Budget Front End Mods

Welcome to Muscle car. The Camaro is done.

Oh, Blue Hair. It's out of here.

You're gonna see the Challenger in a couple of weeks. You know, project overkill, getting some body work done on it. So the shop is pretty much empty. Well,

kinda,

I've got a piece of a project here and I'm gonna show you how to take any standard Chevy front end

and convert it to hold any big block, small block or Ls motor for under $500. This is a really popular front end. You can find it in first generation Camaros or second generation Novas

just like the one in old blue Ham.

We wanted the option to put the Nova back to stock someday.

So we saved all the original parts

and I didn't wanna cut up the cross member, but the design of the LS engines, oil pan needed more room. So I raised up the engine to its limit with taller engine mount,

but we still had to challenge with the headers since the steering box was in the way. However, it was the right choice for that project.

Now, there's some custom oil pans that'll solve this cross member issue, but they can cost you up to $500 still leaving you with your steering box, forcing you to spend even more money on a custom made set of headers.

So for the same price as a new oil pan, I'm gonna show you how to

solve both of these problems. I'm gonna cut a big chunk of the cross member out and reinforce it with tubing. Then you can shove any engine combination you want in here. We're gonna move the steering from over here to up front with a rack and pinion, solving your header problem

and all that for $500.

Oh, some things I'm not going to reuse to white wrestle with.

Yeah.

Before I started, I measured every angle of his frame side to side and opposite corner

just to make sure it was worth modifying. Then I welded it level to the table. Now, before we go any further, this temporary cross member will keep things square

a 14 inch span will give me more than enough room for the LS two all the way to a

hemi.

These are the original engine mount holes for a Chevy being that I don't know what I'm gonna put in here. I'm gonna leave them just in case

after it's boxed in, I'll tie both sides together with some one by one tubing

and a little more for strength.

So far, I only spent $35 in steel to make room for some big power. Later on, we're gonna make room for some big headers. But after the break, I'm gonna take you guys to an auction where history was for sale and sometimes history is just really hard to let go of you Pontiac guys are gonna like this,

glad you're back because we're going to an auction. Some of you people have never heard of the Randy Williams collection, but you Pontiac fans, you know who it is? Five classic super duties and they're all perfect.

This sale is yet another chapter in their rich history. I have 100,000. You better get on to Kodak. You better give 1 25 100 and 2575 and 8700 and 70,000. You gotta go

51 51 6700 and $10,000.

They'll move about 35 million in muscle this weekend at the meum

high performance auction outside of Chicago.

This one's got every kind of muscle you can think of and the prices you wouldn't believe

give $1 million

get $900,000.

270,000, 200

280,000.

2,

10,

210,

210,000. Give

guys a lot of stuff here. Guys like us can only look at and wish. How about the very last hemi

Ka

ever made in

an early funny car? Totally restored.

A 7442 W 30 convertible and original 427 Cobra and LS six J

which is 28 miles on it.

Cars like that are what this auction is all about.

But the real stars of this show

are extremely rare and they came in together five factory Hot Rods that gave Pontiac a whole new reputation in the early sixties

restored better than new back then. Pontiacs were the kind of car your grandma would drive.

No street rep at all. So GM stuck some big engines and some lightweight bodies and called them super duties

and started tearing up the track. Pontiac collector, Randy Williams found five of the most important super duties and got Scott Thieman to restore them.

Randy died of a brain tumor before they were finished. Our particular shop, we started on these cars in the spring of 1998 for Randy and Gene and I believe we finished

the last car in

2003.

This one came first, a 63 Catalina

known as the Swiss Cheese car,

one of just 14 special lightweights with plastic windows, aluminum body panels and over 100 and 20 holes drilled in the frame weight, 3350 horsepower. They said 4, 10, but it was really more like 500.

This particular car, they, they campaigned it only that first year, 1963

where it was at the US Nationals with the car. Um

ran a bus to 1232 at 100 and 16 or 100 and 17.

