Lots of general questions

[Komet]

Yeah that was my plan and it only took 15 years to get there.

 

[VIKING_MECHANIC]

So my advice(as I'm in a similar situation), find someone that races fairly often and go to the races during the season. There are a LOT of rules and regulations when it comes to racing.

I just started working at a shop and my boss circle track races during the summer and I've been wanting to go to the races to see what's it all about before I drop $$$ on building a race truck.

Also keep in mind, you'll break stuff often. My boss wreck his car the other weekend and blew the engine up. So keep that in mind.

And yes, you can build a 350 for power. My boss just bought a 602(based off an 350) crate engine for his race car. I don't know how much power it makes, but I suspect in the 700ish range.

 

[Schurkey]

At this point I can’t afford to invest anymore while I’m in high school... ...I’d estimate I’ve sunk between 6-7k easy in it. And I still gotta save for a car+ paying to get into college.

Every dime you put into a toy vehicle, is another dime you'll have to pay interest on for your student loans.

You need to re-think your priorities. Student loans are supposedly causing substantial heartache and emotional and economic distress to people who thought College was their ticket to a decent lifestyle.

Obviously our "President-in-name-only" thinks that he could buy votes by putting Student Loans back onto the Taxpayer instead of the folks who agreed to pay them to begin with.

I don’t really have a lot of mechanical knowledge... ...My plan is to get out of college, get stable with a job, house, and income, and start throwing money at it.

Be aware that the usual path is to take on a Significant Other sometime during or post-College, and that derails everything thereafter. Your hobbies become whatever she allows you to do, AFTER you've satisfied HER priorities.

Headers, bigger cam, an actual cold air intake, just anything to get it really moving and pushing numbers.

Keep in mind that your truck was built by GM with a "cold-air intake"; all you have to do is not screw that up with aftermarket crap.

My boss just bought a 602(based off an 350) crate engine for his race car. I don't know how much power it makes, but I suspect in the 700ish range.

The "602" IMCA "Sealed" crate engine? Part number

88869602 ?​

A very mild "crate engine" special only because it's got a circle-track oil pan, circle-track crankcase ventilation, and a handful of "special" bolts that can't be unscrewed easily, so that Tech Inspectors can look at those bolts and know that the engine hasn't been "tampered with"--you know, bigger cam, more compression, ported, lightweight crankshaft, etc.

www.speedwaymotors.com/Chevrolet-Performance-88869602-CT350-IMCA-Seal-602-Crate-Engine,67820.html

https://www.speedwaymotors.com/Chevrolet-Performance-88869602-CT350-IMCA-Seal-602-Crate-Engine,67820.html

"700" horsepower would be DOUBLE what it's rated for.

Produces an astonishing 350 HP at 5000 RPM, 390 ft. lbs. of torque at 3800 RPM

(And that's only if it was assembled properly. I've heard of those "sealed" engines being put together with the timing set installed one tooth "off".)

 

[sneakingfart]

Rig

At this point I can’t afford to invest anymore while I’m in high school. So far I’ve fixed the ac 3 times, painted the grille, gotten the exhaust done +2 brand new cats, fixed the radiator, a new distributer and plug wires, a k&n filter, replaced the master cylinder in the brakes, an aftermarket radio and speakers, and replacing the hood, bumper, and radiator again as well as fixing the frame and grille after I got in a wreck. And I’m sure I’m forgetting a lot of repairs because for a while it was on a constantly in the shop with problems streak. Plus changing the oil and gas I’d estimate I’ve sunk between 6-7k easy in it. And I still gotta save for a car+ paying to get into college. I don’t really have a lot of mechanical knowledge, I was never raised working on cars or anything hands on like that. The most I can do is change the oil and check coolant and oil levels. I’ve come a long way from when I first got that truck, back then I thought rpm was how fast the tires were spinning. But still not build and tune a drag engine levels. My plan is to get out of college, get stable with a job, house, and income, and start throwing money at it. Headers, bigger cam, an actual cold air intake, just anything to get it really moving and pushing numbers.

First off, let me commend you on a great looking truck. It is hard to keep these trucks looking good as they age, rust tends to creep in, and yours looks to be in near mint condition.

I'd say your cost estimates are probably correct. That's the major issue with these trucks, as they age, small things really start to add up. Parts can be dirt cheap, but the labor is what will get you.

I think your plan is a good one. If this is the truck you want to turn into a project, wait until you can afford it. Don't ever go into debt for something like this.

Also, a lot of what you did to the truck can easily be done on these trucks yourself, with basic tools and some YouTube videos. It will save you a lot of money. Especially the stereo. It is insanely easy on these trucks, and you're not going to have some idiot screw up your dashboard. Overall, these are very easy to work on, lots of space, and not a ton of electronic things that get in the way. If you are changing your own oil, that's step one. You are already doing far more than the average driver, who doesn't even know how to change a flat tire.

