Questions about Stock

[Whalen3186]

I'm a long time bracket racer and am looking at putting together a stock eliminator car, probably a 3rd or 4th gen camaro. What's a realistic $ figure for building a competitive 305, 346 or 350, I'm not talking about a 1.20 under bullet, just a decent motor. Also do you guys have any suggestions as far as putting the car together. I'm not looking for any secrets here, just tips in general as I plan to do a fair amount of the work myself.

[Jack Matyas]

First suggestion -- Don't tell your wife about it .........if she finds out the "true" amount you've spent on this baby you might as well start building an addition on the the doghouse..............

[Terry Cain]

Good answer Jack. I'll go one better. Don't tell anyone. I've made the mistake of telling my nephew about a new "fast" piece I just purchased and lo-&-beho it gets back to my wife. Then I've got to listen to all that bull forever.

[Greg Wood]

If you would like some real answers to that question you can e-mail me at gwood75@comcast.net.

[Angelo DiTocco]

Its been said many times.... I think the best way to get into class racing (especially if your goal is simply to "run decent" as you as say), is to shop around for an existing car that will meet your needs. It goes against the wanting to "do it yourself" feeling, but in the long run, it will save you a lot of time and money.
The problem with building a "decent running" class car as opposed to a killer car is that it is still "very" expensive. Building a killer car is just "crazy expensive". If you were to buy an existing turn-key car, I bet it would still be less money than just the cost of the parts to do a car from scratch.

[Angela Macy]

Originally Posted by Jack Matyas

First suggestion -- Don't tell your wife about it .........if she finds out the "true" amount you've spent on this baby you might as well start building an addition on the the doghouse..............

Tell your wife you got the motor off the clearance rack, like us girls tell our hubbys.

[Angela Macy]

OR - if your wife asks you if the motor is new, say the following "This old thing? No, I've had this in the back of the garage (instead of closet) for a while, forgot I even had it! I used it (instead of wore it) one time at that race (instead of whatever girly event) back two years ago, don't you remember?" Then acted hurt if she doesn't remember - "The car (instead of I) ran so good with (instead of in) it".

[Jack Matyas]

Angela -- Spoken like a real racer ! ! ! That being said my my wife would never believe we bought an engine "off the rack" ............

[Angela Macy]

Why not? I know one man who was told by his wife that she found this pretty red leather coat on the clearance rack and after all of her discounts she paid $6 for it!! He believed her - true story!! She really paid $60 for it.

So tell her rather than getting it off a clearance rack you got it at a salvage sale - and go with this story - "The auctioneer thought this was a 305 motor, which is highly undesirable, so no one was bidding on it - I could clearly tell that it is a 350 motor, which would originally sell for $1000, but it got down to $10 and I bid on it. I didn't even really want it, but $10 for a $1000 motor is hard to turn up. I could turn around and sell this and make $990 profit".

By the way, I have my own little profitable side business going on. Several of our high performance customers demand we never give them a receipt so their wife doesn't find out how much they spent. For a $50 fee per transaction I will offer my complete secrecy. Ha ha. Some say this is blackmail, but I disagee

[Bob Pagano]

Angelo is right, look for a complete car, hell you could buy one right here on this site. Mark Yac has a Mustang that will run 2 sec under or better for only 10 grand, you could be # 1 qualifer at every race you go to. Buy built its way cheaper.