Am I being realistic?

[Boris632]

Originally Posted by MeanMike

You didn't really define what you want to do on a road course. I could turn laps in my pickup, but it wouldn't be very impressive. If you lean more towards drag racing with a pro-touring look it could save a lot of money. That is kinda where mine is heading. I haven't done it yet, so take this for what it is worth. I may fail miserably.

I'm converting my 87 Buick GN into a pro-touring car. It previously went 9.26@145 with out being completely dialed in. It had 8 second potential based on datalogs. To convert, I've swapped front suspension, brakes and soon a 6 speed in place of the th400. I have done nothing to change the power the motor makes. It makes a little over 900hp turned up even with a mild cam. The car still weighs roughly the same. So the potential is still there to go 9's. I think a turbo is the way to go if you want to do both. It can be turned down quickly for road course or street driving and back up quickly for the drag strip. There are more options for power management at the drag strip also.

The things that I have changed that will affect it are: Rear tires, I went to an 18" drag radial. 6 speed, but I'm going to a magnum and I bought a Mcleod RXT clutch. Both are capable of handling 9 second power IF I can drive it. I also swapped the spool for 35 spline truetrac and I'm questioning whether it can handle a launch hard enough to run a 9.

Now, I don't have extremely high spring rates, so it may suck on a road course. I have double adjustable shocks at all 4 corners that will need to be changed between the two. I may have to buy a set of 15" slicks because my old 15" drag radials will not work well with a stick.

In the end I suspect I'll have a car that can run a 9 and run on a road course, but it will not excel at either. But it should be fun. I will be under $100K when done, but I do 100% of the fab, machining and labor myself. If you have to pay for that stuff, it could eclipse that mark quickly.

This was the type of response i was looking at.

I can build my 55 into a killer drag car and buy a C5Z06 for less than the cost of a new Z/28. I am starting to think this may be the best route. Also if one car is broken I can always drive the other.

Wife is against 2 "toys" but i guess my truck can sit outside



Big thanks for the responses. I think I should brush up on my lap times before i go nuts building a car for it. 200k is not realistic to me.......not for a PT build

[Sieg]

Originally Posted by Boris632

I can build my 55 into a killer drag car and buy a C5Z06 for less than the cost of a new Z/28. I am starting to think this may be the best route. Also if one car is broken I can always drive the other.

Bingo!

[Flash68]

Originally Posted by Boris632

This was the type of response i was looking at.

I can build my 55 into a killer drag car and buy a C5Z06 for less than the cost of a new Z/28. I am starting to think this may be the best route. Also if one car is broken I can always drive the other.

Wife is against 2 "toys" but i guess my truck can sit outside



Big thanks for the responses. I think I should brush up on my lap times before i go nuts building a car for it. 200k is not realistic to me.......not for a PT build

Originally Posted by Sieg

Bingo!

Sure, you can take the easy way out. Or you can do something interesting.... something challenging..... something different.

Up to you.

[Sieg]

Originally Posted by Flash68

Sure, you can take the easy way out. Or you can do something interesting.... something challenging..... something different.

Up to you.

Interesting - Driving at track days, not to track days

Challenging - Running every session and bettering your lap times

Different - Skinny Ford stripes on a C5 Z06

[GregWeld]

Originally Posted by Boris632

This was the type of response i was looking at.

I can build my 55 into a killer drag car and buy a C5Z06 for less than the cost of a new Z/28. I am starting to think this may be the best route. Also if one car is broken I can always drive the other.

Wife is against 2 "toys" but i guess my truck can sit outside



Big thanks for the responses. I think I should brush up on my lap times before i go nuts building a car for it. 200k is not realistic to me.......not for a PT build

Well -- nobody knows what your skills are - or how many tools you have - and how many free hours you have.... And generally if someone asked the kind of question you did - people would mostly assume you were pretty clueless. That's not a mean statement - it's just factual.

I just rebuilt my brother in laws/Sisters 69 Camaro.... Motor rebuild (624HP / 581 TQ) - New trans - complete new front subframe - complete new rear end and suspension - all new Wilwood brakes - radiator - all new wiring - Ring Brothers hinges - some trim - some glass - gauges - dash - complete new interior - New show quality paint... We did it all (I've done many like this) and the bill was well over 100 grand.... YEP -- Just parts. But interior and paint were about 40K of that.

If you had to add labor you'd EASILY be in the 200 grand arena - and if you can't write checks for the first 100K -- don't even start because that's what it's going to cost you. Parts are parts - and you WILL want to do things that you didn't when you start the project. It's called the "well.... while I'm here I might as well do X" syndrome. AKA - Project Creep....

