Dilemma!

[faster]

My 19 year old son has always been around fast cars, show cars and hot rods. He has the bug bad. He never could lie to me and lies eat him up so he informed me he took my 97 Cobra with the Nitto NT-05's to the strip twice and made 10-12 passes total.

My wife went nuts and actually I just laughed and could not get mad. God he is just like me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He turned in some 13.7-8's with it. I'm impressed, he can launch and drive. He treed both buddy's but the GTO took him at the traps. Actually he said he treed most people he faced.

I really could not be too mad because he went to the strip to race his buddy's 06 GTO and another buddy's 2011 Mustang GT and would not on the street.

We had a talk and I reminded him if he wrecks at the track insurance will not cover the car plus we were almost out of the financial nightmare of that uninsured guy who ran him over in 2010 and cannot afford to rebuild a car that broke from being at the track. He understood and promised not to do it again.

I talked to him about buying a $1-2K V8 car (he likes the V8 rumble as much as I do), stripping it and making it just a strip car that can sit when it breaks till we fix it. He loves that idea and I could make it safer than a street car for him to play with at the track. Plus a simple V8 would be an easy platform for him to learn on, play with, modify and fix.

So many choices but he wants a stick car.

IDEAS?

Mikey

 

[Squid4life]

LS/ 6 spd F bodies are pretty easy to get into and some are in the 11's with a cam and sticky tires. Lots of aftermarket support for them too.

Or, grab a Regal or T/GN roller to build. I have access to a T-56 6 speed with Buick bellhousing, driveshaft, and cross member.

You're a good dad and it sounds like you are raising your son to be a good man. (Even if he didn't tell you he went to the track, at least it was at the track and not on the street.) What a great opportunity for a dad/son project!!

 

[EVIL]

Kids!
Sounds like you handled it pretty well and the talking to was good as well.
mustangs are loads of fun and easy to work on as well.
I know, blasphemy. But they are fun.

I have access to a T-56 6 speed with Buick bellhousing, driveshaft, and cross member.

that would be and interesting setup. Has it been done with success? Top speed would be scary.

D

 

[Squid4life]

Yep. Local socal guy was running the T-56 in his GN for a while. Seriously thinking of picking it up for a hybrid...

 

[charlief1]

There a Regal in the cars for sale section right now for $1200. Drop a LS based engine in it out of a junk yard with the Edelbrock intake and an MSD controller on it. That would cost maybe another $1200 if you do a little shopping around and then motor mounts aren't that expensive. If you do it right you could have less than $4k in the car and he could go out and have some fun. LS based engines are still cheap and with a simple 4 barrel on it he can easily make anywhere from 350 to 450 HP. Can't beat that for a cheap thrill these days.

 

[turbojoe1]

The older 79-93 fox body's Mustangs are some the the easier cars to work on and soup up. The fox body's are still plentiful, and a sbc 350 under the hood always does the trick. A carbureted Vortec headed sbc can be done very cheap and make awesome torque curve. With respectable HP numbers in the 375-450 pretty easy. Im not a mustang guy but the Fox body's do have a cool factor to them.

 

[faster]

LS/ 6 spd F bodies are pretty easy to get into and some are in the 11's with a cam and sticky tires. Lots of aftermarket support for them too.

Or, grab a Regal or T/GN roller to build. I have access to a T-56 6 speed with Buick bellhousing, driveshaft, and cross member.

You're a good dad and it sounds like you are raising your son to be a good man. (Even if he didn't tell you he went to the track, at least it was at the track and not on the street.) What a great opportunity for a dad/son project!!

I've never worked on an F-body, with the engine under the cowling aren't they hard to access? My only sticking point. I'll PM you on the parts, thanks...

There a Regal in the cars for sale section right now for $1200. Drop a LS based engine in it out of a junk yard with the Edelbrock intake and an MSD controller on it. That would cost maybe another $1200 if you do a little shopping around and then motor mounts aren't that expensive. If you do it right you could have less than $4k in the car and he could go out and have some fun. LS based engines are still cheap and with a simple 4 barrel on it he can easily make anywhere from 350 to 450 HP. Can't beat that for a cheap thrill these days.

Thought of the Regal platform and like the ease of working on it. Never thought about LS platform though, you may be on to something.

Kids!

Sounds like you handled it pretty well and the talking to was good as well.
mustangs are loads of fun and easy to work on as well.
I know, blasphemy. But they are fun.



that would be and interesting setup. Has it been done with success? Top speed would be scary.

D

Strictly a strip car so top speed is not a concern, plus I would use very short gears with a stick. Like the fox body platform too from a cheap standpoint and tons of aftermarket stuff for it and the f-body GM cars.
I'll PM you about the parts, thanks.

The older 79-93 fox body's Mustangs are some the the easier cars to work on and soup up. The fox body's are still plentiful, and a sbc 350 under the hood always does the trick. A carbureted Vortec headed sbc can be done very cheap and make awesome torque curve. With respectable HP numbers in the 375-450 pretty easy. Im not a mustang guy but the Fox body's do have a cool factor to them.

Now were talking, cheap, reliable and quick. I like that.


You guys may have solved all the issues.

Mikey

 

[charlief1]

Thought of the Regal platform and like the ease of working on it. Never thought about LS platform though, you may be on to something.
Mikey

I've been arguing with the dirt track guys for years about using an LS engine instead of the SBC that they're so friggin in love with, but they don't get it. You can get an LS 5.3 out of a salvage for less than $1K and any of the speed order shops have the 4 barrel intake, MSD controler, motor mounts, headers, and carb to put it in a G body really easily. A stock 5.3 with a 600 holley will give you an easy 350 HP right out of the box and a cam change will give you as much as 450. No other changes either. How many engines can you find these days that are that cheap. Usually the intake and controller are priced together at about $600 and AZ, O riellye's, or advanced have a 600 Holley for about $200. Motor mounts you can shop around for but you can get them for around $200 or less. Add a turbo 400 and you've got a great cheap combo that will be fun as well as win if he gets off the line right. Plus a G body is a platform that you and he are used to so you'll know all the chassis forwards and backwards. Tons of parts and most of them are still cheap as well. The fox body is a uni-chassis so you've got more flex and adaptation that you'll need to do which means more $.

 

[dr_frankenstein]

how about an H-body?

cheap - light - sbc fits right in