Drive your cool base model while you stockpile parts and cash to make it your dream ride!!

I see so many musclecars sitting in garages or driveways, and their owners lamenting-"When I get enough money....".  The car doesn't have to sit until it has it's killer powerplant,suspension and paint job, and is magazine cover worthy. You can drive and enjoy your project while it's "in progress".  You bought a base-model Firebird that you plan on turning into a killer Trans-Am clone? Great! If you put a 4bbl carb and intake and a good dual exhaust system on the 350, it would run way better, and guess what? The Edelbrock Performer intake and free-flowing exhaust system will also work great on the killer 400 or 455 your planning. You want it to have 17X9 Snowflakes and 275/40ZR17 Goodyear Eagle F1s for rolling stock? Fine. But you could put some inexpensive 14" or 15" inch radials on the stock Rally II wheels and drive it while you save for the killer rolling stock. Adding the air extractors, and spoilers and shaker hood is a big investment before you consider painting it. But what's stopping you from throwing a $399 Maaco or Earl Schieb quickie paint job on it for now, to make it look a lot better than it does with peeling paint and primer and preserve the body panels you are going to keep? See what I'm saying?  You can go ahead and put a 3.55 geared,12 bolt rear end and a Turbo 400 in your '69 Chevelle. Guess what-The 350 that's in the car will bolt up to and work fine with that B&M or TCI TH400 until you get that killer 454 or numbers-matching 396 built. You've got the killer suspension in place, and the snarling 383 stroker crate engine is already in the engine compartment of your Camaro. You just don't have the $2800 needed for the Tremec six-speed conversion you planned.  So? Hook up the motor to the Muncie or Saginaw or T10 4-speed, or TH350 that came in the car and have a blast driving it and working the bugs out of the rest of the car while you save for the tranny swap! Planning to drop a killer 440 into that '71 Charger you bought that has a knocking 318? Why can't you spend a few hundred bucks and a weekend installing a running 318 out of a junkyard? Now that the car's running, like I said, you can work out a million other bugs, and get the bodywork and paint and interior done and not have to have worry about some yahoo in a body shop or upholstery shop grenading your prize big-block. You'll be a lot more motivated to finish something that runs and drives than you will to work on something that you know isn't going to move for months. Trust me, you'll be a lot happier with a registered, driveable "Work in progress" than you will be with a rusting, rotting, "Someday" under a tarp.  Mastermind        

Where's the Hard-Core hot rodders with wicked fast beaters?

Maybe I'm showing my age, but nowadays it seems there's the Concours "Just as it left the factory" crowd and there's the Blown / Nitroused / Modern engine and tranny crowd, and nothing in between. There's no badass beaters around. When I was younger yes, there was the meticulously restored show car types, and there was the radical "Pro Street" type cars, both of which cost their owners many thousands of dollars even back then. But there was also the dangerous "beater" that could stomp the ass of a $30,000 ( In 1980's dollars) show car or Pro Street hero in a drag race. I'm talking about cars like my buddy's 1965 Plymouth Barracuda. Yes, the ugly Valiant model with the huge fastback window. But it was light, and it was all motor.  It was primered, and he never got around to painting it. He had crudely radiused the wheelwells on the rear to clear the soft-compound N50-15 Mickey Thompson tires that were mounted on 15X10 Center Lines, while still running E78-14 tires on stock steel wheels on the front. His crude, home-made exhaust system exited in front of the rear wheels and was excessively loud even by kid hot rod standards. But it had a very nasty solid-lifter, tunnel-rammed 340 backed by a four-speed and a 4.90 geared 8 3/4 rear end with a pinion snubber. He would pop the clutch about 4,500 rpm, and the car would just rocket off the line, and he'd shift it about 7,500. He smote everyone in biblical fashion, even expensive big-block cars. Another guy I knew had a ratty, primered, '66 El Camino with a 455 Pontiac under the hood that showed it taillights to quite a few aghast expensively restored musclecars. There was also a guy with a 383 powered Duster that kicked a lot of ass, and I took the 400 out of my wrecked Trans-Am and stuffed it in a 72 Ventura that looked like Eddie Murphy's crappy Nova in "Beverly Hills Cop".  But it smoked a lot of "Hot" cars that had pricetags 10 or 20 times what I had invested. You don't see that anymore. I mean, I'd love to see a beat up, but wicked fast '88 5.0 Mustang, or an '84 Camaro with a 383 stroker in it, or an '85 Olds Cutlass with a 403 or 455 V8 stuffed in it, or even a '90's Crown Victoria with a blower on the "Cop Car" 4.6 mod motor. All I ever see is megabuck cars whether their restored or butchered. Let's see some cheap, but quick cars, please. Mastermind    

What happened to badasses? Baby boomers want Nav and cupholders instead of horsepower!

Remember when a musclecar was a stripped-down, snarling street fighter? The automakers build a thing of beauty whose only motivation is speed.  That's what made people want to buy them, but out of greed and searching for "Broader Appeal"  then we try to change them into a grocery getter that appeals to women and families and old men. It's happened over and over throughout history. The original '64 GTO was a badass. DeLorean, Estes, and a few other Pontiac guys had the bright idea to stuff a big motor in a light car, and made history. Like the song said-"Three deuces and a 4-speed, and a 389." "Listen to her tachin' up now, listen to her wind, gonna turn it on, wind it up, blow it out, GTO!"  Yet, almost immediately, engineers began looking for "Broader appeal." The car got heavier every year. In 1967, for the first time, they sold more automatics than 4-speeds. The redesign of 1968 was a big hit, winning Motor Trend's "Car of the Year" award. The car got bigger, and heavier, and more luxurious, and more expensive. Most GTO's were over 4 grand in sticker price by 1968. It was still a runner, and still popular, but the Plymouth Road Runner came along-basically a 2 dr Belvedere Taxi with rubber floor mats, pop-out rear windows, and a hopped up 383 V8 that ran the 1/4 in under 14 seconds and cost $2800! The Road Runner was an instant hit, and even outsold the GTO for 1969. ( Pontiac sold 72,000 GTO's, Plymouth sold 81,000 Road Runners.) Dodge responded with the Super Bee, a stripped-down Coronet coupe with some cool graphics, and the 383 Magnum V8, the 426 Hemi, or the 440 Six-Pack. They didn't even bother with hubcaps or trick wheels. Just black steel wheels and chrome lug nuts. Chrysler hit the niche that GM was missing. No more tri-power GTOs or 442s after 1966. The vaunted SS396 Chevelle got the same fate as the goat-it got larger and heavier, and although the L78 was stone-cold bad with 11:1 compression, a hot solid-lifter cam, and a 780 Holley on an aluminum intake, not many were built. 99% of them had L34s with a mild hydraulic cam and and a quadrajet on an iron intake. More of them had vinyl tops than posis. Ford and Chrysler fell into this trap too,as the Mustang and Torino got bigger and heavier, as did the Charger and the Road Runner. We all know what the gas crisis and emissions did to musclecars in the '70s, but the automakers didn't learn. At the height of it's popularity and 3 best record sales years ever, some genius at GM decided that the Trans-Am didn't need a 400 cube V8 anymore. We all know how the ill-fated 301 Turbo worked out. Ford hit it out of the park with the lean,mean "5.0" Mustang in the '80's, but it too got heavier, and more pricey before it was replaced by the 4.6 versions. Subaru fell into this trap. The original WRX was a Rally car for the street. A delightful little hot rod with great handling and a turbo motor that spooled up plenty of power and loved to rev. They sold like hot cakes. What did the brass do? Tried to "Broaden it's appeal" by softening the supension and making the motor less peaky. All they did was make them LESS fun to drive!  Car and Driver said it best-and they didn't mean to be funny, but it was. In a recent road test of a Ford F250 Diesel pickup-they complained that it's ride was too stiff and too "trucklike". Hello?! A 3/4 ton pickup that's designed to tow 15,000 pounds is a little bouncy on rough pavement when it's unloaded?  Say it isn't so!!! Now I  understand why every Camaro SS or Mustang GT I see has a moonroof and Nav, and heated and cooled seats, and heated electric mirrors, and bluetooth so you can talk on your cell-phone. We all want BMWs and Lexuses.  To me that's a waste If I want a luxury car, I'll buy a Cadillac or a Mercedes. If I want a musclecar, I want it to be evil,wicked, mean and nasty, not subdued like a Camry!. Just had to vent that. Mastermind          

Like Tom Petty says- "Stand me up at the gates of hell, and I won't back down."

Got a lot of debate on the last post on both sides, but in my opinion there's no debate. Like I said, there's enough junk out there to play with, that we don't have to cut up classics. For example-my own 1973 Hurst / Olds. It's one of 1,097 ever made. It has the H/O only custom vynil top/opera windows, white and gold two-tone paint, Hurst Dual/Gate ratchet shifter, digital tach, swivel bucket seats, F41 suspension, and the 455 / TH400 powertrain. Now, if I wanted to copy Popular Hot Rodding's "Project Talledga" Nascar tribute Laguna with a Cutlass, instead of gutting the interior on my car and installing an 8-point roll cage,and Corbeau racing buckets, painting it like Richard Petty's late '70's NASCAR racer, and installing a solid-roller Rat motor and a Tremec six-speed manual-why wouldn't I just buy one of the 3 million or so 1973-77 Cutlasses that are out there that AREN'T worth anything and butcher it? Why would I destroy a for-real, numbers-matching,excellent condition Hurst /Olds to turn it into a hot rod that no one but me thinks is cool? There's no excuse for this genocide. Yet, Hot Rod magazine did it and bragged about it!! In their October 2008 issue they had a "Crate motor shootout" where they installed 8 different GMPP engines in the same car and drag-tested them. The "test mule" in their own words was-"A for-real,numbers-matching,four-speed SS396 model in great condition." They proceeded to gut the interior and install fiberglass buckets and a 10-point cage, a custom 9-inch Ford rear ( I guess the stock 12-bolt posi wasn't up to snuff) Wildwood disc brakes all around-( Again-the stock disc/drum setup can't stop the car safely on a weekend trip to the drags? ) and a TCI built TH400 with a 4 grand converter and a transbrake. Then they swapped in each engine and drag-tested them. What their going to do with the car now, remains to be seen, but for the life of me I don't understand why they couldn't get one of the millions of beater 68-72 GM "A" bodys out there and use that. Why did it have to be a numbers-matching SS396?!  Another magazine featured a guy putting an LS7 and a six-speed in a numbers-matching GTO Judge!!  He couldn't buy a beater Tempest or LeMans that there's millions of rotting everywhere, and even put the Endura front end and Judge trim on it if he had to have the look?  No, you have to desecrate one of 3,797 classics ever made that someone else would sell their soul to have. This tells me that there's too many people out there with more money than brains. I will argue this issue until Hell Freezes over. Chevy sold over 200,000 Camaros in 1967, so you don't have to cut up one the very few remaining 602 Z/28's!!!  Play with junk you want, but please stop butchering rare classics!!  Mastermind             

There's enough junk out there to butcher....Can we please stop doing rare classics?!!

