RustyRatRod's Guide To Hot Rod Bliss

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that is a ton of non-excess verbage there rusty...trying to make up for time lost over your break? ;)



thanks for that, it was a very interesting read
 
rumblefish360 said:
Well, I'm not to amused with my '71/400/727 Duster with the OE 9 inch drums on all 4 corners! LMAO! Of course, all things relative!

Oh! I did forget to mention IQ52's low comp dyno blasts are (IIRC) low octane friendly?
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True...,I meant the factory discs, LOL. Specifically 73 and up.
 
Great post, RRR! I've always known you were a true gear head! Not only does all of this make sense, you no doubt saved a few people a lot of coin! Good job Rob! Same goes to the other posters in this thread. There's a lot of knowledge to be found here, due to the kindness of those willing to share. Two thumbs up from this guy!
 
Thanks guys. More sense out of this thread than most in a while.
 
You know what? When Rusty speaks...people listen! Or should, GREAT Thread Rob!
 
rumblefish360 said:
And another thing, many short sell factory parts as sub standard.
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OEM service parts are usually better quality than you get from the parts store...

If the supplier gets the contract for production parts, and sends more than 2 or 3 bad parts to the car factory, then they have to go through a HUGE HASSLE...

Starting with sending a rep into the plant to sort all of their stock in there. Then get their factory to certify all of the shipments for the next 3 months must be marked that they were sorted and certified to be free of the defect.

Then fill out all kinds of paperwork to root cause how the defect was allowed to be made, and then how it wasn't caught by the check fixtures on the supplier's assembly line inspections. then they have to come up with a temporary and permanent corrective action to make sure that this doesn't happen again...

Now if another of that same defect shows up before their "probation" period ends, then they have to bump it up another level and "double certify" all stock coming into the car plant...


If they keep having problems, and this happens more than 3 times, then their executive management has to meet with the buyer to discuss why they are having so many problems and then told that if this keeps up, then they will not be allowed to bid on any future business - Yeah, hit them in the pocket book... They will loose out on profit for HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF PARTS...


Now the same suppliers also supply the parts for service. Service parts are not scrutinized as much as current production, but are supposed to be built to the same standards. So if a few customers start having problems with the parts and return them, then the company will send their quality team to the supplier to fill out the root cause and corrective action.

If the supplier sends a bad part to a local parts store and we buy it, then return it, BIG DEAL. We are just one sale, not THOUSANDS. So if they know that they have bad parts, where would you send them to???

You got it, send them to the parts stores, as there is not as big of a penalty if you get caught sending them your junk. If you send it to the car manufacturer, it may be shoved up their @ss and then they have to fill out all of the "quality paperwork" which is a punishment all in itself....


So the distributor cap that you buy from the dealer, is probably better quality than the one that you buy from the parts store.

It takes alot more bad parts to be returned from the parts store for the supplier to fix the problem than it does if they send bad parts to the original car manufacturer for service parts....

The company that buys THOUSANDS of parts gets more attention than us guys who only buy one or two parts at a time....
 
Pretty good advise on anyone whos contemplating on building an engine for the first time or who has built a few.It gives alot of different views on approaching your build. Like it !
 
i opted ( thanks to some folks on here) to try my luck on a Craigslist 360 instead of spending a small fortune on building a new motor. I was lucky i came across an honest guy and a great deal, And all the parts that came with it could be used on another engine ( if it did not work out)not to mention the motor stand i got with plus all those parts were worth what i paid for the whole deal.

Now it seems there are a million bad Craigslist stories to every one good story but that's not really the point. The point is exactly what rusty is getting at and that is you don't have to spend a fortune to get a good/solid and even fast motor/car. And you don't need a rear wheel 600HP that you built from the summit/jegs catalog IF your going to just drive it on the street 90% of the time.

And that there are good and bad deals out there and there is very good value in used/NOS or even OE parts but you HAVE to put in the time doing the research. Do yourself a favor by Making and sticking to a list of wants and needs for a particular build and informing yourself on those wants and needs for that build.If you are open minded and realistic the needs will outweigh the wants in the build and to be honest probably most aspects of life
 
A superb informative epistle from RRR. One of the best I have read on here. In short it says that too many guys have ended up with a huge investment in "look good, drive bad". As usual Rob is bang on with his observations and advice.
 
yes I agree, ALL good info.

I figure lots of people now days, let ego get in their way. one upmanship??

or the guy gets a project he has ALWAYS lusted for. he has the $$ to make his " baby" perfect, the untimate, and there he goes. BUT, common sense, realistic goals, and obtaining a GOOD knowledge of what build will produce the car you really want and need! that's what make sense.
 
barbee6043 said:
yes I agree, ALL good info.

I figure lots of people now days, let ego get in their way. one upmanship??

or the guy gets a project he has ALWAYS lusted for. he has the $$ to make his " baby" perfect, the ultimate, and there he goes. BUT, common sense, realistic goals, and obtaining a GOOD knowledge of what build will produce the car you really want and need! that's what make sense.
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exactly

And while my current Craigslist motor don't fit my exact needs and there are some unknowns because I did not build it. I have a great running motor and great base starting point for building the motor that best suits my needs.

