More Projects to avoid like the plague....

Here's some more projects that even experienced mechanics and fabricators shouldn't take on. There's a reason that you've never seen certain vehichles on the cover of Car Craft or Hot Rod or Street Rodder. A good example would be '50's Buick, Olds or Pontiac offerings. They are good-looking cars-many people think they are more attractive than the much more wildly popular '55-57 Chevys. However-there's problems if you want to restore / modify them. The first problem is until 1957 or '58 the Buick, Olds and some of the Pontiacs didn't have a modern open driveline. ( Chevys did from '55 on. ) The problem this presents is the old Hydra-matics don't shift above about half-throttle, and wouldn't stand up to even the mildest-say 350 hp-modern V8. You can't just swap in a TH350 or 400 or a Muncie 4-speed or a T10 because the mounting points on the crossmember are different and the old "Torque-Tube" driveline and huge Pumpkin rear end aren't compatible. The only alternative is to fabricate a transmission crossmember, fabricate a driveshaft, and swap in a modern engine and tranny and a '57-64 Pontiac or other similar rear end.  By contrast-a '55 Chevy has a modern u-joint style driveline, and a Powerglide is the exact same length as a TH350 and has the exact same rear trans mount and driveshaft yoke / u-joint!!  If your swapping manuals-the old Borg-Warner T-85 three-speed is the same length and shares the rear trans mount location with the later T-10 4-speeds. The rear axles on them are pretty darn tough-and if you "Gotta Have" a 700 hp Rat Motor-Currie will sell you a bulletproof Ford 9 inch posi rear with the proper GM mounting points. See the difference-putting a modern 350 / TH350 or even a 454 / TH400 is practically a bolt-in for a '55 Chevy. Putting a 350 / TH350 or 455 / TH400 Buick into a '55 Buick would require custom fabricated parts from the motor mounts to the rear end!!  And what about body parts? I mentioned in an earlier post that it's easy to get doors, hoods, fenders, 1/4 panels etc for the Chevys, but not so for the other 1950's GM offerings. Let's say the body on your '55 Oldsmobile is really straight and rust-free. Great!! Where are you going to find taillight lenses or a grille for a '55 Oldsmobile?  1961-63 Pontiac Tempests and Buick Skylarks have the same problem. They were light-under 3,000 lbs, and they were good-looking cars. However-they had the transmission / rear axle assembly at the rear and had independent suspension. Pretty advaced stuff for 1961. However-the trannys would barely hold up behind a 326 Pontiac V8 with a two-barrel. If you want to swap in a 389 or 400 or 455-forget it. You have to custom fabricate a crossmember, and driveshaft and swap in a rear end out of a later Nova or Firebird and re-locate the leaf springs. I've seen a few 455 powered Tempests with this setup in the now-defunct "High Performace Pontiac" magazine, but not many. It's just too much trouble-most people just get a '64 and later model. The same goes for early Mopar stuff. Sure you can get anything you want if your restoring a '68 Charger or a '69 Road Runner or a '71 Challenger. Where are you going to get a 1/4 panel or a door for a 1960 Dodge Dart?  Or a '63 Plymouth Fury or a '64 Dodge 330?  Where are you going to find interior trim parts for a '66-67 Charger?  If your restoring any Ford other than a Mustang, Cougar or T-bird your going to have some trouble. Where are you going to find headlight doors for a '69 Galaxie XL?  Early Falcons and Comets make good drag racers because of their short wheelbase and lightweight. Where are you going to get a hood for a '64 Comet? Or a tailgate for the cute little Falcon-based Ranchero?  The bottom line is you can restore anything you want if you throw enough money at it. But if you want to have a car that's not a money pit-it might behoove you to do a '64 GTO instead of a '63 Studebaker Avanti or a '69 Chevelle instead of a '69 Rebel Machine!!  That's all I'm saying. Mastermind