 brought back "Cowl Induction" a vacuum-operated hood scoop that opened at full throttle and sounded cool, and bumped power by 10 hp to 190. 4-speed models had 3.44:1 1st gear ratios and 2.28:1 2nd, with a 3.08:1 rear axle. This gave better acceleration, higher top-speed and better gas mileage than the 2.64:1 low gear / 3.73:1 axle of the '77-79 models. Automatics still got 3.42:1 gears. For some perverse reason in 1981-you could only get a 350 with the automatic. If you wanted a 4-speed you got a 305 which wheezed out 145 hp. It wasn't emission laws-you could still get a 350 / 4-speed combo in an '81 Corvette. If you have or want to buy a 305 model-a 350 is a bolt-in swap. There's more speed equipment for a small-block Chevy than anything else on the planet so these cars have awesome hot-rod potential.  # 3. 1980-81 Pontiac Trans-Am. These are only bargains if your considering an engine swap. Here's why-you had 3 engine choices. An anemic 301 Pontiac that wheezed out 135 hp, a 301 with a Turbo that was rated at 210-but had nowhere near the performance of the '79 and earlier 400s that supposedly had 220. Hot Rod's 400 / 4-speed '79 test car ripped off a blistering 14.61 second 1/4 mile. Popular Hot Rodding's '79 Formula ran a 15.0.  Their 1980 Turbo test car could only manage a 16.3!  Yet it's only down 10 hp? Riiigggghhht.  The third choice was a 305 Chevy. The upsides are a 400 or 455 will bolt right in place of a 301, and a 350 or 383 Chevy will bolt right in place of the 305. # 4. 1982 "5.0" Mustang. For this one year only you got a 302 V8 with a 2bbl, and 4-speed stick or a 3-speed automatic. Theirs a ton of speed equipment for small-block Fords, so these have great potential. Ford guys snub them in favor of the '83-86 models which have 4bbl carbs, 5-speed sticks and 4-speed automatics. But it keeps the prices on these dirt-cheap, and a 4bbl carb and intake change is a no-brainer. # 5. 1984-86 Olds Cutlass 442. These "G" bodies have cool graphics, great handling suspensions and gorgeous interiors. Power is unfortunately a 307 Olds V8 that wheezes out 140 hp. The upside is a 350 or 403 Olds V8 is a bolt-in swap. Backed by a TH200R4 and 3.42:1 axle that came with the 442 package-this combo could be a real sleeper.  # 6. 1989 20th Anniversary Trans-Am. These cars have the WS6 suspension and the vaunted Turbo 3.8 V6 out of the fearsome Buick Grand National. The Turbo V6 is both lighter and has more power than the 305 and 350 Chevy V8s, so the already stellar handling is improved as well as acceleration. These will bring a King's Ransom-but their worth it.  Mastermind        

"Magnum Force" is easier and cheaper than you think....

If your a Mopar guy and your looking for some major power for low bucks I have the just the ticket. There's millions of them in junkyards. From 1992-2003 millions of Dodge trucks and vans and Jeep Grand Cherokees had 5.2 and 5.9 liter "Magnum" V8s. The 5.2 ( 318s ) make nice drivers and could be really quick in very light car like a Duster / Dart. For serious power you need the 5.9 ( 360 ). I've always liked the 360 Mopar as a performance engine. The "hot" setup for small-block Chevy racers has always been slant-plug heads and 6 inch connecting rods. Mopar LA engines have angle-plug heads and 6.123 inch rods from the factory. The "Magnum" heads breathe better than any other factory head and many aftermarket ones. They will bolt up to earlier ( 1971-91 ) blocks. You will need a "Magnum" bolt-pattern intake and Edelbrock has you covered. The "Magnum" engines have roller cams from the factory. Crane, Comp Cams, Lunati and others offer high-performance roller cams. Eagle and other companies offer stroker crank kits to get 408 inches. With proper cam, intake and headers, it's pretty easy to get 400 hp and 450 lbs of torque from a "Magnum" engine. That's enough to make any street car an absolute rocket. So think outside the box-you don't always need a 440 or a Hemi to make big power. Mastermind  

I don't disparage anything....I just tell the truth!!

