Budgeting a Build

I thought it was double the time and triple the money. I must have done it wrong. Maybe it was quadruple the money and triple the time. Yeah, that's it, that's the ticket.

Micah

 

I suggest...don't keep any records....you really don't want to know what it cost...

 

Actually, I disagree with that. I kept track of just about every cent. It was a benefit when I got an appraisal.

Also, if anything ever happened to your car, you have a complete record if you have to go to court.

Micah

 

Lol....Micah, your car is better than new ....probably 2 or 3 times better. I want my car to look as good as the one you STARTED with!!!

 

I stopped counting the money invested when I hit $10K. Then it occurred to me that I work so slow that the cost per year isn't much. I have had the car since 1992. If it stays parked much longer I will start making money on it.

 

Rust never sleeps. Neil Young had it right all along. He must have owned a Maverick/Comet.

 

Despite what you guys thought, you haven't scared me off yet. I got the car trailered to my place and pushed into the garage. A bit more information on this:
I am starting with a 1971 200 I6 standard column shift, 4 lug, drums all around. It is fairly straight, will require some body work, and only has one ... what I would call ... problem area as far as the body goes. Rust in the bottom corners of the quarters, and some general surface rust elsewhere. The cowls are rusted out as the floor pans pretty obviously reflect.

The end-game looks like this (absent the grabber hood in the front profile shot):



I am not married to the stripe on the rear, so I am going to tape some black paper on it in the next day or two to get a better idea of how it will look in real life.

I intend to rebuild a junkyard 302; convert to floor shift; front disc brake conversion; explorer 8.8 3.73 limited slip rear end swap. The underbelly will be coated in black rust bullet, engine bay painted black. Factory paint code is morning gold (8) and it is still a very faded version of that color. I think I am going with wimbledon white and the black striping (very far down the road). There is a thread around here somewhere of a guy who did a trans am shaker hood that I love intend to do. I will modify the grille to have the crosshatch wire mesh look, add a chin spoiler, and 1971 Mustang tail lights.

I hope to build an engine in the 275+ HP, 300+ ft/tq range with some focus on the the power band being being in the lower RPM range. To answer a question, I don't really have any intention of revving it above 6,000 rpm, and won't be taking it to the track. I have done quite a bit of research, but would like some input on some good matching components to this end.

I will be doing all the body work that I can (I have limited experience, but I am patient and pick things up quickly), I will be doing the sheet metal replacement myself (with a friends help who is an airframe/sheet metal mechanic), I am still working out the paint situation because paint jail is not my idea of a good time (I have a friend who can paint, is willing to do it, and has the equipment, but finding a booth or other suitable place to do it will be an issue), and I will be farming out the machine work on the engine, but am confident on the assembly with the help of yet another willing and able friend. One can never have too many friends.


Questions:
1. I have read in many places here on the forum that if you run wheels with the right backspacing, the explorer rear end will work without shortening it (with some manipulation to the transmission/driveshaft tunnels). Any pictures of this out there. Consensus seems to be that it works, but I can't find pictures or write ups of people actually having done it.

2. I want to put a five speed in it. Considering a mildly built 302, any opinions on the 3.73 gearing? Should I go up to the 4.10 or down to the 3.55s? All input is welcome.

3. Not to be that guy, but here I go: The old Mexican Shelby Maverick... I love the spoiler on it, but haven't been able to find anyone here who has done something similar. Do you guys know of anyone who has fabricated such a thing? Or any other spoiler I could start with to modify to that point?

Feel free to add your stylistic input as well as any resto-mod specific tech input or anything else. You can't hurt my feelings.

 

Concerning the 3.73 gears.. I ran a 347 Stroker in my 75 Comet with a Tremec 5 Speed and it was great on the highway at speeds and really ' cooked ' on the bottom end . Made four Hot Rod POWER TOURS with the car and
loved every minute . Car did very well on fuel mileage and had a Vintage AC installed at about the same time we put the gear in . I recommend the gear if you're planning on having great performance on the bottom end . . You may want to consider 3.55's also . I have them in two other cars and they're working out just fine.
Cometized
(Chip)

 

Sounds like a great group of friends to have around when you're building a car. All the extra elbow grease will help stretch each dollar much further.

My take on rear gear selection. Gear ratios and cam choice greatly affect the overall driving experience because they are directly tied together. For a street motor it's usually always best to match the transmission and rear gears to the meat of the engines torque curve(cam timing) for greatest overall enjoyment. Gives the impression of being in the "right gear" over broader rpm range. Which of course includes part throttle and light cruise modes. Trick is to calculate the multiplication factor and tailor it towards the cars purpose. This entails spec'ing rear gear choice off the transmissions available 1st gear ratios.

