Hey there all!

Please bare with me in this post!

I am 19 years old and I live in Ontario Canada.

I have always been a chevelle kid growing up and I have every model under the sun! I also loved ford Pinto's (although not as much)

Lately I have been falling for the Pinto's more and more and my Chevelle interest is fading. I am into Drag Racing very very much! and my dad has a rebuilt 350 at my grandfather's house waiting for me if I ever need to put in a chevelle!.

I love all chevelles (except 64's and 73's but even those are still cool!!) But my favourites are the 70's and 67's!

My budget for a driving car is about 8 grand! After that I would like to do little things here and there such as a higher stall converter in a TH400 tranny, a bigger rear end if needed, bigger gears, brakes, a minitub, headers and exhaust, etc. Some minor drag stuff. Hopefully enough to make it into the mid 12's ( is that possible to do with a 350?)

My father and twin brother are both huge mopar guys and they both are encouraging a chevelle. My father has frowned upon the Pinto I have already thought about buying and really wants me to get a chevy as he hates Fords! This would be a street strip car and a summer driver for me. It probably wouldn't be a true SS with the buidget I have in mind as I would love for it to be in great shape already, or a nice roller that I could drop internals into.

So to sum up my q's!



WIll a 350 move this sucker?



I am so sick of seeing Chevy's everywhere, especially camaros and novas since there are so many of them and all the Chevelle's I see at the track usually end up losing ( in all the classes!) that now I am leaning towards a V8 swap into a pinto (alot of work)



WIll I be able to find a decent chevelle for 8k (SS or not)?

Thanks a bunch guys! any advice would be greatly appreciated! and let me just say that I hate mustangs more than anything!:D

Andrew

Come on guys... could anyone please offer up some advice?:cool:

It would be greatly appreciated. It might be a crazy bunch of info smacked together but I was in a rush. Any helpful replies are welcome!


Thanks,

Andrew

All I can say man is ANYTHING but a Pinto.

Welcome aboard Andrew :hurray:

Hello Andrew. If the 350 is built for performance, there is no reason why it won't run well in a chevelle.

Depending on your skills, you should be able to buy what you want and keep it in your budget.

If the chevelles you are watching at the track are losing it may be due to many things such as the driver or the work that has been done to the car compared to the competition.

If you really like chevelles, you will build one and show the other guys how it's done.

Hey guys!

Thanks for the replies

Anyone else?

Welcome aboard Andrew.

1. A 350 will move a Chevelle along quite nicely if you put together a good solid motor. The worn out beater of a 350 I had in my car before I swapped in the 406 moved the car along well enough for what it was ( a worn out beat up 9:1 iron headed junker 350 ). 2. Dont think you want to hear what I have to say about a Pinto
3. You can find a decent Chevelle/Malibu for 8k for sure. You have to look around, deals are everywhere, you just have to patient and look.

I go to the track in my town 2 or 3 times a month and I dont think I have seen a Chevelle lose once in all the times I have been going there. Unless it was racing another Chevelle:yes:

Your best bet is to do some research in the performance forum, there is a TON of good info in there.
Welcome to TC.

Why we slammin Pinto's?

They kick some serious butt with V8's in them and they are different!
But to each their own. I am just flabbergasted with the humoungous amount of chevelles and chevy's in general for that matter...everyone and their mother owns one!

I think the super high popularity of chevelles really takes away from the cool factor. Thats why I like 67's they look awesome and you don't see as many of the early body style

Welcome to TC but honestly if you are set to get a pinto go ahead and do it. Don't take this the wrong way but the thing to remember is you are talking to members of a Chevelle website. A pinto no matter how you look at it does not carry the prestige of a Chevelle.

Welcome. You are right about chevys they are popular cars my dad has a 69 camaro and im buyin a 70 chevelle saturday but the post above me is right you are on a chevelle website so we do prefer chevelles but i have seen a few pintos that get up and go but no matter which car you choose good luck with the project.

Welcome Bass! So you’re thinking of a Pinto! Well Chevy vs. Ford rivalry has always been around. When the Vega and Pinto arrived in the fall of 1970 there was more rivalry. Pro Stock racers Like Bill Jenkins, Jungle Jim, Dyno Don, even Sox & Martin campaigned these little subcompact Pintos, Vegas and Dodge Colts starting around 1972.

