Home Work

[WyoKid]

Hello,
I have gotten some new home work in my Street Rod class. I have to write a report basically on building a budget dream car that is a 1974 or older with a budget of $20,000. I convinced him to allow me to use my Cutlass. So far I have spent $10574.98 on the engine and transmission. Im asking for some knowledge on quality parts that will give me the most bang for buck. I have done a lot of research already but I have a great knowledge bank here so why not use it. Im going for a Pro Touring styled car so im going to need All wheel big brake disc brake set up, Full coil over suspension, rear end, interior (Very basic- pretty much anything that was from the front seat and forwards will be stock.), roll cage( im thinking only a 8 point), exhaust, floors(firewall to rear seat metal-most important), steering equipment, etc. I need everything. The Final budget that is left for all of this is $15425.02 to get the rest of all those needed parts.( for those that notice that 20,000 minus 10,574 is not 15,425.02 I know, I am theoretically selling the parts I have for the car already.) This assignment is due Dec 11. so I am going to be asking a lot of questions. ( In a way I guess this will be my Build Thread)
Thank you in advance for all the help.

My First Question: Mini Spools--- I know they are great for drag racing, will I still get good performance for a track car that drives track to track?
Transmission--- im going to go with Extreme Automatics 200- 4R, What stall of torque converter should I use.
Engine--- what cam profile should I run?
parts on the engine: custom Stainless steel Crossram intake, 45mm Inglese DCOEs, Edlerbrock Performer RPM heads, FlowTech headers.
Any more info needed from me I will give it for those that were willing to help me out in this thread.( which helps me even more.)

 

[-83MONTESS-]

Converter stall depends on the cam you have. I wouldnt use a spool on a car that has to make turns. My experience with a spooled car wasnt fun. We need more info like what engine you even have, transmission type, rear gear ratio, etc...

 

[85GPLef41]

I would throw in trutrac posi, full front and rear suspension from SC&C http://scandc.com/new/node/742 drivetrain alone could easily be gobbled up ie ls7, t56, 8.5, etc etc...even some pro touring wheels could eat up the budget real quick!!

 

[WyoKid]

Woops, i guess know the engine i using would help. 69 Olds 455 w-30. As for transmision i wanted to go with A 200- 4R originaly but i realize that isnt going to give me what i want. Also i just got the crazy idea of a shifttronic shifter. What transmission could use that i could pair up so i would have a manual shift styled automatic transmission?

 

[WyoKid]

What would be a reliable transmission for a pro-touring build?

Does any one remanufacture or at least sell the stock center consoles, if not could I repair mine with some sort of plastic adhering compound?

What kind of suspension and chassis problems could I run into with a 2in dropped suspension and a 17in wheel?

Who makes a decent Rear brake conversion kit for a g body car that isn't extremely heavy on price
How do you determine the actual clamping force of the brake calipers, I was told I have to watch out about some multiple piston calipers because some are actually weaker than others even though they may have more pistons?

 

[-83MONTESS-]

What would be a reliable transmission for a pro-touring build?

Does any one remanufacture or at least sell the stock center consoles, if not could I repair mine with some sort of plastic adhering compound?

What kind of suspension and chassis problems could I run into with a 2in dropped suspension and a 17in wheel?

Who makes a decent Rear brake conversion kit for a g body car that isn't extremely heavy on price
How do you determine the actual clamping force of the brake calipers, I was told I have to watch out about some multiple piston calipers because some are actually weaker than others even though they may have more pistons?

Plenty of people use the 200-4R behind big horsepower without issues. I would look at CK or Extreme Automatics or Bowtie Overdrives for prices and power limitations. Depending on where your console is broken I would say it would be easy to fix it since theres not much to them. I have seen quite a few decent Cutlass consoles in the junkyards so they arent hard to find. Plenty of people drop these cars 2" or more with 17" and bigger rims. You just need the correct backspacing and tire size to fit. Rear disc brake kits are pretty expensive but Summit has a bolt on kit for about $400. Many other places like Scarebird make the brackets for the calipers and most people just do the LT1/LS1 swap to save money.

 

[565bbchevy]

"WyoKid wrote,
My First Question: Mini Spools--- I know they are great for drag racing, will I still get good performance for a track car that drives track to track?
Transmission--- im going to go with Extreme Automatics 200- 4R, What stall of torque converter should I use.
Engine--- what cam profile should I run?
parts on the engine: custom Stainless steel Crossram intake, 45mm Inglese DCOEs, Edlerbrock Performer RPM heads, FlowTech headers.
Any more info needed from me I will give it for those that were willing to help me out in this thread.( which helps me even more.)"

If the true intention of this build is a track car then a large portion of your budget should be used for suspension, and as stated for anything that turns any spool or fully locked all the time rear end set up will not be an option..
I would also loose the unrealistic dreams of your "overpriced exotic one of induction system" that alone will take over 25% of your total budget.

 

[pencero]

Come on... you cant have a 'pro touring car' with those stock seats that lean forward at will is that a joke man? You may not want to add them but aftermarket or upgraded seats are a must have & a no brainer on a pro touring car and without them you will lose points on the assignment... Also a pro touring car is all suspension and the engine could really be anything over 300 hp so just go with the cheapest real life drop - in motor you can find in real life for your area... If you do this assignment correctly your suspension should cost about $5,000 alone but not higher

 

[pencero]

PS with 17's you will need at least 1/4" spacer plates to avoid rubbing during a full turn without this you could also lose points on the assignment. You could save considerable bucks by just using the 1" Eibach springs kit which is only like $300 online all day and skip the extra inch of drop which wont actually improve ride quality more than the 1'' drop kit much. Also you don't need a fancy induction system for a car that is going to be diving in turns all the time; those type of systems work better on a daily driver to get back some gas mileage / with all that performance - but when they cost lots of money it defeats their purpose entirely when cost exceeds mpg gains hope this helps