As a side note, i suspect that you don't actually mean a drag truck in the sense of competing in actual drag races. The cost of that is quite astronomical. It seems to me that you want to have more power, so you can maybe surprise someone at a light. The cost of that would actually be quite reasonable. A 383 crate motor is something like $7000, and should get you into the high 300 HP range. If you have the 4L60 transmission, you'd likely need to build it as well. But around $15k should get you an easy and reliable 400 HP truck.

 

[brdh24]

Every dime you put into a toy vehicle, is another dime you'll have to pay interest on for your student loans.

You need to re-think your priorities. Student loans are supposedly causing substantial heartache and emotional and economic distress to people who thought College was their ticket to a decent lifestyle.

Obviously our "President-in-name-only" thinks that he could buy votes by putting Student Loans back onto the Taxpayer instead of the folks who agreed to pay them to begin with.



Be aware that the usual path is to take on a Significant Other sometime during or post-College, and that derails everything thereafter. Your hobbies become whatever she allows you to do, AFTER you've satisfied HER priorities.


Keep in mind that your truck was built by GM with a "cold-air intake"; all you have to do is not screw that up with aftermarket crap.


The "602" IMCA "Sealed" crate engine? Part number

88869602 ?​

A very mild "crate engine" special only because it's got a circle-track oil pan, circle-track crankcase ventilation, and a handful of "special" bolts that can't be unscrewed easily, so that Tech Inspectors can look at those bolts and know that the engine hasn't been "tampered with"--you know, bigger cam, more compression, ported, lightweight crankshaft, etc.

www.speedwaymotors.com/Chevrolet-Performance-88869602-CT350-IMCA-Seal-602-Crate-Engine,67820.html

https://www.speedwaymotors.com/Chevrolet-Performance-88869602-CT350-IMCA-Seal-602-Crate-Engine,67820.html

"700" horsepower would be DOUBLE what it's rated for.

(And that's only if it was assembled properly. I've heard of those "sealed" engines being put together with the timing set installed one tooth "off".)

Well I’m going to be going to a 2 year community college and the degree I’m wishing to go for pays pretty good for only 2 years in a small town college. But I didn’t mean immediately after I graduated, after I get my debt paid, a place to live, a good condition grocery getter, and stable income start investing in it. It wouldn’t even be power upgrades, it needs a new transmission, factory 4l80 is approaching 220k and the truck was almost exclusively used to tow heavy loads by the previous owner.

Keep in mind that your truck was built by GM with a "cold-air intake"; all you have to do is not screw that up with aftermarket crap.

That’s interesting because I had heard that and just assumed it was bs. Thanks for that little tidbit

 

[brdh24]

First off, let me commend you on a great looking truck. It is hard to keep these trucks looking good as they age, rust tends to creep in, and yours looks to be in near mint condition.

I'd say your cost estimates are probably correct. That's the major issue with these trucks, as they age, small things really start to add up. Parts can be dirt cheap, but the labor is what will get you.

I think your plan is a good one. If this is the truck you want to turn into a project, wait until you can afford it. Don't ever go into debt for something like this.

Also, a lot of what you did to the truck can easily be done on these trucks yourself, with basic tools and some YouTube videos. It will save you a lot of money. Especially the stereo. It is insanely easy on these trucks, and you're not going to have some idiot screw up your dashboard. Overall, these are very easy to work on, lots of space, and not a ton of electronic things that get in the way. If you are changing your own oil, that's step one. You are already doing far more than the average driver, who doesn't even know how to change a flat tire.

As a side note, i suspect that you don't actually mean a drag truck in the sense of competing in actual drag races. The cost of that is quite astronomical. It seems to me that you want to have more power, so you can maybe surprise someone at a light. The cost of that would actually be quite reasonable. A 383 crate motor is something like $7000, and should get you into the high 300 HP range. If you have the 4L60 transmission, you'd likely need to build it as well. But around $15k should get you an easy and reliable 400 HP truck.

Thank you man I appreciate it, most people comment on how it’s a 2500 work truck and still looks pretty pristine. We painted the grille when we first bought it and changed the plug wires ourselves, but everything else we’ve taken it to the shop. Like I said I’m not mechanically inclined in the slightest and my dad hates working on cars and doesn’t know as much as he thinks he does, so it was easier for us to just run it to the shop and pay 3x the part cost in labor instead of messing up something trying to diy it. I honestly did consider making the truck a drag truck, but the price and everyone saying it wouldn’t work has killed that idea. I think it would be better off on the streets though as just something I can hop in and have fun and get looks in. It desperately needs a speed boost though. I would engine swap but it has a brand new 350 crate engine in it and it would feel like a waste it using it. If it can be built like everyone is saying it sounds pretty straightforward to get it to make more power. It has the 4l80 trans, but it’s so old and used it has to be replaced so either way it doesn’t really matter. Which was also something else I was thinking about. Can you put a modern day 6 speed Gm trans in it, or would it have to be a built 4l80 going back into it?