And I did not pay a lot for that muffler lol




Now I just have to enlist rusty to help me lol :blob::blob::blob:
 
Krazykuda, I was thinking about the big hardware, intake, carb, heads, over the things you wrote about, the smaller parts. But a good write up and true that is.
 
what I was also saying is auto mechanically wise, many times, " less is more", and sometimes, just enough, is "JUST RIGHT" !?? LOL
 
ok, you covered the part about getting a "good torque convertor"

but what is your take on a "good clutch"

99% of the cars I have had or have or either a 3 or 4 speed so I have been through clutches that wore out from natural wear .....I had one that I destroyed from being an ape with it. But so far I have used the O.E. replacements from advance auto and they seem to have held up ok except for the one time I really abused one and totally smoked it.

Is there room for improvement in the O.E. spec clutches without getting crazy on spending? I am not sure I can see spending 500+ dollars for a fancy centerforce in a street car but I don't know......what is the opinion out there?
 
Hi Rani, sometimes you have to be, uh, inventive. In the seventies, after I'd put the 340 in the 70 RR, I wanted an "easier" clutch. I found out that 'about that time' there was a 10 1/2" diaphragm clutch used in Corvettes. These would have the same bolt pattern as a B&B (3 finger). This was an OEM replacement bought through a parts store. Worked great. You are talking about a factory 340 with headers, in a much heavier car, over 3850 lbs

Of course there IS a limit, that is, OEM clutches were designed for OEM HP. I never cared for the scalloped "sort of" 11" used in the 70 big block cars, the one I had would never release clean, reliably. But that IS a setup.....was designed to hold an OEM 440-6, and has a 10 1/2" bolt pattern.

The trick nowadays is finding good quality replacements without spending and arm and a leg
 
Yes, I did omit clutches, didn't I?

Same theory. Avoid the stupidness of a race bred clutch in a street car. Even if you are gonna blow it out at the strip only a couple of times a year, a good brand NEW clutch kit is the way to go.

When I worked at the transmission shop, we use LUK brand clutches and had great success with them. I knew about them before, but had never used one. I have one in my F250 now and it works fine.

They are made both in the US and Europe. Very high quality and affordable. I also like Zoom (Perfection) products. They too are made in USA and also Asia. I have run the Centerforce stuff before, but had a weight come off and destroy a clutch and bellhousing in a Chevelle I had years ago. I have read where this is a recurring problem these days with Centerforce.
 
Rainy Day Auto said:
ok, you covered the part about getting a "good torque convertor"

but what is your take on a "good clutch"

99% of the cars I have had or have or either a 3 or 4 speed so I have been through clutches that wore out from natural wear .....I had one that I destroyed from being an ape with it. But so far I have used the O.E. replacements from advance auto and they seem to have held up ok except for the one time I really abused one and totally smoked it.

Is there room for improvement in the O.E. spec clutches without getting crazy on spending? I am not sure I can see spending 500+ dollars for a fancy centerforce in a street car but I don't know......what is the opinion out there?
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My opinion on clutches is you get what you pay for, Rani.
I have fried a lot of stock replacement clutches in my day by driving like an animal, including my Dart Sport in my build thread.
I just installed a Centerforce Dual Friction street/strip clutch in my car and am pleased with how it works. It is noticeably harder to push in than stock, but it lets out easier if you can imagine that. I installed it by the book and removed the over center spring as required in the Centerforce instruction sheet. It works well and as advertised.
Years ago, i used the Mcloud street/strip Borg & Beck style on both of my 440 B-Bodies and they worked very well with noticeably more pedal effort.
I had the one so hot doing back to back runs at Spokane during some time only runs, that when i finished, it felt like i was stepping on a wet sponge. Being 100 degrees out didn't help matters much either!
When i drove it home, the cluch feel came back in about 20 minutes.
A couple of months later, i took it apart and checked it out and the flywheel, pressure plate, and disc still looked like new with some minor glazing.
That sold me on aftermarket clutches and how much abuse they can take versus stock.
 
Another thing that i would like to add to this thread (which is excellent by the way) is one of the best ways to improve performance over stock is to put your car on a diet and shed 200 plus pounds.
We're not talking fancy fiberglass parts etc. but simple things you can do for little or no $$$$$$.
 
Dartnut said:
Another thing that i would like to add to this thread (which is excellent by the way) is one of the best ways to improve performance over stock is to put your car on a diet and shed 200 plus pounds.
We're not talking fancy fiberglass parts etc. but simple things you can do for little or no $$$$$$.
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Excellent point, and a lot of it can be done inconspicuously.
 
Dartnut said:
Another thing that i would like to add to this thread (which is excellent by the way) is one of the best ways to improve performance over stock is to put your car on a diet and shed 200 plus pounds.
We're not talking fancy fiberglass parts etc. but simple things you can do for little or no $$$$$$.
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That is a great suggestion. And too, we can put our fat asses on a diet too! That's kinda a double whammy of weight reduction.
 
What are your thoughts on forced induction of a stock engine? Great driveability and all the performance needed, when you need it.
 
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