Once again I am mortally offended by a national magazine cover car. This one wins, hands down, the Hustler magazine award-"Asshole of the Month".  Once Again we have a modern  Z06 LS motor and a tremec five speed transplanted into ......A pristine Split-Window 1963 Corvette Sting Ray!!!!  This is so wrong on so many levels. # 1. General Principle. Don't desecrate an ultra-rare, one-year only classic. It would have still have been irritating, but I could understand if he did it to one of the thousands of 64-67 models out there, as long as it wasn't a 427 model. But a split-window??!!  # 2. Cost. The guy had over 100 grand in the car. For that, he could have bought a brand-new 638 hp supercharged ZR1 Corvette that will leave his hot-rodded '63 in the dust in a drag race or the twisties. Ditto for a new ZO6, and he'd still have 30 grand left in his pocket.  # 3. Ruined resale value. I hope he's going to keep the car until he dies, because he's never going to be able to sell it for anywhere near what he's got in it. And even if he is willing to take a substantial financial bath at sale time, he's still going to have a helluva time finding a buyer at any price. Think about it-if you were going to spend $50-100K on a 1963 Corvette you'd want it to be fuel-injected model,or at least a 300 or 340 hp model in perfect condition with the knock-off wheels and everything, not some hot rod with aftermarket guages, seats, wheels, suspension, and a modern LS motor!!  The cost to put it back the way it should be would be so prohibitive, that anyone with common sense will take their 50-100K and buy an already properly restored one, or buy one that needs a complete restoration for15-25K and spend the rest fixing it up. The car is sale-proof in my opinion any way you look at it.  Like I said in the title-there's still enough junk out there to play with. I have to commend another magazine for featuring the exact opposite. They featured a '66 Chevelle that someone had done up like a '60's gasser drag car. Radiused rear fenderwells, straight tube front axle, tunnel-rammed small-block, fiberglass bucket seats, the whole nine yards. I thought it was totally badass, and the guy built it for under 25K. That's because he started with a beater 2dr 1966 Malibu, that originally had a 327 and a Powerglide, of which Chevrolet sold about 400,000 of.  Now if he'd done the same to a numbers-matching four-speed SS396, we'd be storming his house with torches.  That's what I'm saying. If you want to cut up an old car and hot rod it any way you please, go do it. No one's saying you can't do what you want with your own car. But another Popular Hot Rodding cover car begged the same question. It was a 1972 Trans-Am with an LS motor, a 9 inch Ford rear, and an extensively modified interior and body. It said in the article the car was originally purchased as a "show car."  You want to pretend your Boyd Coddington or Chip Foose, fine.  You have to cut up one of the few remaining 1,286 1972 T/A's ever built??!!  You couldn't go buy one of  the about 4 million beater 1970-81 Camaros or Firebirds out there and F#$k that up?  That's all us "old-school" guys are saying. Put an SRT8 injected Hemi and five-speed german automatic in any beater 318 Challenger that you can find and enjoy it to your hearts content. But don't take a 440, 4-speed R/T model and do it, ok?  Leave the ultra-classic vintage iron for those that appreciate it. Mastermind                     

It's your car....For god's sake, do what you want! Not what's "Correct"!!

Don't take the title to this post wrong. I still firmly believe that anyone who even THINKS about cuttting up the trunk of a Hemi "Cuda for wheel tubs, or putting a modern fuel-injected Chevy LS motor in a numbers-matching Judge should be dragged out into the street and shot, after having his entrails pulled out and burned. There are some "Thou Shalt Nots." I'm not talking about that kind of butchery, I'm talking about people afraid of removing a vinyl top or changing a bench seat for buckets. Go ahead, laugh, but I talk to people all the time that say stuff like "I'd like to paint it a different color," or "I wish it had a hood tach", but I don't want to compromise the value." What value? Regardless of what any "expert" says-a car is only worth what someone's willing to pay for it. And why is everyone so damnded worried about what the car will be worth if or when they sell it? If you want a dog,have no kids, and you'd really like a pit bull, are you going to get a Golden retreiver instead, because their more kid-friendly, and might be more attractive to the next owner? Did you marry your wife because you thought she'd give you an easier divorce than the other women you dated?!  Why is everyone so fixated on if or when they get rid of the car and what the next owner might want, that they don't even build it the way THEY want it!  Trust me-if you have a '69 Super Bee and you call Summit Racing and order a complete Six-Pack setup and install it on the car-you've increased the value of it, even though it's not "Totally Original." If you add the spoiler and hood tach,and paint a '69 GTO like a Judge, it's worth more to more people than it would be if it was Original "Verduro Green" with a puke-yellow vinyl top. If you want a "Formula" ( i.e.-Trans-Am style ) steering wheel on your Firebird or GTO instead of the stock Luxury Cushion model, is the car "ruined?"  Would that actually stop someone from buying it if it was for sale?  Puhleeezzze!!  I know a guy that was in genuine pain because the '71 Road Runner he bought to restore was yellow. He told me his dream combo on this car would be B5 Blue with the black stripes, and A "Go-Wing." The car had a black interior, so it would have looked fine. ( If the interior was red, that might have been a problem.) "So buy a go wing from Year One, and paint it blue." I said. "It'll look awesome." "Yeah, but the build tag says it was originally yellow."  He replied, dead serious. "So?" "If you want to sell it to someone that anal five years from now, he can repaint it." "You hate yellow." "You only bought the car because it was too good a deal to pass up regardless of color." "I can't believe your actually thinking of painting your car a color you don't like, in case you want to sell it in the future." "Are you kidding me?" He eventually painted the car blue, and is happy. This goes beyond paint and trim as well. If you have a 1968 SS396 El Camino with 4-wheel drum brakes-( They exist-I had two of them ) and you go to the junkyard and get the spindles, rotors, calipers, and brake booster / master cylinder off a '71 Malibu and put the disc setup on your car, you have greatly increased it's resale value, even though it's not original. If you have a 1967 289 Mustang with a three-speed stick and you swap it for a 4-speed with a Hurst shifter, you've upped the car's value in anyone's eyes. If you buy a Pontiac Firebird with a 350 and swap in a stormin' 455, you've upped it's value. As long as the modifications were stuff that was optional on that car, that year, or is aftermarket "period correct" then don't fret about it. Like I said, you want a hood tach on a GTO or Firebird? Do it! A 1968 Charger with 15" Cragar S/S mags is cool. Put 20" wheels off a 2009 Charger on the '68 and it'll look stupid. A '70 350 Camaro with an Edelbrock Torker intake, 650 double-pumper Holley,headers, a Muncie 4-speed and Torq-Thrust wheels is just as cool now as it was in 1971. A '68 Camaro with a TPI 350, 700R4 automatic and 19" Enkei wheels is just wrong. See what I'm saying?  Within reason, do what the hell you want with it. It's your car!!!   Just had to vent that. Mastermind             

Cars that can have the Nascar / Trans-Am / IROC racer look....and power!!

There are a few cars out there that have great potential for handling and braking as well as straight-line acceleration if you want to torture new Mustang, Camaro, and BMW owners in drag races or the twisties. Besides this mechanical ability, they can be made to look really cool, and be bought relatively cheap. #1. 1968-79 GM "X" body.  The obvious choice is a Nova, but this also includes Pontiac Venturas, Olds Omegas, and Buick Apollos. Virtually any suspension or brake upgrades that fit the Camaro / Firebird also fit these cars, so they can be made to handle exceptionally well. I mean late-1990's Corvette skidpad numbers, exceptionally well. The obvious choice for power is a small-block Chevy, which a lot of these came with from the factory anyway-GM was playing musical engines because of smog laws for most of the '70's. However, a 400 or 455 Pontiac or a 455 Olds with aluminum heads wouldn't be much more nose-heavy than the SBC, and would certainly bring the power level you want. You could also run a big-block Chevy if you want-they'll fit easily in the engine bay-and with aluminum heads and intake, headers, etc, would still have decent front to rear weight distribution. I see one with radiused and flared fenders, monster tires, and a sinister monochromatic black paint job. # 2. 1969-76 Pontiac Gran Prix. 400 power standard all years, and a fair number of '70-76 models have 455s!  And GM engineered a great chassis all those years ago-( The basic design debuted in 1964 ). Hotchkiss, Just Suspension,Global West, H-O Racing Specialties,Herb Adams VSE, and other companies offer suspension pieces to make these "A" bodies put a Trans-Am or a 'Vette on serious notice. Any suspension or brake upgrades that fit a Chevelle or Monte Carlo will fit these cars,so your choices are unlimited. And they have large wheelwells that can fit huge tires without modification provided you have the right wheel offset. I picked the GP over all the other GM "A" bodies because most Chevelles and Monte Carlos have 350 cubes under the hood. Ditto for the Olds Cutlass and Buick Skylark / Regal. While 454 Montes and Chevelles are rare, 455 Cutlasses and 455 Regals are moon rocks. On the other hand, As I said, the Pontiacs had the big-blocks standard all years. GM "A" bodies were the scourge of NASCAR in the '70's and Popular Hot Rodding's "Project Talledega" a tricked up 1975 Chevelle Laguna that channel's Darrel Waltrip's racer-is a good example of the breed I'm talking about. # 3. 1967-73 Mercury Cougar. Any suspension or brake upgrades that fit a Mustang also fit these cars. While some early models have 289s under the hood, most of these will have 351W or 351C motivation which is good, because there's a myriad of aftermarket support-heads, cams, intakes, stroker kits, etc to make the power to turn these kittys into tigers. A Cougar can usually be bought substantially cheaper than a same-year Mustang. The 429 / 460 has the same bellhousing bolt-pattern as the 351C, so you could go hog-wild on power if you need to. A 514, with a Tremec five-speed...... "M5 This you Yuppie Scum!"  Mastermind                 

A streetable clone of a classic race car might be cool.....

