Properly planning your street driven high performance Gen 1 SB Chevy

Like many of you, I have a stock Chevy I'd like to soup up and be proud of. I would like to take a stab at establishing a guide for those with similar aspirations, and take in some lessons while I'm at it.

My experience has shown me that planning is of the utmost importance. Not just the paint, or the engine, or the interior, but the whole package and its ability to serve you as envisioned.

I have plenty of opinions but I'll leave them out, to get this going. If this discussion flounders, so be it. Read along and help me fine tune this process so that there may be more and more well done rides on the road putting away miles rather than soaking up paychecks.

This guide assumes that you are doing the work, and that the vehicle, the small block, and the transmission are already chosen. Lets say a Malibu two door with a four barrel 350 and TH350 auto, to keep it general and applicable to a wide range of vehicles, maybe even the Vortec pickup crowd can use it. We want to make it shiny, fast, safe, and legal as cheap as we can, then keep and maintain it forever, as long as theres gas.

1- You have the car. How much are you willing to invest in it? Not how much you have saved up right now, but more like how many installments of how much, considering you drive it daily, or often. Now cut that figure by a third and theres your budget. Gotta allow room for what you don't know yet.

2- How will the vehicle be used?:
    Do you want women to ride in it or drive it?
    How often will it go two counties away?
    Where will it be parked and what weather will it be driven in?
    What dragstrip ET is a realistic goal, considering your budget?

3- What does it weigh, and what is the current final drive ratio?

4- What body panels and glass are in need of replacement?

5- What interior pieces are in need of replacement?

Thats round one of questions one must ask himself in planning a buildup, for a nicely balanced crowd pleaser. I have done this a few times. Feel free to suggest things I left out. "Chapter two" is right on the tip of my tongue, but I'm just dipping a toe in the "input/interest" waters. Powertrain planning is next....

If you have fixed up some old cars before, pitch in and help because most folks have expertise in one area or another, but not all, and this forum has the knowledge resources to do much more than spit out cam and head recommendations and Google casting numbers all day long.   Don't ya think?  

maybe this should be the home page when we log on! i think number 6 should read
TIME FRAME..when do you want it done by.... nice post id  

you make me laugh id.:-O  

Hi Junkman,
 That is a real oldy and still rings VERY TRUE even Today.
 when you leave your car at the garage for a few days they
 want your nuts with it it. Good luck from Skyeking  
skyeking

Howdy mates,

I hear these newfangled hybrid minivans come with a built-in testicle holder. Because you have to detach them to put it in "gear"    

Hi there,
  Do I detect a Village Idiot?...Skyeking  
skyeking

I'll take that, thank you. Better'n town drunk    

Y'all thought I was foolin didn't ya?

OK, we have our Malibu in the driveway and the wife is watching. What do we do?

#1: BUDGET:
Well, first off I figured I can slip away with $40 a week for a couple years, to spend on the car. Thats four grand in two years, or $160 a month. So we play it safe and have only three grand to spend. Ouch.

#2: USAGE:
Wife won't tolerate a project that she can't at least be seen in. OK. The dream is to take a medium length annual fall road trip in the beast, and not break down or have other embarrasing moments. But you don't want to get caught short at the stoplight either. You want to get it into at least the 13s at the drags. Unfortunately, it has to park on the grass next to the driveway, but there is a one car garage.

#3: POWER-TO-WEIGHT:
Uh-Oh. Our Malibu is nearly two tons. Dang. Even worse, it has 3.08 rearend gears. As-is, she runs maybe 15 flat at just over 85 MPH in the quarter. Thats with everything prepped just right, and a veteran drag racer looking over your shoulder.

#4: BODY:
Shes a 20-footer... if you keep moving, right? Needs a windshield, Small rust on one fender and one quarter panel. Needs a trunk lid, too, its rusted. Trunk floor and floor pans are usable, no more than a couple 5" square patches needed. Had a vinyl top and u can tell. It had some dents before it was repainted, and some after, but still has shiny places and is all the same color.

#5:
The dash pad is a little cracked, needs carpet, has bench seat with column shift. Headliner is missing and door panels still look decent. Upholstery is toast in front, but the back seat still looks OK, and all the windows roll up.

Now that we've walked around it and kicked the tires, lets go back to #1. Three grand to spend over two years, sheesh. Where do I start?

Well, I said powertrain planning was next, so lets take the first step in that direction:

Who are you?

A: Don't care what the wife does or don't have one. Don't care WHAT it looks like, I just want the lowest number at the dragstrip.

B: I want people to trip out on my ride and say "nice car" when I pull up at ____ , or wherever. I want to use it for dates or family outings. Don't want no ricers giving me a hard time, either. No embarrasing moments, please!

