[Dragncar]

Originally Posted by RocktimusPryme

What if its got a ford 9 inch? Is it just a bit Ford curious at that point?


Jokes aside it all comes down to what you are comfortable with. How much do you drive? How long are your average commutes? I currently live in deer country. I would not personally be comfortable driving anything daily around here that didn't at minimum have 3 point shoulder harnesses. Even then, no airbag concerns me. I don't like driving my Firebird at night here for that reason.

Considering retrofitting airbags would be a huge project, I think for me to daily a classic where I currently live, it would need 3 point belts (which a 70s T/A would have) and dramatically upgraded over stock brakes, which is going to mean 17" or bigger wheels. I just don't want to lose all my teeth because of a stupid deer.

The drivetrain stuff, that's all semantics for the most part. My DD Ram gets like 17-19 mpg. A decently sorted out muscle car with OD would be in that neighborhood. I don't get as hard up about engines swaps as others do, so I could take it or leave it. I don't feel the average junkyard 5.3 swap would be any more reliable than a decent vintage pontiac engine. Now if you were talking about an LS crate motor and trans? Different story.

I would also personally spend a ton of effort on sound deadening. I don't mind the normal classic car rattles on joyrides but on a daily, I would want to be able to listen to football podcasts and talk on Bluetooth calls without yelling. AC obviously a must. Modern replacement wiper motor, because 90% of the classic ones are weak as hell. Stock style enclosed filter housing so it doesn't smell like gas.

Underrated aspect for me, and this would be model specific. I HATE, all capitals HATE, putting gas in the Firebird. It has a tiny short filler neck to the tank and you have to pump it slow or it spits back out at you. So I would choose a model that didn't have that flaw if I was going to be driving it every day.

I drag race the car. Broke every GM rear end I put in her. Even broke some 9" gears and billet axles.
All the breaking stopped when I went to 40 spine axles and big bearing Pro gears.