h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

My assets:
'81 Chevy Camaro
'83 Mazda RX-7
'51 Chevy Deluxe Sedan
500cid (8.8L) Cadillac motor freshly built ($3000), over 500HP.
Cad TH400 transmission

My liabilities:
The motor in the RX-7 is blown, replacement - $1500+
The '51 Chevy is sitting in a friend's backyard, too rusted for me to rebuild and doesn't run.
The Camaro runs but I want to put the 500 in it.
The Camaro is my only running vehicle.
Even if I had the money to fix the RX-7, I live in an apartment and don't have any place to perform the work.

This is how we tinkerers get ourselves in trouble.

u85702 for more auto-related articles and other stuff that floats through my head.

I am currently building a Locost in a converted barn (search for my submitted article on the Locost), but I am as unlike your picture as it is possible to be. Probably the exception that proves the rule.

I had no interest in driving or cars until I was 23, when I had to learn to drive for work. I was dragged into watching motor racing by my wife who is a big fan. I wasn't really too bothered after that until I went to the Nigel Mansell racing school at Brands Hatch (as a present, from said wife), where the bug well and truly bit me.

I have no mechanical skills whatsoever (i am hoping to learn as much as possible during the building process), but in the last couple of years I have passed my racing drivers licence test, and been on more schools (race and rally), and been karting a lot to help me drive better.

Consider me a late "convert" to the cause...

Flyboy.....my current "commitments" are '63 Plymoth Valiant convertable(needs major body work), '71 Dodge Sweptline pickup(also needs bodywork...but is drivable), '84 Pontiac Firebird(needs fuelpump.....trying to get my courage up for that one!) and Monsys' '68 Dodge Dart 2 Door Post(almost finished...converted from /6 column automatic to a 360cid Police Interceptor with console automatic).

Went over to your page....definitely auto oriented!

Oh...and that Caddy 500....Hot Rod magazine just shoved one in a Chevette. Stock "boneyard" engine and tranny...ran the 1/4 in the 11's at 108mph!...'81 Camaro would be a fun ride with that combo!

Shade....Read your Article on the Locost. Interesting concept! Sounds as if it would be a fun little ride! Do you fabricate the body and framework, or can parts be scavenged from other makes and models to do the trick?

Racing license!?....I love to build 'em, but I just don't think I'd care to race them!

As far as learning the mechanical end...you've got the right idea. The best way is "hands-on". Sure, you'll make mistakes....but you'll learn more from your mistakes than from your successes!

NM

Here's some "must read" for all backyard mechanics....it's by Researcher Haze, just Haze. I think you'll enjoy it, I know I did!

NM

Hi Strange.

With the Locost, you can do as much or as little as you please, to suit your budget/skill etc.

The guidelines in The Book take you through cutting and welding the tubular steel to make the spaceframe chassis, all the way through to making your own windscreen surrounds and dashboards etc. The beauty of it being that if you cannot weld, or mould fibreglass, suppliers are springing up who can manufacture this stuff for you.

My advice would be to buy the book (only about £15 or so) or if possible borrow or scan through a copy. Or just check it out at Amazon.com, do a search for Ron Champion.

If you wanna talk more about locosts, please pop a message on the Locost article, it could do with the traffic

I got my copy of Hot Rod yesterday. Yeah, I drooled on the cover before I could manage to get it open. BTW, Maximum Torque Specialties is the company I bought my parts from to rebuild the motor. I'm using the stock bottom end, it's plenty strong, an Edelbrock Performer manifold, the stock Q-Jet, a .522" lift Comp Cam, rebuilt heads (I used the later heads, 8.5:1 compression ), a new rocker arm assembly, and modified big block Chevy headers (not acquired as of yet, but I have the flanges).

Shade....I'll see what I can do to get some interest over there! It's an interesting subject, and I have just recently discovered I'm not the only auto buff here!