Got a lot of debate from the last post, which proves gearheads are passionate if nothing else. Didn't mean to offend anyone, but I wrote that post after talking to someone who restored one of the B.F. Goodrich "Tirebirds". In 1970-71 B.F. Goodrich campaigned 5 Pontiac Trans-Ams in the SCCA series. Afterward, they sold the cars to privateers.  A couple were used as race cars, one was sent to a museum, and this one the guy tried to make street-legal. He did it, but he said if he knew how much time and trouble and money it was going to end up costing, that he never would have done it. Chasing all the interior trim parts, light bulbs, etc was a pain enough, taking out the rollcage and bracing, and then going through many DMV safety inspections to get it registered-it was never registered originally-BFG bought the car and turned it into a racecar immediately-so even though he had a title,trying to register a 40 year old car that hadn't been registered in 40 years....Let's just say it was a nightmare.  The point I'm trying to make, is if you want the look and feel of a classic racer, it's just a hell of a lot easier to build a copy from a real car. Go buy a running,legally registered 1974 Charger, give it a Red and Blue # 43 STP paint job, put a Mopar performance crate Hemi in it, or a 360 stroked to 408, or whatever, and have a blast with your "Tribute" to Richard Petty's winningest race car. You can even put a roll cage in it if you want, but won't it be nice that all the dash lights and turn signals and headlights and windshield wipers, and heater already work, and the windows roll up and down, and you can register and insure it without an act of congress. I think a 1971-74 Javelin AMX painted red, white and blue, with Minilite style wheels, a side-exit exhaust and either a torquey 401 or a high-winding 304 with a 4 or 5-speed stick would be way cool. Mark Donohue would definitely approve. Edelbrock offers Aluminum "Cleveland"  style heads and compatible intake manifolds so you can build a mock "Boss" 302 or "Clevor" engine-i.e.-302 or 351 Windsor block, with the much freer-breathing 351 "Cleveland" heads. Turn a clunker '69-70 Mustang into a Boss 302 clone. I'm down with the race car styling and graphics and definitely down with a badass motor to back up the image, but you'll have a much easier time making a regular car that you can drive to the store safely and legally look and sound like a race car than you would trying to turn a race car into something street-legal and remotely drivable. So, if you want the vintage NASCAR or Trans-Am look and feel, go build one easily and cheaply from a running, registered car, don't spend untold thousands trying to convert a moneypit old race car. That's all I'm saying. Mastermind   

Don't buy an old race car.....unless you just want an expensive "Trophy"...

I see an alarming trend among the More-money-than-brains crowd, and it's spreading to the normal people as well. Magazines are doing big write-ups on people who buy and restore old racecars. This is not fun or cute, or profitable. Old racecars are a worse moneypit than anything else on the planet!! And when there immaculately restored, their still an obsolete piece of shit from a racecar standpoint, they can't be made street legal in any state in the union, and the only time you can drive them is in Vintage car races against other people's overpriced garage jewelry. You think I'm being cynical or jealous?  I'm not- let me break it down for you.  # 1. Obsolescence. NASCAR rules say the bodystyle can't be over 5 years old. That kills everything right there. Secondly-the cubic inch limit is 360 cubes. That eliminates all the 421 Pontiacs run by Fireball Roberts, the 426 Hemis by Richard Petty, the 427 and 429 Fords run by David Pearson and the Wood brothers, the 427 Chevys by Cale Yarborough and Junior Johnson and so on. Third, the new NASCAR cars are so light and so aerodynamioc, and so light-years ahead in handling, braking, and everything else, that even if they made an exception and allowed some gazillionaire to campaign a '60s or '70s car, it wouldn't be competetive anyway!!  So it's useless as a race car-which is what it was built for. # 2.  If you can't legally race it anywhere, what are you going to do with it?  I saw an article in High Performance Pontiac on someone who had restored Fireball Roberts 1962 Daytona winner to the nth degree. Big deal.  Like I said, he can't race it anywhere except vintage car club racing, and with a curb weight of about 3,700 lbs and no power steering and manual drum brakes, it's not that much fun to drive anyway. Further, when he does drive it, it's not like he's going balls-out, and doesn't give a shit if he wrecks it-he spent a zillion dollars chasing down a real 1962 Super Duty 421 and a Warner T85 three-speed tranny to be totally accurate. He's not going to risk blowing a rod out the side of that block. Wouldn't it have been a lot easier to just get a 389 or 400 out of a clunker and buy a used Muncie or Saginaw 4-speed for $500?  # 3. Don't get the bright idea to make it street-legal and drive it. First off, where are you going to get a title? Most race cars have no titles, as they've never been registered. That right there is a DMV nightmare you don't want. Secondly-it's a gutted race car-you think restoring a regular car is hard? How much of a pain in the ass do you think it's going to be to hook up headlights, tailllights, turn-signals, etc on a 40 or 50 year old car that never had them?  Are you going to drive it with a gutted interior or are you going to try to restore it? Do you know what a nightmare it is chasing down door panel clips, and sun visor screws, and seat and dash trim, and indicator light bulbs, etc, etc, etc,?  # 4. How in the hell do you know or even find out what is and isn't original?  It's a race car, so it was modified from day one!!  It doesn't matter what was or wasn't factory optional that year!!  Think about it-If you buy a 1969 Trans-Am Camaro that was supposedly raced by Mark Donohue-and it has a 9 inch Ford rear end under it, how do you know if it's original or not?  On the stock GM 10 or 12 bolt rear ends that Camaros came with, if you break an axle, the wheel comes off. Something a racer doesn't want to happen, especially at 155 mph!!  So how do know if, in 1969, Roger Penske didn't install a full-floating 9 inch Ford to avoid this problem? Or did Penske just put a c-clip eliminator kit in the stock GM rear end, and the 9 inch was installed by some other gear head who bought it in 1974?  How do you know if the 4-speed tranny is original?  Z/28 Camaros came with Muncies, but road racers often preferred the closer ratios of the Borg-Warner T10, which GM also used. How do you know if the engine is original? A lot of racers, did what Chevrolet engineers did-built it from parts-So it could have a 327 or 350 block, with a 283 crank and custom pistons in it-4 inch bore x 3 inch stroke equals 301 inches-it would have been legal to race-but it won't have the coveted "DZ" 4-bolt main 302 block in it. Does that make it worth more or, less?  # 5. So, What the hell are you going to do with it?  You can't drive it on the street and if you do race it in vintage car races, are you going to run on the ragged edge, ( which is what it takes to win, even in this arena ) or are you going to be so damn afraid of wrecking it or blowing the motor that you spend your life at the back of the pack being lapped by assholes in MGBs and Austin Healeys?  You buy a car because you want to drive it, not tow it around or look at it. I'd stay away from the old musclecar / race cars, unless of course you fall into the "More Money than Brains" category.  Mastermind                        

The history of the Z/28....That may continue...

