Great article! I'm really cheap, so I will not spend much for a car. I am also some what lucky. My current fleet of cars for my wife and I has a total purchase price of $50. Not a typo, five zero dollars. Her '13 Nissan leaf and my '03 Silverado 1500 were gifted to us from a family close to us that lost a brother and had to get rid of some vehicles. My '95 firebird Formula convertible with 85,000 miles and in exxcellent daily driver condition was gifted to me about 8 years ago by my best friend when these cars Blue Booked for about $3500. My '01 Saturn sc2 was $50 from a neighbors daughter. It needed some work, but I am a retired ASE Master Tech and Auto Shop teacher so that did not bother me. Plus I have owned 6 Saturn S series cars that I got for nothing with dead motors. So I am very familiar with them. Also i really enjoy fixing stuff. ... View more

Not installed from the factory, but sold as a crate engine. Hot rod small block Chevys are 4.030 x 3.75 and Chevys crate 383 is 4.005 x 3.8. Yeah, lets really confuse the 383 market. ... View more

5W30 oil and oil filters Clips and push pin retainers carb and brake cleaner by the case Windshield washer fluid by the case All my vehicles have K&N air filters so I don't have to buy those anymore There is probably more that I can't think of right now ... View more

I would also glue some thin insulating material to the back of the heat shield. I have some 45 year old rolls of varying thickness asbestos for just this reason. I know that asbestos is nasty stuff, but this is not the fluffy stuff it is solid and I still wear gloves and a face mask when handling it. I usually seal it with heat resistant paint before use. ... View more

Once a year I would travel back East to visit my oldest friend. He has a couple of muscle cars that he does not have the skills to work on. So, being a retired ASE Master tech and High School Auto Shop teacher I would do a couple of projects on one each year. I have literally touched every bolt and screw on his Chevelle convertible over 6 years. I would do the work for nothing as I enjoy building cars. However he insists on writing a stupid large check to me every year which I politely refuse once and take as he insists I do. By the way he is quite wealthy and generous. The funds have helped me fund me own project. I always felt guilty taking the money though. That is until I found out what shops in the area were charging him to do work on his other cars. As an example; he had an electrical glitch in the Chevelle that left him with no dash instruments and a battery drain. Three shops and several thousand dollars later the problem was not fixed. It took 5 minutes to find and a couple hours to pull the dash out and repair. If someone helps me I always try to pay it forward either to them or someone in need. It's the right thing to do. ... View more

As I own a '95 Firebird Formula I think you can guess which way I lean. ... View more

For those trying to sell the volume is not the problem, the lower prices are. I have a friend with about 400K in a Daytona Charger restoration that will realistically only bring 200K in todays market ( is a non-numbers matching car that started out as a 440 automatic car ). It is a Hemi 4-speed resto-mod. Even though resto-mods are doing fairly well he is going to take a bath on this car. The car is absolutely gorgeous, but Daytona prices have been soft the past few years so............... ... View more

Have a 1989 S-10 4.3 2WD extra-cab that I just love.  Recent acquisition, 2003 Silverado 1500 4.3 2WD extra-cab.  The '03 is in outstanding shape now that I have done a thorough cleaning of the interior.  The '03 will be my daily driver and the S-10 is the trash hauler.  I am 70 and live in Nevada, so no rust concerns and I don't drive much anymore.  At about 3000 miles a year on average the mediocre gas mileage on the '03 is not a big concern.  My little Saturn coupe was just getting to hard to get in and out of with the bad knee.  The trucks are much easier to access. ... View more

OK, the price is stupid.  But the idea is really good and it is eventually going to be more common.  The price needs to be in the $7000 range to bring in the average Hot Rodder though.  Plus you will need another $7000 in other stuff to make it work.  But that is not really that far off the average well built street car.  As an example; I have a 1995 Firebird Formula.  I built a 383 stroker for it where the only stock part was the block.  Horsepower, about 425 to 450. price in parts and machine work $6500.  Now before a bunch of guys say they could do better for less let me say these are all top quality name brand parts and will stand up to almost any abuse I dish out.  I would rather spend a little more and have it last.  Then the upgraded 4L60E for another$1800 and the Moser 12 bolt rear end for $2600 ( I bought it used with 7000 miles on it, new it is $3500 ).  Add some suspension and tires and your right at that $14000 mark.  But $25 to 35 K.  Not to many takers at that price.  I can not believe they have anywhere near that in materials.  Would I do this at a more reasonable price?  In a heartbeat!! ... View more

