my first fast car combo

[grumpyvette]

my very low 10s second corvette was impressive especially back in the 1970s but its was a P.I.T.A. to drive with a full roll cage, a 4 link dana 60, tubed rear, and 700 plus hp, the crower injectors sticking thru the hood seemed like they screamed, ("DROP CRAP IN HERE" to MORONS) and the cops tended to follow me almost everyplace

I had far more fun with a `1965 tempest/GTO clone with a BBC engine in it, even thou it was not nearly as fast!

the tempest was my first real fast car, was a 1965 GTO clone that I purchased dirt cheap in 1970 with a blown engine, but a good 4 speed for $900 ,and a decent rear (I THOUGHT) I had a plan and friends, it soon had a 1969 corvette 427 tri power engine from a wrecked vette, that engine didn,t last long, (bad bearings) I replaced it with what at the time was a custom deal, a 4.25" stroker crank and 6.385 rods and .60 over 13.7:1 cpr pistons,and built a 496 BBC combo, with a ZL1 cam with solid lifters and chevelle headers added, remember this is 1970 and SUNOCO 260 gas cost about 40-50 cents a gallon, the rear differential went out, and I got a dana 60 from a wrecked hemi road runner to which I had 4.88:1 rear gears added, and had the correct suspension brackets and drive shaft fabricated, the car destroyed street tires and ran high 11s at first, eventually we got the tune and suspension correct and got low 11 second times,which was screaming fast for the time (especially for a guy who barely knew how to tune it at the time.)
I had almost every dime I made, or could borrow or do odd jobs for parts for, go into the car and I was getting sweet discounts at the time because I did work at a repair shop, at the time part time at nights while I was also working at southern bell, tel.
I painted the engine PONTIAC BLUE and had the pontiac tripower decals on the chrome valve covers and corvette air cleaner assembly,and 421 decals on the fenders...I was amazed at the number of people who believed it was a 421 poncho!
I got STUIPID and sold the car (without the engine that I kept)when I got a sweet deal on a 1968 corvette, with a blown up engine, the goats engine was evenually installed in the vette......after a few others ,it was faster but it was a source of constant problems and a bottomless money pit

this car looks vaugely similar

don,t forget the stock rear differential may need to be upgraded if you have a significant power increase.

http://www.summitracing.com/search/Prod ... ssemblies/

 

[grumpyvette]

this car sure brings back memories

I saw this car posted and it sure brings back memories, my 1968 had a 496bbc full roller engine and a dana 60 4 link but they sure look similar, enought to make me think back to the early 1970s and my old vette

I see A LOT of corvettes thru my shop, and seeing a well thought thru BBC STREET CORVETTE combo still running the TRI POWER is rare , and this car brngrhd BUILT looks FAR better than many I see

knowing what work went into that car so far, (as I used to have a 1968 BBC with a dana 60 4-link) I can,t help being impressed

 

[Indycars]

my very low 10s second corvette was impressive especially back in the 1970s but its was a P.I.T.A. to drive with a full roll cage, a 4 link dana 60, tubed rear, and 700 plus hp, the crower injectors sticking thru the hood seemed like they screamed, ("DROP CRAP IN HERE" to MORONS) and the cops tended to follow me almost everyplace

I had far more fun with a `1965 tempest/GTO clone with a BBC engine in it, even thou it was not nearly as fast!
my very low 10s second corvette was impressive especially back in the 1970s but its was a P.I.T.A. to drive with a full roll cage, a 4 link dana 60, tubed rear, and 700 plus hp, the crower injectors sticking thru the hood seemed like they screamed, ("DROP CRAP IN HERE" to MORONS) and the cops tended to follow me almost everyplace

I had far more fun with a `1965 tempest/GTO clone with a BBC engine in it, even thou it was not nearly as fast!