In the mid '60's the SCCA had a series called "Sport Sedan Racing" or as it's more widely known, "Trans-Am Racing". ( Short for Trans-American Sport Sedan Racing Series ). It was wildly popular, and the cubic inch limit was 5 liters or 305 cubic inches, which is odd in the middle of the musclecar era, when "Big" was in. Ford did well with the Mustang and it's little 289 V8, and Chrysler raced the ugly, but light Barracuda with their 273 inch V8. Chevrolet's counter to the ultra-popular Mustang was the Camaro, introduced for 1967. Ford had dominated the series in 1966, and GM didn't want to just compete, they wanted to win. Not content to just drop a plebian 283 in, Chevy engineers went balls-out. They put a 283 crank in a 327 block to create a 302 inch V8. But they didn't stop there-they gave it 11:1 compression, Corvette "Fuelie" heads, a hot solid-lifter cam, an aluminum intake and a 780 Holley carb. This high-winding, fire-breathing little monster was grossly under-rated at 290 hp. The buff magazines put it's true output closer to 400 hp. To race them, they had to sell at least 500 to the public. They simply took the option code, and used that for the name-Z/28. 602 were built in 1967. These screamers dominated so much in 67-68, that Ford countered with the Boss 302 in 1969. They got quite a rep on the street as well. However, even with the racing success and magazine writer accolades, they were pretty much a "niche" car. The motor was peaky and made it all it's power from 4,000 rpm to 7,000, and had very little low-end torque and was only available with a 4-speed and 3.73 or 4.11 gears! Of the quarter-million Camaros sold in 1969, only 19,000 were Z/28 models. This means the majority of Camaros sold were 327,350 or 396 models which had much more low-end torque, could be had with an automatic and air conditioning, and were more street-friendly. The F-bodys were totally redesigned for 1970. This bodystyle would last until 1981. The Z/28 got the Corvette LT-1 engine to replace the 302. It still had the solid-lifter cam and all the goodies, but the bump to 350 cubes gave it quite a boost in low and mid-range torque. Rated at 360 hp this engine was much more tractable on the street and was available with an automatic as well as a 4-speed. Because of tightening emission controls and the introduction of low-lead gas, Chevrolet lowered compression ratios on all engines for 1971. This dropped the Z/28's horsepower rating to 330 gross. In 1972 the SAE switched from gross to net hp ratings which made it look like power dropped way off, but in reality was the same. The Z/28 / LT1 was rated at 255 hp for 1972, although it was identical to the '71 version. A strike at the Norwood, Ohio plant that built Camaros and Firebirds almost killed the line. 1100 unfinished cars that couldn't meet the stiffer 1973 bumper safety standards had to be scrapped. Only the efforts of Pontiac engineer Herb Adams, fighting for his beloved Trans-Am Firebird and a few Chevy guys convinced GM to continue making Camaros and Firebirds, which would prove to be extremely profitable in only a couple years. In 1973 the LT1 was replaced with the L82. The solid-lifter cam, and 780 Holley on a high-rise aluminum intake were gone, victims of ever-tightening emissions standards. The cam was now hydraulic, and the induction system was now a Rochester Quadrajet on an iron manifold. Net hp only dropped from 255 to 245. Sales more than doubled over 1971-72. Inexplicably, in early 1974, the Z/28 option was mysteriously dropped. I say inexplicably, because as I said, sales went way up for the whole Camaro line in '73, and they sold more Z/28s than any year since 1969. Further, it's cousin, the Pontiac Trans-Am,whose sales quadrupled in 1973 over 1972, doubled that total in 1974, and doubled that in 1975 and doubled that yet again in 1976, selling nearly 50,000 units. In 1977, the smash-hit Burt Reynolds car-chase classic movie "Smokey and the Bandit" was released, and T/A sales skyrocketed for the rest of the decade. In April 1977 Chevrolet realized their goof, and brought back the Z/28 option. The engine was a generic L48 350 rated at 180 hp,but you got a choice of a T10 4-speed or a TH350 automatic with 3.42 or 3.73 gears,F41 suspension with front and rear sway bars and spoilers and graphics that shamelessly copied the Trans-Am. 1978 was the Camaro's best sales year ever. Nothing changed for 1979, but in 1980 "Cowl Induction" returned-a vacuum-operated hood scoop that opened under acceleration and sounded cool. The 4-speed was still a T10, but instead of a 2.64 low gear with a 3.73 axle, the 1980 models had a 3.44 1st gear and a 2.28 2nd with a 3.08 rear axle. This actually increased acceleration through the gears and helped highway fuel economy. Automatics still got a 3.42 cog. 1981 was the last year of the body that had been around since 1970. For some reason,this year you could only get the 190hp 350 with an automatic. If you wanted a 4-speed, you got a 305 that wheezed out 145 hp. However, Canadians could still get the 350 / 4-speed combo, so you may see some around on the used market. 1982 brought an all-new body that would last another decade until 1992. Engine choices were a 305 with a 4bbl or a 305 with "Cross-Fire" injection. In 1983 the L69 "H.O." package debuted which upped horsepower from 165 to about 190, and the old 4-speed was replaced with a 5-speed manual, and the 3-speed slushbox was replaced with a 4-speed automatic, all of which greatly increased performance. In 1985 "Tuned Port Injection" debuted, which upped horsepower to 215, but was only available with an automatic this first year. If you wanted a 5-speed, you got the carburated L69. This was also the year the "IROC-Z" package debuted-commemerating the International Race Of Champions, which had used Camaros for years. Besides loud graphics, it also included 16" wheels and fat, 245/50VR16 tires. In 1986, the 5-speed was offered with TPI, and in 1987 the L98 Corvette TPI 350 was offered, but only with an automatic. This remained unchanged until 1992. 1993 brought an all-new body that would last until the demise of the line in 2002. It also brought the excellent LT1 Corvette 350 which made 300 hp in the 'Vette and 275 in the Camaro Z/28. These are sought after by enthusiasts because the horsepower can be upped by 150 pretty easily. This also brought a six-speed manual trans option. This continued through 1997. 1998 brought the introduction of the LS1 350 which was introduced in the Corvette the year before. This upped hp to 320. We all know the accolades the LS motors have gotten in the buff magazines. The 98-02 LS1 motored Camaros are a steal if your looking for a late-model performance car. However, when they were new, they were a car without a market. Car and Driver said it best when they road-tested one. "This car is absolutely coveted by people who can't afford it." "It caused a complete work stoppage at every drive-up fast-food window or gas station we stopped at."  At $37,000 in 2002 dollars for a loaded Z/28 they were right. GM just priced the car out of business. A loaded V8 Mustang GT was about 25K-a good 10-12 grand less, and Ford was still selling Mustangs like hotcakes.  20-25 year old guys couldn't afford Camaros, and the 30-45 year old guys who could were buying 'Vettes,Porsches,BMWs, and SUVs, not thirsty musclecars with a ten-year old body and a backseat fit only for midgets. As Mustang sales continued to soar, especially after the retro-body came out in 2005-( It looks like a 1968 Mustang ) Ford couldn't meet demand. GM realized the goof, and brought the Camaro back in 2009, looking a lot like the revered 1969 model. They also priced it right-the 300hp V6 model started at $22,000 and the 426 hp LS3 'Vette engined model at about 29. Sales went off the charts. Curiously, they brought back the "SS" moniker for the high-performance version instead of using the Z/28 name. Rumor had it that the Z/28 would return with a version of the Supercharged LS9 ZR1 'Vette engine, but when the car was introduced as a 2012 model with 580 hp, they called it the ZL1. Who knows, maybe they'll resurrect the name on something even cooler than that. We can only hope. Mastermind   

Be brutally honest about your abilities.....and finish your car!!

I talk to so many people who start a musclecar project, and then get disillusuioned and usually sell it for way less than they've got invested. And because of this bad experience, they don't attempt another project that may be way eaisier and less costly. I've touched on some of these things before, but I think it will help the person who is not an experienced car builder or mechanic by trade immensely. # 1. I don't care if you can prove that it's one of one owned by Elvis, a "Basket Case" with major rust damage, or water or fire damage, or missing a key component-i.e. a Hemi car without the Hemi engine-is something to stay away from. Especially body damage, or a bent frame-most competent shops charge $100 per hour or more for restoration work-that can add up to 10 grand very easily and quickly. Believe me most of the time your better off just paying more money for a better car to start with. Here's a perfect example-a friend and I went to look at two 1970 Firebirds. One was a Trans-Am, the other an Esprit. The guy wanted $500 for the T/A and $2500 for the Esprit. The T/A was an engineless, transmissionless,interiorless, gas tankless, hulk. Yes, the body was straight. But that was it. The Esprit on the other hand had some oxidized paint, and the vinyl top was peeling off, but it was all there. The interior was ok, and the 350 V8 fired right up, and it ran like a champ. The TH350 shifted smoothly, there was no rattles,and the brakes worked fine and didn't squeak. I told him to buy the Esprit. "This is a complete running car that only needs a little work." "It will cost you way more than $2500 to get that shell even into the "driver" shape that this one is in." Where are you going to get all the clips and clamps, and bulbs and a motor and a tranny, and a radiator and a dash and everything else?" "That'll cost you a ton." He agreed, that even though the Esprit's price was FIVE times what the T/A's was, it was still clearly a better deal, and a better starting point for a hot rod. # 2. It's just as easy to get the model you want, with the engine you want. I know a guy that bought a four-cylinder 1980's Mustang with the intent of swapping a V8 into it. Why? I have seen rough, but running "5.0" V8 models as low as $1000, and anything over 2 grand is usually pretty nice. And even if you could the labor yourself, it would cost a lot more than 2K to convert a 4-banger to V8 power!!  I know another guy that bought a 1971 Charger with a 318, that he was going to drop a 440 in. Like two weeks later, we run across a 1973 Charger with a factory 440, that's nicer than the one he bought, and priced less than $1500 more than the 318 model!! And again, by the time he changed the crossmember, the tranny, the engine, etc on the 318 model, he'd have a lot more than $1500 invested in the swap!! Magazines talk all the time about how "Easy" it is to swap engines, but if you've never done it before, even a simple apples-to-apples in-and-out like a small-block Chevy can be frustrating as hell, especially in your driveway with hand tools, rather than in a shop with a rack and air tools. And magazines don't talk about stuff like fuel line routing, belts and hoses, whether or not the power steering pump, water pump, fuel pump, alternator,starter etc will interchange, if the brackets will work on the other engine, if the sending units will work, and that's if your swapping something very simple like a 289 Ford for a 302, or a 305 Chevy for a 350. If you think you can take a carburated engine out and swap in a fuel-injected one easily and cheaply, like the old threat-"You've got another think coming." Engine swapping is not for the faint of heart even if you've done it 100 times like I have. If you've never done one, the best advice I can give you is don't try it. Just spend the extra money and get a car with the engine you want.   # 3. Get the transmission you want. Same deal- Magazines talk all the time about how "easy" it is to swap transmissions. It's not. For example-probably the easiest one on the planet-swapping a 2-speed Powerglide or Super Turbine 300 for a 3-speed Turbo 350 is a pain in the ass. Yes, they are the same bellhousing bolt-pattern and the same length, so you don't have to move the crossmember or alter the driveshaft. But-if you use the stock shift linkage you won't be able to manually engage low-gear. In a performance car, this can be a problem, as a lot of bracket racers shift their automatics manually at the desired rpm. The kickdown linkage may be different, and the speedometer cable may need to be different, and the speedo gear inside the tranny may need to be changed-if the cars don't have the exact same axle ratio-the speedometer could be off by as much as 30 mph! And that's the simplest one. Others-like swapping in a TH400- you may have to move the crossmember and drill holes in the frame,change the rear trans mount, shorten or lengthen the driveshaft,change the driveshaft yoke and u-joints, fabricate a kickdown linkage, and maybe change starters. If you think your going to just drop in an automatic overdrive-like a 700R4 or 4L60E with a lock-up converter and electronic controls-think again. And those are automatics being swapped for automatics,that are relatively easy-if you want to swap an automatic for a 4-speed or vice-versa-it can be a nightmare. Different bellhousings, clutch linkages,flywheels and flexplates, torque converters, is the block tapped for a clutch linkage? Is the engine internally or externally balanced?-That makes a difference on which flywheel / flexplate to use. Is the clutch linkage mechanical or hydraulic? Again, if your not a mechanic that's swapped dozens of trannys-don't do it. Just look harder for a car with the "Pistol Grip" Hurst-shifted 4-speed or whatever. # 4. Even if your building a base-model, start with a well-optioned one. By well-optioned, I don't mean power windows. Let's say your looking to buy and or build a 1968-72 Chevelle, or a 1970-74 Challenger. Believe me, it's a lot better to start with a model that had a V8, an automatic, front disc brakes, and power steering from the factory than it is to start with a drum-braked,six-cylinder,three-speed manual-trans, and manual steering strippy. Even if it's a small-block car you start with, and your planning on keeping it a small-block, albeit with more power-swapping the 318 in the Challenger for a healthy 360, or the 307 or worn-out 350 in the Chevelle for a 383-the suspension will handle the weight and power of the engine, the radiator will cool the new engine properly, the TH350 or 904 Torqueflite will stand up to anything under 450 hp. And it will have enough "Whoa!" to counter all that newfound "Go!". If you stuff a V8 in a six-cylinder car, the radiator may not have the capacity to cool the larger engine, so you have an overheating problem right off the bat, or you spring for an expensive new radiator. On the V8s-like I said earlier-all the brackets and linkages and valve covers, oil pans,etc will interchange from a 318 to a 360 or a 307 to a 350. Not so from the six to the V8. The V8 is going to have a different starter and my need a different flywheel and bellhousing than the six. The 3-speed isn't going to hold up to the V8 and you wouldn't want it if it could-that means buying a 4-speed tranny. The manual drum brakes aren't going to stop the car more than once from high speed without fading, and the suspension may wheelhop-designed for a six with maybe 130 hp-how it is it going to manage your new 400 hp monster? Yes, you can install disc brakes, power steering, heavy-duty springs, radiator, etc after the fact, but wouldn't it be nice if the car had it to begin with? And the time and money you spent on that could have been used elsewhere-like tires and wheels, paint and bodywork, or gears or nitrous or whatever? #5. Err on the conservative side the first couple times you build a car, and you'll be a lot happier. I know a guy that spent about 25 grand over and above his time and labor building an ultra-badass Camaro that he was going to "torture Turbo Porsches and Vipers" with. It had an aluminum headed 12:1, 600 hp, solid-roller 454 that shook the earth, backed up by a Richmond gear five-speed. It had an 8-point roll cage, subframe connectors, a complete "Herb Adams" VSE suspension with steel bushings throughout, and 275/40ZR17 tires on the front and like 335/35ZR17s in the rear. Was it fast? It was ungodly fast-the first time he ran it at the drags it ran something like 11.88 spinning the tires 3/4 of the way down the track with street radials and a suspension set up for handling. If it had slicks or drag radials and traction bars, I have no doubt it would have hit the 10s. And it handled like a slot car-aluminum heads, intake and water pump,battery in the trunk,the Herb Adams suspension-he could leave 'Vettes and Porsches in the dust around Reno-Fernley Raceway like they were standing still. But away from the racetrack, it was a nightmare to drive. The gutted interior was both loud and hot,it was hard to get in and out of- ( Ever clambered around an 8-point cage?) It idled about 2,000 rpm,got about 5-8 mpg on 110 octane race gas, the clutch was so stiff that your left leg would look like Arnold Schwarzennegger's after five miles, and the suspension was so stiff that it rattled your brains out on anything other than glass-smooth pavement. He drove it less than 5,000 miles and ended up selling it in less than a year for 15 grand-ten less than he had in it. He swore off musclecars and now races Mazda Miatas. He doesn't know it, but he'd have been much happier with a 400 hp engine that idled at 800 rpm and sipped pump gas, and a suspension with rubber and urethane bushings and shocks that didn't transmit every little bump into the steering column and driver's seat with crushing force. He still could have played grab-ass with the Porsches on country roads and at track days, but he'd have enjoyed driving the car a lot more. In his quest to build the "Ultimate Musclecar" he went overboard and built something that was virtually undrivable for anyone other than the most avid hard-core gearhead maniac. Don't fall into that on your first project. Mastermind                             