And at the end of the year, they painted the tire blue and sold it off the dealership block.

There's nothing like them anywhere in the world. Perfectly restored factory drag races from the peak of the super duty years. 61 to 63 a 61 Ventura with a 389 a

lightweight 62 Catalina with a 421

and the last Super Duty built before GM quit racing in 63

the guy who restored all of these calls, this one, the pinnacle of the Super duty program.

A 63 Tempest wagon with a 421 up front and a few little extras in the back.

They cast up another gear case behind the differential,

added a dry clutch.

So what we have is Planeta

ahead of the differential, Planeta

behind the differential

and you're able to create four forward speeds. Of course, we've got a dry clutch so we rev this thing up. We let out the clutch.

After that, you just move the shifter, you've got four forward speeds without touching the clutch.

And after so many years of building his collection,

you know, selling them just got to be hard. My husband put his heart and soul into these cars

and sometimes I feel like

I'm selling his heart and soul.

They rolled them all in at once

with the pipes opened up for that sound of real sixties muscle.

These cars are priceless. Ladies and gentlemen, these cars are absolutely priceless automobiles with the world's best restorations.

And you didn't have to be a Pontiac guy to know that this was something special

in 20 years. We've sold 50,000 cars and these are the five finest cars we've ever offered.

The plan was to sell them all together. All 51 price start at 5 million. How you like that?

Four

but 5 million or even four

was looking too hot.

5151 million for all five, then a million two. Then they were stuck around a million and a half.

Another tough call. Split up the collection and sell them one by one.

The Swiss Cheese went first bringing in 462 grand.

The Tempest wagon brought in 656 grand. The most of the five legendary Pontiac racer, Arnie, the farmer Beswick watched the collection cross the auction block

and remember driving these cars when they wouldn't do it,

these cars were far superior to any competition out there.

1 million, 806,000 was the total for all 51. An important part of Pontiac history and drag racing legend.

And while the collection's broken up now, Randy williams' legacy lives on in these five old cars throwbacks to the days when nothing can run with a super duty

after the break, we'll give you some auction tips on a real world budget

in case you just joined us today's show is all about value from budget frame modifications to sky high bids at a classic muscle car auction. But an auction is still a good place to find your next project car. Here's some tips from a friend of ours.

We

ladies and gentlemen, 1 million know these prices are getting out of hand.

Oh, come

on.

1007 100,000.

Do you want a bid number? 7 35

50. Now 7 35 7

57 57 6700 and 60 reserve sold $750,000 sold the car 750,000.

A

some of these TV auction cars are bringing insane money way more than the regular guy can afford. The last of the hemi

Kuta got bids close to three quarters of a million and that's still too low. You gotta close the bid of 700,000, but the bid goes on. It's gonna take closer to $900,000 to buy it.

The first impression is important to me.

Colin Coma sells about 200 classic muscle cars a year

out of his shop in Milwaukee.

Guys approach him all the time trying to get big money for cars they found in a barn or in a backyard somewhere. Most of the time, they're disappointed

because they don't know what they really have or what it's really worth. Collins says, if you wanna sell a muscle car, the internet is a great place to start. Because you can find out what cars like yours are actually selling for

the vent cabs, come with the car

and you can go and

Google just about anything and find out who's selling a car like yours. Find out where to find the numbers on the car, document it,

uh,

you know, really establish what you own

and what other people seem to think they're worth.

How about a 73 Z 28 with 4100 miles on it? Original tires, window sticker and a full set of papers

went for 51,000 without all of that is just another Camaro. So what's the chance you might find some big money muscle hanging out behind a shed somewhere?

Collins says pretty small,

but it could happen.

Absolutely not as many as there used to be, but there's a lot of cars still hiding out there

and if you just want some muscle to drive,

there's a way around these crazy prices. That's a 68 Plymouth Satellite convertible.

Uh, 318 V8 automatic.

A nice weekend driver.