Sometimes people get on me for being "down" on certain makes and models. I'm not "down" on anything; I just give my readers my honest opinion, which I hope will help them make informed decisions before they spend a large amount of money on a project. Lately several people have asked why I "Hate" Fords. I don't hate Fords; I've owned two Ford Pickups both bought brand-new and paid off and kept about 8 or 10 years. I've owned two Mustangs one a '66 289 GT  the other an '83 "5.0".  I'd love to have a 390 powered '67-70 Cougar if I could find one that wasn't priced in the stratosphere. Ditto for a 1970-71 429 T-Bird. If I buy another used work truck it'll probably be a '70's, '80's or 90's F150 or F250.  I don't "hate" Fords. Some people got this impression from a few posts I wrote several years ago. One was about classic movie car chases. I talked about "Bullitt".  Everything I said was from an interview with Stunt Coordinator Carey Loftin from way back in 1987.  Ford had a contract to supply cars for movies with Warner Brothers.  Steve McQueen didn't want two Fords in the chase. He thought it would be hokey that both the cops and bad guys would be driving Fords. Chrysler and GM wouldn't give them any cars, citing Ford's contract with Warner. Loftin and McQueen went to a Bay Area Dodge dealer and bought the Charger with their own money. The Charger was a 440 / 4-speed. The five Mustangs supplied by Ford were 390 / 4-speeds. A little history-when GM debuted the Camaro and Firebird in late 1966 for the '67 model year Ford was caught with their pants down. The 302 Z/28 would run circles around the 289 Mustang. Worse yet-you could get a 396 Rat Motor in a Camaro and a 400 ( the same engine in the mighty GTO ) in a Firebird. All a 289 Mustang would see of a 396 Camaro or 400 Firebird is the taillights. Ford hastily dropped the 390 in the '67 Mustang. However-unlike the 396 Chevy or 400 Pontiac-the 390 was not a high-performance engine. It was a low-revving high torque towing engine used in "big" cars like LTDs and station wagons, and trucks. One of the buff magazines tested the big-block pony cars and the Chevy and Pontiac ran off and left the Mustang. I mean badly-by half a second or more. The Mustang ran something like a 15.6 in the 1/4; the automatic Firebird ran a 15.1-a five car length drubbing, and the 4-speed Camaro ran something like 14.7-a nine car length drubbing. Anyhow-in early practice the 440 Charger would run off and leave the Mustang so badly that they couldn't film it. Steve McQueen was furious. Loftin and his mechanic Max Balchowsky hopped up one of the Mustangs with headers, an Edelbrock intake and double-pumper Holley carb and a Mallory distributor. Now McQueen and stuntman Bill Hickman ( who drove the Charger ) could successfully play cat and mouse. However-bounding over the streets of San Francisco at speeds up to 115 mph-the Mustangs were falling apart-breaking shock towers and suspension parts, door handles coming off etc. Loftin and Balchowsky worked every night taking parts off the other cars to keep the camera car running. That's why only two of the five still exist; the other three were crushed. Meanwhile-the Charger with it's torsion bar front end and Dana 60 rear had no problems other than throwing hubcaps off. If you watch the film-the Charger loses 8 hubcaps in the chase. People say this really "bashes" Fords. How?  It's the truth straight out of the mouth of the man who lived it. What did they want to me do? Lie?  The other things I've been called out on are saying that Ford's are a nightmare when swapping engines. Guess what? They are. Unlike a small-block Chevy or a Pontiac or an AMC or a small or big-block Chrysler where almost everything interchanges regardless of model-every Ford is different. A 390 in a Mustang uses a different oil pan and accessories and mounting points than a 390 in an LTD, which is different from a 390 in a T-Bird, which is different than a 390 in an F100 Pickup!!  A 289 / 302 has a different bellhousing bolt-pattern than a 351C, which is different from a 390 / 428, which is different from a 429 / 460.  Not the same as bolting a TH350 from a '79 Camaro into your '65 Chevelle and not having to change anything !!!  ( A Powerglide and a TH350 are not only the same length and have the same bellhousing bolt-pattern, but also use the same rear trans mount and driveshaft yoke!! ).  I just stated an irrefutable fact-Ford stuff does not interchange as easily as GM or Chrysler stuff. That's good advice for novice engine swappers to know, not a "slam" on any product. The other thing I've been taken to task for is when discussing carburators I've said the Autolite 4300 was the worst carb ever made. Guess what ?  