Car Restoration - what will you rebuild "some day"?

[Grayeagle]

Speakin o' early Firebirds:

Friend of mine, Tom Nielsen, asked me how to make his '68 Firebird faster ..
..I told him I could put a big block Chebby in it for about as much as it would cost to rebuild his 350
..and it would be orders of magnitude faster -evil grin-

We went junkyard hunting ..found a big port 396 in a '69 chebby station wagon.
Put 11.5 TRW pistons in, balanced, printed, stuffed a nice 550 lift hydrastic cam in,
tunnel rammed it with two Holly 750's up top, and put 4.88's in the back.

FYI ..to put a Rat into a Firebird or GTO, all you need are the mounts direct from Chebby parts counter..
..mounts, clutch linkage, throttle links for a Rat in a Camaro bolt into the Firebird,
..for the GTO you need the same for that year Chevelle ..also bolt in.
..and the Rat weighs about the same as the Pontiac 350.

It was *crazy* fast ..120mph to merge with traffic up an onramp, from the stoplight, f'rinstance
All kinds of Pontiac 'people' wanted to know where we had gotten the tunnel ram for the '350'
..he had left the stock emblems on.
..Tom useda tell 'em he carved it out of a block of aluminum

I ran him from a roll once in my 440 Duster .. Tunnel Ram 440 vs Tunnel Ram 396
..the big Rat just ran away ..far more power out of those big port heads
To this day Tom swears I was pedaling it just to make him look good ..I never pedaled it for anyone.
(unless I was ahead and feelin 'friendly' ..not very often)

-Frank aka GE

[FLOOB]

Probably just my current everyday driver. Hopefully I won't get far enough behind on maintenance to start calling it rebuilding.



Twelve cylinders, two doors and no cup holders.

[uptown]

[ink]

sweet uptown
 

[ren]

My first car was 1974 the Capri, red. Loved that car. Put nice rims, front spoiler, surf racks. Good times, good times. I'll try to find picture.
My dream car would be 1970good Cuda.

[Skuzzy]

The Wife made it official.  She wants me to build her a 62 Corvette after I finish with the Cobra.  And the search begins.....  WOOT!

[Wmaker]

The Wife made it official.  She wants me to build her a 62 Corvette after I finish with the Cobra.  And the search begins.....  WOOT!

'62 Corvette is a beautiful car. I must say that I thought that the late 50s beautiful front end combined with the back end of a first generation stingray was a bit of a miss match and that -60 Corvette with its still round back end looks better. I still do think that way but the couple times I've seen '61-'62 'Vette in person that fact tends to get forgotten real quick!

[RTHolmes]

'58 model for me on looks - the '50s rear wings with the new double headlamps is about as good as a convertible can look

[Hajo]

The Wife made it official.  She wants me to build her a 62 Corvette after I finish with the Cobra.  And the search begins.....  WOOT!

Skuzzy.....you going to take as much time to build that vette as you did the cobra??   

Can see wife now out in driveway with rolling pin and crossed arms looking at the uncompleted as of yet 62 Vette

[Skuzzy]

The Cobra is still in storage until the new house gets built.  Looking at a move in date in May/June of this year.  Then I can start on the Cobra.

She asked how long it would take to build her car and I just said, "it will depend on how fast you can throw money at it".  I hope I did not put my foot into my mouth.  If she really tosses money at it, I may have to take extended leave from HTC in order to survive.

[CAP1]

The Cobra is still in storage until the new house gets built.  Looking at a move in date in May/June of this year.  Then I can start on the Cobra.

She asked how long it would take to build her car and I just said, "it will depend on how fast you can throw money at it".  I hope I did not put my foot into my mouth.  If she really tosses money at it, I may have to take extended leave from HTC in order to survive.

 you did indeed put your foot in your mouth, lol. and her hand in your wallet. you never said WHO'S money she'd be throwing at it.......and from experience with most customers i deal with....it will be your money she throws at it. 

[Hajo]

In case all of you hadn't noticed.....beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  Me....I luv'em all.  Everyone of them is special to their owner.