Depends on the vehicle.  I am a mechanic by trade ( retired - 25 years an ASE Master Tech, 15 years a High School Auto Shop teacher ). Electrical systems was one of my specialties.  As an example; pulling a dash on a 1970 to 72 Chevelle is a 20 minute job.  The same task on a 1990 Mustang is 4 to 5 hours.  Some newer cars it is an all day affair just to get it out.  I have found the biggest problem to be people adding accessories with no real idea as to how to properly wire them in.  Most fuse blocks have spots to pull power with extra plug in ports.  But many novices cut into wires and overload circuits and cause problems.  A lot of stereo shops also do a poor wiring job. ... View more

Do people actually read and comprehend these articles?  It said right at the start that they would not consider pop-up headlights in this article, only stationary lights!!!  That means if the light bulb moves it would not be included.  I hope an article on pop-ups is coming however.  ... View more

I feel your pain Rob.  I am finally winding down on project cars and purging parts.  I am being pretty brutal about tossing stuff.  Some stuff that might have value gets one cycle on Craig's list then to the garbage.  I tend to hold onto everything till a project is done.  It's just that it has taken a long time to get the projects done and gone.  I am finding stuff I didn't even know I had or where they came form.  Some of it was brand new still in the box and still worthless.  Sigh.......   ... View more

As there is no fuel going past the intake valve in direct injection I would think that carbon build up on the back/port side of the valve would be minimal.  Unless there was an issue with oil getting past the oil seal.   ... View more

     1967 Chevelle SS, 1967/8 Firebird 400 or 1968 Firebird Sprint w/ 250 cid/230 HP OHC,4 speed trans, Randel AMC 401/4 speed Gremlin X or Baldwin Motion V8 Vega.      Had a '67 Chevelle SS 396 close ratio Muncie and 4.10 posi 12 bolt rear end.  When I bought the car in 1975 the 396 was gone in place of a 1962 327/300.  I put a on a Q-jet with the stock cast iron q-jet manifold in place of the worn out AFB and put a dual point conversion in the distributor.  After many hours of fine tuning the car was stupid quick.  The car was totaled on the way to work when a guy cut in front of me at high speed.  Out of the 90+ cars I have owned it is the one I most wish I still had.      I really like the early Firebird.  I think they look nicer than the same year Camaro.  In the late 60's in High School there were a couple of these in the student parking lot.      Gremlin X or V8 Vega, who dosen't like a small car with a big engine. ... View more

Had a '72 El Camino that the engine needed regasketing.  Turned into a complete resto mod in no time at all. ... View more

I have had a couple of 440 MoPars and they all burned a lot of oil.  They were all in the 80 to 90 thousand mile range and it was  always valve seals.  You would have sworn that all the oil rings were laying in the oil pan.  MoPar uses umbrella type seals and when they harden with age they don't do a very good job.  When I took the valve springs off my '67 Coronet R/T with a 440 half the seals had actually broken and bits of the were laying in the head.  If the oil rings have gummed up and seized in their groove, but the compression rings are still in good shape a compression test will not say much.  Do the valve seals and if that doesn't clear up or significantly reduce the oil consumption you are looking at rings.  Also do make sure the oil level is correct as suggested else where. ... View more

Had an "oh crap" experience of my own making while rebuilding a '96 Saturn single cam engine.  A neighbor came over to see what I was doing.  I know better to set down the tools and have a conversation.  But, I kept working and talking and got distracted and got the cam 90 degrees out of time.  When I later went to spin the engine over, while still on the stand, with the starter motor ( to prime the oil system as the oil pump is crank driven ) I broke the head off of all 4 exhaust vales.  The head and all 4 pistons were junk.  I have owned a lot of Saturn S series cars so I had a stash of parts.  But, I expanded the project and turned the motor into a twin cam 4 valve version.  This all added $600 to the project.  This definitely reinforced my don't wrench and talk at the same time policy. ... View more