I think a similar "budget build" was used awhile ago in PHR. Of course, it wasn't a community build, rather a father/son build. It was a blue nova the kid built on a $10k budget. One of his more ingenius ideas was to part out unused parts from his nova on ebay, allowing him to take his sales and purchase better parts while still staying under his $10k budget. I dont' remember what month exactly it was covered, but definately a good read. I'm definately interested to see how this goes.

This should be a car that actually is built to perform, like a pro touring car should. Not a all show car, or tons of frills.
Big disc conversion, boneyard EFI motor, manual trans, etc. That would be neat.

Mike Cooper's Nova. :thumbsup:

www.Lateral-g.net/members/cooper

Thanks guys. That's something that we need to take very serious. :thumbsup:

Is this supposed to be a build that nearly anyone can duplicate? If so, the "freebies" and special discounts can cause issues.


You don't want it to be like Monster Garage, where they go way over budget with donated parts from sponsors. I think it'd be cool if we avoid that.

Jody

Forget the LT1. Getting EFI to go in any non-EFI car is guaranteed to cost both money and time not alloted to this kind of build. I agree that scrapping the Olds engine in favor of a SBC is going to bring more bang for the buck. However, just about any crate motor, including budget motors will push the budget limits. I would get a rebuilt short block from a reputable local rebuilder to start with. Of course this would mean a more careful and longer break in time due to the use of less expensive rings and bearings, but save lots of money. With desired HP in the 400 range, as long as the RPM is held to less than 6K this type of build will endure. Next go with a decent flat tappet hydraulic cam, stamped rockers, the cheapest small chambered aluminum heads (to keep detonation at bay while getting compression ratio up) to be found (no matter where they are made), and do the same for the intake manifold. I would spend a little more for the carb and either go with an Edelbrock or the stage one/two Jet. Carb problems suck. So do exhaust leak problems, but this is about fun and performance, so I would go with the cheapest full length, painted headers I could find, and just keep retorqueing the flanges until they shut up.

Thanks Jody. I very, very much agree. Let's continue to focus on the original idea.

I agree 100%.

Big disc conversion: I like discs as much as the next guy, but how about using OE calipers with some OE style cross drilled rotors like Summit offers starting at $39 each? These would still look pretty cool behind revealing wheels like I know everyone will want, while still keeping the build within budget.

EFI: See my earlier reply.

Manual trans: While a well built auto trans would put a big damper on the PT theme, I believe this would be much cheaper while still making this car big fun to drive.

This is an idea I had, I set it to Scott and the members have decided, We all have our work set. I have to grind cut build asap it sounds, and Scott has to do the same on his end, I wish we were all closer, If you are near feel free to give a hand, Lets not loose focus on what this is about, I do not want to go over board on the build Lets stick to the budget and the ideas of the members, After we are finished with our goal Id like a track day Im sure I can set that up and set a date and time and all are welcome to join, After the project is done and we want more out of the car we will go there but for now Lets get busy, Just think we are going to be part of the first interactive internet car ever built!! This is a huge step, If anyone can remember project X This is your 2006 Project X

No Wtf
 

Only 24 hours in this almost 1000 hits in 24 hours and a member votes no!!! In the last hour, is it petty is it truth a reason if so WTF is it??? Have some balls say why!!!! Do not just vote speak your peace why no???? This project is about the members and their ideas and to voice an opinion on a build and have a chance to show first timers what to do...........Mr NO Speak and be proud of your mind set......Mr No do you own a Prius?????? I cant make it electric.........................

To All:

The Cutless sounds fun.

If it's an olds, keep it an olds.

Engine - 455 Torque Monster (You can make killer torque very easy with this motor and they are cheap. cheap, cheap. We bought a 73 Olds Custom Cruiser Staton Wagon (Running) for $300 Tranny included (400 THM) We then sold the car for scrap.

BTW: There are not many people who can tell the difference between an Olds 350 and a Olds 455 by looking at them. as the width is only about 1.5 inches different across the top!!!

Makes for a nice sleeper......

Rebuild it. Get a decent cam, rebuilt quadra-jet, match and port the intake and heads and with the stock exhaust manifolds you can get 500 ft lbs of Torque. That plenty to light up the tires, especially if you use a 3.73 gear in the rear. Hold on and Look Out!!

Plus Engine finished!


Transmission - 400 THM, shift kit (Shrifter or Manual Valve body)

Cheap parts, Bullet Proof.

Transmission finished!!

Rearend pieces are cheap in the wrecking yard. Our Station Wagon had a posi in it. (Trailer Tow Package I think) Could also use a truck rear end for some fun gears.

