"What a rip off "

Today, I'd like talk a little bit about being taken advantage of by auto and specialty shops. I recently purchased my next project car, which is a 1973 Ford Ranchero. It happens to be in very nice shape as far as body condition, very straight with very little rust... perhaps only 2 percent. The suspension needs a lot of work including upper control arm bushings; idler arm and shocks, this is what led me to the topic of today. When I found that the upper control arm bushing were destroyed, to the point of which it made the car unsafe to drive, I decided to see how much it would cost to have someone do them for me.

Well, after calling around town to four different reputable shops ( ha ha) I found that the least expensive was approx $485.00 including labor. Hmmmmm I wondered if I could take try to save myself some cash by do them myself. I went ahead and ordered the bushings at a cost of $32.00 yes, that's right only $32.00. Wow, I said to myself, in other words... O.M.G. the rest was labor. I started on the left side (drivers side) and after an hour I said I need a spring compressor for the coils. I knew this since I've already done this job on a 1965 Mustang in 2006... but I was wrong........ on this model of Ford, the only required work is the removal of the brake callipers ; upper ball joints and two bolts that secure the upper control arm... in essence the driver side took two hours and 45 min and the passenger side took 45 minute's total.

It really pays to try these projects on your own and to have the manuals that are necessary to complete the job correctly. I'm sure you can understand the disgust I felt when I realized that a shop could be so bold as to try and charge me for four and a half hours of labor when the job would only take them one and a half hours which equals approximately $120.00. Hmmmm, talk about inflation. Id appreciate comments on this issue so feel free, I' ll try to have pictures of this new project on my next posting, remember drive safe.........

SHARKTOOTH MOTOR SPORTS...

TAKING A BITE OUT OF THE COMPETITION

Conversion Kits.

A while back, I had an 88 Toyota 4-runner that I did a conversion on in order to swap from the original 3.0 V-6 to a Chevy 400 small block. My goal was to gain torque and horsepower and high performance while off road and on road activities. Along the way, I found that it was relatively easy and at the same time the cost was around the same amount as if I were to just go out and replace 3.0 V-6 by myself.

Its a tight fit but the adapters I received from Advance Adapters in California were very easy to use, Id like to mention Advance Adapters due to their unprecedented customer service! their adapters fit like a glove and their motor mounts were nothing short of amazing, thanks again to advance adapters.

When I did this conversion I had a lot of concerns , one in general was the wiring since I was dealing with two different manufacturers it was important for me find out what needed to be done to insure the harness would provide the support necessary to insure reliability. I achieved this by going through Painless Wiring, the harness is spendy but is the simplest way to achieve your goal.

The transmission ended up being a Turbo 350 transmission by Chevy. One note, if you're planning to do a conversion remember this, if you have an automatic Toyota, you can't use the original transfer case... you must use a standard or manual transmission case, due to the availability of adapters for the Turbo 350 or 400.


Two more concerns were the drive shaft and the radiator. The drive shaft must be shortened, in order to compensate for the length of the tail shaft of the Turbo 350 transmission, this can be done at any reputable drive line shop. The radiator is the biggest problem, you must purchase an after market radiator that is at least 3 core and for this conversion the engine compartment is so tight it restricts air flow and the purchase of electric fans is a must. The motor tends to run hot.

With all this in mind , once done, this is a ball busting; 'Vette eating; gnarley 400 horse power night rider. Climb any mountain race in the mud or lay down rubber for a full city block... as my son would say "scary". Have fun and drive safe.

Introduction

Welcome to Chris and Zack's new blog. We are presently experimenting with a new way for people to communicate about experience's they may of had and would like to share with other enthusiasts of motor sports, we also will try to discuss Questions people might have. For the group, there is a chat roll that you can enter for free and talk to friends as a group or as one on one, so please feel to discuss any topics concerning motor sports, conversions; high performance; off road and drag. We will discuss import and American and lets not forget Muscle Car's... my personal favorite. If we don't have the answer, we will try to find it so lets have a good time and learn together. Enjoy and drive safe.