Why the eternal flame keeps burning......

A Prius driving grad student asked me the other day why anyone "needs" a musclecar. I had to give him the answer that Harley riders have been giving for years-"If I have to explain, then you won't understand." "No, I want to understand,I have to understand, I'm writing an article for a psychology magazine."  He replied. "I'll do my best to help." I said. We sat down, and I talked and he took notes. "The first misconception is gender." I said. Stephen King said cars were all girls in his classic Horror novel "Christine" about a possesed '58 Plymouth Fury, and you see old farmers calling their truck "Betsy" and such." Cars being female may be cute for some people, but musclecars are all male. It's all about testosterone. And their not male in the good father-know-best kind of way, or the John Wayne, truth justice and the american way, no, their Jules from "Pulp Fiction". My I.D. says "Bad Mofo" on it, "I'm sorry Ringo, but this isn't the first time, some fool has challenged me to a fight." "I will strike down with great vengenance and furious anger anyone who threatens the righteous man who happens to be my driver." "Though I walk through the shadow of the valley of death, I fear no evil, for I am the meanest mother in the valley!" That's what a musclecar says. You can't drive one slow. The rumble of the exhaust, the Hurst shifter in your hand, feeling the power like a Rotweiler tugging on his leash, eager to run. Come on, you candy ass. It taunts. There's no men in blue around, open me up. Like the kid in "Christmas Story" it "Triple-Dog Dares" you. God help you if there's a pretender near-a BMW or Mercedes or Jap car that tries to pass you or looks at you disdainfully at a light. Like Denis Leary on cocaine-your subconcious taunts you-"You gonna take that shit?"  "You gonna let this arrogant yuppie scum disrespect us like that?" "Please trade me in for a Honda Civic, you pussy."  You have to put your right foot down, and then it's on. As the rest of society succumbs to political correctness and frontal lobe massaging and the ever-expanding limits of freedom of the nanny state, at the last stop before oblivion stands the archaic, throwback American Musclecar. The Camaro SS, the Boss 302 Mustang, the Hemi Challenger-and their brethren from the past that simply won't go away-stand Janus-faced, giving the finger to tweed-cap wearing,pipe-smoking, journalists and engineers that deride solid axles and pushrod V8s while singing the praise of front-and all-wheel drive, overhead cam technological wonders that can't touch the performance of an american musclecar at two or three times the price. And now their selling in record numbers. How did this happen? It happened back in the 1990's when every 40 or 50 year old stockbroker or dot.com rich guy decided that the one thing missing from his life was a badass American Musclecar. Didn't matter if he already had a Porsche or a Ferarri. He was up late one night watching Kowalski's last Ride in "Vanishing Point", or the chases in "Bullitt" or "Smokey and the Bandit" or "Two-Lane Blacktop" and decided then and there that he HAD to have a Challenger, or a Charger, or a Trans-Am, or a GTO or whatever, and he didn't care how much it cost. And his competitive buddies got in on it, and remembered their big brother's 'Cuda or Camaro or Mustang from high school, and decided if Bob so and so, could spend 40 grand on the 30 year old car of his dreams, then by God, so could they. And the renaissance caught on. And the automakers thought hey-"If horsepower makes that much money, let's rock and roll and bring back the '60s." "WE can promote Hybrids, and saving the planet, but these cars will sell themselves." Brock Yates said it about Harleys a few years ago, but it applies to musclecars as well-"If that rumble, that roar, that ultimate symbol of freedom and American brashness, that death threat to collectivism and political correctness ever goes away, then it will truly be time to turn out the lights in America." That's why the eternal flame of the Musclecar keeps burning. Mastermind        

If you want to drive it like you stole it....Crate it!!....or get a "Junkyard Jewel"

I speak to a lot of people that want to race their musclecars but are afraid of blowing a rod out the side of a rare, numbers-matching block. If that's the case, I offer two viable solutions. # 1. Get a Crate engine. GM Performance, Mopar Performance, and Ford Racing all offer awesome high-performance crate engines at reasonable prices, as do companies like Edelbrock, Smeding, and Blueprint engines. If you have say an SS396 Chevelle-GMPP's 454HO may be just the ticket. At 425 hp and 500 lbs ft of torque, that's way more power than even the vaunted solid-lifter L78 396 had ( They were rated at 375hp ). With the right style air cleaner and valve covers it would look stock, and with forged crank, rods and pistons, could even withstand a big shot of nitrous. Want to be King Kong? How about 572 inches of Chevrolet and 720 hp?!!  Don't want to risk the 440 in your Charger or Road Runner? Mopar performance offers a 505 inch ( 440 based ) wedge engine with 500 hp. Ford racing offers 351W crate motors with 385 hp-a big step up from the 290 hp that a stock '69 Mustang carries. 429 SCJ Torino? They offer a 460 based 514 stroker with 600 hp. These hi-po crate engines often come with a 3 year 50,000 mile warranty!!  # 2. The other solution is to find a similar engine in a junkyard. I wouldn't want to risk grenading a for-real Ram Air III or Ram Air IV Pontiac in my Judge or Trans-Am if I had one. However, since the 400 was used in practically every Pontiac model made from 1967-78, finding a rebuildable core shouldn't be like finding a moon rock. Take this junkyard motor from a '74 Bonneville or whatever and put a stroker crank in it to make it a 455, add some Edelbrock heads, a hot cam and some headers, and you'll have even more power than your stock engine, and you won't have an anxiety attack every time you run it over 5,000 rpm!!  If you've got an AMX you may not be able to find a 390 or 401 AMC engine to play with, but their are millions of 360s in junkyards in Jeep Grand Waggoneers.  You might not find a 327 for your '60s Corvette or Impala, but 350s are a dime a dozen, you could stroke it to 383, and really have a rockin' small-block. Having a 2nd engine isn't cheap, but if you want to race your car without the fear of grenading an irreplaceable block, it's really the only solution. And you can "downgrade" and still have racing fun. If you've got a Hemi 'Cuda, you might not want to spend another $15,000 on a Mopar Performance Crate Hemi to play at the drags, but you could build a pretty strong 360 or 383 / 400 for a couple grand that would be big fun at the track, and you wouldn't care if you missed a shift and blew it all to hell!! Ditto for a Boss 302 Mustang. You can buy or build a 302 based 347 stroker with 400 hp pretty cheap,go faster than you would have with the original engine, and keep the "Moon Rock" in a plastic bag in your garage to re-install for concours shows or when you sell it. The 455 out of my Hurst /Olds is on an engine stand right now, while I abuse the hell out of the GMPP ZZ4 crate 350 Chevy that's in the car. Changing it back to Olds power would only take about 8 hours. So stop lamenting that you can't race, and go buy or build a second motor that you don't care about blowing up!!  Mastermind      

The history of the Charger....

