New Guy-needing guidance

[Crissys55]

Racing for the cure. Building a nostalgia car in memory of my daughter. I own a 62 Impala. No engine or transmission. What engine and transmission is recommended? My goal is to run low 12-high 11's. Which class should I run? What mods are suggested? Any build sites on the net to look at? Sorry for the questions, we just are on a very limited budget and need to build the car properly. We were all new at this at one time right?

God bless and thank you.

[Crissys55]

Thanks for the responses, LOL. Anyways, if there are any business owners out there that can stand to make some money for service repairs, upgrades etc...to help us with our build, please PM me or respond here. We are looking to build a car for fun and to help raise much need funds for our non profit. Or, if anyone can provide me an email address or site that I can reach out to, it is appreciated.

[Geerhead55]

Are you looking to build a nostalgia type car or a current era stocker or superstocker?
Of course, if its the nostalgia route you're thinking, then a 409 combo would fit the bill.
If you're wanting to jump in on the more modern styles then you need to check out the NHRA classification guide for your year of car and accepted combinations. Theres a lot of good help here from other posters once you figure which way you prefer. My 2 cents. Good luck with your project,,, '62 Impalas are pretty cool in my book.
Danny Durham

[Crissys55]

Thank you Danny. That makes sense to me now. Meaning, Nostalgia vs Current. Okay, so, that said, it is the nostalgia build that we seek. So, 409? I am sure they are hard to come by and/or very high cost. If one were to take the car, drop in a 396 or 427, and want to go racing, which class would that fall in? Of course, there are a plethora of other guidelines, but, if it is not an engine of the car vintage, is there an "open" class? Sorry for sounding like an idiot.

[Geerhead55]

Actually,, the aftermarket has stepped up in recent years regarding 409 parts,, Edelbrock heads and intakes, among other suppliers. Once you can get a block, parts are parts, theres lots of stuff out there. As far as 396-454 items those are still plentiful at swap meets, and once again, there are builders and suppliers that offer larger engines also, 496s, 502s, 540s, 565s, 632s,, how big do you want to go? You can also build or buy a great running small block too,, I'm running a Dart 406 in my Chevy II.
As far as racing in an "open" class, theres this thing called, (I'll just whisper it, bracket racing) that you can get involved in, that has few rules, mostly safety, and is as affordable as you want to make it, depending on how much you want to spend. Of course like anything else, the more you can do yourselves, the more you can save.
The bracket racers( like myself), are sometimes looked down upon, by some of the classracers, but I'm betting most of them do it or have done it in the past.
The main thing is to get out there and have some fun. Do as much as you're comfortable with until your learning curve starts to flatten out, then take on some more.
You may eventually want to have a class legal car, and then you can tackle that adventure. What ever you decide to do, you can post pictures and take us along on your build in the classracer builds section. Take care.
Danny Durham

[HandOverFist]

Crissy - A 327 version with a 3-speed automatic would make a nice affordable combination. If built close to Stock Eliminator spec's you could run the car in NHRA Stock, IHRA Pure and NMCA Nostalgic Muscle Car classes easily. It would retain that "stock" appearance and be a reasonable screamer. You could of course run any bracket races you desired as well.

[Dwight Southerland]

World Products has a new 409 block available:
http://www.worldcastings.com/news/49..._arrived!.html