Project!!
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Record Breaker
Joined: Apr 2008
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From: Indiana
Project!!
Looking for help here. My buddy laid a challenge down that I couldn't build a 318 / 360 in a mopar ride and beat his project honda. $3500 max spending limit, includes everything. Going to need to run low 12's or faster. Any ideas on a light mopar vehicle that I could buy and build for this price? Any help would be great. Thanks.
The Forum Tyrant
Joined: Mar 2004
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From: Puttin' Detroit City back on the map.
RE: Project!!
what is his project honda?
does the car have to be street legal?
I think that youre going to have a hard time getting a car into the low 12s for 3500 without already having the car or an engine/drivetrain. I would think that the cheapest rwd v8 mopar youre going to find would be an f-body, like an aspen or volare. the other option would be to buy an old fwd mopar, like a shadow or omni, but youd need a ton of fabrication and welding/cutting to make that work. that would give you the lightest car, but it would be the most work by far.
with the aspen or volare, you have a factory v8 for cheap, and then start cutting things out that you dont need. another advantage of this slightly newer v8 car is the emission engine and low compression. the only way that youre going to get enough power to move that car into the low 12s for that cheap, i feel, will be nitrous. say that you find a decent volare, strip is clean, and rebuild the engine to handle the gas. youre not going to get a good set of mopar small block heads, but big power can be made with small valve heads. a slight port-matching job to an edelbrock ld340 or airgap intake, and a nice cam, matched to a nice big nitrous setup should make the power that you need. if you have good rings and bearings, with the factory low compression engine will be more accepting of the nitrous, but make sure that youre pushing in enough fuel to handle the added air.
you should be able to find an 8.75 rearend and a set of gears used at any swap meet, as i wouldnt trust the 8.25, and make sure that one of your mods is a torque convertor.
i would guess that this car would cost under 3500, depending on the cost of the car, best case scenario:
-1976-1980 aspen or volare with a 360, hp ranges from 155-220hp, but the 220 models are rare and most of the 360 models were int he 155-180 range.
-intake manifold (i recommend the edelbrock airgap)
-1 5/8 headers, cheapest available (probably something like blackjack or flowtech)
-bottom end rebuilt kit, gaskets, etc.
-a good carb, i use holley because its what im familiar with...along with the barry grant carbs. if youre going to follow my idea, check with the nitrous manufacturer about carb specs before buying anything.
-nitrous setup (i have experience with zex, but again, check with the company about your applications) this will probably be the most expensive thing you buy
-torque convertor 3500 ish should be enough...but dont go in with a stock tc and expect to turn great times. im not sure what youll do about the trans. i would recommend to swap to a 727, as that will open up your options...but its not free.
-rearend and gears. 8 3/4 and something around a 4.10. the best that youll find in stock car is a 8.25 rear with 3.23 sure grip...
i really dont think that youll buy the car and build the car NA for under 3500 and run in the 12s. if you already had a car, it would be very different...
does the car have to be street legal?
I think that youre going to have a hard time getting a car into the low 12s for 3500 without already having the car or an engine/drivetrain. I would think that the cheapest rwd v8 mopar youre going to find would be an f-body, like an aspen or volare. the other option would be to buy an old fwd mopar, like a shadow or omni, but youd need a ton of fabrication and welding/cutting to make that work. that would give you the lightest car, but it would be the most work by far.
with the aspen or volare, you have a factory v8 for cheap, and then start cutting things out that you dont need. another advantage of this slightly newer v8 car is the emission engine and low compression. the only way that youre going to get enough power to move that car into the low 12s for that cheap, i feel, will be nitrous. say that you find a decent volare, strip is clean, and rebuild the engine to handle the gas. youre not going to get a good set of mopar small block heads, but big power can be made with small valve heads. a slight port-matching job to an edelbrock ld340 or airgap intake, and a nice cam, matched to a nice big nitrous setup should make the power that you need. if you have good rings and bearings, with the factory low compression engine will be more accepting of the nitrous, but make sure that youre pushing in enough fuel to handle the added air.
you should be able to find an 8.75 rearend and a set of gears used at any swap meet, as i wouldnt trust the 8.25, and make sure that one of your mods is a torque convertor.
i would guess that this car would cost under 3500, depending on the cost of the car, best case scenario:
-1976-1980 aspen or volare with a 360, hp ranges from 155-220hp, but the 220 models are rare and most of the 360 models were int he 155-180 range.
-intake manifold (i recommend the edelbrock airgap)
-1 5/8 headers, cheapest available (probably something like blackjack or flowtech)
-bottom end rebuilt kit, gaskets, etc.
-a good carb, i use holley because its what im familiar with...along with the barry grant carbs. if youre going to follow my idea, check with the nitrous manufacturer about carb specs before buying anything.
-nitrous setup (i have experience with zex, but again, check with the company about your applications) this will probably be the most expensive thing you buy
-torque convertor 3500 ish should be enough...but dont go in with a stock tc and expect to turn great times. im not sure what youll do about the trans. i would recommend to swap to a 727, as that will open up your options...but its not free.
-rearend and gears. 8 3/4 and something around a 4.10. the best that youll find in stock car is a 8.25 rear with 3.23 sure grip...
i really dont think that youll buy the car and build the car NA for under 3500 and run in the 12s. if you already had a car, it would be very different...