CNN Money says "Drive your car to death!"

[bow-tie]

I love reading the comments to this article here, and then reading the comments on the same article on the car enthusiast forums.

Quite a difference as you might imagine!

I LOVE cars, but I dislike wage slavery WAY MORE! It's a fine line I'm forced to walk.

 

[samclem]

I LOVE cars, but I dislike wage slavery WAY MORE! It's a fine line I'm forced to walk.

I think the trick is to fall in love the right cars. If you like older ones, especially ones that aren't "must haves" with collectors, you can have a lot of fun on a budget. It takes some work to spend as much on a fixer-upper, even a muscle car, as MANY folks spend on a Lexus or a Range Rover. A quirky little Opel GT, MGB, or a Ford Falcon would be heaps more fun than a new car.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Do real men drive something like this ?

 

[bow-tie]

...A quirky little Opel GT, MGB, or a Ford Falcon would be heaps more fun than a new car.

Speaking of Ford Falcons, my buddy's BIL has a little red early 60's Ranchero. It's tubbed and has a blown, stroked 302 in it. Needless to say, it hauls..... and it's way bitchin', too boot.

But you're right about some of the lesser-known cars. With the more popular models becoming harder to find and in turn more expensive, guys looking to build something are looking at some of the more affordable, lesser-loved stuff.

 

[FinanceDude]

Speaking of Ford Falcons, my buddy's BIL has a little red early 60's Ranchero. It's tubbed and has a blown, stroked 302 in it. Needless to say, it hauls..... and it's way bitchin', too boot.

But you're right about some of the lesser-known cars. With the more popular models becoming harder to find and in turn more expensive, guys looking to build something are looking at some of the more affordable, lesser-loved stuff.

I always wanted one of those weird slant nosed Avantis.........DW thinks they're ugly,but I think they're bitchin'

Also, ANY El Camino SS, or Chevelle with a 396 or 454, preferably an SS.........

 

[saluki9]

NO LBYM on there......more like they buy a used Civic and put $20,000 into it..........

Hey that's not true. Some people just have greater means or choose the devote their limited means to this hobby.

How is that different than any of the other hobbies people here spend their $$$ on?

 

[FinanceDude]

Hey that's not true. Some people just have greater means or choose the devote their limited means to this hobby.

How is that different than any of the other hobbies people here spend their $$$ on?

You should see all the souped up Civics I see racing around Milwaukee. I know one guy who put $26,000 into the ENGINE on a 92 Acura Legend with a rusted out body............

And, he's not a high wage earner.........even better are the high mileage early 80's Delta 88's with $5000 worth of spinners........

 

[bow-tie]

I always wanted one of those weird slant nosed Avantis.........DW thinks they're ugly,but I think they're bitchin'

Also, ANY El Camino SS, or Chevelle with a 396 or 454, preferably an SS.........

My oldest brother has a blue '69 SS Elky with a short-throw four speed and a 396. I'd give my right nu.......er..... I'd really like to have it...

 

[FinanceDude]

My oldest brother has a blue '69 SS Elky with a short-throw four speed and a 396. I'd give my right nu.......er..... I'd really like to have it...

I know what you mean.......I had a 67 Chevelle SS convertible, and sold it!

 

[73ss454]

In 1966 I bought a brand new 1966 SS 396 Chevelle 4 speed. I was a junior in HS and kept it till I got married in 1972.

Bow tie, can you tell me what a short throw 4 speed is? Do you mean a close ratio?

 

[FinanceDude]

In 1966 I bought a brand new 1966 SS 396 Chevelle 4 speed. I was a junior in HS and kept it till I got married in 1972.

Bow tie, can you tell me what a short throw 4 speed is? Do you mean a close ratio?

I think a Chevelle with a 396 may be the best overall classic car you can have, not the fastest, most HP pr anything, but they always get looks and attract hot women..........

 

[73ss454]

Yeah, it does attract woman. 35 years later I still have the picture I took the 1st day I bought it along with DW's HS picture in my wallet. Still have DW but the car is long gone.

I do love my 73 SS 454 Chevelle that I currently have though.

 

[CRABBY JERRY]

Oh, you lucky!! Mine is a 2000 Toyota Solara, and it is absolutely perfect except that I long for a sunroof. I plan to drive it until 2010, at which point it should have about 46,000 miles on it and I will be retired.

Then, I plan to get one with a sunroof.

Why don't you have a sunroof put in the car you have now. They used to do it as I remember. Jerry

 

[W2R]

Why don't you have a sunroof put in the car you have now. They used to do it as I remember. Jerry

Too cheap to do it, I guess. I'm going to get another car anyway, in two or three years, so why bother.

 

[tryan]

Put 190k on a Ford Bronco II; probably the best truck I've ever had. Even traded it in and got $500 for it .... still drove but the body was completely rusted out.

New England winters are pretty harsh (salt on the roads).

 

[Texas Proud]

I think a Chevelle with a 396 may be the best overall classic car you can have, not the fastest, most HP pr anything, but they always get looks and attract hot women..........