 

[Erik the Awful]

Nice truck!

Be aware that the usual path is to take on a Significant Other sometime during or post-College, and that derails everything thereafter. Your hobbies become whatever she allows you to do, AFTER you've satisfied HER priorities.

"I got married and learned what true happiness is, but by then it was too late."

Well I’m going to be going to a 2 year community college and the degree I’m wishing to go for pays pretty good for only 2 years in a small town college. But I didn’t mean immediately after I graduated, after I get my debt paid, a place to live, a good condition grocery getter, and stable income start investing in it.

DO NOT take out loans to pay for college. It's a trap. I went to college on the GI Bill and was fortunate to be in a paid-internship program. I took out ZERO loans. One of my good friends was in a program that didn't have internships. In the twenty-five years since we graduated, he's paid 3x what he originally borrowed, and still owes 2x. The loan is structured in such a way that it can never be paid off.

My daughter graduated from college last December with no student loans. She used my GI Bill benefits and worked her butt off, working nearly full-time while carrying a full class load. Now she's out on her own, and the pay just isn't where everybody promised it would be. That's what your generation is facing. A college degree means you're willing to work hard for just a promise of more pay, and employers know it. Be the hardest working, most competent employee, and be willing to jump when they refuse to give you a raise.

 

[Supercharged111]

Nice truck!


"I got married and learned what true happiness is, but by then it was too late."


DO NOT take out loans to pay for college. It's a trap. I went to college on the GI Bill and was fortunate to be in a paid-internship program. I took out ZERO loans. One of my good friends was in a program that didn't have internships. In the twenty-five years since we graduated, he's paid 3x what he originally borrowed, and still owes 2x. The loan is structured in such a way that it can never be paid off.

My daughter graduated from college last December with no student loans. She used my GI Bill benefits and worked her butt off, working nearly full-time while carrying a full class load. Now she's out on her own, and the pay just isn't where everybody promised it would be. That's what your generation is facing. A college degree means you're willing to work hard for just a promise of more pay, and employers know it. Be the hardest working, most competent employee, and be willing to jump when they refuse to give you a raise.

That's some BS, I had student loans and I paid them off. Sure they're evil as all get out because they'll let you dig yourself into a bottomless pit, but at the end of the day it's a loan that you CAN pay back. Not sure what your buddy's deal is. I paid a big chunk with our first time home buyer's tax credit and the rest when I was deployed. I won't go back down that path and I'm going to drill into my kids how evil they are too, but in my experience there was nothing difficult about paying them off on MY terms. Follow their silly payment plan and yeah, you'll probably never pay them off.

 

[movietvet]

Nice truck!


"I got married and learned what true happiness is, but by then it was too late."


DO NOT take out loans to pay for college. It's a trap. I went to college on the GI Bill and was fortunate to be in a paid-internship program. I took out ZERO loans. One of my good friends was in a program that didn't have internships. In the twenty-five years since we graduated, he's paid 3x what he originally borrowed, and still owes 2x. The loan is structured in such a way that it can never be paid off.

My daughter graduated from college last December with no student loans. She used my GI Bill benefits and worked her butt off, working nearly full-time while carrying a full class load. Now she's out on her own, and the pay just isn't where everybody promised it would be. That's what your generation is facing. A college degree means you're willing to work hard for just a promise of more pay, and employers know it. Be the hardest working, most competent employee, and be willing to jump when they refuse to give you a raise.

When I got out of the service I used my GI Bill for about 4 months, at a junior college, then figured out that having to deal with a structured schedule was a lot like the last 4 years.

My uncle was an aircraft mechanic in the Korean War and had his own auto repair shop in Paradise, Ca. and was tired of seeing me drink beer all the time with his son and daughter. He put me to work in his shop. Then I moved back to KC, Mo. and continued wrenching in shops. Turns out I was making more money than people I went to high school with that had graduated from college and had started their own careers.

 

[movietvet]

That's some BS, I had student loans and I paid them off. Sure they're evil as all get out because they'll let you dig yourself into a bottomless pit, but at the end of the day it's a loan that you CAN pay back. Not sure what your buddy's deal is. I paid a big chunk with our first time home buyer's tax credit and the rest when I was deployed. I won't go back down that path and I'm going to drill into my kids how evil they are too, but in my experience there was nothing difficult about paying them off on MY terms. Follow their silly payment plan and yeah, you'll probably never pay them off.

The point is, if you follow the minimum payment plans for college loans and c/c, you pay and pay and pay and pay and end up paying soooo much more back than the original amout the loan was for and the time frame of the payback takes years and that seems like forever.