Flyboy...sounds like a good build! With your recent aquisition of Hot Rod, I think you see where this combo can go! I doubt it will be a "bolt-in" project, but I get the feeling you won't regret the effort!

NM

It'll be damn near a bolt in! I'm going to have to buy a TH400 out of a Firebird and a good, sturdy rear-end, but I already have the special motor mounts and rear-sump pickup tube and pan.

You mean it fits without a sawzall and a welder!!!! I've got an '84 Firebird...I know they put 455's in 'em from the factory.....but a 500 fits!?....I'll have to remember that when I get around to upgrading it!

'Course, there may be some difference in the engine bay from '81 to '84....but that is still wild!

NM

One of the guys I used to work with had a 3rd gen Camaro with a 305. He raced a guy with a 3rd gen powered by a 500. That motor was stock though, and the guy I knew had a lot of work in his 305. The 305 won.

With an aluminum intake a 500 Caddy weighs only 50 pounds more than a small block Chevy. That's about 60lbs less than a big block Chevy, and it's actully smaller than a big block, although the size of the intake and oil pan make it look huge. I figure when I get it done I'll tell everybody it's a rare 307 Pontiac. The weird part is the HEI's in the front of the motor. That'll really throw everybody for a loop. If you decide to look for a 500, try to get an early '70s Eldorado motor. The heads are easier to port, they have higher compression, and they have the rear-sump pan.

The expensive part is having a machine shop fit the new rocker-shaft assembly (machine to fit, necessary for peace of mind). I had them magnaflux and recon the bottom end, then I also had them assemble the bottom end since I needed them to set up the rocker arm shaft and recon the heads. They ended up putting the long block together, which ran about $1300, but considering the amount of work they did, I got a pretty good deal. The guy who did the assembly has built a handful of these motors before for racing, and he checked all the measurements on the bottom end three times, degreed the cam, drilled an oil drain-back hole in the lifter valley, three-angled the valves, etc. I wish I could have done more of the work myself, but I didn't want to keep running the engine back and forth to the machine shop.

I didn't know they put 455's in the 3rd gen Firebirds. I thought they only put them in the 2nd gens.

Yeah, they put a handfull of 455's in 3rd Gens.....I don't think I'd want to attempt it!

Got a racing knowledged mechanic to build the long block!? That's too good! You definitely got your moneys' worth! I don't mind doing "straight up" aftermarket improvements, but some things are best left to the pros!(3 angle valve jobs, etc.!)

I can't imagine a 305 beating a 500......must be built to h**l and back! My son regularly beats 350's with his 318 Duster....but it ain't stock and the car weighs in at a whopping 2000lbs..(power to weight ratio)

While you may not launch as well as a 305, your combo should more than make up for that difference in shear horsies and torque! You may see your opponents tailights for the first 60 feet, but he'll be watching yours the rest of the way!

NM

"I can't imagine a 305 beating a 500......must be built to h**l and back!"

That's the funny thing about rural hotrods. Both the guys lived out in Seminole, OK. The guy with the 305 has been hotrodding all his life and makes a fair amount of money building motors and doing engine swaps. The other guy apparently knew just enough to shoehorn a 500 Cad into his car.
In stock trim the engine's no slouch, but it doesn't breathe too well and redlines at 4500 rpm (hence the aluminum intake and trick rocker shaft I bought for mine). It does have tons of torque, so it should have the upper hand off the line. The engine also has a heavy rotating assembly so it won't accelerate quickly, you have to depend on tons of torque and highway gears for acceleration (kinda bass-ackwards from conventional hotrods).

True....most "rodders" build small blocks due to the quick "wind time". They don't have a clue how to get a big block to do the same thing. A 305 can be sitting at six grand before a big block can get the fuel through the valves!

I think you have the best approach to the problem.....but those who normally build small blocks can't see it that way. As you say....it goes right backwards to everything they know!

You have more torque, but a slower "wind", so you have to make up for it somewhere.....that's what gears are for!

NM