Looking For Budget Project Car Ideas

[Bill Howell]

Man I wish I was not below Bill's post when I mention this next car but I have to, The Corvair.

LOL, you got to be kidding me! Corvair, LS3, I am feeling that. I saw one at Columbus Goodguys last year, very cool piece and had a crowd around it all day.

Hey, when Fieros first came out, mid engine, two seaters, I can remember dreaming of having one. Then once they hit the streets, what a POS. Over half of them burned to the ground because battery acid would eat thru the fuel lines and create a fire. Of course, I guess after looking on Ebay at "protouring cars" for sale you could always put a set of TTIIs on anything and call it a day....lol

[406 Q-ship]

2nd Gen F-bodys another cheap alternative, especially the 78 up Camaro. Even the early 4th Gen F-body is pretty reasonably priced. Early mustangs are kind of out of the budget of the blue collar guy, unless you go for a coupe for the 65 - 70 Mustang.......I just had an idea, what about a 71 - 73 Mustang (cheap and lots of interchange in the early 70's Fords). A 71 - 76 Torino would be a alternate to the Mustang. There is still AMC and Chrysler too, Hornet, Volare....stop laughing, Spirit, Gremlin....I said to stop laughing......et al. These are RWD that have potentual, all will absorb a V8 easily and are very close relatives to the beloved Muscle cars.

You could do a truck too......the posiblities are endless.

[Bill Howell]

2nd Gen F-bodys another cheap alternative, especially the 78 up Camaro. Even the early 4th Gen F-body is pretty reasonably priced. Early mustangs are kind of out of the budget of the blue collar guy, unless you go for a coupe for the 65 - 70 Mustang.......I just had an idea, what about a 71 - 73 Mustang (cheap and lots of interchange in the early 70's Fords). A 71 - 76 Torino would be a alternate to the Mustang. There is still AMC and Chrysler too, Hornet, Volare....stop laughing, Spirit, Gremlin....I said to stop laughing......et al. These are RWD that have potentual, all will absorb a V8 easily and are very close relatives to the beloved Muscle cars.

You could do a truck too......the posiblities are endless.

That black Pacer on the power tour a couple years ago was the bomb and fast too.
How about a AMX?

[The Stickman]

LOL, you got to be kidding me! Corvair, LS3, I am feeling that. I saw one at Columbus Goodguys last year, very cool piece and had a crowd around it all day.

Hey, when Fieros first came out, mid engine, two seaters, I can remember dreaming of having one. Then once they hit the streets, what a POS. Over half of them burned to the ground because battery acid would eat thru the fuel lines and create a fire. Of course, I guess after looking on Ebay at "protouring cars" for sale you could always put a set of TTIIs on anything and call it a day....lol

No offense Bill but that is complete and utter BS. All of it. The fires were because the first year they had a bad batch of connecting rods because of a subcontractor. After that the problem was solved providing the owner kept up on maintenance just like any other car. If You really want I can get exact specifics of how many burned. The number was surprisingly low. I have had 11 of these and never had a problem. As I posted earlier there were over 367K built. Now please don't tell me you think 180K burned?

[406 Q-ship]

More cars........71 - 74 B-body Satellite/Cornet, A-body Dart/Valiant, Duster/Demon

[Bill Howell]

Quite fleabay search found some possiblities
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/AMC-j...=p4506.c0.m245
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1973-...=p4506.c0.m245
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1975-...=p4506.c0.m245

maybe even this
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1976-...=p4506.c0.m245

But not these
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1979-...=p4506.c0.m245
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1977-...=p4506.c0.m245

[406 Q-ship]

That black Pacer on the power tour a couple years ago was the bomb and fast too.
How about a AMX?

AMX unless you do an 71 up are expensive and hard to get parts. AMX Spirit?

1971 - 1974 Javalin

[Bill Howell]

No offense Bill but that is complete and utter BS. All of it. The fires were because the first year they had a bad batch of connecting rods because of a subcontractor. After that the problem was solved providing the owner kept up on maintenance just like any other car. If You really want I can get exact specifics of how many burned. The number was surprisingly low. I have had 11 of these and never had a problem. As I posted earlier there were over 367K built. Now please don't tell me you think 180K burned?

I am talking about the fires caused by battery corrosion of fuel lines. The lines were close to the battery or ran directly under the battery. Maybe it was just in Macon, Ga they had the problem and maybe that was because of poor owner maintenance, but I was in the towing business at the time (1986-1996) and it was a regular accurance. I am sure I am overboard with the 1/2 number but hardly ever did other models have the same issue.
Sorry, I am sure you and others loved those cars, and that is cool, but thinking of them as a cool protouring project, I just don't see the masses running to Books-a-million to get the latest copy of PHR.

[The Stickman]

AMX unless you do an 71 up are expensive and hard to get parts. AMX Spirit?

1971 - 1974 Javalin

Since you are talking AMC's the Gremlin actually won a few championships road racing in IMSA RS series. They competed against cars like BMW 2002, RX2's And Dutsun 510's

[The Stickman]

I am talking about the fires caused by battery corrosion of fuel lines. The lines were close to the battery or ran directly under the battery. Maybe it was just in Macon, Ga they had the problem and maybe that was because of poor owner maintenance, but I was in the towing business at the time (1986-1996) and it was a regular accurance. I am sure I am overboard with the 1/2 number but hardly ever did other models have the same issue.
Sorry, I am sure you and others loved those cars, and that is cool, but thinking of them as a cool protouring project, I just don't see the masses running to Books-a-million to get the latest copy of PHR.

the fuel lines don't run under or close to the battery. The tank is dead center of the car. The battery is on the passenger side and the lines run from the tank up the driverside.

