99StockGT

Hectic couple days for sure! Who's still breathing, who's smiling, and who's wishing they had bought/sold?!

Cross promotion just posted some info and photos of the '68 in the Projects section for anyone interested. Meet my new "Street Race Car"!

As soon as I figure out how to get these images to work..

I'm sure the days will come that this is actually a statement that will hold water, unfortunately upgrading the output of a Tesla requires more of an electrical engineer than a gearhead. One of the major sticking points I think for a lot of us "Old School" people if we are honest with ourselves. However, that instant never ending torque is something incredible as long as the tire industry can keep up!

We did this on an RX-7 years ago and just said we were "Fumigating for Mosquitoes" The plume of smoke went for nearly a block running it outside my old Advance on Bethel Rd.

On the lift a few things were quickly noticed, foremost the wheels and tires HAD to go! Dry rotted, mismatched, and just generally terrible those were not only impractical but completely unsafe. Another blatantly obvious issue was the rattle can silver paint job given to these poor vintage early 70s Rally II wheels. This would NOT do! Various worn out steering and suspension components also showed themselves, this being a car with 40 years of life on its bones needed some attention. As many car folk will attest to, worn out or broken component mean just 1 thing... UPGRADES! With a quick phone call to one of our suppliers to add some size and stature to this ride a set of 15" x 8" Riddler wheels are sourced and shipped over. Another call gets a staggered set of Cooper Cobra Radial G/Ts shipped over, sized to do a 245/60/15 in front with a wide 275/60/15 in rear. With tires and wheels mounted, balanced, and hung the appearance and stance was GREATLY improved! Back off the lift the went to wait in the "Back Yard" until the next time she could be played with. As luck would have it, business continues to push "Project Time" onto the back back burner so months go by of her sitting there patiently waiting. All the while plans are being formed, ideas are being kicked around, experts are consulted. What would she need under the hood? What would she need suspension wise? What color would she be? Could she, would she, might she racecar? Finally seeing a small window of opportunity and fully aware that the longer she sat the more unmotivated I would get, parts were ordered to FORCE some action! New tubular upper and lower control arms with poly bushings would replace the worn out stomped stamped steel and destroyed rubber. All new steering components from Moog would provide the turning bits and make sure she would stay true down the road. UMI would be providing the lateral suspension stiffness with a massive front anti-sway bar. For vertical suspension a set of Moog heavy duty springs were found, built to handle the additional weight of a 4 door car with A/C they would provide some extra muscle from nose squat. With the goal of racecar first and foremost in mind but occasional driver duty, Lakewood Shocks were decided upon to dampen the front end aggressive enough to allow some lift and weight transfer but not enough to make it incapable of taking corners. As the front end came together, final decisions are being made about what sort of monster will lurk under the hood. With options aplenty there could be a high compression naturally aspirated stroker motor, or a low compression boost motor built to handle turbo or procharger additions, you also have the always proven route of a stout build and a whole lot of nitrous for when it's needed. The 400 block has been checked and cleaned, sitting at the engine shop ready to begin its next phase of life. Parts suppliers and shopping lists have been checked, once twice probably 10 times. At present she sits outside awaiting more suspension work and more planning, soon... very soon... a motor will begin coming together to breath life back into this 60s monster.

Ok so, might as well start a thread so I can keep all of this info and such in the same place. Please forgive me for starting another Build thread, for some reason I can't leave well enough alone so yet another ride goes under the knife. Some back story first. Long long ago, in mystical City of Columbus lived a short bearded man with a desire for something old school and cool. The search began in the early 2000s for something that would have attitude and excitement but without the massive buy in costs of certain platforms. In a gas station print magazine titled "Auto Trader" or something like that, was found a green on green on green 1971 Pontiac LeMans Sport. After an interesting purchase situation and a little bit of planning body work and paint were completed, a new black top installed, and NOS green carpetting installed. A few years of cruising and car shows go by.. The original motor was still in the car and after 60,000 miles was a bit tired. Being a numbers matching 350 2 barrel car it wasn't OVERLY valuable but it was a power steering and A/C car so there was some interest in keeping it together. Fast Forward a bit and a TV show on Discovery Channel starts sweeping the nation featuring cars and drivers from the greater Oklahoma City area competing weekly against each other in various Street settings which made them Outlaws... from the Law. Very cool! It's not just another car building show they actually run these things! Skip ahead a bit and one of the main cast members reveals a secret project he's working on... a 1972 Pontiac LeMans! For months the show is there as a temptation. Seeing a big and bad black version of almost the identical car sitting in the garage. Occasional Googles for car parts. Often peeks into the garage at the conclusion of an episode. Speaking with engine builders about options. Battling with ones self about what should/would/could happen. In the fall of 2016 the engine having finally gotten a bit EXTRA tired needed pulled. With the idea in mind to refresh and "bag" the numbers matching 350 unit, a larger 400 block was sourced. Bare and stock bore it was perfect as a starting platform to build from. On the drive up to Cleveland to get the unit a phone call comes through informing me someone local had come over that morning and purchased it. Sorry about your luck! Angry and frustrated, I stopped for some Amish food then returned to Columbus empty handed. After another 2 weeks of searching with no luck on another early casting 400 block I give my machine shop the OK to do some head work, reconditioning, and surface conditioning to get the 350 reassembled and back in the car. As things go in this world, a day before the 350 pieces were to be picked up another 400 showed up on the rogue website Craigslist. A quick conversation to verify what was posted this one comes at a price slightly higher than the bare block 400 that had been missed, but was complete from Carb to Pan! Quick, to the Duelly Dodge! Rocketing up to Akron for this unit I'm greeted by a friendly man in the industrial areas of the city. Backing down his incredibly cramped driveway (which the truck barely fit through) he throws open the garage doors and reveals a 70s paradise! A '68 Camaro sits in one corner, a '69 Firebird leers at the open garage door fully caged and shoe'd in slicks. On an engine stand behind it sits a slightly grimey but completely intact 1972 Pontiac 400, as advertised complete from Carb to Pan. After a brief conversation, hand shake, and exchange of cash the new (old) heart goes in the back of the Dodge and strapped down, ready to make its way back to Columbus. As we say our final goodbyes and goodlucks the older gent says to me, "Hey be careful on the way back, not sure if you know this but you don't have a license plate on that truck!" In my haste to get to this motor before it was snatched up by someone else that small detail had been forgotten, it was still on a different vehicle! For the 2 and a half hour drive of excitement/worry/plotting/imagining the 400 road quietly in the back. Since all the machine work was complete on the 350 it was picked up and brought back to the shop. Everything cleaned and ready to go back together a debate raged. Do you put the car back together with the still stock bore 350 and keep it as a very original car that can be had NOW or do you build and bag the 350 while beginning the process on the 400. For days this quandary kept me up at night. Finally after a week or so of consideration the plan was made, put the 350 back in now that it was stout and healthy and continue to use it as a car show cruiser. But... what to do with the 400? So again we jump forward a few months. The 400 has been torn down and checked, parts kept orderly on a shelf and the block sitting quietly at a local machine shop waiting for plans. Casual browsing of Craigslist continues, car shows come and go, many miles of loud comfortable cruising go by. For what it is, the '71 LeMans Sport does a great job. She's not fast, but she looks good turns heads and is incredibly enjoyable to drive. But... A spring day comes where a co-worker mentions they had heard about a '68 LeMans for sale locally. It's a 400 that needs body work finished. It's a black bucket seat, low option car. It's a bit rough on the outside, but the frame is solid and a good platform to build from. The price is right, the owner just wants it gone so he can move on to something else. Could it racecar? Could it maybe WANT to racecar? Could I afford to build said racecar? With the Dodge loaded up with the car trailer a trip was made to lovely hamlet of Newark to check this beauty out. Several things were wrong with the car and its advertisement, not the least of which were mismatched wheels, a 350 instead of a 400, and a terrible transmission fluid leak that was gushing fluid down the center line of the car and out from under the front bumper. But...a deal was struck. The car was loaded and made the journey back to Plain City. For months nothing was done with it, business and customers cars taking priority over potential racecar dreams. As summer drew to a close the '68 finally had a chance to move into a bay for some inspection and shake down.

Is this an entire thread of CR folk agreeing almost across the board?

As a first timer for this I would like to think of it as the long cruise with friends, however knowing myself I'm sure there would be more than a tiny bit of temptation for burnouts and drag racing.

You have a couple different threads of investment thought really. Firstly, why be greedy? A 400% profit in a short period of time is, essentially other than crypto, completely unheard of. Take your profits, do a victory dance, and use those monies to pay of debt/bills/whatever. Secondly, yes over the last few weeks we have seen incredible explosions in value and as long as you have money in the game that won't negatively effect your life if it's gone you can let it ride. Thirdly, the idea is "Sell at peaks, buy in troughs" so if it peeked at $410, sell, ride it down to $350 or so, and buy back in. As it goes back up you've now added even more profitability to your investment.

Hell of an evening/overnight run, east coast woke up and sold enjoying their 400% profit. Bit of a dip and lul for now and we'll see what happens?

Completely agree with you Darren some of those guys build some absolutely streetable race cars and more power to them for putting them out there and running some mileage on them! Not sure how fun or comfortable that is to drive 400+ miles a day but big props for doing it. The ones I'm referring to that have VIN plates screwed on are the guys running the stick on front ends that "look like" a production car, wrapped around an aftermarket chassis. Many of those guys run no cooling system OR charging system but they have a license plate and race on the streets so consider themselves "Street Cars" To Quote the legendary Wagner having seen this unveiling myself at PRI.. http://www.dragzine.com/news/street-outlaws-star-james-goad-finishes-new-camaro-for-racing-action/

Mileage/stress wise what do you see realistically?

