Sometimes it's better to just "Run What You Brung"...

Talked to some more people this week who wanted to take the path of "Most Resistance." I tried to talk some sense into them, and as usual I might as well have talked to the wall.  Masochist #1 had a 1977 Pontiac Firebird that had a 350 Chevy in it. ( GM played musical engines due to smog laws in the late '70's. From '77-79 depending on where you lived, you could get a Firebird, Formula, or Trans-Am with a 301 Pontiac, a 305 Chevy,a 350 Chevy,a 350 Olds, a 350 Pontiac, a 400 Pontiac or a 403 Olds. ) He wanted to know what it would take to put a 455 Pontiac in it. I told him it would be too expensive and too much trouble. He'd be better off financially and in terms of less grief to just hop up the 350 Chevy, that there was more speed equipment for a Small-block Chevy than anything else on the planet. "But what would it entail exactly?" he pressed. Ugh. "Okay." I said. "1st off you have to find a running or at least rebuildable 455 Pontiac. They've been out of production since 1976. That's 40 years. Not easy to find, and their not going to be cheap." "Secondly,none of the accessories from the Chevy engine will work." "That means a new starter,a new fuel pump, a new water pump, a new distributor, a new alternator, a new power steering pump,and all the brackets." "You'll need a bigger radiator to cool the bigger engine. and you'll need new motor mounts, and new exhaust manifolds or headers,and all the tin-valve covers, oil pan etc-unless the engine you bought was complete from carb to oil pan." "Then your going to need a new transmission because BOP engines ( Buick, Olds, Pontiac ) have a different bellhousing bolt-pattern than Chevy engines." "Investing 1/3 the money and time that would take would give you a totally badass ride with the Chevy engine." "Or sell the car and use the money to buy another Firebird or T/A that already has a 400 or 455 Pontiac engine in it."  The response? "I'll go on-line and start searching for Pontiac parts."  Good luck with that.  Masochist # 2 had a 1973 Challenger that had been a 340 car, but some previous owner had yanked the 340 and it now had a 318 in it. He wanted to know what it would take to put a 440 in it. "Too expensive and too much trouble." I said. "If you want to go real fast, get a hot 360 crate motor from Mopar Performance or Blueprint engines." They come complete from carb to oil pan, with a 3 year warranty and they have 375 or 400 hp, depending on which one you get, and a 360 is a bolt-in swap for a 318." "Or if your on a tight budget, go to a junkyard and get a '90's 360 Magnum out of a Dodge truck or Jeep Cherokee." Edelbrock makes Performer intakes to run a carb on them and hot roller cams." "They run like a scalded cat stock." "And honestly, unless you spend a ton of money hopping it up, a stock 440 isn't going to be as quick as a warmed-over 360 Magnum or one of the crate engines."  "But what would it entail?"  Double Ugh. "Ok, 1st off you have to find a complete 440." They've been out of production since 1978." "That's 38 years. Their not going to be easy to find, and their not going to be cheap." "Your going to need a big-block front crossmember, a bigger radiator, big-block Torsion bars to make it handle properly,and if the tranny behind the 318 is a 904 Torqueflite instead of a 727, your going to need a new transmission." "And unless the used 440 you buy is totally complete-your going to have hunt down alternator brakcets, power steering pump brakcets, and a fuel pump, water pump, power steering pump,etc.". "Trust me, the 360 swap is the way to go." "Low cost and big gain." "Or if you just "Gotta Have" a big-block E-body-sell the car, and look for another Challenger or 'Cuda that has a 383 or 440 already in it from the factory." The response? "So it is possible." Ugh! "Manned space flight is possible, but it isn't cheap or easy!!  And the real kicker, the "Catch-22"? Neither of these guys is a mechanic by trade, and neither of them have the tools or the ability to complete the monumental jobs they were considering attempting. If they were professional mechanics and had the tools and the skills, they'd know what I'm saying is right, and they wouldn't attempt a project that even if they completed it would cost way more money and time than it would ever be worth!!  What's the old saying-"You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink..."  Mastermind