Look for something that's almost classic muscle but not quite a satellite is not a road runner.

It's the same body but with a 318 in there, this would need some help.

A new engine, fix it up. You got yourself a street fight. Good starting frame for a project. It's a, it's a cheap way to get in. If you're willing to do some, some work yourself

do a little welding, a little fabricating, buy some restoration parts from

somebody and make yourself a car.

Final bid on the satellite was 18, 5, less than half of what a road runner in the same shape would cost, do some work on it. Drop a big block in it.

You come out ahead.

It's a clone. It's a tribute car.

Frank Boucher

figures, his challenger. T A clone cost him a lot less than the real thing,

but it's still muscle.

Every car today looks the same. And for with this car, hopefully it'll sell somewhere in the mid twenties.

That's what a Toyota Camry is. And this has got a lot more eyeball than a Toyota Camry. We're always gonna have the chance to spend big money on muscle cars. Anything totally original with all the paperwork is gonna cost you 1 60

100 and

100 and

25. Drop

it down.

Throw

away

293 100,000.

Get their hands on here 34

times

a day.

100 and 70

37,000

sold at 530,000.

But for those of us who don't need a high dollar museum piece, you can still find something to drive.

It'll need some work. But hey,

that's what it's all about.

Stay with us because we're going back to the shop to finish that budget front end.

What do you say? We get back on our budget front end modification for under $500. We're gonna make this standard Chevy piece acceptable for any small block, big block LS motor or even a

hemi.

So far we spent $35 on steel to make room for all those oversized oil pans.

Now we'll relocate the steering to the front to avoid the guaranteed header clearance nightmare.

I'm gonna add another 180 bucks to our tally with this rack and pinion from competition engineering. It's an efficient space saver. And when it mounted up front, we'll have plenty of room for some massive headers.

I'll need a little clearance here

and make a channel for the chef right here.

I'm giving us lots of leeway here because the project for this front end hasn't been determined yet.

This gaping hole won't weaken anything because I'm going to box it in with some two by 3083 wall mile steel.

In keeping with our budget. I reinstalled our factory up in lower control arms for another 90 bucks. I got these s 10 drop spindles from Bel Tech because they're a front steer design. $25 more out of ty rod ends from a T bird. It's really important to have all that stuff in place so I can mount my rack for one simple reason. Bump steer

when working with suspensions, visualize each part as if it was moving in its own independent circle, the upper ball joints, the lower ball joints and the outer tie rod ends, even though these circles are different in size, they almost intersected the spindle at ride height. If the tie rod end from the rack and pinion is too high or too low, its circle won't intersect with the rest causing stress and tension throughout the suspension.

Attention and chaos needs to be released somewhere. And it's usually with the wheel being jerked towards the weakest point during suspension travel,

it's called bump steer. It's not good because you're out of control. I'm gonna show you how to set up your rack the right way

with the arm set at ride height position, the tie rod end. So they're level now, move the rack and pinion, so it's level as well,

then simply weld some nuts to the cross member

and mount it up.

Well, there you have it.

We're in a hole for $335. New control on bushings stock. This brakes 550 I know I'm $50 over, but it's still worth it because now this front end will nest everything from the LS motor to the mighty

Duramax diesel. At this point, I'm gonna blow the whole front end

part. I'm gonna send it out and have it sandblasted and primed. I'm not gonna have a powder coated or painted because I don't know what project I'm gonna use it on. But if you want to throw your budget out the window for another $900 you could upgrade these control arms to these fat man fabrication ones. They come in one inch narrowed or stock like these.

They're made of one inch 188 wall dom tubing with machine cross shafts, stock ball joints installed direct fit for our front end.

The bottom line,

they're stronger and they're not 30 years old. Now, why go through all the trouble with this old

Subra,

a

new aftermarket one could cost you up to six grand. This 1 $1400 in it.

Now they're becoming an endangered species. So next time you find one, you might wanna nab it because now you know how to update it later.