Food for Thought

65stanger said:

Me too!

Ummmmm........I'm no kid, and right now, I have no cash either, and probably won't for quite awhile after I am able to return to work.............

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Yours is a unique situation, and I don't wish it on anyone, well, maybe one. But really, all things being equal, a 40-50-60-year old ought to have a little cash somewhere.

pabear89 said:

90% of the time the High dollor parts are for Bragging rights of I got this and that blah,blah,blah.


PB

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The catch phrase that comes to mind most often in my head when I think of what you just said is: "It's got all forged internals" And 90 % of the time that just isn't necessary. ALL Ford Pushrod V8's had forged rods. Very few had forged cranks, not that they needed them, in fact Ford's cast cranks are just as strong as Brand X's forgings. Really no need to have one that's forged, just adds unnecessary rotational mass to the bottom end. Many of Ford's old "performance" engines had cast pistons and cranks, and they ended up becoming legends with them. I agree with Worth's post 100%. In fact the best mod you can do first is the suspension and brakes, they'll be needed more than ever with even a 350 horse motor, mandatory with 400 horses under the hood. And after all that's done, there are tons of ways to get that 400 horse motor for less than 2 grand.

Ozsum2 said:

Yours is a unique situation, and I don't wish it on anyone, well, maybe one. But really, all things being equal, a 40-50-60-year old ought to have a little cash somewhere.

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My situation may be unusual, but I have found that there are others who are worse of than myself.
I may be cash poor for now, but with all the support I have received, I consider myself very wealthy!

Worth - You really have done a good thing by starting this post. I for one laugh at the magazines and people who have the 400hp projects that never see the day of light. There is nothing wrong with 400 Hp but I hope the rest of the car supports the 400 HP quest... I was headed that way with my fastback and then I decided i want a car I could truly enjoy and manage... Making too many mods to a car sometimes makes the car a pain to manage and keep tuned... I think the biggest thing I take from this post is to have a plan and purpose...

I dunno....

I am 20 Years old and Daily Drive an 11second Trans Am...I also have a 70Stang that I am putting a Single Turbo 302 with a C4 on a brake in...

I don't do it for the magazines, or the car shows, or my friends...I do it for me. Sure, people get wrapped up in the whole checkbook racing scene, but for me going fast (FAST) is something I need in a car. I don't want a 9second Stang to talk about it...I want it to throw my head back in the seat, leave 75foot burnouts and make me smile everytime I touch the gas!

All that said, I daily Drove my 70, with a bone stock motor, tranny and faded paint. No A/C, No Radio, No power steering, 4wheel drum brakes, no windsheild wipers...for 2 YEARS, EVERY SINGLE DAY....and I honestly loved every second of it...

So I guess what I am saying is, just cuase a young kid wants a fast car, doesn't mean he is chasing the magazines. I am just trying to catch up with my right foot.

I use to try to tell people this stuff when they would get on here and talk about building an uber horsepower stang, but then I realized most of these people didn't/wouldn't listen anyway.

Besides, until you spend $3000 on just a transmission you don't know what livin is !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I agree with building to a plan and keeping the overall use of the car in mind. I've had my 69 302 coupe for 10 years and have put 56000 miles on it. It still has the original paint and the block has never been out of the car. I've traveled up and down the east coast from South Carolina to Cape Cod. Fortunately, it has been in the rain less than a dozen times..mostly by luck. The overall concept is drivability. I have been caught in 5:00 traffic on I-95 in NYC in 90 degree weather. 400+ hp won't cut it for me. I'm actually planning on yanking the 3:55s for 3:25s once I finish the A/C installation.
I don't add components to impress others....been driving longer than Mustangs have been in existence so those days are over. It still will pull in the trophies at the local shows but that's not my intent... I just go to some of the larger shows just for the social aspect.

My 69 351c is following the same plan...solid color paint, dog dish hubcaps and trim rings, but no chrome, stainless, billet or ceramic coating under the hood. It is a "spare" for the wife to drive and I can afford it by keeping the cost down on both.

This is a great thread!

I can finally say what I've been thinking for so long: I can't BELIEVE that people will put themselves into hawk buying a fancy car and/or hopping up their ride. More than ever, it seems like people want their Golden Years right off the bat without waiting for--and earning--the good things in life.

I know I'm a cheap guy but to my thinking "hobby" means you spend money on something when you can reasonably afford it. My car works for me, not the other way around!

Interesting topic. hmmmm.

I'm still a kid 22 to be exact, just turned it. I only had my fastback till age 20 from then now I've had 10 mustangs currently own 4 and probably by the end of week 1 more.

Some people say I might dump too much money into my projects but little do they know that I analyze every cent I dump into them. Yes it's a lot but in the end it's just money my money that as some on here know I work for. Not a regular 9-5 job but a respectable one to say the least.

I've had 400+RWHP cars as daily drivers no problem in that fully streetable.

So far I topped out a 5.0 at 500rwhp. Not really streetable because of the required 100 octane and tendancy to blow headgaskets and finally splitting the block.

My next goal is 700rwhp with a 351w based set up.

It doesn't take as much money as people think if you shop around and get the deals.

That 500 rwhp motor cost me nothing to build just work and a little good luck. Bought a couple cars put them back to stock resale at or above the initial cost keep what you need sale the rest. I don't sell junk cars nor do I buy them. If the car has a problem I fix it and keep it for a while to make sure no other problems occur. I probably don't make as much as I could doing it that way but I feel better knowing I'm not selling a problem car. It's all good Karma

Re

Wow I've been reading this post for awhile now. I might as well get mine in. I just turned 18 in June and I'm now off in Austin at school as my 67 Fastback sits at home. First let me say that, I don't remember who said it, but I do understand that a lot of guys my age just do everything to their cars for looks and bragging rights. I do it for me. I saw Gone in 60 sec on my 15 bday and that was it, I went crazy. I'm not gonna come off as one of those guys like, I worked my ass off for my car, cause I didn't pay for all of it, but I did lay down about $8k for it and my parents helped me out for the rest. I drove the fastback I now have for sale my junior an sen year of high school. And I loved every minute of it. When college came around my parents wouldn't let me take it with me to Austin cause they thought it would be a distraction, I fought with them forever about it, but now I'm kinda thankful that they did cause I think it really would have been. And now it gives me a chance to start a new stang. I know some of you are prob thinking its stupid to sell a perfecty good fastback to buy another and build it up. But now that I don't need a daily driver car, I can build the exact car I want.

But is what I was really trying to say was I remember when I first decided to sell mine and build another and how I was gonna get this and that and the kit and what not. But then I relized that it would really suck to run out of money. So now the plan is to build a car thats mech sound and safe, and to wait on the kit and exterior until a little more money comes in.

By the way, I always new I loved my car, but I never really knew how much I loved it until I wasn't seeing and driving it everyday...