Advice to A:
Let's concentrate on traction, gearing, stall, airflow, and revs. Damn the windshield.

Advice to B:

Let's focus on just cleaning and maintainng the 350, and hoping for a fourteen five ET. Nice tune up and exhaust pipes and learn to rev to 4 grand for the ricers at a stoplight but NEVER challenge a lighter car. And nope, nitrous is out of the question! Forget about a lopey idle, too. Maybe we can get it painted or at least primered and redo the front seat or get some decent looking buckets. And we'll get that windshield for sure. You will show up on time and looking cool, and the lady will smile as folks comment on the car.

So is there a type C ? Speak up. The village idiot wants to know.  

IDjunk  #2 ranks high with me. If the wife wont ride in it then whats the point? #1=
I take a notepad and make a list of everything I can think of while looking the car/truck over.
#2 I make a price sheet and see if its a doable project within a reasonable time frame.  
luck is when skill and opportunity meet

Alright!

gettn, your experience speaks volumes. The process doesn't start in a catalog, but in a parking space. One must get the big picture, to have a realistic view of the project at hand. Down-to-earth expectations and honest motivation will get you driving and smiling. And yep wives usually like it when their man does manly stuff that ends up turning heads instead of junking up the garage like their friend's husband's ride    

Yep!
If its not a realistic project then dont waste time or money on it[that keeps the wife happy too]
Once I know its a project that I'll be undertaking I'll take pictures of everything as a reference for when its time to put it all back together.
After that its time to start taking things apart.Bagging and tagging helps alot too  
luck is when skill and opportunity meet

No joke. Bag and tag is doing yourself a big favor. I do huge body repairs all the time and man that helps so much. However, on my restos, I drive em during the process as much as possible, and lay em down for the shortest possible periods. It keeps the motivation at a fevered pitch.

The next chapter is where we start making our compromises and real world choices, with pencil and paper, catalogs, internet, and phone. I'll have to fake schizophrenia for that, and take two approaches, "A" dude and "B" dude. Kinda sensing not much interest in this guide idea though. Maybe I should just keep it to myself. I'll watch the number of views and see.  

Hi there Junkman  As long as we don't

 lose the plot and stop driving to
 where we want and when we want without
 a permit.. All the best Skyeking....  
skyeking

Thanks for hanging in there Skyeking. Gonna give it the big finish this go round, stay seated as I dream in technicolor ...

Here goes:

Dude A:

Makes a gear ratio change and adds positrac for about $1,000.

Drops the TH350 off for a rebuild or exchange, plus shift kit. $600.

Bargain torque converter, ATF  $250

Big back tires $250

Headers and collectors $250

Weld up new custom pipes with cheap mufflers $300

Cam and lifters, valvesprings, timing chain, gaskets, oil $400

New HEI $120

Aluminum dual plane intake, gaskets, bolts, air cleaner $300

That puts us at $3,370 and quite a bit quicker, maybe a low 14 or high 13. We're still running that Q-Jet though. Now if Dude A wants to take it to the next level, he's looking at a complete rebuild and head swap, but personally I would look at brakes and steering as I crept up to the four grand over two years.


Dude B:

Pulls the windshield, fixes the rust, and gets a replacement installed for $200

Buys a headliner and carpet for about $250

Finds these cherry craigslist or boneyard seats for $80 and spends the day making em fit. $100

Spends $1,500 on new wheels and tires. Cragars not Budniks!

Finds a better decklid for $200

Just cleans up the dash pad

Gets the trans rebuilt, with shift kit, bargain converter $700

Changes diff lube $20

Uses the stock downpipes and puts 2 1/4" dual exhaust with glass packs for $350

Gets the new HEI for $120

Yikes, we're at 3,440 and don't even have primer on it, and the steering is still sloppy, just like Dude A. But we got the sweet rims and buckets, plus now the inside cleans up pretty nice. Wife approves. The windshield isn't gross and you can see at night, the pipes sound damn good, and she runs crisp and consistent with the new dist, even barks second gear. Not much faster now, but maybe you'd drive it to visit the inlaws on the edge of the next state, wrong color decklid and all.

If "B"  creeps up cautiously on four grand, and learns to weld and block bondo, shiny paint ain't way out of reach now. If the steering and brakes are scary, he should definitely address that first.

Well, there you have it, folks. Dispute, discuss, or disregard, as applicable. Gotta thank you for reading if you made it this far.

The lesson here is how to select your priorities, for the best outcome. It is aimed at those who have never played out the scenario in real life. If you wonder why we never tore into that engine, well, I am not an engine guy, plus we didn't have engine type money. This is just the sort of thing I might do for myself after buying a decent old car, and I hope it actually helps someone in the world make a good decision on a project.

Nuff said