It Is!!!!  My dad and I worked for Ford in the '70's. If you had a 351C Mustang or Torino, or a 460 T-Bird or Lincoln ( all of which used that awful 4bbl ) you enjoyed hard starting, especially in cold weather-hesitation, stumbling, crappy gas mileage, ( I mean 5-8 mpg on a brand-new car ) and all around awful performance. They were terrible when they were brand-new. Some of these cars didn't have 5,000 miles on them. If the customer bitched hard enough Ford Dealers would replace the 4300 with a 600 cfm Holley with an Electric Choke and cover it under warranty!!  The part number was 6619 or 6919; I think the throttle linkage was the difference-one for sticks and one for automatics.  I remember because as a parts guy I ordered so god damnded many of them!! With the Holleys the cars ran like a champ!!  The main reason GM and Chrysler musclecars ran so good was they had decent carburators. GM used the great Carter AFB until 1966. Early Q-Jets ( '66-67 ) had a few problems but they were ironed out quickly. Through the late '60's and all of the '70's Quadrajets were bullet proof. ( Some Chevys had 3310 Holleys and they worked good. )  Mopars had the excellent Carter AVS until 1971. The Thermo-Quad worked good on 340, 360 and 400-440 engines in the '70's. Meanwhile-Boss 302s and 429s had Holleys as did 428CJ's; some 429CJ Torinos actually had Quadrajets. Everything else limped along with that awful 4300. Again-what do people want me to do? Lie and say they were great?  I've said many times that Chrysler was light-years ahead of GM on automatic transmission technology when they introduced the Torqueflite in 1962. It was far superior to GM's hydramatics and Powerglides. The TH400 introduced in 1965 was just as good; but oddly they were only available in "big" cars. If you wanted a GTO or a Chevelle or 442 with an automatic you got the awful Two-Speed Powerglide / ST300 !!! A TH400 wasn't available in an SS396 or GTO or 442 until 1967!! In a Corvette until 1968!!  I'm sorry if the truth hurts some people's feelings. Here's another example-a lot of people say I'm "Biased" to GM stuff. Again-not true I already stated my feeling on Fords. I've owned "Bullitt" Chargers. I'd love to find a "Vanishing Point" '70-74 Challenger, a Charger-based 383 '71 Super Bee, or even a '78-79 Li'l Red Express Pickup.  I like Mopars fine. But yet I've been called out for saying that nothing makes as much power for as little money as a small or big-block Chevy. Again-that's an irrefutable fact. Their's more speed equipment on the market for a small-block Chevy than anything else on the planet. The small-block Chevy is usually the test mule for anyone introducing anything new!!  Like it or not they offer the most "bang" for the buck. Sure, a 360 Mopar, or 360 AMC or 350 Olds, or 351W or 351C Ford can run every bit as strong as a 350 Chevy. At 2 or 3 times the cost. Ditto for the big-blocks. Like it or not-Nothing makes more power for less money than a Chevy Rat Motor. Yes a Chrysler Hemi or Boss Nine Ford can make as much or more power-at two or three times the cost. Cases in Point-GMPP sells 454HO crate engines for $5995. Their rated at 440 hp and 500 lbs of torque. A Mopar Performance 426 crate Hemi makes 465 hp and 490 lbs of torque. And sells for $ 14,995.  GMPP's "King Kong" Rat-the 572-makes 720 hp and sells for $17,995.  Mopar Performance's 528 Crate Hemi makes 625 hp and sells for $22,725.  Jon Kaase has a 600 inch Boss-Nine that makes 912 hp and 826 lbs of torque. For the tidy sum of $36,999!!!   The same goes for other restoration parts-be it body parts, interior trim, suspension parts, etc. GM stuff if going to be the cheapest, followed by Chrysler, then Ford. AMC people have a real rough time. A Chevelle or GTO is going to cheaper to restore than a Road Runner. A Mustang is going to be way easier and cheaper than a Javelin. Like it or not that's the state of the business right now. Parts companies are in business to make money. Your going to sell a lot more stuff for a '70-81 Camaro / Firebird than you are of something that only fits '72-73 Mercury Montego GT's!!!  The same for sports car guys. A Triumph Spitfire or MGB is cheaper to restore than  a Datsun 240 / 260 / 280Z, which is cheaper to restore than a Porsche 911, which is cheaper to restore than a Ferarri 308 GTS !!  So I'm not "Bashing" anything when I'm giving advice; I'm trying to save people money and frustration!!  If that's "Biased" then I guess there's nothing I can do about it. Mastermind              

Little things can become big things....

