Thread: is this a difficult task? kinda long!

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ive been brainstorming on what vehicle i should choose for a street/strip machine. i have narrowed it down to two eligible vehicles and was hoping some people had some insight on which is more cost effective to build. here we go. i want to do a small vehicle v-8 conversion and i cant decide between a vega or an 80s model s-10 pickup. i have researched them both but was wondering if anyone has done or had a buddy do a similar buildup. want to run a 350 ci bored .020-.030 run a stroker kit, and i was talked into using some later model vortec heads. top it off with a dual plane intake and an edelbrock 650. i have found motor mounts for both vehicles but im not sure how much effort it will take to bolt up a ford 9" or chevy 10 or 12 bolt. any help will be appreciated

hmmmm. Most of the Vega's were little more than rusted out junk when they were new, doubt they are in much better condition now.... An S-10 is a typical light in the back end non traction wonder. Without a quality 4-bar set-up and some meaty meats, about all they're good for with some horsepower in them is big smokey burnouts. Both projects have been built repeatedly by countless rodders. Not meaning to burst your bubble, but as long as you are in the planning stages, why not plan something unique that hasn't allready been done by so many others??? I like to build unique cars and not wind up at a stoplight beside the clone to mine!!!!! JMO

glad you mentioned that. if i had the money i would do a buildup on a dart. owned one a few years back but had to sell. not many around and would make one heck of a street/ strip machine. my only concern is the cost of building a mopar. its insane. maybe thats why im staying in this norm. i want to build a small car but the availability of most products for them kind of stink. any other recommendations?

Heck, build what you really want. If it cost more that just means you have to want it more and work a little harder and longer to get it. Trust me, nothing worse than getting into a project that you don't really want!!!!

Inexpensive and fast usually don't fit in the same sentence.

Originally posted by pro70z28
Inexpensive and fast usually don't fit in the same sentence.

Can I quote you on that? Ooops, never mind, I already did.

alright. i think im being misunderstood. by inexpensive i mean bang for the buck sort of products. why buy an expensive part for my car when its not going to benefit me much. i want horsepower first, then to fine tune the traction issues which are immenent. obviously i want something streetable too so im not looking for anything highly modified or too pricey. i want it to be a toy for the strip. a safe place to get the urge to speed out of me. im not looking for a racecar. just want to run mid to high twelves which should not be difficult in such a light weight vehicle if i can solve traction issues.

Originally posted by jus_1982
glad you mentioned that. if i had the money i would do a buildup on a dart. owned one a few years back but had to sell. not many around and would make one heck of a street/ strip machine. my only concern is the cost of building a mopar. its insane. maybe thats why im staying in this norm. i want to build a small car but the availability of most products for them kind of stink. any other recommendations?

Funny you mention Dart. As I was reading the first two posts, I was thinking Dart! I think they can be pretty cool. There is one here in the local paper that I was fantisizing about myself.
Agree that there are a lot of good choices, probably better than the Vega or S-10.
There is an early falcon station wagon in a used car place that has been there the last year. It is in ugly shape, but looks straight and rust free. Been thinking about that too.
Lots of possibilities.

like i said earlier a dart would be my dream to build, just not now. i am a young guy still trying to find a groove before i go trying to build a dream car. the dart is an underappreciated rod and i want to see it get its fair share of heads turning. i have alot of rodbuilding experience for my age but never done one completely by myself. just looking for a cheap toy to have fun with and learn a little bit.

Valiant with a 360/904

Yeah Valiant. That sounds even better than Dart.

I did the Vega thing years ago years ago. I had a 73 wagon, and thought it would make a cute pick-up truck (as I recall I was drinking kind of heavily back then ). Anyway I ran a bunch of engines in it over the years, ended up with a 327 3 dueces /4spd/8"ford Rear end. I think it would be kind of a neat project as you don't see them around anymore.

A couple of draw backs to keep in mind. The front disc brakes are really small and I'm not aware of any inexpensive conversions for them. The rear suspension is a coil spring type, and I've never had much luck getting those to hook up compared to leaf springs.

I also did a 65 Dart at one point (same platform as the Valiant). The small block Chrysler motors are a bolt in as would be an A833 4 speed like I was running. Biggest draw back is exhaust. Your stuck with either very restrictive 273 Dart Valiant only manifolds or federwell headers.

If your not married to the Chevy engine thing here's a thought.
If I was going to build another really hot street/strip car I would likely do another V8 Pinto. Here the formula I would use:

71-73 Coupe body (the one with the trunk instead of the hatch and the thin and light ribbon bumpers). It's the lightest and most rigid.

SB Ford, either a buillt 351W or 302 (I would likely start with a 351 and build the biggest stroker I could). The engine is a bolt in using 75--78 Mustang II mounts. Headers are available thru Hooker for ewither the 302 or 351.

Upgrade the brakes with 75-up Mustang II spindels (There a bit beffier than the earlier Pinto/74 Mustang II units) and add 11 Disc brakes (the conversion is fairly cheap and readily available). I would also upgrade the front springs to 78 Mustang II V8/AC springs (also readily available and a bolt in. If you also wanted to go around corners, the Must II sway bars are a bolt on.

I back the engine up with a SB C6.

Finally a 9" is almost a bolt in (spring perch relocation is sometimes needed). A 57-59 Ford SW rear end is exactly the right width, but it seems that back in the day we also got by some other 60's (' housing by using the wheels with the right offset. Although a 4 link would be ideal, you can get buy with the stock leaf springs and traction bars.

Just a thought

I have also done the V-8 Vega thing. Was a neat car and I actually did the swap while I was in Germany with the USAF. There are kits around that take care of most of the engineering for you. Your challenge will be finding a suitable car. A similar choice would be a Chevy monza, they are sleeker looking but have a lot of the same components, plus Chevy built some with factory V-8s. You don't see a lot of either of these cars around any more. You might even find one of these that was a former race car and has a lot of the suspension work done. Then your challenge would be making it street legal and streetable again.

As for the S-10, that is a popluar swap and a lot of them are showing up with the late model EFI small blocks in them. Go to Google and do a search on V8 S-10 and I bet you will find a lot of info.

One more thought, if I was gonna do a budget street strip car a 62-65 Nova would be hard for me not to pick. They are still available, are light weight, lots of parts around and with the leaf spring suspension can be set up for decent traction. The 66-67 are nice too, but more expensive due to demand.

Good luck with your project

Pat

Bang for the buck? Mid 70's nova, light ,cheap, and plenty of used speed equipment around due to a lot of camaro parts interchange. Carlg

Gremlin w/ 305 and 4 speed or 5 speed hehehe