Since Car and Driver said the 2011 Hemi Charger R/T was one of the best performance buys out there, I thought I'd go over the car's heritage. The Charger was introduced in 1966. It had wild fastback styling, hidden headlights, and a unique 4-bucket seat interior. The standard engine was the "Old" 318 which has nothing in common with the later "LA" or "Magnum" engines. The 383 and the 426 Hemi were optional with a 4-speed or the excellent Torqueflite 3-speed automatic. 1967 models were the same. Although these years have a bit of "Cult" following now, they didn't sell very good when they were new. 1968 brought an all-new bodystyle-and Dodge engineers hit it out of the park. We all know what a hit this bodystyle was. Charger sales increased something like 300% that year, and that was before "Bullitt" was released with the epic chase through the streets of San Francisco with Steve McQueen driving a Mustang and stuntman Bill Hickman driving an ominous black Charger. The standard engine was the "LA" 318, but options included the 383 and 440 4bbl V8s and the vaunted 426 Hemi. The new Charger, especially the R/T, was, to paraphrase George Thorogood- "Bad to the Bone". It looked mean as hell just sitting still, and it had the power to back up the image. A big 440 inch Charger had little to fear from a 396 Chevelle or a 400 GTO. 1969 brought minot changes-a split front grille, and two elongated taillights instead of four round ones, but otherwise the sexy body remained unchanged. Engine choices were the same except for a big midyear introduction-the 440 Six-Pack. Engineers simply took the 440 Magnum, added a bigger cam, and an Edelbrock aluminum manifold with 3 2bbl; Holleys. This was one of the great street engines of all time; driveability was excellent and even with the automatic, the car launched cleanly on the center 2bbl. When the end carbs kicked in, look out! The buff magazines raved, and the Six-Pack actually outran the vaunted Hemi in drag testing, with the stock 3.23 or 3.54 gearing.. However, we all know running a Hemi with a slushbox and 3.23 gears is like running with one flat tire; give the Hemi a stall converter or a 4-speed and some 4.30 gears, and it's a different story. People don't realize the Hemi was designed to win NASCAR races on long tracks like Daytona and Talledega. The "Wedge" style 383 and 440s made much better STREET engines. Which, coupled with the high price, is why not many Hemis were built. ( A 440 Magnum was like a $200 option, the Hemi was like a $1300 option ). This year NASCAR also influenced two rare special editions the Charger "500" had a flush grille, exposed headlamps, and a flush rear window. The Charger Daytona had an Aero nose and a tall rear wing. Chrysler had to sell 500 of them to race them, which they did, but survivors are rare, and often bring six figures. 1970 saw no changes to the engine line-up, but they went back to an unsplit grille and put a chrome bumper around it. In my opinion, Chrysler really blew it in 1971 when they changed the bodystyle. Why? Chargers had been selling in record numbers since the body debuted in '68, so why mess with success? GM didn't- the 2nd generation Camaro / Firebird lasted 11 years-1970-81, and the C3 Corvette-which was based on the 1965 Mako Shark show car lasted from 1968-1982. The Porsche 911 was basically the same from it's 1963 introduction to well into the 1990's. After a string of hits-besides the Charger, Chrysler also had the Road Runner-which outsold the Pontiac GTO in 1969, the Super Bee, the Duster and the Challenger / Cuda line, they stepped on their dick big-time changing the Charger after just 3 years. It wasn't that the car was ugly-far from it-in fact-the new body was so aerodynamic that Richard Petty won races with it clear up until 1979 when it was outlawed for the 1980 season. ( NASCAR rules stated that bodystyles could be no more than 5 years old, and the last Charger of this style was built in 1974. ) It's just that people couldn't beleive they'd changed from the beloved 68-70 style so quickly. The 383, 440 4bbl, 440 six-pack and 426 Hemi were still available, and to combat high insurance rates on big-inch musclecars, for the first time the high-winding 340 V8 that was previously onlu available in the Dart and the Challenger was optional in the Charger. For this one-year only, the Super Bee package was offered on the Charger instead of the Coronet. It was basically a graphics package, but the 383 Magnum was still standard, with both 440s and the Hemi optional. 1972 was when things really took a dive. Compression ratios were lowered and emissions standards tightened, and this was the year that the SAE switched from gross to net horsepower ratings, so it looked like power had dropped off more than it actually had. The Hemi and 440 Six-Pack were gone, leaving a 440 4bbl with 280 net hp the top engine option. 1973 and 1974 were basically the same, although the 340 was dropped after 1973 and replaced with the 360 for 1974. In 1975, Chrysler really shot their foot off as far as the Charger nameplate went. The racy 71-74 style was gone, you couldn't get a manual transmission anymore, and the body was a re-badged Chrysler Cordoba!! Yuk!!  Further, the advent of catylitc converters really took a bite out of performance, and the 400 V8 wheezed out about 175 hp, the 440 barely 200. Chryslers "Lean Burn" electronically controlled ignition / carburator setup caused the emasculated engines to run even worse. In comparing "Personal Luxury Coupes" Motor Trend wisecracked that a 400 Pontiac Gran Prix could tow a 400 Charger faster than it would run. From 1979 through the mid-1980's Chrysler really added insult to injury by putting the legendary name on various front-wheel drive, 4-cylinder Omni versions. Mercifully, they dropped it until 2005 when it returned with a vengenance. Some purists griped that it was a 4-door with no coupe option, but with 340 snarling Hemi horses under the hood and a Mercedes E-class chassis-( Courtesy of the merger with Daimler-Benz) enthusiasts had car that not only kicked butt in a striaght line-5 second 0-60 and low 14 second 1/4 mile times, they also handled good enough that drivers didn't have to take crap from BMW owners on twisty roads either. Soon the SRT8 option was introduced that included a 425 hp Hemi, Brembo brakes, and a more upgraded suspension. Mopar Muscle was no longer something spoke of in the past tense. The buff magazines raved-touting BMW 5 series performance for half the price. A Super Bee graphics package that copied the '60's style was revived. They remained basically unchanged through 2010. For 2011 the body was made swoopier, the base Hemi pumped up to 370 hp, and the SRT8 to a whopping 465!!.  Long live the Charger!! Let's hope Chrysler doesn't kill it again or do something stupid like make it a front-wheel drive or a diesel or a hybrid.  Mastermind          

The E-rod '55 Chevy.....Why?

I just got a GM Performance Parts Catalog that has a '55 Chevy on the cover and a big article inside about the new "E-Rod" perfoirmance package. It's basically a complete 2011 Camaro SS powertrain. The article went on and on about how you could have high performance and be emissions-legal. In a "55 Chevy?!!  Hello?!!  In most of the 50 states only vehicles 30 years old or newer-1981 and later-are required to have smog tests prior to registration. Some states still require it for vehicles 1978 and newer, and California, the strictest, requires it for 1975 and newer. So nowhere in the country would you have to "Smog" a '55 Chevy!! If you want to run a 327 with a 6-71 Blower and Nitrous, or a 12.5:1 compression 454 with a Tunnel Ram and dual 660 Holleys, you could. Even in smog-Nazi California you could put a 528 Hemi in your 74 Charger or an SVT 514 stroker in your 71 Mustang with impunity. The reason it offended me so much is three-fold. # 1. They should have used an '80's IROC-Z, or Monte Carlo SS, or C4 'Vette as a test mule. These are the vehicles that drivers have trouble registering if their modified at all, and would most benefit from this package. # 2. Why would anyone spend the time and money installing Catalytic Converters, Oxygen sensors,throttle position sensors, crankshaft position sensors, etc, etc, on a vehicle that didn't require it?  # 3. Spare me the rap about cold-weather starting, fuel economy and driveability. It's a documented fact that a restored musclecar is usually the fourth or fifth car in a household. No one is driving these cars to school or work on a daily basis, or even in the rain, much less freezing weather. Let's face it-90% of the cars that show up at "Hot August Nights" or go on the "Hot Rod Power Tour" do it on a trailer so the driveability argument doesn't hold water. Don't get me wrong-I love the new GM LS motors-if I can financially swing it, I'm going to be one of the first people in line for a ZL1 Camaro when they come out. But, if I want a 1965 GTO, like the song says-I want 3 deuces and a 4-speed and a 389, not an LS3 and a 4L80E!!!. You buy an old car because it's different from what's new. I've said it before-If you were a gun collector would you buy a WWII vintage Colt .45 and put Laser Sights on it?  If you were a motorcycle enthusiast would you buy a 1957 Harley Davidson and install the fuel-injected Twin-Cam engine out of a 2010 Softail?  Probably not!!  I just thought it was stupid that since even 45 years ago in 1966 when the California Air Resources Board started inplementing emission controls, a '55 Chevy was exempt!!  There's enough people out there with more money than brains that have to have the newest, and biggest, and best of everything, so I'm sure the package will sell well, but that doesn't mean it's the greatest thing since sliced bread.  That's all I'm saying. Mastermind   

Other awesome cars that were killed before they were born......

