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