Make Hot Rodding Great Again.

[motorheadmike]

https://www.hotrod.com/articles/return-road-make-hot-rodding-great/

While the premise is accurate enough and one I align myself with philosophically. I do however find the images they chose to be extremely disingenuous as most of those cars are bought, and not built.

The up and downside of this hobby is just how accessible solutions (power, handling, aesthetics, etc) are today - but, the biggest downside is how industry preys on the insecurities of the average person and their inability to gain access to all of these "must have" products. I take particular exception to the concept of a cheap LS-swap.

Fast. Cheap. Good. Pick two.

Anything worth doing well takes time - and skills, tools, and the will to see it through. These overnight sensationalized high-dollar sponsored builds are killing me (Cleetus McShitbird, Horsepower Wars, Turbo Tom, etc). Hell... even Mighty Car Mods and Sloppy Mechanics are starting to shill and cash-in more and more (I get the production costs are quite high, and you need content and money to survive). At least there are still a few gritty down to Earth channels.

The high of instant gratification quickly fades... but, yet people are sold on the idea and jeopardize themselves financially to achieve them. My oldest come to me yesterday and said: Daddy you do car crafting (having just read the cover of said magazine). To which I assured her I did indeed, and it takes a lot of hard work and dedication to achieve results - and the result is very satisfying.

Anyway I am rambling here... I am going to jump in my wagon now.

 

[69hurstolds]

The only cheap LS swap is if the drivetrain and all associated transition parts are given to you. And no two seem they're ever the same.

The LS canvas is vast, so get whichever floats your boat. I mean, if you get a 5.3 truck motor to start, it wouldn't take much to swap out an LS3 in its place if you desired down the road. I think it would be cheaper to do an LS swap to another LS engine. But the Transgender swap costs could be initially high.

I buy my vehicles with LS type engines in them. Stout and strong they are. My 2010 GMC 5.3 truck has been reliable over the last 9 years, and I've tuned out the variable valve train crap so it runs on V8 mode all the time. Same for the 2010 Camaro SS. The 2013 ZL1 convertible has a manual 6 speed in it, plus it didn't have any option for V4 mode anyway. If I want to drive something with some kick in the pants and still have A/C, I just hop in that. I kind of don't need to put one in a G-body to feel that. I'm partial to stock G-bodies, so I doubt you'll ever see me put an LS in one.

Don't get me wrong, I love the LS engine's relative simplicity for being able to make lots of power, and it's good that people save them from the junkyards and make well-mannered hot rods that are capable of halfway decent gas mileage when not using the rest of the power. Maybe my old school upbringing and generational gap when it comes to hot rodding. I guess the availability factor comes into play. In an Oldsmobile, I consider putting in a 403 instead of a 260 or 307 as a win. And if I wanted to spend some money, I'd bump that up to a 455. But those engines are probably getting harder and harder to find vs. LS style.

Regardless of your flavor, if you're going to pop the hood on your old beast and get your hands dirty, then just DO IT!!! Sometimes you'll break some crap or you'll bend something you shouldn't have, but regardless, you'll learn valuable lessons along the way. And don't forget to ask the vast collective knowledge of this forum when it comes to G-body stuff. More than likely, what you're trying to do has already been tried- with varying results.

Enjoy the hobby whichever way you like.

 

[Bonnewagon]

As if Hot Rod can talk. Most of their "projects" consist of "We sent the red Camaro over to ( fill-in-the-blank) for a total suspension upgrade then over to (so-and-so) for a complete fuel injection install then to (mega-bucks) for a new custom interior blah blah blah. Worse, good clean project cars are becoming really hard to find. My daughter races circle track and is lamenting the shortage of G bodies to build up. The average kid today is stuck with a front wheel drive or truck to play with.

 

[Turbolq4]

Tom's turbo garage is high class

 

[B's 87mcss]

Just my 5 cents (Cdn) worth comment, This was my old parts car that I thought was too good to hack up for pieces so I sold it and this fellow turned it into a mud bogger, 4x4 truck chassis underneath and still original 305 engine with a shot of nitrous. , It's hot rodding, the hobby has evolved and continues to do so. Hopefully the younger crowd will use their imagination, with Foose skills or without, have a blast and turn nothing into something. The hell with the all the 1 hour Riddler builds on TV.

