Gotcha, this car was pretty far gone and not a special combo (383 2bbl Gran Coupe) so I can cut and weld and stiffen it up. It's nice to be able to read a book and learn from the pains of others. Thanks AndyF!
I spent several years designing and building parts with Tim for his red Valiant. That car would go 160 mph on the front straight at Portland International and he would drive it to work but it wasn't much fun to ride in. It was kind of brutal actually. Lowered, no noise insulation, no radio, no AC, no heater, etc. And while that car was one of the fastest Mopars around, it couldn't consistently beat production mid-level super car such as a Z06 or a race influenced Porsche with a good driver. The total outlay of time and money into the Valiant was at least equal to the cost of a Z06 but it wasn't as good of a car. That is just simple economics. Hard for a guy in his garage to beat 50 years of factory engineering and their economies of scale.
Moral of the story is to have fun and enjoy yourself. Trying to re-engineer a 50 year old musclecar is probably a doomed effort unless you have an exceptional skill set and/or professional help.