General Motors wasn't the only automaker that killed cool stuff because the bean counters said they wouldn't sell, or that building them wouldn't be cost-effective. Here's a few that would have been way cool, if  Ford , AMC and Mopar hadn't killed them.  # 1. 1971 "Boss 429" Mustang. The larger and wider 1971 Mustang offered the "regular" 429 as an option, so dropping in the Boss-9 wouldn't have been too hard. Further, the cars could have been built at Ford plants, reducing costs. ( The 1969-70 Boss 429s were 428 CJ models that were farmed out to Kar Kraft for the conversion, and Ford lost money on every one.)  The engineers felt this one could turn a profit, and upstage the big-block ponycars from GM.  Chevrolet was still considering offering the LS6 454 in the Camaro as well as the Chevelle, and Pontiac had the 455HO as the Trans-Am's standard engine. Sadly, the brass caved in to pressure from insurance companies, and safety advocates and the project was scrapped.  # 2. 1971 Charger Daytona / Plymouth Superbird. Chrysler considered putting the bullet front end and huge wings on the restyled '71 models, but ultimately decided it wasn't cost effective.  Too bad, they would have been cool.  # 3. 1972 429 / 460 Cougar. Since you could get a 455 in a Pontiac Gran Prix, and a 454 in a Monte Carlo, Ford thought they should offer a big-block in the personal luxury Cougar. ( A 351C was the largest engine available). The bean counters decided that the GP and Monte were competitiors of the T-Bird not the Cougar. Hello? The '72 and later T-Bird was based on the Lincoln MKIV platform, and in a drag race or "Stoplight Gran Prix" would only see the taillights of  a 455 engined mid-size "A" body GP or 454 Monte Carlo!!  The big-block Cougar might have sold quite a few units if it had been offered.  # 4. 1975 AMC Javelin / AMX.  Since the Challenger and Cuda were no more, and the '74 Mustang was basically a Pinto / Capri hybrid, and the Z/28 was on hiatus,  AMC brass thought that with less ponycar competition out there, Javelin sales might massively rebound like the Pontiac Trans-Am had in 1973-74. ( Up 400%  over 71-72 )  Instead, they killed the Javelin and introduced the re-designed Matador and the Pacer. Bad Move.  # 5.  1977 AMX. Even before "Smokey and the Bandit" came out Pontiac was selling T/A's in record numbers-almost 50,000 in 1976 alone-this caused Chevy to hastily re-introduce the Z/28 option on the Camaro-and every other automaker was scrambling to build a Trans-Am fighter. AMC engineers had an idea that might have changed history. They came up with a handling and graphics package for the compact Hornet, and since AMC V8's are all externally identical, suggested using the 360 or 401 V8s out of the big car/ truck line. The T/A had 400 cubes, but weighed about 3,800 lbs. At just over 3,000 lbs, a 401 powered Hornet based AMX might not have been sexy, but it would have ate the T/A's lunch in a drag race, and like the 1968 Road Runner, would have a bare-bones, badass, street fighter image. The brass thought the public was stupid, and didn't care about performance anymore, only looks. They ok'd the graphics and suspension options, but nixed the engine swap. ( Which would have been a bolt-in ) as too costly. The only engines available were a 258 inch six-cylinder, or a 304 V8 with a two-barrel that wheezed out about 120 hp. The bean counters were shocked when they didn't sell.  Decisions like this are why AMC went bankrupt.  Mastermind                   

Badass rides that GM killed for no good reason...

There are a lot of "Cars that never were" but here's a few that I think the public would have loved and bought if they'd ever made production. # 1. 1970 LS6 Nova and Camaro. Originally, the mighty LS6 454 was going to be offered in the Camaro SS and the Nova SS as well as the Chevelle line. It wouldn't have been hard to do-the 396 was already an option so the 454 would have been a bolt-in. Cheverolet was so serious about it, that the intake manifold design lost 15 hp over the 1969 427 design because the carb pad was lowered to clear the low hoodlines of the Nova and Camaro. For whatever reason, the GM brass killed them at the last minute. # 2. 1974 GTO. Originally, Pontiac was going to keep the GTO nameplate on the LeMans platform and offer the SD-455 that had only been available in Firebirds in 1973 because of emissions certification problems. That would have given sales a shot in the arm. The other plan, after the decision to downsize it to the X body Nova / Ventura platform was to offer it with a 400 and revive the "Judge" nameplate. How cool would that have been? Pontiac engines are externally identical from a 326 to a 455, so it would have been a drop-in. However, since the X body Ventura was about 600 lbs lighter than a Trans-Am, a 400 Ventura / GTO would have blown the doors off even the SD-455 Trans-Am which was now the flagship. The brass didn't think that would be good, so the downsized Goat got a 350 with 7.6:1 compression that wheezed out 200 hp. # 3. 1977 Hurst / Olds. Hurst built a prototype with a 403 V8, a W31 cam and intake,a TH350 with a 2,400 rpm converter and a shift kit, and a 3.42 posi rear end. It was black and silver and featured a special suspension with a fast-ratio Trans-Am steering box, and T/A sway bars. In early testing it was faster than both the L82 Corvette and a WS6 Trans-Am. The buff magazines raved and public interest was high, but it never made production. Once again, the bean counters over-ruled the gearheads, and enthusiasts and the public lost out. Mastermind 

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                          

A "Moldy" 'Doba or a Magnum might make a great sleeper.....

In the mid to late '70's musclecar sales were declining, but the sales of "Personal Luxury" cars were skyrocketing. GM was making a mint off the Pontiac Gran Prix, Olds Cutlass Salon and Chevy Monte Carlo. Ford responded by making the Cougar biggger and more luxurious, and introducing the Torino "Elite".Mother Mopar responded with the Chrysler Cordoba. ( "Rich Corinthian Leather"). Up until 1978 you could get a 400 or 440 in them. They were nice cars, but they ran like crap. The 400 wheezed out 175 hp, and the 440 barely topped 200!. A 400 powered Pontiac Gran Prix would tow a Cordoba faster than they'd run. The problem was the "Lean Burn" emissions systems and Thermoquad carburators. The sluggish performance and poor reliability doomed sales. Dodge dropped the Charger nameplate off their version in 1978 and re-named it the "Magnum" and gave it a swoopy front end. This body actually had moderate success in Nascar races. However the largest engine available was a 360. In 1979 Chrysler put the "300" nameplate on the Cordoba and gave it a special white paint job, trick wheels, and a 360 V8. The 1980-83 models were downsized, and not as nice. What makes them cool now, is they are cheaper than dirt, and that engine bay will swallow a 440 or even a crate Hemi like it grew there. With a powerful engine, they'd make a great sleeper. Mastermind   

GM's "Other" El Camino

We all know that the El Camino line got all the cool Chevelle options-SS packages, cowl induction hoods, etc, etc. Maybe Pontiac / GMC dealers thought they were losing sales-whatever the reason-in 1971 GMC introduced a re-badged El Camino named the "Sprint". All engine options including the mighty 454 were available. It was a moderate hit-although I think most of the sales were to people who wanted an Elky anyway and maybe got a better price on one than at the Chevy dealer, or just liked the "GMC" badging and trim. It was the same in 1972, with most being 350 powered, but the 402 and 454 Rats were optional. When the "A" bodies were restyled for 1973, so were the El Camino / Sprint. The 402 was dropped, and the 454 lost 25 hp ( Down to 245 from 270 net ) but they got cool options like swivel bucket seats. Styling remained the same through 1977 although the 454 wasn't available after 1975. For a few years-1974-77 you could get a 400 small-block as an upgrade over the 350. In 1978 they were downsized and re-styled again, and the name was changed from "Sprint" to "Caballero". The standard engine was now a 3.8 liter V6.  About 400 lbs lighter than the 73-77 models that preceded them, these were pretty good performers if you ordered the 350 V8. After 1981, the largest engine you could get was a 305. The line soldiered on until 1987, and although Chevy El Camino models got the sales boost of offereing the Monte Carlo SS front end and trim on 84 and later models, no one seemed to care about the GMC cousins. When the Malibu, Cutlass, etc went front drive in 1988, the car / truck hybrid that had been a favorite of hot rodders since 1964 died an uneventful death.  The GMC models aren't really worth anything other than the fact that you might find a deal on a low-mileage "Sprint / Caballero" simply because not many people know they even made a GMC model, and the GMC models seemed to have been sold to older people who kept really good care of them, rather than the "Real" Elkys that have been butchered with Grand /Auto sunroofs, drag raced, and generally abused by their mullet-wearing owners and trailer-park Barbie girlfriends that couldn't afford a screaming-chicken Firebird or Z/28 Camaro!.  Mastermind    

The "Other" Nomad!

The 1955-57 2 dr "Nomad" wagons are already classics among collectors and hot-rodders, and are priced in the stratosphere, if you can find one for sale at all. However, if your a Chevy fan and want to build something unique, from 1964-70 there was a 2 dr Chevelle wagon. A neighbor had a 1970 model back in the early '70's. He used it to deliver newspapers. Their pretty rare, but their not worth anything because they never had any special options, and most were sold to commercial delivery servicess that did'nt' need or want trucks. However, because of their long wheelbase and excellent weight distribution a wagon actually makes a good drag racer-they get surprisingly good traction. Further-any suspension or brake upgrades that fit other GM "A" bodies fit these, and that engine bay will swallow anything from a 283 small-block to a 572 Rat. With the help of Year One and other restoration companies you could build a one-off  "SS454 " Nomad-Cowl Induction hood, bucket front seats, etc, etc. Even if it was wrecked in the front-you could make it a "GTO" or "442" Nomad by using a Pontiac or Olds front clip and powertrain. Might be fun for some people, and definitely something something you don't see every day. Mastermind  

Thunderbirds with actual Thunder!!!

