Hot Rod TV on a Saturday Morning.

I was lucky enough to get up in time to watch a couple Hotrod shows this morning. Seeing the muscle cars from the past including the Smokey & the Bandit Trans Am and the General Lee reminds me of the enthusiasm I felt when I first watched my brother build his first Trans Am. Chris was lucky enough to buy a 71 Pontiac that had a 1970 American Big Block 400. Now,who can think of a better build up starting point? The cylinder heads had excellent flow characteristics right from the factor and with a basic rebuild and a little work done to the heads the engine had just over 400 horsepower. The first car the motor went into was a 70 T-37. When my brother got his hands on a 77 Trans Am,he was in heaven. Coupled with a 4-speed and a posi 3:40 rear end,coil over shocks all around and the huge factory anti-sway bars it made a nice combination. It accelerated hard,cornered very well and even got half decent fuel economy.

Chevrolet forged

  With having a strong influence from the time I started to get the driving bug,it was only natural that I wanted a muscle car.My favorite car is a third generation Camaro. You can do some amazing things with these cars. I find it to be the best starting point to build a car that car accelerate very well,corner like an F1 and still have a car the has a comfortable ride. I have had two of these cars but,unfortunately I never did get to build what I wanted. If I do happen to get my hands on another Third Gem Camaro this is what I will do with it.

I would start with a 305 5-speed T-top version. And of course the 305 would be replaced with a 302 Chevy built from a quality Chevrolet aftermarket block,forged pistons,2.02 aluminum angle plug heads,an Edelbrock Fuel Injection system,and a decent cam profile that produces power from around 3000 rpm right up to 7000. Balacing the engine would be a must. I might even get lucky and find an original 302 Chevy engine! The 5-speed with be replaced with a T-56 6-speed coupled with a set of 3:40 gears in the rear end. You may be wondering why I would build an engine and transmission combination like this. The 302 Chevy is a unique engine. Built for the Trans Am races that were going on in the late 60's it had to have a displacement of under 5 liters. With a 4 inch bore and a 3 inch stroke it did not have all the torque in the world and it does not feature the ideal rod/stroke ratio for acceleration. However the shirt stroke coupled with balancing allows it to rev like no tomorrow and produce decent power right up to around 7000 rpm. This fact along with a 6-speed transmission helps to compensate for the lack of low end torque. The 3:40 gears in the rear end will insure a nice top end when it comes time to hit the hi way and it would keep the engine in a nice fuel economy range cruising at hi way speeds.

  To help plant that power to the ground would be a set of 18 inch low profile tires and a suspension package featuring a high quality suspension kit from Edelbrock including Eiback springs. The finishing touch on the frame would be frame connectors. Baking would come from a set of rotors from Baer with their 4 piston calipers. Now,the car will ride about an inch lower which is not a bad thing because I would want a better co-efficient drag. The less air that travels under the car the better for both fuel economy and road handling.

  I haven't decided on what the interior will look like and what I will do for a paint job but,when all is said and done this car should be able to hunt most Porsches I might encounter on the road.

Hopefully soon I will be able to start building this car,it's been too long since I have had the chance to do something like this.