Hey Sbonez! Welcome to the world of restorations. It's great to see the younger guys coming along. My son is 25 now but has been building is '74 B-body for several years. It should be ready for paint in the next couple months. When he was in high school, he and I spent many hours laying underneath it together up to our elbows in one fluid or another. It had a 408 I had put in it before I signed the title over to him for college graduation. It was mostly streetable and soooo much fun (I can attest personally to that) but ended up just being more than he really wanted as his priorities changed. He built the original 318 and even for a heavier B-body he has a really nice quick little hot rod right now but it's no 408 and he's happy with that.
Your build has to fit your wants and needs but also look into the future. Faster quite often equates to more money after the initial build. Things break more with more stress. So if you do build it to the max, you need to use the best parts and spend the money now. If your buddy has the cash and can afford his big build then let him do it and don't be so concerned with having to beat him. It's all good until you're sitting in the garage with a broken driveline that you can't afford to repair because of school.
My son got his degree, is working in his field and now has some extra cash to finally finish the body and paint and build it like he wants which is a really nice streetable 318 likely in the mid 300hp. He also put in a later model overdrive automatic.
You can always build a reliable streetrod now and revisit it in a few years like many guys on this site have done and then build the car of your dreams when you have the money to do it right.
I've helped my son alot but he's also gotten loads of information from guys on forums like this including forbbodiesonly. Read all you can and surf the threads even if they might not pertain to your present situation because sooner or later they will. It will build your knowledge base. Also make sure you bookmark the ones you know you will need to come back to. The search features on most forums don't always reveal relevant information using what you might think might be obvious keyword(s). I find I have to try several different combinations or try to think of that one unique word that will nail it.
Have fun and don't stress it. I just recommend you slow down for a short bit, soul search what you want, what you need, and what you can afford without cutting corners and keep doing research. It's more expensive to change track midway through a build. Look for books on eBay, Amazon and even Barnes and Noble. For that matter just google the titles listed in the prior post and likely you will find them.
And like I always tell my trainees- don't be afraid to ask questions when you're learning. You might get a few smart answers. Not everyone has the same amount of... Tact:
noun; adroitness and sensitivity in dealing with others or with difficult issues. synonyms: diplomacy, tactfulness, sensitivity, understanding, thoughtfulness, consideration, delicacy... but you also need to weigh what they have to say as it could be very valuable. They've been around long time and have seen it all.
You will a find a ton of old farts who love seeing their passion for these cars carry on with the younger guys and gals and just want to see you succeed. Good luck! Check out this proud dad and his younger mopar son- taken a year ago before he began on the body.
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