Is it worth it?

[Edmond]

This summer, I'm thinking about buying a 89 ZF 6 speed and making a monster out of it. I'm talking about 383 stroker with the Mini Ram. Something that can kick some tail, yet be a daily driver.

From what I've read, the 6 speeds are in the $10,000 neighborhood or so.

I've been thumbing through the TPIS catalog and they have some packages available.

The 383 rotating assembly for 1 piece rear seal, balanced for around $3100. It includes: either a Callies or Lunati 4340 non-twist forged crank, Manley 5.850 Sportmaster rods, Ross cutom forged pistons, Speed Pro file moly ring set and Clevite 77 rod and main bearings.

Mini Ram kit which includes: Mini Ram with fuel rails and adjustable regulator, TPIS/AFR cylinder heads, ZZ-9 camshaft, timing set, lifters, pushrods, rocker arms, head bolts, intake, head and timing cover gaskets. This is $4200.

And this isn't factoring in any of the other mods that I'll definitely have to do like: headers and the rest of the exhaust system all the way back to the mufflers, stronger clutch et all to handle the power, 5 spoke rims...

Am I better off buying a car that's already been modified like the one I want to build? There are so many pro's and con's. I know putting something like this together takes many months of planning and saving. That's why I'm planning for it right now, so I can get everything together for the summer.

 

[74bigblock]

my .02

Without getting techical, I would say the basics are this:

You will save a heapload of money by purchasing a pre-tuned car. Someone else's loss is your gain. you could find something that is half way there (headers/exhaust and trans) if you are lucky.

Downside is that unless they are VERY well documented, you don't know what parts went it, and in what condition, how the car was run etc....

At least if you shell out the $$ and do the work yourself, you will know all the details.

 

[Edmond]

At least if you shell out the $$ and do the work yourself, you will know all the details.

That's one of the uncertainties that I don't know if I can accept because I do plan on driving the car as a daily driver and sometimes, I drive my car hard.

 

[Gerry]

is it worth it

I am considering something similar only a different year car. Perhaps you should consider a car with a blown engine and you supply a crate engine. You can have some great engines with top gun parts and a warrenty. I have seen some very attractive prices for big hp engines. Just my thoughts. Good luck.

Best regards,
Gerry