In the same vein as the last post, I can't stress enough how important it is to fix little things before they become big problems. Here's a good example. I touched on it before, but it's worth re-visiting. Back in the '90's when I had a custom restoration shop I had a good customer base. They brought me big projects; however most of them got their oil changed at Jiffy Lube, or their tires rotated at Big O. Sometimes these repair places would try to sell my customers huge repairs, and often they'd come to me for a 2nd opinion. One was a guy with a '77 Trans Am. It had a 400 Pontiac backed by a TH350, the standard powertrain that year. ( A 4-speed was a no-cost option ). One of the big tire chains told him he needed a new transmission. I drove the car, and it did shift erratically and very hard when it did. Upon inspection I changed the fluid and the filter. I also discovered that the rubber line to the vacuum modulator was severely cracked and spewing fluid. I replaced the modulator and the rubber line. Now the car shifted smoothly at part-throttle, and under full-throttle would lay 8-10 feet of rubber on the 1-2 shift. I charged him for the fluid change and the modulator and the labor to change that. He was escatic. Instead spending over $1,000 for a rebuilt TH350, which he was almost sure he was going to have to spend, he got off for less than $200. The symptoms certainly indicated that the tranny might be toast-but it turned out to be the modulator-a minor repair. The other case was guy with a 396 Impala. Another shop told him he needed a new engine. I drove the car, and for a big-block Chevy it was definitely a "dog". It couldn't even spin the tires on dry pavement and just fell flat on it's face under acceleration. I did a compression test and all 8 cylinders were within 5 to 10 psi of each other. Upon further inspection I found multiple problems. None insurmountable-the car was just suffering from terminal neglect. The automatic transmission kickdown wasn't hooked up, the carb was way too rich, the timing was way too slow,the plug wires were bad, and the vacuum advance was unplugged, and the points were closing up. I fixed these minor problems-i.e. installed new, properly gapped points and wires, plugged in the vacuum advance, leaned out the carb, set the timing to spec, and hooked up the kickdown. Now the car would smoke the tires all the way across an intersection, get rubber into 2nd, and pull like a Rat Motor should. The owner was so happy that he tipped me $100 over the bill I charged him. He was ready to spend a couple grand or more on a new engine, and got a new lease on life for a couple hundred instead. The moral of the story is fix the little things before they become big things. The guy with the T/A-his bad modulator would have eventually caused the trans to lose enough fluid that it would burn up, and need to be replaced. The guy in the Impala could have limped along long enough that his over-rich carb and slow timing could have washed oil off the rings or caused it to spin a bearing or the cam to go flat. I had a guy with a '74 Nova SS bring his car to me one time. It was a cute Nova hatchback and it had a 350 with a 4-speed. It too, was a "dog" that fell flat on it's face under acceleration, and it sounded like a garbage disposal. It had headers on it and dual exhausts and an Edelbrock Performer intake with a 625 cfm Carter AFB carb. It should have been a screamer. Upon opening the hood I saw the problems. It had massive exhaust leaks. The header gaskets were totally blown out, and whoever had installed the intake manifold hadn't blocked off the EGR!! With massive vacuum leaks like that, I was amazed that it ran at all. I replaced the header gaskets. Edelbrock manifolds usually come with EGR plugs. I had some laying around because I installed so many in my shop. After sealing the leaks and adjusting the carb and timing a little, I went for a drive. Now it would rocket off the line, spinning the tires most of low gear. Powershift, get the satsifying rubber-in-second screech, and keep going. Now it pulled hard to 5,500 rpm, and would spin the tires with ease in low gear. The car's owner was doing handsprings. He couldn't believe the fix was that simple. I had another guy that had a '72 El Camino with a very expensive 383 crate motor that didn't run much better than the tired 307 with a 2bbl that it replaced!! There was nothing wrong with the engine. It sounded badass, and felt like it had a ton of torque. But the car wouldn't run very fast, and the gas pedal felt really, really stiff. I discovered that the throttle bracket was bent and the cable was sticking. So bad that it wouldn't allow the secondaries on the carb to open at all. It was restricted to maybe half-throttle. I got a new bracket and cable and adjusted it so the throttle linkage would open fully. The test drive after was mind-blowing. Now the Elky would literally spin the tires as long as you wanted to stay on the throttle. When it had traction, it was a rocket. I told the owner he'd have to play with launch technique to get the best start, but the car now had more than enough power!  Yet one simple thing was killing it's performance. So don't let something minor cause you a major problem. Mastermind    

Don't put the cart before the horse....

