Just joined the forum.. I've had my 68 convertible since I was 19 and I am going to be starting a frame off next month and this will be my first one. I was hoping to get a little input and knowledge from the group. The car at this point is stock but I am going for a low-rod look on the build. I'm looking to have the motor totally rebuilt and it should be putting out 500 HP when its done. That said, I was hoping some of you could recommend some upgrades to the suspension, brakes, etc that I could/should do to handle that kind of power. Installing an air-bag system is also on the list.
I'm not gonna race the car but I don't want to overwhelm the car with the additional power. Any thoughts and or help would be greatly appreciated!!
Want some honest, real world advice from someone that had (and still has) an old car at the age of 19? Don't do a frame off. Don't do any big projects that will take the car off the road for an extended period of time. Get the car running well, take care of maintenance items, and enjoy driving it. Pick little projects as time and money allow. This will keep your interest in the car, and not break the bank.
Your plans are expensive to tackle all at once:
- body off (body/paint) 3-10k
- air suspension 1-3k
- 500hp built motor 4-8k
- 4 wheel disc brakes 1k
- suspension rebuild 1k
- wheels/tires 2k
All these prices are with you doing most of the work. Double it if you need to pay someone.
Not trying to discourage you, far from it. Just trying to be realistic, and speak from experience.
Here's my car that I got when I was 16, and worked on slowly over the years. It has never been off the road, and still drives nice today. Can't believe that I have had it for 22 years!
And, here's the way it looked like in high school:
This will give you an idea of the work that goes into custom paint and body. Two guys worked six weeks straight on it. Figure that out on an hourly body shop charge...
Want some honest, real world advice from someone that had (and still has) an old car at the age of 19? Don't do a frame off. Don't do any big projects that will take the car off the road for an extended period of time. Get the car running well, take care of maintenance items, and enjoy driving it. Pick little projects as time and money allow. This will keep your interest in the car, and not break the bank.
Your plans are expensive to tackle all at once:
- body off (body/paint) 3-10k
- air suspension 1-3k
- 500hp built motor 4-8k
- 4 wheel disc brakes 1k
- suspension rebuild 1k
- wheels/tires 2k
All these prices are with you doing most of the work. Double it if you need to pay someone.
Not trying to discourage you, far from it. Just trying to be realistic, and speak from experience.
Here's my car that I got when I was 16, and worked on slowly over the years. It has never been off the road, and still drives nice today. Can't believe that I have had it for 22 years!
Thank you for the honest feedback. I will admit that I am torn between tearing her apart or doing what you mentioned. The problem is she has not been started for 18 years and will need a decent amount of work to just get going. There is some stuff that I am planning on doing but other things will be done by different shops.
I know this will cost a tremendous amount of money either way but I'm never selling the car so I may as well build like I want it. I may do a version of what your taking about and just tackle things in phases but eventually the frame is going to need to be pulled. As a side note, I am glad to see I'm not the only crazy car nut who's kept a car since high school!
My girlfriend's father and I have painted around 5 cars in our spare time, most just simple sand and spray jobs with minimal body work but even then you're looking at atleast 20 hours per person...more if you want it to look really good.
My 1969 Cadillac Calais we didn't do it frame off, but we had to do lots of body work. Took us 2 summers and it came out decent but not show quality by any means.
It's a lot of hard work and it does cost a lot for materials, and you need lots of equipment...but in the end if you're happy with your work then that's really all that matters
Definitely going with a 500 block for the better oiling passages like you mentioned. With all the added HP I'm gonna go with 4 wheel disc to help slow her down better.
I am too damn impatient to do a little at a time, I think I'd rather just tear her apart. I've got a 63 impala as well that I can drive if I'm feeling the urge to roll in a classic on those nice days.
That looks like an easy restoration since it's so solid and rust free. Jay offered good advice but that was before we knew your age and how long the car has been sitting already. If there is no rust under it I don't see the need for a complete frame off resto; maybe just new bushings and suspension parts. Keep us posted on the progress.
We'll do.. I started a build thread called 68 DeVille rag resurrection. I will be posting all my progress and pics there.. Gonna try to work on some of the surface rust this weekend.. (I hope it's surface rust!)
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