thanx Daze....we all should look...think...act...

 

Daze is one of the most valued resource on this board along with a few others IMHO!

Thing is sometimes I chime in on what I used and yes budget was large for my build this time.
Long gone are the day's I could go to the bone yard and dig for parts all day.
Last time I tried I was looking for Granda and Versalies parts the guy laughed and said those are 20 year old cars long gone good luck.
As a kid I grew up in the bone yards helping my grand dad hunt parts and would spend hours tearing down cars to find out later the trans was fried or the rearend was shot aswell. I dont have that time anymore. Its either Cash or time I never seem to have both @ the same time. lol

Guess what Im trying to say is I have spent more money in the long run trying to save cash than I would have if I just waited and bought the best product for the task.
I to go by the thoughts of whats wrong with using a 8" used 5 lug?
After 3 bad ones I picked up here and there it was about the same as my new Currie set up cost this time. Im talking chunks not housings. 8 or 9" it cost almost the same to rebuild them so why not upgrade?

Same with engines. Used parts with a small budget swaps 6cyl to v8s will cost a guy with out the experience as much or more than planed rebuild, or I just have no luck finding used parts over the years.

Forgive the Ramblings.
I forget sometimes how much fun I've had learning and building these things over the years.
In fact I need to give some back to the new guys starting out.

I offer in return for my ramblings the next guy that wants to do a 6cyl swap all the old suspension 5 lug v8 I took off my 66.
2 used 9" non posi needs rebuilding one is a 323 the other is a 373 I think I have a 8" 280 also
289 2v heads and stock cast iron 2 v intake
Its sitting collecting rust right now.

Just figure out and pay shipping and its yours.
May be ditching more parts later also. I have 2 more mustangs to drag home in a few weeks.

 

Excelent post Daze.
I've also noticed a lot of rehashing of opinions by people who dont have any knowledge or experience on the particular topic. By all means, its fine to let other what you have heard, but unless you are talking from actual experience, you should ALWAYS qualify your statement as such. It doesn't take any effort, just say something like,

"although I cant speak from direct experience, I've heard............."

That way, readers of the forum are able to take advice given with the knowledge that they should do further research.

Cheers.

 

Isn't that what the "Reply" button is for? When you don't necessarily agree with the "bigger, better, faster is the only way" opinion, you have the ability to add your two cents. The original poster, who is doing research, now has more than one opinion and more than oneoption. He then gets to choose which approach is best for his application.

 

That's a pet peeve of mine too. Often I notice responses that are the upper end of the spectrum to that the person is asking. While it's cool to dream of 10K motors... reality is that 99% of us here aren't in that part of the hobby.

That being said, I try to avoid stifling opinions. Previous management of this site would often chime in and insult or berate people for their opinions. So I have adopted a less invasive approach.

So long as the advice given is not (to my knowledge) incorrect or detrimental, I let it go without comment. At some point the majority always seems to lead the conversation back to the right balance.

 

great post. There is a guy i work with that keeps bending my ear telling me i need a 9 inch. He says if you have a mustang, you need a 9inch. I have a stock 289, i really do not think i need a 9 inch. If the money was there, i still wouldn't do it. There is a thing called overkill. I do notice that some people think that we are all made of money, and recommend top of the line stuff. I say if you have the money, and want the best, do it, but there are some like me that have a budget, and really do not need the best thing, or the biggest things. Just want the good stuff to keep the cars running. I do read alot of post, and find alotofvalued info.

 

Your approach is perfect, IMO

 

The reason I always recomend a G-Force/Astro etc upgrade for any T5 is several. First, stock T5's are VERY prone to 3rd gear cluster failure, even on stock engines with street tires. They're just plain weak. Second, a junkyard T5 + a G-Force kit + rebuild cost, isn't much more expensive than buying a rebuild z spec T5, maybe a couple hundred $ more if you shop around. Only it's 3x stronger, and given the abuse that most manual transmission cars see on the street, they need to be strong. And 3rd, why spend money on a transmission that's likely to break, only to have to spend money on it AGAIN a year or 2 down the road to fix it. That gets back to the "do it right the 1st time" view. Spend a couple hundred extra now to get a better setup, rather than an extra thousand or more down the road when the trans breaks. And that's provided it doesn't take anything else with it. That applies to anything though.

I'm not against the OP's original statement, however, some of us have been around and built enough cars/engines/transmissions etc and seen enough crap break to realize that spending the extra money the first time, though it may seem expensive, saves a LOT of money in the long run. Performance = stuff breaking. That's just the way it goes. Some stock stuff is strong and holds up well, like an 8" for example, or a 4spd Toploader. Some stuff that's stock, was weak even for a stock setup, such as the T5's, or factory shifters, or factory Fox control arms etc. Some of us have just learned from bitter experience that spending a bunch more the first time, saves you twice as much in the long run, or more.

 

67mustang302, please don't misunderstand my post. Even though your posts were the reason I chose to start this thread I, in no way wanted to put you down or say that your opinion was not valid. In fact that is why I did not mention your screen name or link the threads in question. I only wanted to use it as an example. I have seen other posts referring the the 9" rear end, the mexican block and other high performance parts that well being the "best" are not the most cost effective for all applications. I too am an avid fan of the "do it right the first time" concept and understand why you recommend the G-force kit. your statement "Some of us have just learned from bitter experience that spending a bunch more the first time, saves you twice as much in the long run, or more. " is valid. I would not run a 6 cyl rear end behind a performance V8, I would not replace the clutch with out resurfacing the fly wheel and replacing the pilot bearing and throw out bearing. With that said there is a huge difference between a street car and a drag car. If you are going to be driving hard, dumping the clutch, and smoking the tires, behind a strong 289 302 or 351, than you better at least have a z-spec T5 and better yet as you have pointed out a G-force T5, but if you are not going to be doing that sorts of "hard driving" than a stock T5 is plenty strong. This is the whole point of my post. There are different levels of quality/performance and in some cases the best performing components are not a good choices because a lesser option is more than adequate and more cost effective.

 

I'm not disagreeing with you, just pointing out that some people, myself included, recommend going with beefier stuff to begin with to save money in the long run. I agree that people really go overkill on a lot of stuff, "The steering is sloppy, time for a $2,000 R&P setup" instead of adjusting the sector shaft, or replacing the worn parts, or "The carb has bad throttle response, time for $2,500 EFI" instead of tuning the carb. I totally agree that there's no need for anything more than a basic T5 behind a 6 cylinder or a factory 289 or 302 that's driven occasionaly. We could make long lists of examples like that. But, for cars with a more performance oriented driver or that aren't stock, that are driven on a regular basis, some of us reccomend the more expensive stuff first, because we've learned that you save money over a several year span by doing that, than constantly replacing broken stuff. But the first time I hear someone mention using a stock T5 and also mention anything about increasing power "later on" I'm going to reccomend going with a beefy trans, because there's no telling how much power they'll end up with, and that also tells me they drive harder than someone who just puts around like an old woman. That, and there's no telling how much abuse some of the T5's people get ahold of have been through. I always go with the "better safe than sorry" approach, because not doing so has cost me thousands upon thousands of dollars in the past.