Advice on building a Bonneville Salt-Flats musclecar.....

I had a client ask my advice on building a musclecar for all out top-speed runs like at Bonneville or in the Silver State Classic. There was a couple guys featured in Hot Rod a few years ago who were attempting to go 200 mph in a 440 powered 1968 Charger. They failed, going "only" 185.  They vowed to return the following year with a Hemi powered '69 Road Runner and break the 200 mph barrier. While this is an admirable pursuit, we have to face the facts: a heavy, square, '60's Mopar B-body is not very aerodynamic, they don't handle very good, and "Dukes of Hazzard" fantasies aside, I wouldn't want to try to control one at 200 mph.  What these Mopar fanatics were missing is the secret to blazing top-end speed isn't just about horsepower. The guy I was talking to was a GM guy, and although he knew it would be a sizable investment, he wanted to know what car to buy, and which engine to build that would offer the most "bang for the buck" i.e. go the fastest, for the least amount of money. I told him the best choice would be a 1982-90 Pontiac Trans Am for the body, and the only engine choice is a big-block Chevy. He said if he was going to do a T/A he'd want to do a '70's model, and use a 455 Pontiac engine, or use a late '90s F-body with an LS motor. I told him he was being sentimental and dreaming, and setting himself up for failure and disappoinment just like the guys with the B-body Mopars. When I laid out the facts, he came around to my way of thinking. Here's why: # 1. Aerodynamics is a huge part of high speed. Ask any Nascar or Formula 1 racer. A 1970's T/A  has a drag co-efficient of .048. While that's way better than a '60s B-body Mopar and really good considering the design is over 40 years old, it's not good enough to make a run at the mythical 200 mph barrier. The 3rd generation T/A when it was introduced in 1982 had a drag co-efficient of .032. That's substantially lower than the old T/A, and better than many modern sports cars including some Porsches and Audis. In 1984 when the "Aero" package was introduced, this reduced the already spectacularly low drag co-effiecint to .028!!  What this means in plain english, is the newer car requires less power to move it through the air. Thus it will go much faster with the same amount of power. And even in a car as slippery as a 3rd gen T/A-your going to need at least 600 hp to make a run at 200 mph.  # 2. Horsepower per dollar. Like it or not, nothing makes more power for less money than a Big-Block Chevy. Yes there are Fords, Pontiacs, Mopars, and Oldsmobiles with 600+ horsepower in magazines all the time. But they often cost twice as much to build as the hated Chevys. Again, it's not about sentiment, it's about horsepower per dollar. The 4th gen Camaros and Firebirds are just as aerodynamic as the 3rd gen, and the modern LS motors can certainly generate tons of power, but again-at a much higher price and a lot more work.. It's a lot easier and cheaper to build a 700 hp 454 with a distributor and a carburator than it is to do it with an electronically controlled fuelie LS engine. Remember- this is an all-out race car-it doesn't have to pass smog or be emissions-legal, we don't care about idle quality, and we don't care about fuel economy. I'm not going to spend a lot of time arguing this-the 638hp ZR1 'Vette engine is available as a crate motor from GMPP-at a price of $22,000!!!  And then you'd have to buy and hook up all the electronics to make it run, which puts the tab at more like 25 large. If we go Apples to apples and compare crate engines the 620 hp 572 sells for $13,000 through Scoggin-Dickey, and you can buy an Edelbrock/Musi built 555 inc Rat with 650 hp and 650 lbs of torque for $15,000. Either of these will bolt in a car with virtually no wiring hassles.  A savings of anywhere from 10-12 grand!! And that's if your a guy that just writes checks. If you can build it your self-you can build a KILLER Rat Motor for less than 10 grand. Now that we agree on the bodystyle and powerplant, let's get down to what's really needed to go 200 mph cheaply, and safely. # 1. Body prep. First off, you need a car without t-tops. They have much more structural integrity than the T-top models. Your going to need an 8 or 10 point roll cage, which is no problem, Summit Racing sells thse kits for a few hundred bucks, and even if your not a mechanic, it's not a big job for most shops. I'd also install subframe connectors. Again, Summit racing sells the bolt-on and weld-on type. The stock rear axle will be ok-you don't need to spend 4 grand on a custom 9 inch Ford housing. Here's why-were not drag racing-your not going to be launching at 5 grand on wrinklewall slicks, so you won't be putting undue strain on the driveline, even though your passing a lot of power through it. It's not power that breaks things, it's the sudden jolt of massive amounts of torque coupled with too much traction. Some of these races start from a rolling 50 mph, so you wan't have that problem. If you do start from a dead stop, again, your not running slicks, or a stall converter with a trans-brake, so you won't have a brutal launch that would break anything. I would  however definitely get a c-clip eliminator kit. What this does is prevents the wheel from coming off if you do break an axle. You'll also need a driveshaft safety loop. This way if, you do break a u-joint, the driveshaft doesn't stick in the ground and flip the car at 150+ mph!!.  Many of these races have a "Spec" tire that they make everybody run, so I won't make a recommendation on tires. On wheels you'll need wheel studs that protrude through the lug nuts. Again Summit can help you with these. I would run 15 inch 1982-84 T/A "Aero" wheels ( Often called "Bowling Balls") because their the right offset and their cheap and very aerodynamic. Or I would run Center Line Auto/Drags, or steel Nascar type wheels with Moon Disc hubcaps. # 2. Engine and transmission. If you've got the money-by all means the 650 hp Edelbrock / Musi 555 or the 720 hp GMPP 572 Rat motors would be an easy way to get the needed power. If your a do it yourself kind of guy or need to build the motor for say $7,500 instead of 15 grand- then I'd invest in a GMPP 454HO short block. You can buy these often for less than 3 grand, and they have 4-bolt mains, a forged crank, forged heavy-duty rods, and forged pistons. Bulletproof. For Heads I would use aluminum Edelbrocks either the oval-port Performer RPMs or the rectangular-port Victors with 110cc chambers. This will give you about 9.7:1 compression, which with aluminum heads will allow you to run all the timing you want even if the gas isn't the highest quality. Compression over 10:1 with iron heads may show more power on the dyno, with 114 octane racing gas, but in the real world Iron doesn't dissipate heat nearly as well as aluminum, and if your running flat-out for an extended period-five miles-you don't need your motor pinging itself to death or losing power under load when you need it most. Plus, these heads will accomodate cams up to .700 lift, and the weight savings will make the car handle better. For cam selection, I'd consult Competition Cams or Lunati-they can give you advice on the specs you need for what your trying to achieve. For an intake I'd run an Edelbrock or Dart single-plane with a Dominator flange, and an 1150 cfm Dominator style-carb. I'd run an MSD distributor and a 6A-L or even a 7a or 8a box to make sure you had proper spark. Hooker sells motor mount kits and headers to put Rat motors in 1982-92 F-bodys. I'd use at least 3 inch exhaust pipes with an x-pipe. For a tranny the T-5 stick or 700R4 won't stand up to this kind of power. I'd use either a T10 4-speed or a TH400 automatic. Summit sells crossmembers to install these trannys in these F-bodys. I'd use a Centerforce clutch with a stick, and I'd use a tight,  lock-up type converter with the automatic-you don't want slippage at high-speed. I'd use a Gear vendors overdrive behind either of these trannys, which would allow you to play with axle ratios to suit the track length. ( People use them in 1,500 hp Top Fuel dragsters, they won't break). With this setup you should break 200 mph easily. Gale Banks did it about 20 years ago in a Rat-motored 1982 T/A, so I know it can be done. Good luck to our friend who is attempting this, and we'll do this on other combos for drag racing, auto crossing, street, etc. Mastermind