Younger guy's and old car's

[69wannabe]

Got a call from a early 20's kid wanting me to build his 351 windsor for his 69 mustang. He or they already had it out of the car so I went to his place and tore it down. Good looking engine to build with the better C90E heads (69 casting heads) This was my advise as I told him to take it to the machine shop, do a good rebuild with some good 9.5 to 1 pistons and a good flat tappet small to medium size cam (something he could run with a stock stall since he just had the transmission rebuilt and didn't want to buy a stall converter) and a good carb and a set of hedders. The engine already had an edelbrock performer intake on it but the carb was pretty rough looking. So he drops off the engine and tells my guy he want's it to sound like a race car when he fires it up... Dude really?? Race cars go around race tracks and drag strips and are hauled to and from the track and not driven!!! I gave him a good recipe for a street engine that will run and drive and now he has 10.5 to 1 forged pistons and a roller comp cam 230 at 50 degrees duration with a 544 lift. Stock stall no work with this cam!!! It's not a huge cam I know but will still need a small stall converter. He bought a roller cam kit like the newer 351's have with the lock's and hold downs but we had to measure for pushrod length and order them and the rockers and locknuts do not match up and the locks will not work with the rocker arm's so I gave all that back to him and said try again. He is frustrated now having to wait on new parts again to get here and I told him if he would've stuck to the original build I would have already had the engine together and back to him. I got it all together except for the push rod's, rocker's, intake and valve cover's. He wanted to hear the charger run so I fired it up for him and he really didn't seem very impressed with my car. He has no idea about the power of a big block mopar!! He has no idea about nothing much actually!! I feel like I should've let this one pass at this point and I hope just because it a new engine and he has lots of new parts that the old ford engine is gonna fire up and run like is fuel injected ford ranger on cold mornings and etc... Some of the thing's we get ourselves into!!!

[rt green]

the second you found out about him not following your recipe I would've walked away.

[fy469rtse]

It's hard to educate ,
I only get involved with good friends now a days ,
Putting together a trans together for a friend , gave him reading material , informed before its put together, what's needed to make it last behind over 6 hundred HP ,
He has to be sure about what he wants before hand ,

[1974dodgecharger]

what can you do right if a person wont listen they wont listen I think it pertains to older folks too......

I know as a kid my problem was I listened to too many people.....

[myk]

I listen, I just don't understand lol...

[69wannabe]

I was just trying to keep it simple really, he has spent several hundred more dollars now that is really not necessary and he will end up with basically the same performance from the engine. I don't mind learning myself but he came to me wanting a good running and sounding engine. He is listening to every other person that thinks they know about an engine and what they would do if it were their engine and bla,bla,bla we all know how it goes from there...

[tan top]

the second you found out about him not following your recipe I would've walked away.

yeah I would too  

I've got all the time in the world to help someone if I can & they want to learn , but if they take some  of the info & then do their own thing  & it goes wrong  ... we all know what happens ...   steer well clear  

[1974dodgecharger]

I was just trying to keep it simple really, he has spent several hundred more dollars now that is really not necessary and he will end up with basically the same performance from the engine. I don't mind learning myself but he came to me wanting a good running and sounding engine. He is listening to every other person that thinks they know about an engine and what they would do if it were their engine and bla,bla,bla we all know how it goes from there...

lmao..you should, 'pretend' not to know anything....I bet then he will listen up, lmao....it works all the time.

[Drache]

As my cousin said when building my engine.

You can have a good racing car that will be shit to drive on the street.
You can have a good driving car that will be mediocre to race at the strip.
Or you can try to do both and it will not be a great driver and not a great race car.

[1974dodgecharger]

As my cousin said when building my engine.

You can have a good racing car that will be shit to drive on the street.
You can have a good driving car that will be mediocre to race at the strip.
Or you can try to do both and it will not be a great driver and not a great race car.

smart cousin....I know a guy that claims that a person who is good at building a racing car is good at building a street engine car, but a guy who builds a street engine car is not good at racing engine building.

[Baldwinvette77]

Its not just old cars, I see people slap turbos onto family cars with stock main bearings and 10:1 comp. ratios 

[green69rt]

Ya know, I was probably the same way when I was young (in fact I'm sure I was.)  The RT I bought new ran fine but I kept hearing about Chargers doing 12's at the track and I said "I want that!!"  So, instead of listening to the folks that said to take it easy and find out what you want and try a few things, I went full bore into a complete engine rebuild.  Headers, intake, carb, engine blueprint, HP oil pump, etc, etc.  Never ran really good, maybe a little more horsepower than stock.  I just didn't know how to make all the parts work together.  I just had to learn the hard way.  So I'm not that hard on the young kids now.   I just try to help them stay safe, and hope they live to develop a little patience and wisdom.

[69wannabe]

Ya know, I was probably the same way when I was young (in fact I'm sure I was.)  The RT I bought new ran fine but I kept hearing about Chargers doing 12's at the track and I said "I want that!!"  So, instead of listening to the folks that said to take it easy and find out what you want and try a few things, I went full bore into a complete engine rebuild.  Headers, intake, carb, engine blueprint, HP oil pump, etc, etc.  Never ran really good, maybe a little more horsepower than stock.  I just didn't know how to make all the parts work together.  I just had to learn the hard way.  So I'm not that hard on the young kids now.   I just try to help them stay safe, and hope they live to develop a little patience and wisdom.

