Need Help for first car (muscle)

[LiveInThePast]

hey guys

alright so im lookin to buy my first car that im looking to be a late 60's early 70's american muscle. I need something around the price range of 8k and is the perfect starting car. I'm willing to devote alot of time to tuning it and building it up but i need to know where to start first suggestions would be great

thnx guys : ]

[MagicRat]

Well, if this is your first car, buy the best condition one you can afford.

Please don't buy a wreck or something that will take a lot of work. I appreciate your enthusiasm and willingness to work but nothing discourages a novice old car enthusiast more than being faced with huge amounts of work to do on a car before it can be enjoyed.

You will enjoy the car and the old car hobby much more if you can drive and enjoy the car as soon as you buy it. So keep the work on the car to simple, easy tasks, such as installing a new carpet, or cleaning and detailing the engine bay. Some mechanical work is easy such as tune ups and brake jobs.
But avoid any car which needs major work, such as engine rebuilds and especially rust/dent repair and paint and body work.

As for the type, I suggest, since you do not specify any preference, buy the best one you can afford and don't get hung up on one particular make or model.

However, if you can, stick with Chevy, Pontiac or a popular Ford, such as the Mustang, because parts, especially reproduction parts are much more plentiful.

Avoid Chrysler/Dodge/Plymouth, Buick, Oldsmobile, AMC and less popular Fords, simply because there are far fewer parts available. (Note, I'm talking about body/interior parts here, generally, mechanical parts are quite easy to come by. ) However, if you find one thats well-priced and needs nothing, go for it.

[LiveInThePast]

thnx alot

i was thinking the same thing when it comes to fully restoring a car
i wouldn't wanna go through all that hard work

now that we have that out of the way
what car makes would you consider to be most powerful (for drag) particularly
i've been leaning towards the chevy chevelle SS
i also would like to know what years are better than others and if bigger engine is always better : ]

[LiveInThePast]

thnx for the response but do you thin you could guve some make and models just so i can start researching them

[inafogg]

you beed to discide weather to build a car for drag racing or to rebuild/restore a car!! 2 totally differant things

[LiveInThePast]

racing is what i plan on eventually doing

[homestar]

well im quite new my self and i know not to much but my step-dad and some close friends of mine know quite a bit if your looking for something to drag and what-not i agree find a mustang a lot of people have them so parts for them are going to be easy to find now for year and model thats up to you

[MrPbody]

If you want to race a "muscle car", you must start with one. Mustang does not qualify. It s a "pony car" (regardless of how much "muscle" the car may have). That being said, my brother has a '66 Mustang race car (NEVER to see the street) with a 501 CID BBF in it, and he's having a ball! Car has been mid-10s, but will easily make the mid 9s by the time he's learned to drive it (he never had a car quicker than 13s before, ALL Mustangs).

Chevelle SS454 (1970) is arguably the most powerful muscle car (aside from the Hemi cars, which are outside the scope of this discussion) produced during the era. With good tires, they're known to go 12s without modifications.

For a real "modern" racer, consider the G-body ('78-'87 Monte Carlo, Malibu, Grand Prix, LeMans, Cutlass and Regal). VERY popular cars for drag racing, these things are cropping up on racejunk.com and other "used" race car outlets. Lots of the work is already done for you!

Small block Chevy engines are very popular in the G-bodies, but don't discount either BBC or the Pontiac. Both make VERY effective "bracket" engines.

Jim

[429SCJguy]

Jim,

Great to hear your brother's Mustang is a big success! Very impressive engine as shown on your website. How extensively did he have to modify the '66 Mustang body for that kind of power?

My Talladega is nearing completion also. Have to finish up exhaust and install carb. It's pretty much a stock resto, 428CJ, .030 over, balanced, 262 Isky Supercam.

I'm also finishing up one of my dad's cars for him, '56 Victoria with 292 Y-block, Edelbrock 3X2bbls, Mallory dizzy.

[MrPbody]

I have some more pics he sent me, but he's more "computer challenged" than I am, so they're all old fashioned photographs (for the youngsters, that is, the pics are printed on paper...Humor...). The car is a work of art! Very classy "blend" of original '66 Mustang appointments and modern race car equipment. He's actually built a 9 second "show car"!

The front suspension had to be replaced with Mustang II stuff. Shock towers are dead in the road, so they had to go. Rear has been "back halved" and has a 4-link 9" in there now. He's done much of the work himself, but had a pro chassis shop do the suspensions and weld the cage. All the paint and detail are his.

He's supposd to be getting me some pics from the track, with the front wheels "catching air". His buds told him the wheels came up about 4". They laughed at him at first, 'cuz the car was way to "squirrelly" for him. After someone told him to take 10 lbs. out of the back tires, it starting coming to life. He said "I'm starting to get the "hang" of this!" 10.56@129.5 so far... 60' on that pass was in the toilet at 1.66. Between that motor and the rear suspension, it SHOULD 60' about 1.35-1.4. I believe it will go 9.60s before it's all "done". His buds aren't laughing anymore. One even commented on how weird it must be to get a Ford from a Pontiac shop. He used my "line": We don't care WHAT color you paint it, we can build it right!

Jim

[homestar]

oh that sounds nice and thank you for setting me straight with the "pony car" thing

that 66 sounds beautiful tho *drool*

[Shpuker]

i like the AMC javelin myself but as magic said, some parts can be hard to find. for a cheap fix up the body type car that may be hard to find. i suggest looking at some used car dealers around where you live and if you find something that looks good test drive it a few times check the mechanics and such. try not to be horribly picky but dont overlook big mechanical problems. check everything before you buy. small stuff is easy to fix.
EDIT: as they said easyest way to make a race car is to get one mostly done for you, funnest is to make it yourself, though that can get pricy real fast

1972 AMC Javelin (someday)