Spend the rest of the money on suspension, paint, tires and Wheels.

Project Finished!!

Under or within Budget and a Blast to drive

Any thoughts???

tyoneal

Give this some thought, Several of us did a 1985 Cutless this way a few years ago, it was a blast. We hosed a number of cars that underestimated us. Lots of fun!

Thanks Ty, This is going to be fun, with the budget set in mind and platform set, we got us a project, Remember we are all going to work togeather on this so if emails are not gotten soon Well Scott just got himself a few extra hours a day work and so did I maybee a more at that So I hope all understand what this project is going to take, Thanks Jeff

To All:

FWIW: For everyones thoughts, I think it would be a good thing if the final Car would be worth at least as much as the money going into it. It's a kind soul who will put up $15,000 (plus labor) for a group project.

Don't get me wrong, but I hate putting money and time into something and getting $.25 on the Dollar when it's sold, especially $15k worth of money. There is fun and depreciation, but unecessary money down a hole is just a waste. IMO.

Maybe it's just me, who know??

tyoneal

I dissagree, if the money is well spent on function rather than flash, and the look is just right, that 15k investment will build a car worth 20k easily, if the right attention to detail is taken - parts cleaned & painted, and under the hood clean and well detailed. You can make an engine look pretty nice without a lot of investment with a little elbow-grease and paint.

Derek has pretty much hit it. Part of this build is to show what you can do with what you have and not going the real big buck way, This will be a car that will work as good as it looks, attention to detail and function, When this car is completed there will be a track day, We will beat it! 15K spent with all labor in house except for interior, We will build a very nice car and I think all will be a little surprised when finished.

my car
 

i like it, here mine,1978 chevy nova,put a330hp 350ho gm motor,200r4 trans with 2200stall, 1.25 front sway bar, and 7/8 rar sway bar,coys c5 17by7 and 17 by 8s with 225/50/17 and 255/50/17s, every thing done but the wheels and tires

Olds
 

This going to be a cool project... coincedently, we're going to start our Olds project after SEMA. It's a similar car, and I look forward to cherry-picking some ideas off this thread! We're going Olds power and keeping the original 4-speed and carb on this one. Here's a shot of the car when it was new back in '71.

Derek and 3kidsnotime:

We are not in disagreement at all. What you are saying about picking the rights things, attention to detail, is what I was trying to say or imply (Rather poorly) as being very important.

-------------------------------------------------------------------
For instance if people picked:

A 1975 AMC Pacer, or Matador with a stock Pinto inline 4, and 25 inch spinners (spinning hubcap) wheels, topped off with a Paint job featuring, "Green Pea Soup", color, accented with, "Candy Titty Pink", Racing Stripes. An Automatic transmission out of a '52 DeSota. The totally stock Crappy Beige interior. Stock AM radio and a Cobra 26 Channel CB Radio, with 14 foot tall Chrome antenna mounted to the back bumper, and last but not least a Continental Kit in the rear with Curb Feelers all the way around. Just to show We meant business when building this car, we would put a couple of bumper stickers on the back window. One is a psycodelic "Peace" sign, and the other is, "Support Jane Fonda, A Real American".

How is that for a kick ass, 6 digit price tag, visual??

Best of all:

Total for this beautiful, "One of a Kind, Pro-Touring, Supercar"?

A mere $15,000, and 200 hrs of your labor. What a deal!
---------------------------------------------------------------

This was what I was meaning being worth $.25 on the dollar after it was finished, if choices were not properly made.

Even the project I layed out with the 455. If it was lowered, could run like a scalded Ape, handle reasonably and a knock out killer paint and detail wise, totally Anal Retentive.

Yes, Money well spent. Loads of fun, maybe even make some money. (If you don't continually do Burnouts with High Dollar tires. ;-)

Sorry for the misunderstanding.

Does this make better sense??

tyoneal

Could be budget ????`
 

What about a 1985-87 Buick Regal with Gnx looks, Ls1 Drivetrain Z06 brakes, 9 inch, and Ls1 Motorvation. Brakes and drivetrain would be greatest cost. My brother picked up a butt ugly faded gray regal running, driving car with only slight surface rust for 150$ that leaves 14850 to spend!!!
Just a thought. The G-body and third gen camaros are still cheap and have huge potential from a handling and weight standpoint. These can easily be found nearly anywhere in the country. I found one website with a 90 Notch mustang powered by an LS1 engine. Guy had the z already and sold remainder of both cars and claimed final outlay of 4 or 5 thousand. Ill post the link when I have some more time.