While the '60's and '70's Pontiac Gran Prix's have always been considered  great luxury / performance cars, one that's largely overlooked is the Ford Thunderbird. Here's the best ones in my opinion. # 1. 1961-63 models-often called the "Bullet Bird" because of the shape of the rear fenders and taillights. The ultimate in early '60s cool. I can see Elvis or Frank Sinatra driving one. With 390 cubes under the hood, they move pretty good too. And there is a ton of aftermarket equipment available for the "FE" engine. The 1964-66 "Thelma and Louise" model has the 390 V8, but I think their ugly. However, if you like them, there's nothing wrong with them other than the quirky styling.  # 2. 1967-69 models have the cool hidden headlight styling and either 390,428 or 429 cubes under the hood. I personally prefer the 2 dr models, but a lot of people like the 4 dr models with the "Suicide" doors. In addition to the big motors, these models also usually have cool options like factory Air, front disc brakes, power windows, etc.  # 3. 1970-71 models are my personal favorites. They have racy, NASCAR-inspired styling that makes them look badass sitting still. They also have 429 cubes under that long hood, and the early '70's was when american automakers started to care about handling, so these also ride and handle a lot better than earlier models. If the factory's 375 hp isn't enough for you, I see one of these Jet-Black with a Ford Racing 514 stroker stuffed in it. ( The 514 is based on the "385" series-i.e.-429 / 460-so the accessories should all bolt up and the bellhousing bolt-pattern is the same. 1972-76 models have lower compression ratios and more smog gear, so even though their 460 cubes, they are really down on power compared to the earlier models, and to add insult to injury, they are based on the much heavier, and uglier Lincoln MKIV platform. This is a lot cheaper way to get Ford Muscle than fighting with machetes for a same-year Torino or Mustang. Mastermind

My Ride for sale....

After 17 years of fun,I am selling my 1973 Hurst / Olds 442. It's Cameo white with gold stripes and black interior.  It has swivel bucket seats, A/c, the Hurst Dual / Gate shifter,and the rare digital tach. It's one of 1,097 made. Right now it has a 355 hp ZZ4 GMPP Chevy crate engine in it backed by a Turbo 400. The car was featured in the August 2009 issue of Popular Hot Rodding. I also have the original numbers-matching 455 Olds engine ( with a spun main bearing, but complete from carb to oil pan) and the BOP bolt pattern TH400. It has 4.10:1 gears in the 10 bolt rear end and Center-Line style wheels. I have the original owner's manual. I'm asking $12,000 for it with both powertrains, or $8,000 without the crate motor. Interested parties can contact me through the comment function on this site, and if you leave an email address or a phone number I will get back to you.  Mastermind  

Going on Vacation!

I'm taking a Christmas vacation this year. I'll try to post once or twice a week with relevant subjects. But don't worry, I'm not quitting just taking some time off. After my mini-vacation I'll be back to posting daily or every other day.  Happy Holidays to everyone!  Mastermind

What's cool and what isn't!!

I hate to be like Mr. Blackwell on Oscar night, but just like millionaire movie stars make major fashion gaffes in what they wear, enthusiasts do this with how they build their cars. Here's some guidelines on what works in the car-guy world and what doesn't.  # 1. A '55 Chevy with a snarling 327, a 4-speed, a straight axle and radiused fenderwells and big slicks is just as cool now as it was in 1965.  # 2. A '55 Chevy with a TPI 350, a 700R4 automatic, air ride suspension and 20 inch wheels and 30 series tires is not cool, and never will be.  # 3. A 1967 Mustang with a solid-lifter 289 and a 4-speed, done up like a Trans-Am racer is way cool.  # 4.  A '67 Mustang with a fuel-injected "5.0" and a T5 out of a late '80's or early '90's Mustang is so passe' that I want to vomit day-glo. # 5. A '69 Corvette with a solid-lifter, snarling 427, headers and un-muffled chrome sidepipes and Rock-crusher is a death threat to collectivism and political correctness, and the nanny state, a glorious celebration of rugged indivualism and macho american power overkill at it's finest.  # 6. A '69 'Vette with a supercharged LS9,an electronic six-speed auto and all the electronics to make it work is a microcosm of what's wrong with our society- Too damn many people with more money than brains. # 7 A '70's Camaro that's been "Pro Streeted" -a homage to Pro Stock drag cars-i.e.- narrowed rear end, monster meats, and a snarling 454 with a tunnel-ram and dual 660 Holleys says what Jule's wallet in "Pulp Fiction" said.  # 8. A '70's Camaro with a modern LS3 and a six-speed is like an opinion or other body part-everybody has one.  See the difference?  Mastermind   

Stuff "Experts" and "Researchers" will never know....

I get tired of self-proclaimed experts being belligerent and belittling anyone who disagrees with them. Just because you read it in a book or on the internet doesn't necessarily mean it's true. Legendary shootist Elmer Keith-who helped Smith&Wesson develop the .44 Magnum-said it best with the title of his autobiography. "Hell, I was There!"  Well I was for the majority of the muscle car era. My dad was a gearhead, and I could swap valvesprings in a small-block Chevy cylinder head before I could ride a two-wheel bike. My dad worked for GM, Ford and Chrysler, and I spent my life in car dealerships, speed shops and race tracks. So it really irritates me when some "Know it all" tells me that somkething wasn't available on a certain car, or that I'm lying. A couple examples- I was talking fondly about the "Rock Crusher" in one of the 77-78 Trans-Ams my dad and I owned. This idiot tells me I'm wrong because after 1974 all T/A's had BW T10 4-speeds. He continued to argue even after I said that I went to to the dealer with my dad to order it, and watched the salesman put "M21" in the transmission box, and that when we got the car six weeks later we put it up on the rack, and it did in fact have a Muncie M21! Other customers of ours had same-year T/A's. Some of them had T10s, and some had Muncies. Car and Driver even wrote it in one of their  1977 road test articles about how the T/A was the last "Real Man's car" and that the "blonde in the Corvette" "Couldn't handle the Rock-Crusher" and wouldn't dream of blowing chickens out of barnyards on country roads. He also argued that the T10 was the only four-speed used in Camaros of that vintage. Again-Wrong! The T10 was the only 4-speed used in the Z/28 from 1977-82. However 1970-74 Z/28s had Muncies. Further, from 1970-79 you could get a base-model Camaro or a Rally Sport Camaro with a 350 and a 4-speed. These cars used a Saginaw 4-speed. I know because my best friend bought one brand-new when we were in high-school, and my wife's sister did the same-I saw both of these cars when they had less than 10 miles on them , saw the window stickers and build sheets, and serviced them! NO one swapped the trannys on these cars!. Guess what? what some researcher puts in a book 30 or 40 years after the fact isn't always accurate!  Another fool argued with me when I said a guy I knew put a brand-new LS6 454 in his 1980 Camaro as soon as he got it. This jerk went on and on about how only 4 thousand LS6 Chevelles were built, and there was no way he could have a brand-new LS6 in 1980. When I commented that the LS6 was sold by GM as a crate engine until 1991, he called me a liar. When I produced an old, 1989 GM Performance Parts catalog that clearly listed the LS6 engine assembly-he said they weren't "the same thing" and refused to admit defeat. The all-time best was the Olds "Expert" that argued with me that Oldsmobile never had a Tri-Power option on the 442. When a friend showed up with his rare, pristine, Tri-power L69, 1966 442, this genius said my friend had used a 1950s J-2 setup off a Rocket 88. When we said that 1965 and later Olds 400 and 425 engines have different heads and a different bank angle than the old 394 engines and that the intakes don't interchange he said we had "Adapted" a Pontiac setup! When we pointed out that Pontiac and Olds intakes do not interchange now way no how, he says-"I don't know what you did-but that car's not original!!." Talk about not giving up in the face of irrefutable facts!  So do some checking before you start arguing with someone about what their own car did or didn't have!!  Mastermind             

You could build a Muscle "Sport Wagon"!

I talked to someone the other day who wanted to argue about whether or not there was ever a GTO wagon. ( There wasn't. See the post on "Area 51" cars that don't exist and why.)  However if you wanted to build a hot-rod wagon that looked cool and went wicked fast, you could do it relatievlely cheap. Since almost every manufacturer had intermediate-based wagons, finding raw material is easier than you think.   # 1. GM Intermediate Wagons.  Obviously, the most popular ones are the 1968-72 models. Your best bets are going to be the Pontiac and Olds models. The reason is the most of the LeMans wagons had 400 or 455 cubes under the hood, Turbo 400 trannys, front disc brakes, and heavy-duty radiators and suspensions. Ditto for the Olds models. The Cutlass "Vista Cruiser" models were usually loaded as well-which again, meant the 400 or 455 big-blocks, TH400, etc. There are a lot of Chevy Malibu wagons made in this period, but most of them are small-block models. If you find one with a 396 or 454, great, but they are not as plentiful as the big-block Olds and Pontiac versions.  However if you decide to build one, with the help of Year One, and other companies, you could make a "Judge" wagon, or an "SS396"  or "442" or "Hurst /Olds" wagon. And because of their long wheelbase and excellent weight distribution, a wagon actually makes a good drag racer. There's not a lot of them, but if you find one, a 455 Buick Skylark wagon could be a cool "GS455" or "GSX" wagon.  # 2. Mopar Wagons. For some reason Chrysler didn't sell nearly as many wagons in the '60s and '70's as GM and Ford did. However, most of them did have 383 or 440 power under the hood, and it wouldn't be hard to make a "Super Bee" wagon out of a Coronet, or a "Road Runner" or GTX wagon out of a Satellite.  # 3. 1969-76 Ford Wagons. A Torino or Fairlane wagon could be cool. A lot may have 351 / 400C engines, which can be hopped up easily, and there are enough 429 /460 models out there. This also includes Mercury Montego wagons as well. How cool would a NASCAR themed- "Wood Brothers" wagon be?  # 4. 1963-69 GM Full-size wagons. Again, it would be easy to build an "Impala SS" wagon or a Pontiac "2+2" wagon out of one of these. The Pontiacs would all have 389,400 or 428 cubes under their long hoods, and a lot of the Chevys would have 396's. How cool would a Tri-Power, 4-speed Catalina wagon be? Chevy built some 427 wagons, but most of these were kept by collectors, or are junk and have had the engine pilfered by Corvette restorers. Still, that engine bay will swallow anything up to a GMPP 572, so your only limited by your imagination and your wallet. If you have kids, or need to pull a trailer, wouldn't one of  these be more fun than a modern SUV?  Mastermind