my first real fast car, was a 1965 GTO clone that I purchased dirt cheap in 1970 with a blown engine, but a good 4 speed for $900 ,and a decent rear (I THOUGHT) I had a plan and friends, it soon had a 1969 corvette 427 tri power engine from a wrecked vette, that engine didn,t last long, (bad bearings) I replaced it with what at the time was a custom deal, a 4.25" stroker crank and 6.385 rods and .60 over 13.7:1 cpr pistons,and built a 496 BBC combo, with a ZL1 cam with solid lifters and chevelle headers added, remember this is 1970 and SUNOCO 260 gas cost about 40-50 cents a gallon, the rear differential went out, and I got a dana 60 from a wrecked hemi road runner to which I had 4.88:1 rear gears added, and had the correct suspension brackets and drive shaft fabricated, the car destroyed street tires and ran high 11s at first, eventually we got the tune and suspension correct and got low 11 second times,which was screaming fast for the time (especially for a guy who barely knew how to tune it at the time.)
I had almost every dime I made, or could borrow or do odd jobs for parts for, go into the car and I was getting sweet discounts at the time because I did work at a repair shop, at the time part time at nights while I was also working at southern bell, tel.
I painted the engine PONTIAC BLUE and had the pontiac tripower decals on the chrome valve covers and corvette air cleaner assembly,and 421 decals on the fenders...I was amazed at the number of people who believed it was a 421 poncho!
I got STUIPID and sold the car (without the engine that I kept)when I got a sweet deal on a 1968 corvette, with a blown up engine, the goats engine was evenually installed in the vette......after a few others ,it was faster but it was a source of constant problems and a bottomless money pit

this car looks vaguely similar

That must have been wicked to drive a 11 sec car on the street. Were you in Florida then??? I remember buying that gas, except the station was called DX. Sure wish we could get that kind gas at the local station today, just imagine the HP you could drive on street!

In high school I had a 64 Nova, that had a factory Chevy 327 ci / 350HP. Later I installed another 327 that my brothers had built, it had about 400 HP. It went 13.03 sec at 109 mph in the quarter mile. The double humps had been ground off the heads so they looked like 2 barrel heads, that really got some people shaking there heads after I beat them and they wanted to see under the hood. I later traded the Nova and $400 for a 1961 Corvette. There are 2 periods in my life that I wish I could go back to and that's one of them.

I spent every dime I had too, there was no reason to consider what the future would bring at that time in my life. My dad owned an M&W Auto Supply with another gentlemen, so parts were much cheaper for me that most guys.

Ahhhh..... the memories!!!

 

[grumpyvette]

I found this picture on line,
its almost a clone too what my GTO/TEMPEST clone, I built with a killer BIG BLOCK CHEVY/MUNCIE 4 speed, dana 60 rear differential, drive train, looked like,
its the one car I REALLY MISS that I wish ID never sold
If I could find a decent 2 door Pontiac body, to work from at a good price, Id jump on the project of duplicating my long lost hot rod
I drive BELOW the posted speeds about 98% of the time,and usually drive the wifes mercury or my 1996 corvette thats not all that modified, frankly I don,t need any tickets and being retired Im rarely in a huge hurry and old enough and experienced enough to know that even when I,m driving my 1985 corvette that can easily beat 90% of the street cars performance almost effortlessly, that theres no potential gains to be made, and a huge risk, if you engage in street racing.
my 1985 corvette is not that fast, it runs low 12s unless I turn on the nitrous and low mid 11s on giggle gas and its only a well built 383.
my older 1968 corvette (since sold) had a killer 496 big block and a full roll cage and easily went 10.26/137mph , but tended to attract a police escort almost every trip so it was hardly fun to drive, and it only got about 7 mpg.
yes you can build a really fast car, but once you get a car that will consistently run at least mid 12 second 1/4 mile times there little competition on the street, and going faster starts costing a great deal more money and takes far more maintenance time.
In my opinion, theres little sense in owning a car you can rarely drive, thats costs you a great deal of time and money

http://forum.grumpysperformance.com/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=430