Im sure Id love whatever is decided on.

Body & Paint supplies 1700.00 all body supplies already purchased not paint
Freight damaged fender 153.00 including shipping two dings need repaired
Brakes and tall spindels 1300.00 Matts Classic Bowties Concord CA
Rear suspension 400.00
Front suspension 800.00
Springs 300.00 Hotchkis
Steering box 200.00
Sway bars 400.00
Interior 1500.00
Wheels Tires 2000.00
Engine Trans Cooling 3000.00 Low HP only 350-425
Rear end 650.00 12 bolt posi 373 swap meet alredy have
Soft trim 1500.00 Grilles chrome rubber body mounts
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Total dream $13903.00

Hello, its Matt with Matt's Classic Bowties. I am on board for the project and I think we can come in a little lower on the brakes/suspension. I can provide all of those parts as a package deal as I normally would. We can also try to help on the wheels/tires as we are a dealer for American Racing, Billet Specialties and Bonspeed.....American Racing being the best on the budget! We can give it our best on the rest of the parts as well. I just need a list to quote out!

Matt

I would highly suggest going with Touring Classics AFX kit instead of Matt's(nothing against Matt's). Much better geometry than the "B" spindle and you get OEM C5 brakes $775 for the front, $699 for 12" rear set up. Worth the extra $175.

Front suspension seems to be partly broke down already. Of the $800, purchase SC&C Stage 1 kit upper arms which are designed to go with the AFX spindle and is $479, that leaves $320 for suspension rebuild parts. You could make up alot of the $175 here.

How nice is the interior now? Any pics?

$3000 for drivetrain could be hard to hold to unless the current drivetrain is solid and you are only doing maintenance with upgrades.

Looks like a decent start so far.

Mike

We are not doing the "b" spindle......kinda old school....we quoted the package at that price with a 2" drop spindle that is 1.5" taller than a stock spindle.....that 1300 is for a 4 wheel disc kit with the drop spindles!

EBAY could be your friend on this project. Since anyone can purchase and potentially have the same opportunity, Any steals price wise should count just like junkyard finds.

Is that the new Heidt's spindle or whoever is making them that just came out?

Mike

In the interest of big brakes we could also do our 13"f/12" rear kit.....Front uses a PBR cast caliper with much bigger pistons than the C4/C5......The kit will be complete with Booster/Master/Prop at about $1500...all 4 wheels with drill/Slot/Zinc rotors....also uses a billet hub VS the other reusing your stock hub

Yes, we can get the Heidts or Fatman.....CPP has one too but its not any taller than stock, just a 2" drop

Can't wait to see the build! I agree most of us are on a budget and this has hit a soft spot for most of us. I'm in agreement on the keeping it all Olds, spend the money on the heads, keep it basic, but... I did spot a low mile LT-1 with harness and computer at a local yard we use lot $900 takes it- It's out of a '97 Camaro-I've see it it looks clean. My buddy has a 4L60 out of a van w/60k on it, starter and flywheel included. If he thought it was going to a good cause, a guy could pick it up for a couple hundred.

Now to really stir the pot-what are you going use to fill up the monster wheel wells 20's x 18's?-Chris

Wheels.....How about something from the billet specialties street smart line? Wheels/Tires for ABOUT 2k???

no...i dont drive a prius, while i do like the whole idea of a group influenced budget build, the major flaw i see with the whole deal is the fact you have 2500 different opinions making all of the important choices. while this somewhat works for our so called government, on an internet forum it is a different deal.

while the "polls" will ultimatley make the decisions, people will get butt-hurt because they dont agree with the group, this will turn into pissing and moaning, which will cause more pissing and moaning, and that gets old....really old. i dont visit this forum to listen to people rant and rave, i visit it for inspiration and motivation on my own projects....not to read 9+ pages of retards argueing over stupid petty BS, in a thread that started out as an innocent question or concern.

i have been visiting this site for a while, and my opinion clashes with lots of others, usually i dont say anything(unless i feel strongly about the issue) that i know will instigate a pissing match, simply because it just doesnt matter enough for me to waste my time trying to "one-up" somebody elses opinion. the above quote is a prime example, yes i voted "no", and didnt give a reason.....because it isnt important enough to express my negative concern. however, because you felt it was important enough to ask for a reason for the "no" vote, i have given it. now its time to move on, and get your project underway.....if you feel the need to repond, DON'T do it in the thread....send me a PM if you "really" feel the need to say something.

