Last month, we splashed our two new in-house projects cars on the cover-a '68 Chevelle Malibu SS 396 clone, and a '70 Ford Fairlane. The Chevelle belongs to yours truly, and the Ford is Tech Editor Steven Rupp's. Rather than start with completely rusted-out rat traps, Steven and I decided to purchase projects in fairly decent shape. To that point, the pair of cars costs $20,100 (not even the price of a new Honda Accord). I got the Chevelle for $12,000, which is way less than average for a '68 Malibu in such nice condition. Steven paid $8,100 cash for his Torino-inspired Fairlane-an even sweeter deal than mine.
In 2007, there are no '60s-era jewels hiding in junkyards or barns-at least none that you or I are going to want for anything but a parts car. I will argue that a more reasonable and responsible editorial ethic is the quest for a decent, drivable project-not a junkyard jalopy. Buy someone else's sweat equity for 50 cents on the dollar, and tool around in it between upgrades. It sure beats staring at an undriveable pile of rust, and is more defensible to the wife.
With this kernel of an idea, Steven and I set out in different directions: he into Blue Oval land, and I towards the bow-tie camp. When we were done, we scored cars with a sizeable prior investment in paint and body-investments neither of us could afford had we bought clunkers. Simply put, we paid a little more for good-looking paint, and came out way ahead. Both cars also have nice interiors, save a few minor (yet livable) imperfections. Mechanically they are rust-free, but both need major maintenance to the suspension and chassis. Most projects typically get bogged down in this area, so it's a topic we wanted to address with edit pages. The real clincher for both cars, however, is the powertrain. Once we get our 11-second timeslips we'll cut loose with some g-Machine parts and go around cones.
The Malibu (Aka "Street Sweeper"): About the only good thing you can say about the Chevelle's power team is that it runs-otherwise, this thing ought to qualify for federal Superfund Cleanup dollars. It's a rolling brown zone, and we're surprised Al Gore hasn't shown up at the front desk asking for his oxygen back. The previous owner cobbled together a low-compression 454 from a mid-'70s truck; it's quite possibly the only big-block conversion ever that makes less horsepower than the original 307 small-block it replaced.
Our plans are to build your average pump-gas friendly 10:1 468-ci (.060-over 454), solid-roller big-block with around 600-620 hp. We think this is a safe number for a stock cast crank, stock rods, and KB hypereutectic pistons; we could push for more, but it would force upgrades in too many areas. We'll be using Summit's assembled budget BBC iron heads, an Edelbrock Air Gap intake, and a Mighty Demon 825-cfm carb, among other things. Backing this up will be a TCI Turbo 400 trans and a Currie 9-inch crate rearend with 3.70 gears. The goal is to drive to the track, swap to Mickey Thompson slicks, crank out 11s, then drive home. When it's all done, you won't be complaining, "gee, I can't do that," you'll be saying, "I can do all that, and maybe a bit more."
The Fairlane (Aka "Fastlane 500"): The running gear in Steven's Torino clone isn't going to win any drag races any time soon, but at least it has an excuse: it's a 302. That might be fine for a far lighter Mustang or Falcon, but at 3,500 pounds, this "mid-sized" Ford has a little too much booty for a 302 to haul. Making things worse is the condition of the engine, which smokes so bad on start-up it needs a biohazard decal on the rear bumper.
The goal for the Fairlane will be the same as the Chevelle: drive it to the track, swap to Mickey Thompson slicks, and click off 11s on motor with pump gas. As punishment for getting a nicer project car for $4,000 less than mine, Steven's gotta do it with a small-block Windsor. I told him to go with something "real guy," like a stroked 351 somewhere between 392 and 410 inches. The beauty of it is that the late-model Mustang guys have been going nuts the past 10 years, and as a result, small-block Ford stroker stuff is as cheap as Chevy. The bottom line is, there are enough rotating kits and induction pieces that it should be an easy job at an affordable price. To get those 11-second ET slips, Steven will also need a built C4 trans and a 9-inch rear to replace the glass 8-inch that's in it. The drum brakes, however, need help ASAP, or the poor guy'll kill himself trying to get it slowed down.
Got Something To Say? I want to hear from you.Drop me an e-mail at john.hunkins@primedia.com.