I actually got to meet Mr Lutz this past weekend *racer hardon* pretty cool dude but I'm certainly not shoveling my money into project cars like he can. Their new Civic looks amazing and terrifying, can't WAIT to see it out running around. The guys of the Power Tour are kind of straddling the line between street/strip while they do need to be able to get down public roads to make the journey the higher end folks are essentially tube chassis dragsters with carbon fiber panels and VIN plates. Highly intend to have this car up and running and broken in by Summer although that's a TON of work but can be done. PRI this past weekend really helped to galvanize my thinking on a lot of this stuff, in a few months we'll see how it turns out!

We have been kicking this around as a "shop event" for a while, given essentially all of us have a hotrod or two of our own. The problem is having them all running at the same time and being able to have at least Rich and myself out of the building for such an extensive period of time. Power Tour is a hell of a test for most cars and the idea of making it with a car that's in any way not perfectly prepared is NOT something I want to get involved in.

Very VERY interested in taking a shot at this this year, unfortunately I've got a ton of work to do no the '68 before she's ready. However this is on the 2018 bucket list

Eyeballing the Street Outlaw rides over the weekend...sweet jesus I can't imagine piloting something like that down a "road". Looks like we are certainly in the era where those guys are just pouring money/sponsors at bigger/badder/faster/lighter and making most of their cars as little "street" as possible. With that said, enjoyed speaking with essentially the entire cast from OKC and most of the heavy hitters from New Orleans, really interesting to see what the next phase of development for this show series is. I wonder... aside from Memphis who are in the pipeline... who else is in consideration...

And if by fun you mean slightly terrifying and you will be obsessively checking your phone every 15 minutes to see if your investment has doubled or disappeared In all seriousness, had a couple of friends get in lately on the $500-$1000 range just to be "in the market" and each of them is constantly checking values and movements. Not being tied to any REAL WORLD activity makes predicting/playing this stuff more of a spray and pray kind of investing than anything. So far though, the prayers have been answered handsomely!

I agree, save Germany for another trip. Once you've dipped a toe in with this one I can promise you you'll be planning the next one before you're even back on US soil

Well get ready to enjoy a huge change in your life, once you've been in that area of the world you'll want it more and more. To really get a taste of the life of another country you need to get out INTO that country. Look into renting a car if possible (and make sure you have insurance squared away) and get out there. Stop in little towns for tea and cake, talk to the locals, see the little off the path stuff. Getting to experience the difference between "Pub Life" in UK/Ireland and the "Going to the Bar" we do in America is ... well you'll see Some of the best fun I've ever had was navigating purely by map and compass, when you get lost you never know WHAT you'll find! Personally another part of this experience is being off your damn PHONE. No phone calls, no texting, no constantly walking around with your head down just enjoy the world outside our borders. Wifi is pretty common and I even usually a portable wifi option when over there but try to keep that to a minimum. Take pictures and videos and such during the day and when back at the house/cottage/hotel/hovel/wherever you can post and share over evening tea or a pint!

$18,200

I think a ton of us are in the same boat, cashed out made a very amazing margin now sitting and waiting. Trying not to think that IF I had held another week... $17,000...

First off, let me saw glad to hear you are interested in coming down to Cbus for Street Car Takeover in June! Should be a pretty fun and likely viciously expensive weekend. My .02 on the next phase is... What's more fun for YOU? Personally I wouldn't be building it based on the chance of winning a purse unless there's a more than decent chance at a purse that's worth more than a weekend of racing+hotels+food+beer. Winning purse of $300? Yea not worth "building" for. Add a zero to that and sure, maybe. Lastly, put some damn safety in the thing regardless! That thing is insane as it is and god for bid something happen on track in car that's not designed to take much of a crash at 60 much yes 160! P.S. If you beat my big angry Pontiac with your little pissed off Colt I'm buying your beers so that's off the "travel budget"

Absolutely valid points Clay, and I'm sure anyone who's at least done a minimum of homework on cryto-currency is aware that money from all sorts of disreputable sources have trickled in. What a fantastic way to hide your ill gotten drug money and move it around the world! Fortunately there's no semi shady establishment that you can drive up to with a van full of $20 bills and start buying coins. At least, not in the US yet

So maybe he just got the luck of the short straw at this point, while they work on handing everyone short straws. I can definitely see some big shake ups/crack downs from the banks on Bitcoin transactions as the mainstream is starting to pay attention and continue to drive the valuation higher and higher. In the meantime if you are going to play in this make sure your bank isn't going to shut you down, if you get blocked from a transaction there's potential for huge lost opportunities.