On the street you could find V8-powered Vegas, but V8 powered Pintos were scarce. Dodge Colts? Ha!

Last June our local car club, The Eastenders, hosted a show. One guy brought his drag race ’72 Pinto (see attachment) out of the garage where it had sat since the late 1970s. He DROVE it to the show (on slicks, with open headers, no plates...) It has a hot 460 in it, and the ground shook and jaws dropped when he drove it in.

You are in southern Ontario. There are no solid Pintos there. Those cars had a reputation for rust and bad paint, plus oil burning. They got very little respect from car enthusiasts, although there sure were a lot of them around once upon a time. They were after all a cheap economy car. Late in the production life of the Pinto there was a class-action lawsuit leveled against Ford because the cars sometimes exploded if hit from behind. They went out of production in disgrace after 1980. After the "Cruising Wagon", who could ever take a Pinto seriously? Maybe a Pinto Pangera (never heard of one? Few have.)

If you want to build a Pinto you are appealing to a niche market. A practically non-existent niche market. Consider a V8 Mustang II, but those generally don’t get respect even from the Mustang folks.

BTW a Chevy small block is physically wider than a small block Ford. The Chevy’s cylinder banks are 90 degrees apart, whereas the Ford’s is 60 degrees apart. That matters because Ford has often had annoying shock tower intrusion under the hood which limits engine width and spark plug access. Mustangs, Pintos, Falcons, unibody Fairlanes all had it. Distributor location (rear vs. front) also is a consideration for firewall clearance.

Hey there all!

I am so sick of seeing Chevy's everywhere, especially camaros and novas since there are so many of them and all the Chevelle's I see at the track usually end up losing ( in all the classes!) that now I am leaning towards a V8 swap into a pinto (alot of work)

Andrew
Welcome :waving: Andrew, I noticed you are in Ontario as well. Just curious as to what race track you frequent. P.S. With lots of hard work and a little luck, you will get that Pinto. :thumbsup:

Welcome Andrew! I have to say, I've had my '72 Chevelle for over 23yrs now and haven't seen or had another car that does it for me in the style dept. Don't get me wrong I love other body styles as well, but I always compare them to the Chevelles. But as long as you like it, go with it.:yes:

Actually the guy who owns that Pinto is a friend of mine named Tom Morana

I live in the Markham/GTA area. Yes you guys are right chevelle's carry that prestige! That is what my father keeps saying and that if I build a pinto that if I ever have to sell it I will get peanuts for it!

Then I got Tom Morana telling me when his pinto had a 351 in it back in the day it would make any chevelle driver cry! I want the speed of a pinto but the badass look of the chevelle! plus my dad already has a rebuilt 350 sitting for me!

I appreciate all you guys help, and yes your right you guys are all chevelle dudes so I don't expect to hear good pinto things!. I guess I will have to make the decision myself, but the dare to be different thing keeps fighting the image of a sweet SS burnin down the street:sad:

Andrew

Well I went to a car show on Saturday night in Ajax.

ALOT of chevelles, like every 3rd car was a chevelle. I talked to alot of chevelle owners and was just talking about my situation, of all those owners only one said to get a chevelle. The rest said, go for the pinto since they are different and rare.

:confused:I was so confused with these chevelle guys telling me to do a V8 pinto instead of a chevelle! I even talked to these 4 chevy brother guys, 3 had chevelles and 1 had a corvette! they all said the same thing!

there was a V8 pinto there but it was ugly:sad:
There was a gold 68 with a 350 badge but really had a 468 under the hood. Did I mention he did a inpromptu mini burnout on his departure?:D

Even more confused!

Andrew

Well guys after some long thinking, it looks like I am staying with the CHevelle Idea!!!!

I am looking for a chevelle for hopefully about 8-10 grand, driving, 2 door with good body and interior although not perfect, and I know it will probably not be an SS but what the heck! My fav years are 67, and 70 (SS 454 BABY!)

I will not be buying until next spring as I live in Canada but if anyone has any help to offer I would love to hear it. I will be cruising the forums, see you all around!

ANdrew:)

Andrew, I live in Ontario as well, if I see anything around this end of the lake in your price range, I will let you know. :thumbsup: