alright, i was wondering on your guys oppinion on these setups, i'm planning on picking up a car around the end of the summer after i get back from japan and building a drag car out of it. basically seeing how fast i can get it with the least amount of money. these are some of my ideas

2nd or 3rd Gen Camaro w/ 454 out of a older truck or something simmilar

Nova with a bigblock, 396 or a 454, basically the same as above

or the mopar angle...

A Duster/Dasher/Dart with a 440 or a 360, nice and light with enough room for a big block...

Or if all else fails, a Fox Body Mustang with a 350..

what i was wondering about is what F-Body is the lightest and has the biggest engine bay for a large engine, i think thats it. if you guys know of any good other setups that are cheap go ahead and gimmie a yell. My angle is kinda like a Carcraft car, do everything myself and more go than show...

 

It may be less expensive to buy a car that is already built. The end of the sumer is a good time to be looking for used drag cars.

 

As said above, try to buy a Turnkey car.

All else failing The Fox Bodies just plain work well. they're light and have a pretty darned good rear suspension design from the factory. Bolt-In K-Members are available, for BBC and SBC combinations on these cars also.

The lightest F-Body to the best opf my knowledge was the '82.

Ditch the Mopar, ain't nothing cheap about a Mopar.

 

If you want to go fast on a budget then stay away from "cars" It takes a lot of money and HP to make a heavy car go fast.

Buy an altered or roadster. You can pick up a rolling chassis cheap. Drop in a mild SBC or BBC and easily run 10's.

 

the thing is that i cant just buy an all out drag car, i dont have a tow car or a trailer to take it from here to the track about 60 miles away... i need more of a bracket car that i can drive to and from the track and drive around every once and awhile...

so stay away from the A-bodys.....

looks like i'll be looking for either a 3rd gen or a Fox Body now

i'm thinking maby go with a bigblock 3rd gen or a Fox Body with a 351w or something around there, not shure if i wanna put a 460 into it even though i know it will fit.....

Oh ya, my whole plan on this car is to keep it simple, i'm tired of all these new cars out with all this electronic controlled BS that you gotta have $2k in diagnostics equipment to fix . So no computers for me.

 

Nothing like an old foxbody...cheap, light, tons of inexpensive aftermarket support...the list goes on and on.

 

It may still be less expensive to buy a drag car and make it streetable than a street car and make it fast... You will need to spend a bit of time looking around for the right vehicle.

 

Agreed. There are a lot of "sportsman" type cars that are close to being street legal, or already are. Ton's of GM iron too.

 

I seem to remember a few years back that Car Craft built a low 12-second Chevette with a junkyard 500 c.i. Caddy motor for under $3k total investment.

- Brent