central california looking for cars

greetings all. I am searching for a fixer-upper muscle car in the 1-2k price range. I live in Central california, near the bay area. prefer a good engine and straight frame, interior and body may be damaged.

I would look for a good body and trashed engine, much cheaper and easier to fix.

acknowledged. however keep in mind I am working out of my own garage, with only hand tools. dropping in a new engine would be dificult in this environment.

also severe body damage would be unacceptable, I should be able to pop and bondo any damage myself, or its no good. I want to get the car completely sanded and smooth myself before sending it for paint. the interior I will be gutting and remaking a custom one, so some interior damage would be fine.

You can buy an engine hoist and engine stand for about $250, ( I found mine on EBay and picked it up in the Bay Area, brand new!)so swapping an engine in your garage should not be that much of a challenge. If you are expecting to build a 900 RWHP beast starting with a $2k car, you are going to have to pull the motor, no matter what it is. Cars to look for are mid 60s Skylarks, Tempests and Cutlasses. They are not in as much demand as the Chevys, but most Chevy parts will swap into them without much trouble. Plus they are something a little different. FInd one of those cars and then locate a decent big block to build and you are on your way. Good luck with your search.

Pat

hi all me again 8)

I like the suggestions you made, Pat. I really like cutlasses so that will be added to my list of possibilities.

I saw a great show on history channel last night of guys making hot rods out of old cadillac coup devilles. how are cadillacs for dragging? and how expensive would one be?

other options on my list are:
chevy malibu, chevelle, nova
corvette stingray
dodge dart
camarro

are any of these cars good or bad for muscle? keep in mind im looking for 900+ rwhp when the project is complete. also im on a $2k or less budget for the initial price of the vehicle.

any reply is a good reply!
terb

and it'll probably be around the 1970's and up range ........ unless you luck out.

price wise : you may be better off renting engine hoist and stand

AND........ you probably need to go out to your local paint and body shop and start asking questions on prices to get your mind set , correctly.

just my opinion .......
good luck

T L

ive been looking in the car trader and you're right, it looks like the cars i really want start at about 4 or 5k. im going to have to get lucky. thats ok though, i am nothing if not persistant, and I have years to search for the perfect car.

the first thing I will be doing once I own the vehicle is registering it as a non-operating vehicle with the DMV

I will then dismantle the internals and replace everything with new parts. It sounds like there is a good chance I will actually be pulling my engine. In the meantime I will sand and patch the exterior. I will also gut the stock interior and fabricate a custom one. paint will not be needed until the last stages of the project, concievably several years from now. i expect to pay several thousand for the paint, not to mention rims/tires/window tint.

I only want to start with a low cost vehicle, I will be investing plenty more over time.

Ya might consider even a 4dr, there cheaper. Maby even a 6 or 8cyl Ford Falcon, ,maby '61- '63 Falcon Sprint. Why do you need 900 RWHP?, that's not practicle because, it's not streetable, you loose true streetability at around 500 RWHP. You'd have more in the engine than you want in the entire car, and all the expensive suspension/ high hp trans/ wide slicks and a tubs to accomodate them, your probably looking at 10-20K to get the engine to 900 horse, another couple thousand for a trans that can take 900 horse, maby 5-10k for suspension/ traction control parts and, a rear end that can take 900 horse. Get a 400 horse buildup, that's adaquate.

is that dart located in california?

ok so maybe 500 rwhp is a bit more realistic. what is the maximum rwhp that is legally allowed on the street? essentially i want a car that runs in the low 12s.