A lot of people ask what's the 1st thing I should do to get more performance out of my musclecar? Or what one modification offers the most "bang" for the buck?  Every car line is different, so there's no one pat answer. However there are things you can do to greatly increase your car's performance without throwing major bucks and tons of parts at it. Here's the things I'd do BEFORE I pull out my Visa card and call Summit, or PAW or Jeg's!  # 1. Make sure it's running properly, even if it's bone-stock. I can't stress this enough. I see so many musclecars limping around on 6 or 7 cylinders. And I'm not talking beaters, rat rods or works in progress. I see it every Hot August Nights-cars with $5,000 paint jobs and $2,000 worth of tires and wheels that can't smoke the tires on dry pavement or pull 5,000 rpm in low gear!  These cars have bad plug wires, the vacuum advance is inoperable or not hooked up,the points are closing up, the timing is way too advanced or way too retarded, the carburator is way too lean or way too rich,the throttle linkage is sticking or not opening all the way, the automatic trans kickdown is not hooked up, the vacuum modulator is disconnected or spewing fluid. I talk to these people-and they'll have $40,000 invested in the car-and they can't tell you the last time they changed the spark plugs and wires or the points , distributor cap and rotor or the fuel filter!! Even on a stock engine bad tuning or excessive neglect can cost you as much as 50 hp. Make sure everything is right before you start spending money or changing things. # 2. Intake and exhaust. Regardless of make and model I'd say here is where you get the most "bang" for the buck. Especially if the car has a 2bbl carb and single exhaust to start with. A factory or aftermarket 4bbl carb and intake setup will really "wake up" any 2bbl motor. Besides much more power, you'll have better drivability and probably better gas mileage. Even if you don't want headers, a good, free-flowing dual exhaust system can be worth as much as 30-40 hp on a stock engine with iron exhaust manifolds. Look at the car's under side on the rack. Many factory "dual" exhaust sytems are not true duals, and are very restrictive. I hate the "crossflow" muffler used on '67-74 Camaros and Firebirds. They cost the stock engines 25-30 hp. That's why the RAIII and RAIV 400's are rated at 335 and 345 hp in a Firebird or Trans-Am and 366 and 370 hp in a GTO. The GTO's duals all the way back were worth 25-30 hp bone-stock!! If you read road tests of a 71 455HO Trans-Am and a '71 455HO GTO-the GTO is nearly 1/2 a second quicker in the 1/4, even though it's a slightly heavier car!! ( 4,070 lbs vs 3,731 ). Some other "geniuses" will tell you about GM's 10 lb per hp rule-but their full of shit. 1st off-this rule apparently didn't apply to Corvettes-a mid '60's Stingray weighs about 3,300 lbs and you could get a 427 with 390, 425 or 435 hp!!  Ditto for Chevelles. A '65 Chevelle weighs about 3,400 lbs, yet was available with a 375 hp 396. As was the supposed "3,250 lb" '67-69 Camaro!!  The 10 lb per hp rule is a guideline used to beat the insurance Nazis. Most of the engines were actually under-rated!!  A W31 Cutlass with special heads,an aluminum high-rise intake, special exhaust manifolds, a special flex-fan and a hot 308 degree cam that doesn't make enough vacuum to operate power brakes and requires a 4-speed and 3.90:1 or 4.33:1 gears only makes 325 hp when the standard "station wagon" 350 makes 310??!!!  Puhleeze. And I've never seen ANY Cutlass that weighed 3,100-3,250 lbs, not the original '64, and damn sure not the larger '68-70 models which like the GTO were pushing 4,000!!  My dad and I worked for Pontiac back in the day-and no 400 Firebird ever weighed 3,250 lbs!!! ( The standard 400 was rated at 325 hp;the same engine in a GTO or Grand Prix had 350 hp ). The Firebirds were 3,500 on up all day-especially with power steering, disc brakes, etc, which most of them had. Other geniuses will talk about a tab on the carburator restricting throttle opening to limit power. I have seen these cars come off the truck and have PDI'd them when brand-spanking new, and I have never seen one. Regardless-Ford Mustangs-even 390 and 428 models had restrictive exhausts as well. True duals all the way back will help any car regardless of brand. # 3. Mechanical advantage. Gears