TOTAL LOW BUDGET BUILD

[SPEC]

I've been dinking around for the last year trying to gey my gimp ass back into something I can drive...
Gotta have power steering/powerbrakes/reverse/long travel/and prolly a heater too....Meds make me get sick easy...
Here's the dilemma so many of us have....NO MONEY
BUT I GOT STUFF TO PIRATE OFF OF
Lockedup got me started a year ago...DS race refired me up...not too long ago....and Fabr well Fabr's been bugging me to get this done before the picnic table


So here's the deal


The no money build will be powered by a small block chevy, trans will prolly be turbo 350, it will be 2 wheel drive...Hopefully paddles for LS...depending if I can trade for them or not
Jeep rear end...air bagged with an adaption of atv shocks (I got tons of em') The seats I already got
I don't/won't have any cash to put into this rig so ABSOLUTELY NO BLING RIG
Hell be lucky if it even gets painted

So here's the stating point...
Motor choices...
63 Vette 327...High winding fair torque motor...Rated at 325 HP...(getting rare..worth $$$$)
305 smogger rated at 225 hp out of a truck...Dime a dozen
350 out of a truck 4 bolt main rated around 275 horse...Good torque for the hauler
These are the motor choices
Tranny
I got
Th 350
th 400
Fooken hunk O' shit 700r4
Rear ends
S-10 unknown gears...
Jeep cherokee Dana 30 unknown gears.....
old 3/4 ton chev...to lazy to crawl under the truck and check

I have a few rads to choose from...
CUZ DON'T FORGET...I HAVE THE SKIDDER FOR A PARTS DONOR

[thedoctor]

Spec, if I were you, I would sell the 327 for working capital. Talk to circle track guys for used cams and carbs for the 350. If you use the Jeep rearend, don't use paddles that will hook up to good. You will have a truggy that won't break you. Tim

[lockedup]

I would also say sell the vette motor. That would give you some money for the project. For the motor i would say go with the 350, Its the same weight as the 305 and more power and you can find all the parts you want for it almost anywhere, and they cheap to work on. For the tranny eithier the TH350 or the 400 would be great options, the TH350 would probably be easier because its most likely cable down rather than vaccum, and the jeep rear end is most likely a dana 35 and i wouldnt put paddles on that because they have a hard time holding up to 35's with the factory inline 6. So i would go with S-10 rear end. I also might have some extras i could through your way to 

[SPEC]

 
Kinda what I was thinking...
But nothing like puttin your foot in an LS-7 or that old 327...just a different power delivery
Both make your eyeballs kinda flat just at different wavelengths

[fabr]

Both make your eyeballs kinda flat just at different wavelengths






I LOVE that ! TOOOO funny!

[Whiplash]

Spec, if you can sell the 327, I am sure you could find an LS1 engine to use, WAAY lighter, and WAYY more power, I have seen them with a few miles on them for under $1000 and you just swap on a carb intake and use the MSD Ignition box and you have over 400HP!! This is the ONLY engine in my opinion to use if you are going V8 dollar per HP its by far the cheapest! You can even find a decent used cam for it and with NO other mods it will do over 500HP!!! Trust me I have done it and dyno'd it!

[Whiplash]

Also, if you don't mind the extra weight, the truck 6.0 engine is exactly the same, only diffrence is the intake mani.....

[SPEC]

Money got alot tighter over the last week with the minni taking the big shit and having to buy a new tractor...
I was considering your input Whip...But with The Boss signing the papers on the new Kubota... I'm stuck with what I got
I was out in the shop this morning Kicking around some idea's about the suspension...Any body got some good pix of an unlimited 2 wheel drive trophy trucks?

[Whiplash]

Too Bad, you can always do it later, they bolt right up to the older tranny's...The Trophy truck Idea is cool, just keep the chassis as light as possible and use the 327, scounge around for some parts and you can get that baby up to 450+ easy! When you are ready to get a cam for it, let me know and I will find a good one for you, cams and heads were my specialty when I was doing engines, you wouldn't believe the stuff they put in the world of outlaws and NASCAR stuff, even a flat tappet cam can make power, you just gotta spin em up a bit..

[Whiplash]

Also see if you can scrounge up a victor Jr manifold or maybe even an older tunnel ram, (longer runners is better for low end) but make sure you don't get one of those big runner style and you just need some 400's or 600's carbs, no bigger than that... If you have the ability, get a set of the fel pro gaskets that fit the heads well (they can be a bit bigger than the heads but not smaller) and set the gasket on the head and scribe the port opening onto the head then port it to match and blend it nice and smooth, then do the same thing on the mani. If you want to try to port the heads, use a ball or oval shaped carbide cutter for your die grinder and pull the heads down and open up the bowl area just under the valve, just do your best to smooth everything out and if you put your finger in the port, with the head sitting like it does on the engine, feel the bottom of the floor of the runner, that "hump" is really where the power is, just lay it back into a more gradual curve, but be careful the castings are not that thick there, no more than 30-40 thousandths removed ok? If you do these things nicely and smoothly transitioning, I can guarantee you will FEEL the difference, and likely have to re jet the carbs! When done right a good bowl blend on the old heads can yield an EASY 50 HP! So give it a go, then clean em up REAL good, cuz there will be filings all over the place! Another trick you can do to the oldies, is run the piston to TDC then measure the deck height of the piston, if its in the hole more than .060" then you can run the thinnest gasket for that engine, the steel shim type, they are about .018" thick and this will tighten up the quench height or piston to head distance, this increases the burn rate and compression giving a good bit more power, just make sure you measure the piston in the hole correctly, if you decide to do this, let me know and I will go into it in detail, its VERY worth while! These things plus a decent cam could get you over 450 and possibly 500 depending on what exact 327 it is, and what heads it has...

[SPEC]

  Whip,
I know what your saying...Roundy roundin for almost 30 years...Hanging out in Dick Trickles pit as a 6 year old...
My 327 will be running A 2 barrel, It's already got a race prepped cast iron intake on it...1997 second in season overall points.. set up...On a 305 cranked 350
I have access to a flow bench At Superior head service  :P
I know there is alot of power to be had...And it's cheap for me to do the machine work...Since I have to drive to visit Fabr anyway...Juice delivery
I'm not too worried about more power
You forget I'm a gimp I don't need to get my eyeballs flattened, or the g-force on my body,
This is more of a no dollar build...
But really I'm just looking to building a totally NO BUDGET Buggy...Because so many people have no money but want to play...
You are really putting out good feedback,
I'll worry about swiping Fabr's drag motor after I get the travel numbers and get enough seat time in it to see If it's even feasible to have the damn thing

[Engineer]

Those Skidder donnor parts are gonna be be HEAVY. 


Those Trophy trucks are good inspiration for ideas.  I don't have any links but google will find em!  How about that V-8 monster from the Sand Sports Super Show that we were kicking ideas around about.  We had a thread where we discussed that and the SandRocket V-8 buggies.  SandRocket page has lots for inspiration!


http://www.sandrocket.com/




Kinda like this only in Flat Black......

[SPEC]

I couldn't remember sand rocket :-[

[fabr]

EVERYONE seems to think that rear or mid engine is the only way to go on a car and I see the advantages and disadvantages of both. At least with front engine you can have  a killer duty trans and rear diff/spool/whatever in the rear for a small fraction of the cost of a mendi or fortin or albins. Keeps cost WAYYYY down. 

[SPEC]

That's my point