wawazat:
EZ button is Pat's 454 with AL heads, cam, and new induction/injection.
One axiom I try to live by at work is the simplest reasonable solution is the best solution until proven wrong.
The LS or JZ engines can be phenomenal but a big block with AL heads and a modern throttle body EFI is simple and efficient. It’ll also be unique in this day of LS swap everything.
In reply to SVreX :
There is always another project
AnthonyGS said:wawazat:
EZ button is Pat's 454 with AL heads, cam, and new induction/injection.
One axiom I try to live by at work is the simplest reasonable solution is the best solution until proven wrong.
The LS or JZ engines can be phenomenal but a big block with AL heads and a modern throttle body EFI is simple and efficient. It’ll also be unique in this day of LS swap everything.
It’s like Occam’s Razor applied to V8’s
I have little to add, but...
and...
wheelsmithy said:
Im in lust. In all sorts of ways....
In reply to RichardSIA :
You are right, the X-frame is a weakness. But 500 hp is not an astronomical number, and I’m not drag racing.
I will not have a roll cage on a street cruiser. I will have some reinforcement.
Boxing the frame means taking the body off. The exact same amount of work as a new or custom chassis. And the exact same amount of work whether it is done now preemptively, or done after a failure later.
My frame is in good shape. I’m not replacing it. If I have a future failure, I will consider my options.
Ok, let’s start talking about together body...
First, an overview. We’ll get to the details later.
A clean restoration is a great look on this car:
And even a set of wide whitewalls can make it stand out:
But I gotta admit, I have a certain amount of love for a clean de-chromed version too:
I am am strongly opposed to major body cutting, but don’t mind a custom version like this. The painted bumpers are hot.
This one had some very subtle changes that accentuate stock appearance:
...and though I am not into low riders, there is something about this body that looks exceptionally good slammed:
What sayeth the hive?
The chrome or stainless on the sides and around the top edge of the bed have to stay, the rest can be whatever. Just don't do flat or satin, put some polish and shine on the curves.
Personally, I like that vintage two tone, light over dark, but I know that's not super popular these days.
In reply to oldopelguy :
Ok, let’s add a couple two-tones to the mix:
I like the white over red style myself, and I would probably cut a vinyl decal that matches the upper color for each side behind the chrome on the rear fenders to see how it looks.
For whatever reason tan/cream over orange/ tangerine/ butterscotch/ rusty brick red is the direction I would go. Kinda like the last pic, actually, but maybe a little darker or more earthy on both colors.
In reply to oldopelguy :
Thank you for your input.
If I’m gonna go two-tone, I don’t think I’d do the top half/ bottom half approach. It looks like a Tupperware container waiting for the lid to be removed.
I do like the yellow and white one with the white roof and white on the rear fender behind the “airplane”.
Lets talk about body mods first. (Stance, cuts, skirts, bed cover, rear axle, etc). We can talk about paint and color later.
It seems like the path is getting strange; admitting that the frame is floppy but not wanting to really shore things up properly, more power than you really could ask to use on the street, etc etc. So I'm going to suggest something that sounds fun that is completely outside the scope of what you're asking for;
4.8 LS and whatever factory cam swap gets you into "too large", like an LS7 stick. Longtubes, an exhaust crossover, cats, and Hooker Aerochambers. Exhaust dumps before the rear wheels. Something that sounds nice wrung out to 7k.
TKO-600 or some other five-speed manual.
Leave the side chrome so it doesn't look like the car was dipped in paint; the 80's called and the pro-street look is back at the fairgrounds. Paint it Sunoco Blue. Plant it on yellow 'coated Panasports, square setup, nothing excessively wide.
Make it look like this with a bed instead of a trunk lid;
In reply to pres589 (djronnebaum) :
I ruled out the 4.8 earlier in this thread.
I didn’t say the frame was floppy. I said it’s an X-frame, and they aren’t the best design, but mine is in excellent shape. I didn’t say I was not wanting to shore things up. I said I wasn’t going to replace the frame at this time (though I might in the future)
And 500 hp really isn’t that much for a 4000 lb car. That would be about a 13 second quarter mile. My turbo Miata is faster.
Sorry the path seems strange to you. It makes perfect sense to me, but as several have recommended, I am going to build the car I want.
Even if the path seems strange.
Note on the chrome...
It’s stainless on this car. Mine is not in great shape. A full restoration of the chrome is about $5000. Its worth considering...
I doubt I will do a full de-chrome. I am leaning more toward a custom grill, custom bed, swapping some of the feature chrome pieces for Impala ones, and perhaps considering painting out the bumpers.
But I am still interested in other people's opinions. This is a work in progress... but the car is headed to the fab shop next month, so now is the time for decisions.
In reply to SVreX :
You do realize that my Grandpa owns a chrome shop and a 1960 Impala, right? He can restore nearly everything on the car or even sell you entirely new pieces because he casts, too...
I really like the two tone red/white cars pictured above, and I'd 100% keep the trim.
SVreX said:This one had some very subtle changes that accentuate stock appearance:
Oooooooh weeee! That's the ticket. That one looks sweet, I even like the colors.
Javelin said:In reply to SVreX :
You do realize that my Grandpa owns a chrome shop and a 1960 Impala, right? He can restore nearly everything on the car or even sell you entirely new pieces because he casts, too...
Nope, I didn’t.
Thats awesome. I’ll be giving him some business
OK Ill put my .02 in here, but I am a firm believer in it's your car make it how you want.
I like the stance on this car, hard to tell exactly because of the angle of the picture. I think should be lowered but not on the rockers and have a slight forward rake. Not the highjacker look of the 70's but not a flat rocker either, if that makes sense. I do like the painted bumpers and I think about a 50 to 70 percent de chrome/stainless trim would strike the right balance of accenting the body lines and moderizing the look.
Chip Foose always talks about knocking the ugly out and there is not much to knock out of that car, but I think the rear wheel well needs some attention. I would move the axle back a couple of inches so that the gap at the front of the wheel well matches the gap in front of the front tire. I would also take some of the taper out of the rear of the wheel well, not all of it and I think matching the front wheel well is too much so maybe something in between. If it was my car I would be taping some cardboard up to see what looks right. I have also discovered doing that, that sometimes what looks good in my head look terrible on the car.
You asked for it, and I am sure the advice is worth less than half of what you are paying for it, but looking forward to see where this goes.
In reply to Fladiver64 :
Thank you. Those are really good observations.
I will build what I want, but sometimes someone else sees things I don’t. Your input is very helpful.
Apparently this car and Patrick's ‘57 210 are now joined at the hip. We finalized the deal on the big block for this to help finance the 210.
I’ve got some time off for the holidays. Time to get to work!!
I will de-chrome it this week, and start prepping for the fab shop.
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