Best car for a starting tuner?

[Vettribution]

Now if you already have a car... And you want to make a project car on the side.. Why do something everyone else has done? Everyone has a little honda with a huge exhaust out there. Take some time for yourself and find a car that suits you well..if this is a project this is something you want to commit to and put time into, and not just get sick of it and toss it. Some ideas...Find a model and type that suits YOU. Also Dont necessarily modify something EVERYONE else has done. There is a balance between being able to find the parts, and not being another stick in the mud. What do YOU like.. in particular.. domestics/imports...old/new... rare..or do you LIKE the common civic or eclipse? Being vague doesnt help yourself when you ask other people for assistance. (By the way for cheap cars to begin with, with nothing at all to start with.. old muscle cars are easier to find... anything newer will be hard to find without going to a junkyard.)

[syr74]

Okay man, all bias aside I am going to shoot it to you straight. As you are apparently "unbiased" in your automotive affiliations, and I mean just in a general domestic versus import way, then if what you want is "cheap and easy" to mod old domestic is easily the way to go. Especially if it isn't your real car.

Yeah, I am going to draw some flack from the import guys. But, I have wrenched on more than my share of domestics and a decent number of imports and can tell you that generally speaking nothing is easier or cheaper to work on than an old GM or FoMoCo product.

Case in point. My brothers father in law has a yard full of very nice running Cadillac's with 472ci and up V-8's in them. Many of these cars simply are not overly desirable as a car and I have never known him to pay over 500 dollars for one. As heavy as these things are you could ynk the motor and tranny and scrap the car for half that. I have seen him pay as little as fifty buck for a nice running car too.

BTW, for those who don't know the modern LS1 smallblock looks like an old Caddy big block and a Ford Windsor smallblock had a baby....seriously. The basic head design for the LS1 is simply a refined version of the old Caddy head.

Another FYI is that the big Caddy is actually pretty small. That's right, there is a lot of displacement in there but overall weight is less than any other modern GM big-block. As a matter of fact the big Cad is closer in weight to the old 350 mouse than to a big block Chevy Rat. No kidding.

Here is the kicker. In some "undesirbale" seventies models this sucker made well over 400hp truth be told. Torque was off the friggin charts. Grab any 70's model of this motor, add an intake manifold, a better carb, electronic ingnition (if otherwise equipped) and a set of headers...drop it in say a 72 Nova and you are going to haul some major ass. Heck, you would haul major ass with nothing more than a set of headers and an ignition upgrade. Well over 500hp feels like one of these is hardly breaking a sweat. Torque, please, it's off the friggin' scale.

(btw they make adapters for basic Ford 460 stuff (intake manifolds and headers) that allows it to work on the big block Caddy so stuff is still really cheap compared to any import)

[Neutrino]

one thing to add to syr' post is that those massive displacement engines respond with insane amounts of power to even low amounts of boost


8 psi pushed by a turbo in a 427 will put your power output in the stratropheric levels

[ricergribbs]

what would you say would be the best bang for the buck mods if i were to get a chevy 350 small block and put it in a 68-74 chevy nova? i can get the car for about 800 and engine for another 200$ but the engine wont be in the best of conditions. so id get new heads, bottom end, replace all the stuff that is worn out like gaskets and oil pump etc. now would you recommened that i get a blower? tunnel ram? or go high compression? if im going to go domestive muscle then id prefer to stick to the old habbits of not running a turbo on it. or would you say that this is actually a good idea? how much hp/torque would i get outa a 350 running a turbo on it if i were to rebuild the bottom end?

[calgary_redneck]

How about just don't be a tunner and leave that for guys with a more questionable sexual orientation shall we say

[chevydrummer76]

Originally Posted by ricergribbs

what would you say would be the best bang for the buck mods if i were to get a chevy 350 small block and put it in a 68-74 chevy nova? i can get the car for about 800 and engine for another 200$ but the engine wont be in the best of conditions. so id get new heads, bottom end, replace all the stuff that is worn out like gaskets and oil pump etc. now would you recommened that i get a blower? tunnel ram? or go high compression? if im going to go domestive muscle then id prefer to stick to the old habbits of not running a turbo on it. or would you say that this is actually a good idea? how much hp/torque would i get outa a 350 running a turbo on it if i were to rebuild the bottom end?

I would say save your time and get a rebuilt 350 from a local professional shop. I got a long block 4 bolt 350 w/ rv cam, gaskets, etc for only 895.
Put a good carb and intake on there and you'll have 300+ horsepower. Also the novas started to get ugly in the 70's so try to find a late 60's nova. just my

[ricergribbs]

yeah, i want to go for a 68-69, i thought that some of the pictures of the 70+ ones looked a tad wierd. good to know it wasnt just me. but i know a few mechanics, so they can help me. one actually built a 69 chevelle with a 427, turned it into a 9 second car. that thing could haul. but now he just has a 454 in there, pumps out about 460hp so it can still run a good 1/4. he says that the 350 can be built with about 400hp without even going FI. plus id rather build it myself just for the fun of it.

[Neutrino]

Originally Posted by ricergribbs

what would you say would be the best bang for the buck mods if i were to get a chevy 350 small block and put it in a 68-74 chevy nova? i can get the car for about 800 and engine for another 200$ but the engine wont be in the best of conditions. so id get new heads, bottom end, replace all the stuff that is worn out like gaskets and oil pump etc. now would you recommened that i get a blower? tunnel ram? or go high compression? if im going to go domestive muscle then id prefer to stick to the old habbits of not running a turbo on it. or would you say that this is actually a good idea? how much hp/torque would i get outa a 350 running a turbo on it if i were to rebuild the bottom end?

if you're gonna rebuild the bottom end then you must use forced induction, the power gains trough FI make the other NA mods seem like a joke


and go turbo, the old school blowers are just that old scool, it made sense back in the day but now turbo technology is so advanced that turbo's are a much better choice

forget loyalty to old school muscle ideeas, your loyalty should be only to performance and if new technology offers you a way to go even faster and more efficient with your 350 then choose the new way


and the best example to support my position are the lingenfeter vettes, its insane what they can do with those twin turbos setups, and remember those vette engines start off as sb 350s

[Kurtdg19]

Originally Posted by GTStang

Cheap+Easy+ Enermous aftermarket selection= 5.0 Mustang

Thats what I was thinking.

Buying an old muscle 70s car is a good idea, but these old cars usually need restoration (especially when you only spend $500 on the car). Not to mention the weathered body/nuts/bolts all over the car may need to be replaced. This sounds more like a project than a daily driver. I would probably buy an old cheap car/truck to daily commute as you work on a car like this.

On the other hand, a 5.0 fox body would be very cheap and drivable the minute you buy one. For the cash you have, it would be hard to get even a decent car in good running order. I would spent 1.5-2k on a car that is in running order rather spending 500 on a pos that needs a lot of work. It would be cheaper in the long run if you were to do it this way IMO. Not to mention the aftermarket for the 5.0 is about the largest an aftermarket can be. At least make sure the car is drivable at the "pre-mod" state before you start adding power to it.