I don't know... my neighbor had a 396 with some work done and won almost every race he had... including 442s and some 454s

Funny thing is that the car that beat him the worse had a 283, but it was this guy who had an older brother that owned an engine shop... that engine had set the national record for small block a year or two earlier.. LOTS of power... I was going to drive that car one time.. the guy did not tell me the car could start in gear!!!! I turned the car over, hit the gas... the view in front of me started to go toward the sky.... I hit the brakes, the front end SLAMMED down and the car stalled... I got out of the car....

 

[73ss454]

TP, lots of variations of the 396 like most engines. In 1966 chevelle's the 396 came with 325 hp 360 hp and the solid lifter, square port heads, dual bolt main 375 HP. The 375 was really 425 HP but rated lower. You can work this engine do make some real HP. Yet my 454 came standard with 245 HP in 1973. Cubic inches doesn'lt always mean it's faster.

 

[thefed]

TP, lots of variations of the 396 like most engines. In 1966 chevelle's the 396 came with 325 hp 360 hp and the solid lifter, square port heads, dual bolt main 375 HP. The 375 was really 425 HP but rated lower. You can work this engine do make some real HP. Yet my 454 came standard with 245 HP in 1973. Cubic inches doesn'lt always mean it's faster.

but as they say, "There's no replacement for displacement!!" All other things being equal, more cubes = more power. Although I like the challenge of squeezing 500hp from a small block, I REALLY cant wait to squeeze 650 or so from a big block....it will be taxed less than my current SBC and should be pretty well mannered on the streets

 

[73ss454]

fed, what I meant to say is that there is no replacement for CI's but you can have a big block with a lot less hp than a small block. It's all what you do with it.

 

[FinanceDude]

TP, lots of variations of the 396 like most engines. In 1966 chevelle's the 396 came with 325 hp 360 hp and the solid lifter, square port heads, dual bolt main 375 HP. The 375 was really 425 HP but rated lower. You can work this engine do make some real HP. Yet my 454 came standard with 245 HP in 1973. Cubic inches doesn'lt always mean it's faster.

My 67 was a high output 396, so I think it was 375?? However, after the Holley double pumpers, Moroso intake, Hooker Headers, chrome straight pipes, Crane cam, etc...........it had noticeably more oomph...........

 

[73ss454]

FD, there was never a high output option. In 1967 Chevy only built 612 375HP in the Chevelle. I would doubt yours was the 375 because it's so rare. I think Chevy built about 90K SS chevelles in 1967 all coming with one of 3 options of HP in the 396 engine. 1966 had 325 360 and 375 HP and 1967 had 325 350 and 375 HP.

With all the aftermarket items you had on your car the HP would have been much higher that's why the car was much quicker than stock.

I did a lot of work to my 1966 396 SS chevelle back in the day. Also Crane cam, Edelbrock, Holley 3 barrel carb, and just about everything you can imagine. Mine was originally a 325 HP version.

 

[FinanceDude]

FD, there was never a high output option. In 1967 Chevy only built 612 375HP in the Chevelle. I would doubt yours was the 375 because it's so rare. I think Chevy built about 90K SS chevelles in 1967 all coming with one of 3 options of HP in the 396 engine. 1966 had 325 360 and 375 HP and 1967 had 325 350 and 375 HP.

With all the aftermarket items you had on your car the HP would have been much higher that's why the car was much quicker than stock.

I did a lot of work to my 1966 396 SS chevelle back in the day. Also Crane cam, Edelbrock, Holley 3 barrel carb, and just about everything you can imagine. Mine was originally a 325 HP version.

I just called my dad and asked. It was 325 hp, he has a good memory......... Also, he told me my uncle put the car on a dyno at work (he was an engineer) and after all the mods I put on it, the bhp was 425........

My memory is hazy. Did Crane make a "fireball" cam with a 1-inch lift? If they did, then I'm pretty sure I had it put in.

Never got it bored out or anything. I wanted the ability to go back to pure stock if I would have kept it........

 

[brewer12345]

Dumb question: what is it like trying to insure one of these souped-up monsters?

 

[73ss454]

FD, Crane had many different cams, not sure if any were ever called a Fireball. They usually gave them a # like Crane 310 or 312. In my 325 HP 396 I have a crane 312 with variable duration and lift. That's when you start to get the lumpty lump at idle. Music to my ears! Don't know anything about a 1 inch lift because they weren't measured that way. Also some guys use the term 3/4 cam, this is silly because they never measured them that way.

Brew, the problem with ins started around 1969. The manufacturers started to rate the engines lower than the acutal HP at that point.

Today it's not a problem because the cars are so old and everyone pretty much has vintage car ins which is cheap. The ins companies know that the values are much higher today and there's less chance that guys like me will wrap the car around a poll.
Today most of the cars are like art if you can believe that.

 

[brewer12345]

Today most of the cars are like art if you can believe that.

Hey, if a 15 foot shark preserved in formaldehyde can be art, why not a car?