I have had the same experience when I was young, alot of not matched up parts and it was a slug!!!! That's why I was trying to offer my knowledge to this guy to build him a good running street engine that would have a good sound and be a happy driving car. It hasn't really veered away from the build I recommended very much besides he is going to have to run a stall converter with it now and swap to a lower rear gear. I will be glad to get it out of my shop tho, it has dragged on because of the roller cam and lifters and different pushrods that had to be ordered and waiting on a bronze distributor gear now. I was trying to help this guy out but it will not happen again this way.

[green69rt]

Sounds like you did what you could, sometimes kids just gotta learn

[69wannabe]

Well I finally got rid of the 351W. After I got the rockers on and all the valves adjusted I primed the oiling system and was ready for the intake but he had it at his house. I txted him and told him I needed the intake manifold and he txted me back ok. The next day he txt me and asked when he could pick up the engine? He never brought the intake to me so I told him when I get the intake on and torqued down he could pick it up. He finally brought the intake late in the evening and the very next morning txt me wanting to know when he can come get the engine. I told him to begin with that I don't get in a hurry or do alot on the weekend's but I guess I wasn't understood. I got the intake on it and txt him to come get it and I never heard anything for like an hour. Txt him again and said if you want this engine today you need to get over here and get it since I got to go pick up a new stove for my mom and I have to work late tomorrow so today I wanted him to get it out of my way and in the back of his truck and gone!!! No more kid's for me to build engine's for, I will stick to people that trust my judgement for a rebuild.

[440]

I'm a firm believer that a well matched mild build will run rings around a big overdone missmatch.

A torque converter can make or break a car and goes hand in hand with a cam. You could have a big cam but the engine will be a dog without a converter.

[myk]

And the gears too...

[marshallfry01]

You can't trust these younger guys like you could years ago. A lot of them drag ass around wanting everyone else to do the work. I just turned 21 and there are guys a little older than me that are the worlds worst about making people wait on them hand over foot. It gets old. Common sense and manners are two things that aren't found much anymore.

[Baldwinvette77]

You can't trust these younger guys like you could years ago. A lot of them drag ass around wanting everyone else to do the work. I just turned 21 and there are guys a little older than me that are the worlds worst about making people wait on them hand over foot. It gets old. Common sense and manners are two things that aren't found much anymore.

same, im 21 and my friends keep insisting to "help" with my cars and in return i can build one for them, Not only is that not a fair trade off, But they hardly do shit  i've actually had more help from their sisters.... with the cars.

[TexasStroker]

Personally, I would have been concerned when I heard mustang and 351, haha 

[440]

Surprised he didn't ask for a Fast and the Furious 18 gear shift knob as well.

[charger_fan_4ever]

Got a call from a early 20's kid wanting me to build his 351 windsor for his 69 mustang. He or they already had it out of the car so I went to his place and tore it down. Good looking engine to build with the better C90E heads (69 casting heads) This was my advise as I told him to take it to the machine shop, do a good rebuild with some good 9.5 to 1 pistons and a good flat tappet small to medium size cam (something he could run with a stock stall since he just had the transmission rebuilt and didn't want to buy a stall converter) and a good carb and a set of hedders. The engine already had an edelbrock performer intake on it but the carb was pretty rough looking. So he drops off the engine and tells my guy he want's it to sound like a race car when he fires it up... Dude really?? Race cars go around race tracks and drag strips and are hauled to and from the track and not driven!!! I gave him a good recipe for a street engine that will run and drive and now he has 10.5 to 1 forged pistons and a roller comp cam 230 at 50 degrees duration with a 544 lift. Stock stall no work with this cam!!! It's not a huge cam I know but will still need a small stall converter. He bought a roller cam kit like the newer 351's have with the lock's and hold downs but we had to measure for pushrod length and order them and the rockers and locknuts do not match up and the locks will not work with the rocker arm's so I gave all that back to him and said try again. He is frustrated now having to wait on new parts again to get here and I told him if he would've stuck to the original build I would have already had the engine together and back to him. I got it all together except for the push rod's, rocker's, intake and valve cover's. He wanted to hear the charger run so I fired it up for him and he really didn't seem very impressed with my car. He has no idea about the power of a big block mopar!! He has no idea about nothing much actually!! I feel like I should've let this one pass at this point and I hope just because it a new engine and he has lots of new parts that the old ford engine is gonna fire up and run like is fuel injected ford ranger on cold mornings and etc... Some of the thing's we get ourselves into!!!

i ran that same flat tappet cam on a 10.5 compression 357W with victor jr heads/intake and a 750 proform carb and longtubes. With a tremec 5 speed,4.10's and slicks it ran deep 11's in a gt fox body mustang.

I read a comment 440 made about a milder build run circles around a radical rig. This same engine initially i put a much larger cam. 250 duration at .050 and almost 600 lift with 1.7 rockers. It pulled not bad top end and was really lumpy drag car sounding but was a different beast witht he smaller cam IE faster more acceleration you name it. I actually had enough vacuum to run power brakes again too lol.