make it go. Most '70's cars have salt-flats gearing like 2.56:1 or 2.73:1. Switching to something in the 3.23:1-3.73:1 range will give you a huge boost in acceleration without hurting fuel economy or drivability too much. If you have an automatic transmission a mild torque converter upgrade can help immensely especially with small-blocks. Most stock torque converters have a stall speed of 1,200-1,700 rpm. Upgrading to one with 2,000-2,200 stall speed will give you a jackrabbit start without excessive wheelspin. Converters with 2,500-3,000 stall rpm on up are fine if you have a radical cam and 4.10:1 gears; however especially with big blocks you may blow the tires off without slicks or drag radials. Conversely, if you use a 3-grand converter with 3.23:1 gears-you may burn the transmission up! Your 65 mph cruise rpm will be less than the converter's stall speed which will create slippage and excessive heat. If your cam has less than 220-225 degrees duration ( @.050 ) you don't need a high-stall converter. And you have to remember most industry "guidelines" are based on a 350 Chevy; a cam that's "too radical" for a small-block Chevy might be a sweetheart in a 440 Mopar, 455 Pontiac or 460 Ford. See what I'm saying?  Another easy improvement is a shift improver kit for automatics. I personally like the TransGo kits the best; I have also used the B&M kits and they are excellent as well. I wouldn't use an "off brand". Use the "Street" or "Street / Strip" setting to get firm,precise shifts. If you use the "Competition" setting you will get excessively hard shifts even at part-throttle and the car will be practically undrivable.  # 4. Electronic Tuning. If you have an '80s Camaro / Firebird or Corvette or Buick Grand National or "5.0" Mustang there are things you can do to really help 0-60 and 1/4 mile times without spending big bucks. If you have a carburated LG4 / L69 305 Camaro or Firebird an Edelbrock Performer EGR intake will make a huge improvement. I'd also use some Hedman Shorty headers with 02 hookup. The electronic Q-Jet will self-adjust to these minor changes so you won't have to re-jet the carb. I'd also switch to a 160 thermostat ( and on L69 cars get the switch from Summit that turns the electric fan on at 185 instead of 220 ). If you have an L98 or LB9 Tuned-Port Injected engine, the first thing I would do is get a 160 thermostat and the fan switch that turns the fan on at 185 instead of 220. These engines at 220-are on the edge of vapor lock and often stumble under acceleration. By reducing running tempurature to 185-nearly 40 degrees-your getting a cooler, denser fuel charge. No more stumbles, and smooth acceleration all through the range. The other things you can do-Accel and Edelbrock offer ported baseplates and runners that will ad 20-25 hp and don't require any changes to the stock ECM. These simple things will give you a HUGE improvement in performance and drivability. The same goes for Regal T-Type / GN owners. By going to the 160 thermostat and changing the fan switch you'll knock 3 /10s off your 1/4 mile time. 40 degrees cooler fuel charge on a Turbocharged, Intercooled engine can make that much difference. I'd also run 91 octane Chevron or Shell gas and a can of octane booster. The ECM is programmed to detect detonation and retard the timing accordingly. You'll get way better performance with brand-name 91 and octane booster than you will with 87 octane cut-rate gas. It sounds too simple-but you'll feel it in the seat of your pants. This isn't electronic but the performance boost will be huge. Most '83-95 "5.0" Mustangs, either stick or automatic, have either 2.73:1 or 3.08:1 gears. Switching to 3.55:1 or 3.73:1 gears will give you a stunning improvement. And not just off the line-you'll feel it in 2nd, 3rd and 4th as well.  When I swapped the 3.23:1s in my Hurst / Olds for some 4.10:1s  I didn't notice any improvement in low gear. Apparently the 455 had enough torque to launch the car regardless of gearing. However, the difference in 2nd and 3rd was monumental. The gear swap is the first thing I would do to a "5.0". After that-Edelbrock and Trick Flow offer ported manifolds, larger throttle bodies,cylinder heads, cam kits etc. The Trick Flow top-end kit-( heads, intake,and cam ) claims 350 hp. Quite a bump from the stock rating of 225!  Hope this helps everyone out. Mastermind