smog legel mid 70s car

why dont they build moremid 70s smog cars as build ups,most of the car are over looked,i have 78 and 79 novas, my 78 is smog legel in nc, it has 330hp350ho with shorty headers,with gm vortec egr intake, and edelbrock600cfm smog legel carb 200r4 trans, with 3inch cat with flowmaster mufflers,why got they build some cars like this or build g bodys,?  

1) build quality sucked.  Money you want to spend on the drivetrain, gets spent trying to replace little parts w/ used or NOS b/c the repro houses aren't making it.

2) People don't know how to get around emissions, by using LS Chevy Generation 3 engines, or by working around the cork of the old cat cons and other old emissions tech.  The carbs alone, have plugs on 'em so you can't simply tune 'em

3) most hot rodders are mechanics. by that, I mean they unbolt non working parts, and bolt on new parts.  To actually fix a part takes time and costs money.  so, if there isn't an aftermarket part to bolt on, but it has to be engineered instead...they'll grab an old musclecar instead, and blend in at a car show.  

agreed, but those cars are now old enough to be antique tagged...for mine that means no smog nazi under my hood...and upgraded bushings and control/trailing arms are now available also...body parts are a pure *** to find though  

Well, the problem w/ old cars, is old rubber and old plastic parts...which may need to get replaced.  If its a toy or a race car, you may not care that the GM windows w/ no frame in the door whistle at speed...but as a daily driver, trying to find windowfelt or new hinge bushings may be a problem for, say, a Grabber Maverick.

But beyond all that...sure wish more would get into these cars.  there were some real scoop and stripe muscle cars back then--400cid Road Runners and Daytona Chargers built from the Cordobas, Road Runner Aspens, L-48 Vettes, Mach I Mustang II's, Can Am Grand Am Pontiacs, 4-4-2 W30 Oldsmobiles, GranSport Buicks w/ smogged 455's, and so on.

Don't want to blend in at a car show?  you won't if you throw together one of these...an '86 Hurst Olds w/ its 307 replaced with a diesel 350 stroked to 440cid?  

don't forget the lightning rod shifter versions of the hurst/olds during the early eighties


good point on the window seals and hinge repair issues...currently on the fence with a 75 monte carlo...on the fence because it is difficult to find all the seals and bushing repair kits are just that...repair kits....

my drivers upper hinge has enough slop in the pin hole to let the trailing edge of the door rise and settle about 2-1/2 to 3 inches (maybe exaggreating but seems like alot...more than i really want to mess with but...)...to repair it right, (or close as possible since hinges aren't available), the door will have to come off, the hole correctly located and fill weld the rest of the hole...the bad part is taking the dog house off again to get access to the hinges (may as well do all four if ya gotta do one)


rock auto lists most of the weather-stripping...have found listings for all of it but haven't got the money together yet...floor pans, trunk floors are easily attained but quarters are a different story...76-77 are every where, not so much 73-75


couldn't imagine trying to work on any ford from the same era...see even less of them around than the gm cars