If you can't or aren't willing to do everything right -- don't start it -- it will just end up a big pile of old parts all over your garage until your wife makes you sell it for 10 grand.

These cars are really easy to tear apart... buying all the new stuff to put them back together - and the TIME it takes - that's where the men separate from the boys. You will get in there and find RUST.... Oh yeah -- it's an OLD car.... there will be rust where it doesn't belong... oh and that's when the fun starts....

Do it! It's the best thing you can do and you'll meet great people and have a ball.... Just don't underestimate the effort - skills - and cash it takes.

[Boris632]

Originally Posted by Flash68

Sure, you can take the easy way out. Or you can do something interesting.... something challenging..... something different.

Up to you.

the 55 is a project no matter what way i decide to take it. The easy way out for me is stuffing a 383 and a t56 in the thing and just driving it. I want radical. 8s (solid 8s) is radical with a big turbo. Also radical - having an old muscle car corner with Corvettes.

I like how you are egging me on

Originally Posted by GregWeld

Well -- nobody knows what your skills are - or how many tools you have - and how many free hours you have.... And generally if someone asked the kind of question you did - people would mostly assume you were pretty clueless. That's not a mean statement - it's just factual.

I just rebuilt my brother in laws/Sisters 69 Camaro.... Motor rebuild (624HP / 581 TQ) - New trans - complete new front subframe - complete new rear end and suspension - all new Wilwood brakes - radiator - all new wiring - Ring Brothers hinges - some trim - some glass - gauges - dash - complete new interior - New show quality paint... We did it all (I've done many like this) and the bill was well over 100 grand.... YEP -- Just parts. But interior and paint were about 40K of that.

If you had to add labor you'd EASILY be in the 200 grand arena - and if you can't write checks for the first 100K -- don't even start because that's what it's going to cost you. Parts are parts - and you WILL want to do things that you didn't when you start the project. It's called the "well.... while I'm here I might as well do X" syndrome. AKA - Project Creep....

If you can't or aren't willing to do everything right -- don't start it -- it will just end up a big pile of old parts all over your garage until your wife makes you sell it for 10 grand.

These cars are really easy to tear apart... buying all the new stuff to put them back together - and the TIME it takes - that's where the men separate from the boys. You will get in there and find RUST.... Oh yeah -- it's an OLD car.... there will be rust where it doesn't belong... oh and that's when the fun starts....

Do it! It's the best thing you can do and you'll meet great people and have a ball.... Just don't underestimate the effort - skills - and cash it takes.

Skills - i can give you a run down of things i had a hand in putting together with my brothers


This was my brothers project a few years back. We started on it and his boss saw how solid it was and offered more money than he had into it and took the money. I dont think it ever was finished.


Drag racing - not a big deal

old race car - had to redo all the suspension. Added Spohn drag bar and control arms and this car became deadly. Little 327sbc would run in the 11s when it wasnt 90+ and humid. Used to drive this car a lot on the street but it was fun with the big cam and spool and after adding the spohn stuff we left the mufflers off.


this car would run 10.80s with the 427bbc. I blew that up and it got a 468 and when we got aggressive with it - went 10.08. Would normally run 10.20s during the race season.
We put a 540 in it but never raced it. It was easily into the 9s(test hits). Car is sold motor was not.

The jeep in the background is a Commando that my other brother built. It was a saved from the grave deal as well. Just a toy he built for his wife to cruise on sunny days. (i have no build pics but this was shortly after it was painted).



and this was my daily driver/sleeper for quite a few years. Made 450whp on a high setting (needed bigger injectors to go over 500). Would run mid to high 11s at 130 - yeah i had traction issues. This was my 2nd build of such a car.

So this is my background. Notice how i did not say anything about building a purpose built car to go around corners.

Thinking along the lines of the imports and Corvette guys - i think you can be a little lazy out of the hole and ramp up the power for ET at the top end. Not ideal but wont require a "drag only" suspension either.

I guess a late model comparison is a new Mustang 5.0 (well not the new 2015). Live axle rear end - these guys add turbos or superchargers with a set of drag radials/wheels and run 10s-9s all day long with basically mail order parts and tune. Switch to a different wheel and the car performs on a road course as well. How well - im not sure - i just remember reading that article of the 5.0 coyote running with a new BMW M3.

Im going to do something - just trying to figure out what before i spend a dime.