[Bill Howell]

OK, you win. Seems it was 1 in 508 that had fire issues that first year.
http://books.google.com/books?id=Q5Q...age&q=&f=false

Then there were the other fire issues
http://www.epinions.com/review/auto_...t_295832227460


The number of 69 camaros produced is about 1/2 of the total number of Fieros produced in what? 5 years of production? There must be a reason the quit making them?

I must be wrong about the cause of the fires, and honestly, didn't care then or now. I know, like most models that fade away, there is a cult like following for these cars, but the point is, and reason of this thread is what is a good idea for budget build. I don't see a Fiero as fitting that build, just me. Lets agree to disagree

[Damn True]

I'd stay away from the late 2nd Gen Camaro. Or anything after 1976 for that matter. If you try to do anything serious with the engine you may not be able to smog the thing.....[cough-cough]....seems like a big can-o-worms for a "budget build".....unless you do an LSX swap or some other very new OE crate motor.

That said.

Bill,
Do you remember the BF-Goodrich Racing AMC Spirit's?

http://www.hemmings.com/mus/stories/...feature17.html


If it were me, I'd do an early 510 track/auto-x car. Tons of them around still in drier states. Parts are plentiful and it wouldn't take much additional power to make one really honk. Pop in a GMPP ecotec crate motor and some suspension bits and have a ball wheels and tires in those sizes will be dirt cheap to boot. Unlike a late 70's Camaro, you might actually get a good chunk of money back out of it. Finished 510's sell well.

[Steve1968LS2]

The truth is that it costs the same to build a '69 Camaro as it does to build a '75 Laguna

The only difference is in the initial car price and that $$ will be made back when the car is sold.

In fact one could say it's almost cheaper and easier to build a popular car since there's a TON of aftermarket support.

If I were being odd I would build a Corvair with a turbocharged Ecotec engine.. lightweight and FAST.

[The Stickman]

OK, you win. Seems it was 1 in 508 that had fire issues that first year.
http://books.google.com/books?id=Q5Q...age&q=&f=false

Then there were the other fire issues
http://www.epinions.com/review/auto_...t_295832227460


The number of 69 camaros produced is about 1/2 of the total number of Fieros produced in what? 5 years of production? There must be a reason the quit making them?

I must be wrong about the cause of the fires, and honestly, didn't care then or now. I know, like most models that fade away, there is a cult like following for these cars, but the point is, and reason of this thread is what is a good idea for budget build. I don't see a Fiero as fitting that build, just me. Lets agree to disagree

Well we can disagree. And like I said it was only the 1984's as both of you articles mention. One year then the problems were adressed. And as to the thread it's about budget builds. These are good cars that can be had cheap and modified cheap. And can be made to do great things. I know people with 383 stroker motors putting out 600+hp in a car that is less than 3000lbs. Now if that isn't fun I don't know what is. Hell I bought my IMSA wide bodied full race engined Fiero for all of $2500.

[dcozzi]

Being a rookie with an unfinished car, take it easy on me.

How about an S-10? You can do a V-8 conversion for the price of a motor and about $800 in parts and some labor. If you could overcome some of the extreme front weight bias, brace the frame and use a decent overdrive trans. it could be fun. Lots of those trucks for dirt cheap and easy to work on in a normal garage (no lift and regular hand tools and a welder). Single 3" exhaust, 350HP and some suspension goodies (that are plentiful as well) and you could have a fun budget ride. A short bed with a truckarm suspension in the rear would be quick and dirty.

[Hartz]

You know, I don't post much, and I respect the hell out of Bill, but I have to completely disagree.

In the interest of full disclosure, I've owned a V8 Fiero, and I currently own a juiced V8 Miata.

But you say don't build something odd, and then eliminate Camaros, Mustangs, '55 Chevys, etc. etc. Hello! Anything else IS odd because you just named all of the most popular cars!

And I don't have $75K in ALL of my cars combined, let alone any one of them. Yet they're decent enough looking, fun as all get out, and yes - different.

I have WAY more fun with my V8 Miata than I do my '67 Camaro. You know why? Because no one looks twice at it. Sometimes it's fun to catch people by surprise. Sometimes it's fun to mess with people's perceptions of what is and is not a hot rod.

I say show the guy who has a limited budget that he doesn't have to go out and spend big bucks on a Camaro or Mustang in order to be cool. Build an 11 second Fairmont for under $11K. Stuff a 350 TPI in to the back of a Fiero. Throw $15K at a Volarie and make it the nicest in the world, heck - go crazy and put a Quad 4 in an Opel GT - whatever. There are lots of choices. But make it budget friendly and cool and I'll be right there with you.

[Damn True]

^^^ a v-8 Miata would be very cool! ^^^

All you need, right here: http://www.flyinmiata.com/

Get yourself a set of asbestos undies though. The 'necks will go nuts with the hate mail.

[joemac]

Early '90s V8 T-bird. Less commonly hot rodded than the mustang, independent rear, and I have a '97 I would love ideas on!

This is the one that gets my vote. You can pick a factory supercharged v6 or a v8 model that either has the sbf or mod motor. Your choice. Ford drivetrain parts are plentiful and you see very few tbirds of this era even though they are cheap, plentiful and easy to mod. The only drawback to this platform is there are little to no aftermarket rear suspension components, so to get the rear to handle big power they would need to be custom. Then again, Pro Tourning isn't necessarily about making big power. There are irs cobra guys running 9's through a mostly stock irs that is very similar.

[FULMNTE]

First Gen Montes (70-72) are still affordable (compared to Chevelles)...

[Bill Howell]

Gawd, I love to stir emotions and make people think! lol