I speak from experience when I say that running too short a rear gear behind a 3.35 1st gear will make you want a bigger cam that keeps pulling longer so you quit missing that damned 1-2 shift. Even a modestly powered engine accelerating @WOT through 12.5:1 gear multiplication won't allow you to dilly dally very long in 1st gear. In a really powerful car with even shorter gear it's much more like a semi or old trucks granny gear, you barely have enough time to blink before shifting. Shift lights are completely useless for the 1-2 shift unless you set them 1,000 rpm lower to compensate for brain/hand/foot delay. lol

2.95 ratio 1st gear combined with a 3.55 axle is bread and butter street performance for tons of healthy moderate rpm street motors. The higher revving street/strip built powerhouses get the really short gears because their cams allow running deeper into broken parts territory. Still fun around town.. just not as causal, or quiet, or even safe running to the grocery store and added rpm's beats up on parts faster, is all.

I prefer 3.73's with shorter first gear combo's because it gives me the illusion that I have a race car under my right foot running through the first couple of gears at light/medium throttle. Rpm's come up faster and makes the motor feel a bit bigger than it really is. But I like racier rides with longer cams then most do too.. so again, it's all relative to the combo of parts. The driving experience is the sum of all the chosen parts.

 

i second bmcdaniel's remark... its the "while i'm doing this, i should do that" which snowballs the project...

 

my sons 71 maverick grabber has a bone stock 84 mustang 5.0 with a t5 from another v8 mustang nothing done to gears in trans or rearend no cam swap no added goodies except headers electronic accel ignition and a holley 4 barrel carb
it has the stock 8inch rearend with the factory 3.00 gears and is VERY fun to drive very fast pulls hard under acceleration at any speed. runs a very respectable consistent 15.0 in the 1/4 mile the 5.0 in this has never been rebuilt and still runs strong we bought the motor and trans for $400

the accel ignition system was under $100
the headers were $200
the exhaust was free thanks to a friend having spare parts laying around

the point to this is you dont have to change the gear ratio or rearend to something complicated

you can easily put disk brakes on the rear of a stock 8 inch so you can have disk brakes all the way around. and you can source all of the parts at your local auto parts store to do the rear disk swap minus the brackets for the calipers but those are easily made or bought on ebay or maybe even on you dont even have to have power disk brakes to have good stopping power

here. the point is you can upgrade alot of what you have or get stock 5 lug parts and upgrade those for very little money.

oh yeah this car gets 25-30 MPG on the highway

my car on the other hand is ridiculous Ive spent $13100 on the engine alone and figure Ill likely have to spend another $5-$8000 for the transmission plus another $5000 just for the chassis frame then the rearend back half is almost $5000 without rearend gears $1000? the front end IM having custom made but its still around $1500 for materials and parts we cant make. then theres the wheels and tires the wheels I want are $1500 each for the rear and the fronts are $500 ish each tires are probably another $2000 and notice I havent mentioned the cost of the fabrication to the body or other little things like the foot pedals or body and paint yet. it can get out of control FAST

im HOPING to be ALL IN at $40000 so yeah TRIPLE the price and WAY longer quadruple MIGHT be enough time
I said I wouldnt spend more than $15000 to completely finish my car YEAH IN MY DREAMS lol

THANKS HOTROD MAGAZINE FOR COMING UP WITH A 1100 HORSE DAILY DRIVER FOR THE COVER LOL

 

My understanding is that one of the simplest ways to change from 4lug drums to 5lug discs in the rear is to just swap the rear. Because I will be doing that, I may as well carefully choose the rear end so that it has the gearing I will enjoy most.

Are you suggesting converting my current 4lug drum setup would be simpler yet effective?

 

I cant say if it works for sure but Ive heard you can swap 5 lug axles in a 4 lug housing. axles can be had for cheap if thats the case.
but yes its easy efficient and fairly cheap to add disk brakes to the rear on an old 8inch I did it with junkyard parts from a crown vic I didnt even change my proportioning valve and I only have manual brakes.

also I bought mustang leaf springs theyre not exactly right (they sit up higher) but they work very well and they cost half as much as the maverick springs

 

oh yeah a 95 cobra starter is a very good upgrade that youll be thankful for when installing 5lbs rather than what seems like 500lbs for the factory starter when trying to hold it up in place.also the benefit of an easier install because of the size difference the 95 starter goes right in place without any fighting with the header tubes like the old one