Monte,
Please refrain from comparing my Valiant to Ray's Black Pearl. I get head-aches and chest pains every time I do it myself!!

I know Ray is very budget conscious, as is Squirrel. It requires more discipline and patience to build a car like that. The other thing it requires is experience, know how, and the gumption to take on parts of the build that force them out of their comfort zone.

I think many of us on here of a certain age take for granted all the knowledge and experience we have gleaned from twenty years of this stuff...and how much money that can save us over a typical checkbook build.

Dale and Boone got stupid when they decided to take the Duster about three months before Drag Week, so there was no time to shop for deals or barter for parts. They dropped 23K in that clapped out shell to make the show...just a point of reference.