I fancy Moprars....Cap Fords, Shuff Chevys'.  Ya can't go wrong with any of them if you like them.  I was very fortunate to be right in the middle of
the muscle car era.  I was born in 1950 and drving american muscle in 1966.  Cap, Golfer, and Shuffler will tell you they build them better today
then they did then.  In the mid 60s boy would they go.....the biggest problem was stopping them.  I had a lot of near misses believe me.
Brakes back then sucked...to put it mildly.  The 60s had so many beautiful muscle cars and early 70s, I can't name them all.  The first Cobra was
made by AC...shipped over here and a legend put a 265 cu. in V8 in it.  Most people forget about the early 60s' Chevy 409s.  First V8 to put out as
much HP as cu. in.  Keeping drive shafts in them was a problem lol.  Studebaker...you prolly think I'm nutz but in the 50s the Studebaker could
be considered the father of muscle.  Same with Desotos and Chryslers.  Hudsons......early NASCAR they rooled!

I'm very glad we have the modern versions out.  They handle wayyyyyyyyy better, put out more HP with fewer CU/INs, they actually have brakes
that can stop you and the comfort is fantastic.  I will always however love the Hemi Lightweights, The Thunderbolt, Gassers of any kind etc.
Whoever was responsible for starting this crap, I'd like to thank him, and slap him at the same time  What a way to p'off the wife and spend money eh?

[ink]

In case all of you hadn't noticed.....beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  Me....I luv'em all.  Everyone of them is special to their owner.

I fancy Moprars....Cap Fords, Shuff Chevys'.  Ya can't go wrong with any of them if you like them.  I was very fortunate to be right in the middle of
the muscle car era.  I was born in 1950 and drving american muscle in 1966.  Cap, Golfer, and Shuffler will tell you they build them better today
then they did then.  In the mid 60s boy would they go.....the biggest problem was stopping them.  I had a lot of near misses believe me.
Brakes back then sucked...to put it mildly.  The 60s had so many beautiful muscle cars and early 70s, I can't name them all.  The first Cobra was
made by AC...shipped over here and a legend put a 265 cu. in V8 in it.  Most people forget about the early 60s' Chevy 409s.  First V8 to put out as
much HP as cu. in.  Keeping drive shafts in them was a problem lol.  Studebaker...you prolly think I'm nutz but in the 50s the Studebaker could
be considered the father of muscle.  Same with Desotos and Chryslers.  Hudsons......early NASCAR they rooled!

I'm very glad we have the modern versions out.  They handle wayyyyyyyyy better, put out more HP with fewer CU/INs, they actually have brakes
that can stop you and the comfort is fantastic.  I will always however love the Hemi Lightweights, The Thunderbolt, Gassers of any kind etc.
Whoever was responsible for starting this crap, I'd like to thank him, and slap him at the same time  What a way to p'off the wife and spend money eh?

all this tells me is.....................






























you are old



 

[CAP1]

In case all of you hadn't noticed.....beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  Me....I luv'em all.  Everyone of them is special to their owner.

I fancy Moprars....Cap Fords, Shuff Chevys'.  Ya can't go wrong with any of them if you like them.  I was very fortunate to be right in the middle of
the muscle car era.  I was born in 1950 and drving american muscle in 1966.  Cap, Golfer, and Shuffler will tell you they build them better today
then they did then.  In the mid 60s boy would they go.....the biggest problem was stopping them.  I had a lot of near misses believe me.
Brakes back then sucked...to put it mildly.  The 60s had so many beautiful muscle cars and early 70s, I can't name them all.  The first Cobra was
made by AC...shipped over here and a legend put a 265 cu. in V8 in it.  Most people forget about the early 60s' Chevy 409s.  First V8 to put out as
much HP as cu. in.  Keeping drive shafts in them was a problem lol.  Studebaker...you prolly think I'm nutz but in the 50s the Studebaker could
be considered the father of muscle.  Same with Desotos and Chryslers.  Hudsons......early NASCAR they rooled!

I'm very glad we have the modern versions out.  They handle wayyyyyyyyy better, put out more HP with fewer CU/INs, they actually have brakes
that can stop you and the comfort is fantastic.  I will always however love the Hemi Lightweights, The Thunderbolt, Gassers of any kind etc.
Whoever was responsible for starting this crap, I'd like to thank him, and slap him at the same time  What a way to p'off the wife and spend money eh?

 bold......don't forget lincolns, and oldsmobiles. people often forget these cars ruled though. and they also think supercharging is new, when you could get a golden hawk with a paxton on it back in what? 57? then there was the front wheel drive cord in the 20's i think it was?

 sometimes i wish i was around back then.   

 also....very well said hajo.

[Hajo]

all this tells me is.....................






























you are old



 

Hey Ink!    <slap>  quit remindin' me