I say you use a '66 Nova for the base car.......OH!!! HEY!!! Wadda ya know?!!! I just happen to know someone that has just the car!!!!!! MEEEEEEEE!!!!

People please remember this, This is to be a fun project we can all Take a little part on and voice out opinion on, The project car has been chosen, we will stick with it. The car chosen it is to show a solid baseline, that is also affordable and still available out there, This is also a step by step project to aid with installing parts as well as engine mods and body and paint. The engine mods are going to be kept at a minimal for your every day guy after the budget car is completed, We might go to a second phase with big power.

The drive train very solid we already have the 12 bolt rear so the 3k is to show new comers what they can do with what they have, If this is a hit the car after the budget car is built. It will see big power later. Also the budget thats what it is. Its a Budget As far as Matts place That is by far the best bolt on 4 wheel disk kit with good spindles, for your everday guy and price. We are doing this to show your every day guy what he can buy and do and build, and as we all know projects go over so it has overages figured in. Thanks for all the input from everyone Jeff

If people don't want the old school parts and dated performance stuff, staying with the stock motor would be a bad move. Ls1 swap makes the most sense. For $3k, you can do an LS1 swap complete. At least the Ls1 could handle track days time and time again without getting hurt. Plus it will shave a ton of unwanted weight off the nose of the car. That will help handling A lot!

You are correct. The price im not sure on, depending on what I can find locally, Im going to hold the engine and trans for last on the project as far as build, And depending on how much we spent the rest will be for engine and trans.

For quite a while I was buying and re-selling LS1 motors. :unibrow: I can see if my connection is still intact. Generally I can get a 2000+ ls1 motor from pcm to pan for about $2000 turn key. :D This all depends on what he has at the time though. For the trans. use the stock trans for now. It will get the job done untill some type of overdrive is decided on.

I might also recomment scoping out a totaled F-Body. They can be had for less then $4000 and include tons of parts including brakes and motor/trans! That could save some HUGE dollars from a little "smart" shopping! :D

Keep me posted on what you find all ideas are always welcome and wanted

2nd gen F body
 

Here's a formula I suggested to a new member over at pro-touring.com who was wondering what to start with. I relied heavily on personal experience for this. And I agree that $10K is a VERY tight budget, but of course anything's possible with some hook-ups.

"Why not get ahold of a 2nd-gen Camaro, or Firebird/Trans am?
I have 2 Trans ams, a '79 and an '80, and owned an '80 Camaro previously.

There are several great things about these cars as a base project car: they are still fairly cheap to get ahold of (for now!), they have decent suspensions, brakes, and aerodynamics from the factory, and parts are cheap and plentiful.

You are right, I think, about Chevy being a smart choice for the powertrain, I am amazed at the plethora of cheap and potent crate motors out there. You could go with a Chevy powertrain in either the camaro or firebird.

A good formula would be as follows:
Solid 70-81 f-body (assuming engine is stock or garbage like most out there, and you will toss it) $3000
Chevy crate 350/383 stroker/400hp $3000
Budget TH350 tranny $1000
(upgrade to OD trans for $1000-1500 more)
Hotchkis/GW suspension/new shocks $1500

Assuming you do the work yourself, this puts you in the $8K range, and you still have money left over for a set of killer wheels and tires!! Of course this is an optimistic estimate, and would require some research and luck to accomplish. More likely, you will have at least 15K invested for a good all-around streeter, once you factor in all the little stuff you forgot about.

My 2 cents: Don't buy anything with any significant amount of rust or frame/subframe damage.
Don't have an engine shop rebuild your motor if you go with a chevy 350-- go straight for a crate. Unless you have the inside scoop on a great machine shop with a perfect reputation, it's just not worth it IMHO."

Paul

If Matt is a buddy of yours and want to use him, great. But, the package being considered offers no improvements to suspension geometry other than adding rear disc brakes. Touring Classics AFX kit includes the NEW AFX spindle developed by American Touring Specialties that uses a C5 Corvette bearing hub, C5 Corvette brakes front and rear, and when coupled with SC&C SPC adjustable upper arms, corrects many geometry issues associated with "A" body platforms. This kit can be purchased by your everyday guy right from Touring Classics and the spindles and arms have been EXTENSIVELY discussed on this site and others with overwhelming postive reponses. As Race Rodz had clarified why he voted the way he did, it seems you already have your mind made up on certain products by your response to my post which begs to ask why the poll? While this is a great idea on paper, I think Race-rodz, Steevo, and a couple others have the right frame of mind. I think I will sign off this thread and let it run its coarse. if you fell you need to PM me regarding this, please do so, I will be happy to talk further.

Mike