 

[mclellan83]

I remember when I was young I was really into cars and trucks thanks to the Dukes of Hazard and Night Rider, started getting into 4x4 stuff and my mom bought me a subscription for the mags. My dad bought a new 87 Aero SS, every time I saw a heavy duty lifted truck I would tell my dad to trade the Monte for it. He was very displeased with that idea, once I got to driving age I saved up a good chunk of change to buy a first car but my dad crushed my dreams by saying that I had to pay for insurance either way but probably wouldn't be allowed to drive much the day before I planned to go take my test. So I have him drive me everywhere and anywhere to prove a point, then he tells me to get a license.

Back to searching for a first car, look at an 86 T Type that needed a rear end and gauge cluster replaced. I thought perfect do a little work and learn how to really wrench, but pops was not into that idea because he said I would kill myself with it and didn't know how to work on cars. While I am on the search, I keep saying I would like to do a 69 Charger with hydraulics to be able to go up and down so that I can drive it lowered and raise it when need be and swap in a newer engine to run like a modern car. But of course I wanted to add in the dixie horn as well. While this was way before Restomodding, I got shut down saying it wasn't possible. Little did I know that was the first of a few really good ideas that got shot down prematurely. If only I had attempted that I could have been known as the originator of restomodding and boneless wings

 

[87National]

The only cheap LS swap is if the drivetrain and all associated transition parts are given to you.

Depends on your definition of cheap.....I'm just finishing a 5.3l swap into an 87 c10. I bought the c10 for $950, picked up a 77k mile lm7 for $500, and will have an additional $700 into everything else associated with getting it running. So $2200 total and I have the classic square body look paired with the modern reliability and performance of the ls.

My 86 442 is another example.....I bought a 4.8/4l60e swapped 86 grand prix with a rough body. Swapped the complete frame and drive train under my 442 (frame was almost rusted through on the 442 so I killed 2 birds with one stone with this project). After selling all of the random leftover parts after the swap, I came out dead even.....didn't cost me a dime other than my time invested.

There are a few of us out there doing this on a budget.

 

[fleming442]

Excuse me while.........




I look at LS swaps like the Fox bodies of yore; every part to do it is mass produced, so there's no reason that anyone capable of turning a wrench can't be a "hotrodder".

 

[Kennybill]

My "quote" in my posts on another Olds forum is, "a man needs to know his limitations, especially with an Oldsmobile."
That's about the way I feel about my car hobby. I try to use what I have and get the most "bang" for the buck. I've always broke even when I sell a car money wise. I've always said, "expect 50 cents on the dollar when one sells a car and labor means nothing. I've always broke even or made a little, but my labor was free. My car hauler really made me $$ and most my cars were either projects gone bad or field cars. Having a car hauler able'd me to get "bargains." I always liked Popular Hot Rodding but the "powers to be killed it" because they want people to buy the newest, best, latest fad instead of low buck junkyard builds. I see cars at car shows/ice cream stands that have 15K in their engine to go putt around. The could have put a 2barrel 283 in it and keep the hood shut. Jmo.

 

[Kennybill]

My "quote" in my posts on another Olds forum is, "a man needs to know his limitations, especially with an Oldsmobile."
That's about the way I feel about my car hobby. I try to use what I have and get the most "bang" for the buck. I've always broke even when I sell a car money wise. I've always said, "expect 50 cents on the dollar when one sells a car and labor means nothing. I've always broke even or made a little, but my labor was free. My car hauler really made me $$ and most my cars were either projects gone bad or field cars. Having a car hauler able'd me to get "bargains." I always liked Popular Hot Rodding but the "powers to be killed it" because they want people to buy the newest, best, latest fad instead of low buck junkyard builds. I see cars at car shows/ice cream stands that have 15K in their engine to go putt around. The could have put a 2barrel 283 in it and keep the hood shut. Jmo.